Emotional Intelligence Training

July 31, 2012

Emotional intelligence is a synthesis of business and psychology focused on achieving peak levels of performance. Effectively applying this multidisciplinary tool requires the ability to train adult learners in both areas. This begins with an effective working knowledge of emotional intelligence. One size does not fit all. To generate peak performance, expertise is required in a repertoire of assessment tools, training design, results evaluation and coaching skills.

With a mastery of EI core skills, the needs of the organization and individual need to be carefully assessed. Professionalism must be exercised in the selection, application and evaluation of tools and test results. With this information in hand, needs and wants can be appropriately matched with objectives, learning styles and training design.

Participative, active learning is crucial. Development is based on a partnership where the organization, facilitator, and learner are all engaged to promote a set of targeted goals. When everyone is involved, there is a sense of enthusiasm and energy that generates self-fulfilling positive expectations. Learner readiness creates motivation and an excitement to grow.

Training itself demands emotional intelligence. It is a dynamic relationship that focuses communication on SMART (specific; measurable; achievable, relevant, time-based) objectives. With a pre-determined, well developed course, active participation is structured into well ordered, manageable steps. As the training continues, feedback needs to be consistent with an on-going emphasis on positive growth. Support systems should engage learning in visual, auditory and kinaesthetic modes. Realistic expectations should be developed for practical application of materials to real life situations.

Once the training experience is completed, commit to active assessment. Capitalize on what went right and correct the areas that can be improved. Be certain to foster a professional environment that contributes to and reinforces emotional intelligence. Positive change is sustained when the improvements are supported and encouraged.

The final elements lie in continuity. Learning needs to be a constant. Development is not a one-time event. Coaching, on the job application and reinforcement set the tone for long-term, sustainable success.

The Empathy Principle

Empathy
a deep appreciation for another’s situation and point of view

Empathy—a deep appreciation for another’s situation and point of view—is the basis for the golden rule, and our intrinsic sense of justice. Having empathy but not acting from empathy leads to guilt.

Definitions:

A respectful understanding of what others are experiencing.
Judging others by their own standards.
Sensing others’ feelings and perspective, and taking an active interest in their concerns.
Wanting the best for all others, unconditionally,
Sharing another’s perspective and specific distress.
Entering the private perceptual world of another and becoming thoroughly at home in it.
The capacity to think and feel oneself into the inner life of another person.
Having a similar emotional state to another as a result of the accurate perception of the other’s situation or predicament.
Understanding and entering into another person’s feelings.
Understanding and concern.
Changing places in fancy with the sufferer.
feeling into
I feel you in me
A point of view that emphasizes the symmetry between you and the other.
Empathy is other-awareness, symmetrical with self-awareness. True empathy requires us to care about the person in pain.

Origins of Empathy

The ability to sense another’s distress is an important survival skill. The danger distressing your companion may also be a threat to you. It is wise to heed the other’s early warning or danger. As a result, it is human nature to dislike seeing or hearing another’s distress. This basic skill of sensing how another feels is generalized into a broader sense of empathy.

Studies show that empathy develops very early in human children, even before they develop language skills. Empathy also contributes to our ability to recognize the mental state of others, and to take on their perspective. Knowing what others know is a distinct advantage.

The warmth of empathy balances the safety of distrust and xenophobia; the origin of hate.

Forms of Empathy

Empathy can be experienced in a variety of forms, such as [Ekm]:

cognitive empathy—we recognize what another person is feeling,

emotional empathy—we actually feel what the person is feeling,

compassionate empathy—we want to help the person deal with their situation and emotions.

Related Terms

Sympathy, rapport, caring, compassion, and concern are similar, but not identical to empathy. Apathy and egocentricity are opposites of empathy. Apathy describes not caring and egocentricity describes caring only about you.

Empathy is Action

Empathy begins with awareness, understanding, feeling, caring, perceiving a similarity of experience, and compassion. But the difficult part of empathy is taking action that truly helps another.

Increasing Empathy

Empathy is inherent in most people, and certain activities can increase empathy, or at least cooperation, between people. One key to empathy is to understand suffering, first in you, then in others. In the well documented “Robber’s Cave” experiment two groups of 11-12 year old boys were formed. Planned activities created cohesiveness within each group and competition between the two groups. What was later found to promote cooperation between the groups was to engage in activities that required them to work together to serve their own interests. This included working together to unblock a water line and fix a broken truck.

