Abstract
M.Comm.
Captains of industries are constantly under pressure to perform. Their performance is measured in various forms like financial returns, market share, capitalisation, share price and the like. From a broader perspective managers must, according to the traditional functions of management, be able to plan, organise, control and lead. From a narrower perspective this study is concerned with the leading function of management. In order to perform, managers must lead their respective teams to achieve even greater heights than before, as well as to outperform the competition. In order to do this, managers are expected to motivate their teams to do exactly what is required to achieve the set goals. Managers constantly ask why certain employees perform better than others. This is a continual and perplexing problem facing managers. Research done in South Africa by Gail Kelly (Charlton, 1993:2), involving twenty-five successful business leaders, highlighted the following five factors as fundamental for success.
• Leadership.
• Motivation of people and interpersonal skills. This includes effective communication.
• Ability to learn on the job.
• Linking strategic planning to implementation.
• Hard work.
Despite the obvious importance of motivating people, it is difficult to define and analyse motivation. One group of theories states that motivation has to do with the direction, the effort and the duration of the required behaviour. Another group suggests that the factors that incite and direct motivation should be analysed.