Motivational Issues Faced by African Retail Company

BA (Hons) Leadership and Business Management Research Proposal Form
Complete each section of this form where indicated
Student ID (Marjon)
Student Name
The title of the report
To investigate the motivational issues faced by an African Retail company with reference
to monetary and non-monetary rewards: Case scenario of Woolworths in Ghana.
An outline of the management problem or opportunity being addressed
Lack of motivation among employees of the company was one of the major
research issue for the current research (Austin, 2011). It affected individuals as well as
overall performance of the firm. Along with this, it also had negative impact on working
environment of the organization and increase the employee turnover. It was one of the
crucial issue for retail industry of Africa so, it is considered by researcher for whole
investigation (Moody and Pesut, 2006).
It is an issue because most of the organization do not use appropriate strategy to
improve motivational level of employees. They focus on profitability and cost rather than
employee’s job satisfaction. So, motivation level of employees is declined. It has negative
impact on future, growth and development of the organization which will have harmful
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influence on whole retail industry (Denzin and Lincoln, 2005).
It is an issue now because Woolworths which was one of the leading organization
of retail industry of Ghana. It applied reward strategy for improving motivational level of
employees (Baah, 2003). Along with this, it has invested huge amount of money in
providing monetary and non-monetary rewards to all staff members. But there were no
clearance about that whether these rewards were effective for resolving motivational issue
or not (Dörnyei, 2001). So, author has decide to conduct study on this subject.
For resolving this issue author will shed light on different reasons behind the lack
of motivational level of employees of Woolworths. Along with this, focus will also be
given on importance of rewards in improving motivation. Afterwards for attaining aim and
objectives of the research author will determine different strategies for overcoming
motivational issues in Woolworths (Daniel and Sam, 2011).
The aims, research questions and objectives of the report
Aim:
“To determine the motivational issues faced by an African Retail company with reference
to monetary and non-monetary rewards: Case scenario of Woolworths, Ghana”.
Research question
1. What are the major issues affecting motivation of employees of Woolworths?
2. What is the major role of monetary and non-monetary rewards in employee
motivation of Woolworths?
3. How could Woolworths resolve motivational issues in an effective manner?
Objectives:
 To identify the major motivational issues of Woolworths.
 To understand the role of monetary and non-monetary rewards in employee
motivation of Woolworths.
 To suggest appropriate strategies to resolve motivational issues from Woolworths.
Management literature and theories underpinning the report
There are number of motivational theories which will help in understanding the issues
associated with the current research and these include motivational theory on needs of
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hierarchy, two factor theory, Hawthorne Effect, Expectancy Theory and Three-
Dimensional Theory of Attribution. These theories will help in understanding the
importance of employee motivation for organization. Further, researcher will also comprise
historical research papers on major motivational issues for organizations of African retail
industry. Along with this, author will include literature on role of monetary and non-
monetary rewards in employee motivation and different strategies which can be applied by
an organization for increasing motivation level of employees.
In this context, Maslow theory can be underpinned to gain the idea related to employee
motivation. This theory states that need of employee follows in a series which acts as a
motivation for them. This need includes physiological, security, social, esteem and self-
actualisation.
Figure 1: Maslow Need Hierarchy Theory
(Source: McLeod, 2007)
In addition to it, Herzberg defined two factors of motivation i.e. hygiene and motivator
factor. Absence of hygiene factor leads to demotivation whereas presence of motivator
factors boost the motivation among employees.
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