Feeling Empathy for a Jerk

We all know people who are: annoying, disagreeable, selfish, bigoted, irresponsible, deceitful, untrustworthy, arrogant, stubborn, ignorant, spiteful, mean spirited, boisterous, crude, boring, needy, intrusive, embarrassing to be around, and generally difficult to like. How can you have empathy for such people? The answer is that you don’t have to like someone to want the best for them. You may feel sad they are so anguished and you can want them to: become more aware of how they annoy others, take steps to improve themselves, become more responsible, care more for others, and take other steps to become more satisfied and peaceful.

Empathy and Responsibility

When someone falls on hard times, our response often depends on a judgment about their own responsibility for the problems they are facing. If we believe their difficulties are their own fault, we typically regard them with contempt. If we believe the problems were unavoidable, then we regard them with compassion and empathy. This judgment is difficult to make accurately. Work to consider all the evidence, from their point of view while avoiding distortions, before making a judgment.

Acting with empathy can be very difficult. Here is an example of a situation where it may be difficult to know what is the right thing to do:

Bill receives a modest check each Friday. He quickly spends it on tobacco, alcohol, and gambling. By Monday he is getting hungry and asks you to lend him $50 for food. What is the empathic response?

Follow these general steps for acting with empathy:

Preserve dignity and avoid humiliation.
Engage in a dialogue to understand his point of view and to determine his specific needs. Throughout the dialogue keep in mind:
You can change some things but not others,
What he asks for may not be what he needs. Continue the dialogue until you both understand his needs.
Help to balance his impulses for immediate pleasures with opportunities for longer term gratification and authentic happiness.

Every person always has needs for autonomy, competency, and relatedness but is unlikely to express these. This may lead to ambivalence about change.

Provide assistance to meet his needs to the extent you are willing and able to. Keep in mind:

You are responsible for your choices and actions.
He is responsible for his choices and actions.
You can change some things but not others.

After dialoguing with Bill, you understand his most urgent need is for food. You also understand his needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness, although these were not discussed in depth in these terms. You agree to go shopping and buy him a loaf of bread and a jar of peanut butter. He declines your offer to buy him a bottle of carrot juice and you decline his request to buy him a six-pack of beer. This meets his need for food, and balances his needs for autonomy and relatedness.

Next week follows the same pattern and on Monday Bill again approaches you to ask for food. You consider several alternative responses:

Refuse to help, explaining that you helped him last week and if he didn’t learn his lesson, you’re not going to continue,
Lecture him on the virtues of temperance,
Sever the relationship by blaming him and shunning him,
Buy him a loaf of bread and jar of peanut butter, the same as last week,
Agree to buy him food this week if he promises to pay you back on Friday.
Agree to buy him food this week if he promises to let you to manage half of his income each week for him. Under this agreement you hold money for him and release it for specific purchases you both agree are beneficial.

After an extended and sometimes tense dialogue the two of you agree that the plan to help Bill manage his money provides the best balance between his needs for food, autonomy, competence, and relatedness. After several months, Bill is now eating better and drinking a bit less. He seems more open to getting counselling.

The Golden Rule – Secular Ethics

The Golden Rule “Treat others as you want to be treated” paraphrased from a wide variety of sources begins to provide a model for acting with empathy. Perhaps a more accurate model is given by the “platinum rule”: Treat others as they want to be treated. The principle of empathy may be sufficient to develop a complete and socially valuable code of ethics. Various organizations have developed codes of ethics based primarily on the principle of empathy. Here are some examples:

The United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Code of Ethics of the National Association of Social Workers
“Don’t just do something, stand there.”
“It is more important to define yourself by who you include than by who you exclude.” ~ from the movie Chocolate
“It is more considerate to interrupt the speaker than to pretend to listen.”
“See yourself in others, then who can you hurt? What harm can you do?” ~ The Buddha

Quotations:

EIQ Emotional Intelligence

For many years, we have been led to believe that a person’s intellectual intelligence

(Measured as IQ, or intelligence quotient) is the greatest predictor of success.

Society assumes that people with high IQs will naturally accomplish more in life.

Schools often use IQ test results to choose children for gifted programs and advanced placement courses. Some companies even use the results as a criterion for hiring employees.

We have been conditioned to judge intelligence with these numbers. In the past 10 years, however, researchers have found that this isn’t necessarily the case — that in actuality, a person’s emotional intelligence (EQ) might be a greater predictor of success than his or her IQ.

What is emotional intelligence? In the early 1990s, Dr John Mayer, Ph.D., and Dr Peter Salovey, Ph.D., introduced the term “emotional intelligence” in the Journal of Personality Assessment. They used this term to describe a person’s ability to understand his or her own emotions and the emotions of others and to act appropriately based on this understanding.

Then in 1995, psychologist Daniel Goleman popularized this term with his book Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ. Emotional Intelligence is about having empathy for others. It is about standing up for what you believe in a tactful and respectful way. It is about not jumping to conclusions, but getting the whole picture before you react. The key to emotional intelligence is an understanding of your emotions and the emotions of others and acting in the most appropriate way based on that understanding.

Having a healthy emotional intelligence is very important in order for human beings to live happy and successful lives. Healthy emotional intelligence helps us set our personal boundaries, make decisions about our lives, and communicate with the people we love.

Keep in mind that your emotional intelligence can change. People are always evolving. You can increase your EQ at any point in your life by learning to identify your emotions and taking responsibility for those emotions. And just as easily as you can increase your EQ, you can also decrease it. You must continue to identify and work on areas within yourself that need work.

Regardless of your emotional intelligence level, you could benefit from some of these tips to increase emotional intelligence:

Go to the gym, take an exercise class or participate in activities that reduce your stress level.
Take up a new hobby or sport that involves interacting with other people.
Take a class at your local community college.
Join a support group.
Keep a feelings journal.
See a counsellor to help you deal with your emotions.
Take an anger management course.
Enrol in a communication skills course.
Read books about emotional intelligence and social skills.
Do emotional intelligence workbooks.
Ask your friends and family to help you recognize the things about yourself that may need correcting.

Self-awareness

A philosophical view

“I think, therefore I exist, as a thing that thinks.”
“…And as I observed that this truth ‘I think, therefore I am’ (Cogito ergo sum) was so certain and of such evidence …I concluded that I might, without scruple, accept it as the first principle of the Philosophy I was in search.”
“…In the statement ‘I think, therefore I am’ … I see very clearly that to think it is necessary to be, I concluded that I might take, as a general rule, the principle, that all the things which we very clearly and distinctly conceive are true…”
While reading Descartes, Locke began to relish the great ideas of philosophy and the scientific method. On one occasion, while in a meeting with friends, the question of the “limits of human understanding” arose. He spent almost twenty years of his life on the subject until the publication of An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, a great chapter in the History of Philosophy.

John Locke’s chapter XXVII “On Identity and Diversity” in An Essay Concerning Human Understanding (1689) has been said to be one of the first modern conceptualizations of consciousness as the repeated self-identification of oneself, through which moral responsibility could be attributed to the subject—and therefore punishment and guiltiness justified, as critics such as Nietzsche would point out, affirming “…the psychology of conscience is not ‘the voice of God in man’; it is the instinct of cruelty … expressed, for the first time, as one of the oldest and most indispensable elements in the foundation of culture.” John Locke does not use the terms self-awareness or self-consciousness though.

According to Locke, personal identity (the self) “depends on consciousness, not on substance” nor on the soul. We are the same person to the extent that we are conscious of our past and future thoughts and actions in the same way as we are conscious of our present thoughts and actions. If consciousness is this “thought” which doubles all thoughts, then personal identity is only founded on the repeated act of consciousness: “This may show us wherein personal identity consists: not in the identity of substance, but … in the identity of consciousness”. For example, one may claim to be a reincarnation of Plato, therefore having the same soul. However, one would be the same person as Plato only if one had the same consciousness of Plato’s thoughts and actions that he himself did.

Therefore, self-identity is not based on the soul. One soul may have various personalities.

Self-identity is not founded either on the body or the substance, argues Locke, as the substance may change while the person remains the same: “animal identity is preserved in identity of life, and not of substance”, as the body of the animal grows and changes during its life. Take for example a prince’s soul which enters the body of a cobbler: to all exterior eyes, the cobbler would remain a cobbler. But to the prince himself, the cobbler would be himself, as he would be conscious of the prince’s thoughts and acts, and not of the cobbler’s life. A prince’s consciousness in a cobbler body: thus the cobbler is, in fact, a prince. But this interesting border-case leads to this problematic thought that since personal identity is based on consciousness, and that only oneself can be aware of his consciousness, exterior human judges may never know if they really are judging—and punishing—the same person, or simply the same body. In other words, Locke argues that you may be judged only for the acts of your body, as this is what is apparent to all but God; however, you are in truth only responsible for the acts for which you are conscious. This forms the basis of the insanity defence: one can’t be held accountable for acts in which one was unconsciously irrational, mentally ill—and therefore leads to interesting philosophical questions:

“Personal identity consists [not in the identity of substance] but in the identity of consciousness, wherein if Socrates and the present mayor of Queenborough agree, they are the same person: if the same Socrates waking and sleeping do not partake of the same consciousness, Socrates waking and sleeping is not the same person. And to punish Socrates waking for what sleeping Socrates thought, and waking Socrates was never conscious of, would be no more right, than to punish one twin for what his brother-twin did, whereof he knew nothing, because their outsides were so like, that they could not be distinguished; for such twins have been seen.”

Or again:

“PERSON, as I take it, is the name for this self. Wherever a man finds what he calls himself, there, I think, another may say is the same person. It is a forensic term, appropriating actions and their merit; and so belongs only to intelligent agents, capable of a law, and happiness, and misery. This personality extends itself beyond present existence to what is past, only by consciousness, –whereby it becomes concerned and accountable; owns and imputes to itself past actions, just upon the same ground and for the same reason as it does the present. All which is founded in a concern for happiness, the unavoidable concomitant of consciousness; that which is conscious of pleasure and pain, desiring that that self that is conscious should be happy. And therefore whatever past actions it cannot reconcile or APPROPRIATE to that present self by consciousness, it can be no more concerned in it than if they had never been done: and to receive pleasure or pain, i.e. reward or punishment, on the account of any such action, is all one as to be made happy or miserable in its first being, without any demerit at all. For, supposing a MAN punished now for what he had done in another life, whereof he could be made to have no consciousness at all, and what difference is there between that punishments and being CREATED miserable? And therefore, conformable to this, the apostle tells us, that, at the great day, when everyone shall ‘receive according to his doings, the secrets of all hearts shall be laid open.’ The sentence shall be justified by the consciousness all person shall have, that THEY THEMSELVES, in what bodies so ever they appear, or what substances so ever that consciousness adheres to, are the SAME that committed those actions, and deserve that punishment for them.”

Henceforth, Locke’s conception of personal identity found it not on the substance or the body, but in the “same continued consciousness”, which is also distinct from the soul. He creates a third term between the soul and the body—and Locke’s thought may certainly be meditated by those who, following a scientist ideology, would identify too quickly the brain to consciousness. For the brain, as the body and as any substance, may change, while consciousness remains the same. Therefore personal identity is not in the brain, but in consciousness. However, Locke’s theory also reveals his debt to theology and to Apocalyptic “great day”, which by advance excuse any failings of human justice and therefore humanity’s miserable state.

Emotional Intelligence has six main competencies:

Self-Awareness Theory

Self-Awareness Theory states that when we focus our attention on ourselves, we evaluate and compare our current behaviour to our internal standards and values. We become self-conscious as objective evaluators of ourselves. However self-awareness is not to be confused with self-consciousness. Various emotional states are intensified by self-awareness. However, some people may seek to increase their self-awareness through these outlets. People are more likely to align their behaviour with their standards when made self-aware. People will be negatively affected if they don’t live up to their personal standards. Various environmental cues and situations induce awareness of the self, such as mirrors, an audience, or being videotaped or recorded. These cues also increase accuracy of personal memory. In Demetrious theory, one of the neo-Piagetian theories of cognitive development, self-awareness develops systematically from birth through the life span and it is a major factor for the development of general inferential processes. Moreover, a series of recent studies showed that self-awareness about cognitive processes participates in general intelligence on a par with processing efficiency functions, such as working memory, processing speed, and reasoning.

Self-management

Self-management means different things in different fields:

In business, education, and psychology, self-management refers to methods, skills, and strategies by which individuals can effectively direct their own activities toward the achievement of objectives, and includes goal setting, decision making, focusing, planning, scheduling, task tracking, self-evaluation, self-intervention, self-development, etc. Also known as executive processes (in the context of the processes of execution).

In the field of computer science, self-management refers to the process by which computer systems will (one day) manage their own operation without human intervention. Self-Management technologies are expected to pervade the next generation of network management systems.

In political economy, economics and sociology, self-management may refer to a Self-managed economy, a type of socialist economic system that is based on various forms of collaborative, decentralized, inclusive decision-making and relative workplace autonomy in economic enterprises and the government.

Worker self-management (sometimes called workers’ control or autogestion) is a form of workplace decision-making in which the workers themselves agree on choices (for issues such as customer care, general production methods, scheduling, division of labour) instead of an owner or traditional supervisor telling workers what to do, how to do it and where to do it. Examples of such self-management allegedly include the Paris Commune, the Russian Revolution, the German Revolution, the Spanish Revolution, Titoist Yugoslavia, Algeria under Ahmed Ben Bella, the fábricas recuperadas movement in Argentina, the LIP factory in France in the 1970s, the Mondragón Cooperative Corporation which is the Basque Country’s largest corporation, AK Press in the United States, etc.

Argentina’s fábricas recuperadas movement, which emerged in response to Argentine’s 2001 economic crisis, is the current most significant workers’ self-management phenomenon in the world.

English-language discussions of this phenomenon may employ several different translations of the original Spanish expression other than recovered factory. For example, recuperated factory/business, reclaimed factory, and worker-run factory have been noted. The phenomenon is also known as “autogestion,” which comes from the French word for self-management (applied to factories, popular education systems, and other uses). Worker self-management may coincide with employee ownership.

Workers’ self-management is often the decision-making model used in co-operative economic arrangements such as worker cooperatives, workers’ councils, participatory economics, and similar arrangements where the workplace operates without a boss. This model of decision making does not involve consulting all employees for every tiny issue in a time-consuming, inefficient and ineffective manner. Real-world examples show that only large-scale decisions are made by all employees during council meetings and small decisions are made by those implementing them while coordinating with the rest and following more general agreements.

Autogestion was first theorized by Pierre-Joseph Proudhon during the first part of the 19th century. It then became a primary component of some trade union organizations, in particular revolutionary syndicalism which was introduced in late 19th century France and guild socialism in early 20th century Britain, although both movements collapsed in the early 1920s. French trade-union CFDT (“Confédération Française Démocratique du Travail”) included worker self-management in its 1970 program, before later abandoning it. The philosophy of workers’ self-management has been promoted by the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) since its founding in the United States in 1905.

Critics of workers’ self-management from the left, such as Gilles Dauvé and Jacques Camatte, do not admonish the model as reactionary but simply as not progressive in the context of developed capitalism. Such critics suggest that capitalism is more than a relationship of management. Rather, they suggest capitalism should be considered as a social totality which workers’ self-management in and of itself only perpetuates and does not challenge – despite its seemingly radical content and activity. This theory is used to explain why self-management in Yugoslavia never advanced beyond the confines of the larger state monopoly economy, or why many modern worker-owned facilities tend to return to hiring managers and accountants after only a few years of operation.

Self-motivation

Motivation is the psychological feature that arouses an organism to action toward a desired goal and elicits, controls, and sustains certain goal directed behaviours. For instance: An individual has not eaten, he or she feels hungry, and as a response he or she eats and diminishes feelings of hunger. There are many approaches to motivation: physiological, behavioural, cognitive, and social. It is the crucial element in setting and attaining goals—and research shows that subjects can influence their own levels of motivation and self-control. According to various theories, motivation may be rooted in a basic need to minimize physical pain and maximize pleasure, or it may include specific needs such as eating and resting, or a desired object, goal, state of being, ideal, or it may be attributed to less-apparent reasons such as altruism, selfishness, morality, or avoiding mortality. Conceptually, motivation is distinct from volition and optimism. Motivation is related to, but distinct from, emotion.

Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation

Intrinsic motivation refers to motivation that is driven by an interest or enjoyment in the task itself, and exists within the individual rather than relying on any external pressure. Intrinsic motivation is based on taking pleasure in an activity rather than working towards an external reward. Intrinsic motivation has been studied by social and educational psychologists since the early 1970s. Students who are intrinsically motivated are more likely to engage in the task willingly as well as work to improve their skills, which will increase their capabilities. Students are likely to be intrinsically motivated if they:

attribute their educational results to factors under their own control, also known as autonomy,
believe they have the skill that will allow them to be effective agents in reaching desired goals (i.e. the results are not determined by luck),
are interested in mastering a topic, rather than just rote-learning to achieve good grades.

Extrinsic motivation refers to the performance of an activity in order to attain an outcome, which then contradicts intrinsic motivation. It is widely believed that motivation performs two functions. The first is often referred as to the energetic activation component of the motivation construct. The second is directed at a specific behaviour and makes reference to the orientation directional component. Motives can be divided into two types: external and internal. Internal motives are considered as the needs that every human being experience, while external indicate the presence of specific situations where these needs arise.

Social psychological research has indicated that extrinsic rewards can lead to over justification and a subsequent reduction in intrinsic motivation. In one study demonstrating this effect, children who expected to be (and were) rewarded with a ribbon and a gold star for drawing pictures spent less time playing with the drawing materials in subsequent observations than children who were assigned to an unexpected reward condition. For those children who received no extrinsic reward, self-determination theory proposes that extrinsic motivation can be internalised by the individual if the task fits with their values and beliefs and therefore helps to fulfil their basic psychological needs.

Push and Pull

This model is usually used when discussing motivation within tourism context, so the most attention in gastronomic tourism research should be dedicated to this theory. Pull factors illustrate the choices of destinations by tourists, whereas push factors determine the desire to go on holiday. Moreover, push motives are connected with internal forces for example need for relaxation or escapism and pull factors in turn induce a traveller to visit certain location by external forces such as landscape, culture image or climate of a destination.

Dann also highlights the fact that push factors can be stimulated by external and situational aspects of motivation in shape of pull factors. Then again pull factors are issues that can arise from a location itself and therefore ‘push’ an individual to choose to experience it.

Since, a huge number of theories have been developed over the years in many studies there is no single theory that illustrates all motivational aspects of travelling. Many researchers highlighted that because motives may occur at the same time it should not be assumed that only one motive drives an individual to perform an action as it was presumed in previous studies. On the other hand, since people are not able to satisfy all their needs at once they usually seek to satisfy some or a few of them.

Self-control

The self-control of motivation is increasingly understood as a subset of emotional intelligence; a person may be highly intelligent according to a more conservative definition (as measured by many intelligence tests), yet unmotivated to dedicate this intelligence to certain tasks. Yale School of Management Professor Victor Vroom’s “expectancy theory” provides an account of when people will decide whether to exert self-control to pursue a particular goal.

Drives and desires can be described as a deficiency or need that activates behaviour that is aimed at a goal or an incentive. These are thought to originate within the individual and may not require external stimuli to encourage the behaviour. Basic drives could be sparked by deficiencies such as hunger, which motivates a person to seek food; whereas more subtle drives might be the desire for praise and approval, which motivates a person to behave in a manner pleasing to others.

By contrast, the role of extrinsic rewards and stimuli can be seen in the example of training animals by giving them treats when they perform a trick correctly. The treat motivates the animals to perform the trick consistently, even later when the treat is removed from the process.

Motivational theories

There are many approaches to motivation: physiological, behavioural, cognitive, and social. It is the crucial element in setting and attaining goals—and research shows that subjects can influence their own levels of motivation and self-control. According to various theories, motivation may be rooted in a basic need to minimize physical pain and maximize pleasure, or it may include specific needs such as eating and resting, or a desired object, goal, state of being, ideal, or it may be attributed to less-apparent reasons such as altruism, selfishness, morality, or avoiding mortality. Conceptually, motivation is distinct from volition and optimism. Motivation is related to, but distinct from, emotion.

Incentive theory

A reward, tangible or intangible, is presented after the occurrence of an action (i.e. behaviour) with the intent to cause the behaviour to occur again. This is done by associating positive meaning to the behaviour. Studies show that if the person receives the reward immediately, the effect is greater, and decreases as duration lengthens. Repetitive action-reward combination can cause the action to become habit. Motivation comes from two sources: oneself, and other people. These two sources are called intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation, respectively.

Reinforces and reinforcement principles of behaviour differ from the hypothetical construct of reward. A reinforce is any stimulus change following a response that increases the future frequency or magnitude of that response, therefore the cognitive approach is certainly the way forward as in 1973 Maslow described it as being the golden pineapple. Positive reinforcement is demonstrated by an increase in the future frequency or magnitude of a response due to in the past being followed contingently by a reinforcing stimulus. Negative reinforcement involves stimulus change consisting of the removal of an aversive stimulus following a response. Positive reinforcement involves a stimulus change consisting of the presentation or magnification of an appetitive stimulus following a response. From this perspective, motivation is mediated by environmental events, and the concept of distinguishing between intrinsic and extrinsic forces is irrelevant.

Applying proper motivational techniques can be much harder than it seems. Steven Kerr notes that when creating a reward system, it can be easy to reward A, while hoping for B, and in the process, reap harmful effects that can jeopardize your goals.

Incentive theory in psychology treats motivation and behaviour of the individual as they are influenced by beliefs, such as engaging in activities that are expected to be profitable. Incentive theory is promoted by behavioural psychologists, such as B.F. Skinner and literalized by behaviourists, especially by Skinner in his philosophy of Radical behaviourism, to mean that a person’s actions always have social ramifications: and if actions are positively received people are more likely to act in this manner, or if negatively received people are less likely to act in this manner.

Incentive theory distinguishes itself from other motivation theories, such as drive theory, in the direction of the motivation. In incentive theory, stimuli “attract”, to use the term above, a person towards them. As opposed to the body seeking to re-establish homeostasis pushing it towards the stimulus. In terms of behaviourism, incentive theory involves positive reinforcement: the stimulus has been conditioned to make the person happier. For instance, a person knows that eating food, drinking water, or gaining social capital will make them happier. As opposed to in drive theory, which involves negative reinforcement: a stimulus has been associated with the removal of the punishment– the lack of homeostasis in the body. For example, a person has come to know that if they eat when hungry, it will eliminate that negative feeling of hunger, or if they drink when thirsty, it will eliminate that negative feeling of thirst.

Escape-seeking dichotomy model

Escapism and seeking are major factors influencing decision making. Escapism is a need to break away from a daily life routine whereas seeking is described as the desire to learn, gain some inner benefits through travelling. Both motivations have some interpersonal and personal facets for example individuals would like to escape from family problems (personal) or from problems with work colleagues (interpersonal). This model can also be easily adapted with regard to different studies.

Drive-reduction theory

There are a number of drive theories. The Drive Reduction Theory grows out of the concept that we have certain biological drives, such as hunger. As time passes the strength of the drive increases if it is not satisfied (in this case by eating). Upon satisfying a drive the drive’s strength is reduced. The theory is based on diverse ideas from the theories of Freud to the ideas of feedback control systems, such as a thermostat.

Drive theory has some intuitive or folk validity. For instance when preparing food, the drive model appears to be compatible with sensations of rising hunger as the food is prepared, and, after the food has been consumed, a decrease in subjective hunger. There are several problems, however, that leave the validity of drive reduction open for debate. The first problem is that it does not explain how secondary reinforces reduce drive. For example, money satisfies no biological or psychological needs, but a pay check appears to reduce drive through second-order conditioning. Secondly, a drive, such as hunger, is viewed as having a “desire” to eat, making the drive a homunculi being—a feature criticized as simply moving the fundamental problem behind this “small man” and his desires.

In addition, it is clear that drive reduction theory cannot be a complete theory of behaviour, or a hungry human could not prepare a meal without eating the food before he finished cooking it. The ability of drive theory to cope with all kinds of behaviour, from not satisfying a drive (by adding on other traits such as restraint), or adding additional drives for “tasty” food, which combine with drives for “food” in order to explain cooking render it hard to test.

Cognitive dissonance theory

Suggested by Leon Festinger, cognitive dissonance occurs when an individual experiences some degree of discomfort resulting from an inconsistency between two cognitions: their views on the world around them, and their own personal feelings and actions. For example, a consumer may seek to reassure himself regarding a purchase, feeling, in retrospect, that another decision may have been preferable. His feeling that another purchase would have been preferable is inconsistent with his action of purchasing the item. The difference between his feelings and beliefs causes dissonance, so he seeks to reassure himself.

While not a theory of motivation, per se, the theory of cognitive dissonance proposes that people have a motivational drive to reduce dissonance. The cognitive miser perspective makes people want to justify things in a simple way in order to reduce the effort they put into cognition. They do this by changing their attitudes, beliefs, or actions, rather than facing the inconsistencies, because dissonance is a mental strain. Dissonance is also reduced by justifying, blaming, and denying. It is one of the most influential and extensively studied theories in social psychology.

Need theories

Motivation, as defined by Pritchard and Ashwood, is the process used to allocate energy to maximize the satisfaction of needs.

Need hierarchy theory

The content theory includes the hierarchy of needs from Abraham Maslow and the two- factor theory from Herzberg. Maslow’s theory is one of the most widely discussed theories of motivation.

The American motivation psychologist Abraham H. Maslow developed the Hierarchy of needs consistent of five hierarchic classes. It shows the complexity of human requirements.

According to him, people are motivated by unsatisfied needs. The lower level needs such as Physiological and Safety needs will have to be satisfied before higher level needs are to be addressed. We can relate Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs theory with employee motivation.

For example, if a manager is trying to motivate his employees by satisfying their needs; according to Maslow, he should try to satisfy the lower level needs before he tries to satisfy the upper level needs or the employees will not be motivated. Also he has to remember that not everyone will be satisfied by the same needs. A good manager will try to figure out which levels of needs are active for a certain individual or employee. The basic requirements build the first step in his pyramid. If there is any deficit on this level, the whole behaviour of a human will be oriented to satisfy this deficit. Subsequently we do have the second level, which awake a need for security. Basically it is oriented on a future need for security. After securing those two levels, the motives shift in the social sphere, which form the third stage.

Psychological requirements consist in the fourth level, while the top of the hierarchy comprise the self- realization So theory can be summarized as follows:

Human beings have wants and desires which influence their behaviour. Only unsatisfied needs influence behaviour, satisfied needs do not.
Since needs are many, they are arranged in order of importance, from the basic to the complex.
The person advances to the next level of needs only after the lower level need is at least minimally satisfied.
The further the progress up the hierarchy, the more individuality, humanness and psychological health a person will show.

The needs, listed from basic (lowest-earliest) to most complexes (highest-latest) are as follows:

Physiology (hunger, thirst, sleep, etc.)
Safety/Security/Shelter/Health
Belongingness/Love/Friendship
Self-esteem/Recognition/Achievement
Self-actualisation

Herzberg’s two-factor theory

Frederick Herzberg’s two-factor theory, a.k.a. intrinsic/extrinsic motivation, concludes that certain factors in the workplace result in job satisfaction, but if absent, they don’t lead to dissatisfaction but no satisfaction. The factors that motivate people can change over their lifetime, but “respect for me as a person” is one of the top motivating factors at any stage of life.

He distinguished between:

Motivators; (e.g. challenging work, recognition, responsibility) which give positive satisfaction, and

Hygiene factors; (e.g. status, job security, salary and fringe benefits) that do not motivate if present, but, if absent, result in demotivation.

The name Hygiene factors is used because, like hygiene, the presence will not make you healthier, but absence can cause health deterioration.

The theory is sometimes called the “Motivator-Hygiene Theory” and/or “The Dual Structure Theory.”

Herzberg’s theory has found application in such occupational fields as information systems and in studies of user satisfaction.

Alderfer’s ERG theory

Alderfer, expanding on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, created the ERG theory. This theory posits that there are three groups of core need — existence, relatedness, and growth, hence the label: ERG theory. The existence group is concerned with providing our basic material existence requirements. They include the items that Maslow considered to be physiological and safety needs. The second group of needs are those of relatedness- the desire we have for maintaining important interpersonal relationships. These social and status desires require interaction with others if they are to be satisfied, and they align with Maslow’s social need and the external component of Maslow’s esteem classification. Finally, Alderfer isolates growth needs’ an intrinsic desire for personal development. These include the intrinsic component from Maslow’s esteem category and the characteristics included under self-actualization.

Self-determination theory

Self-determination theory (SDT), developed by Edward Deci and Richard Ryan, focuses on the importance of intrinsic motivation in driving human behaviour. Like Maslow’s hierarchical theory and others that built on it, SDT posits a natural tendency toward growth and development. Unlike these other theories, however, SDT does not include any sort of “autopilot” for achievement, but instead requires active encouragement from the environment. The primary factors that encourage motivation and development are autonomy, competence feedback, and relatedness.

Broad theories

The latest approach in developing a broad, integrative theory of motivation is Temporal Motivation Theory(TMT). Introduced in a 2007 Academy of Management Review article, it synthesizes into a single formulation the primary aspects (including time as a fundamental term) of several other major motivational theories, including Incentive Theory, Drive Theory, Need Theory, Self-Efficacy and Goal Setting. The original researchers note that, in an effort to keep the theory simple, existing theories to integrate were selected based on their shared attributes, and that these theories are still of value, as TMT does not contain the same depth of detail as each individual theory. However, it still simplifies the field of motivation and allows findings from one theory to be translated into terms of another.

Achievement Motivation is an integrative perspective based on the premise that performance motivation results from the way broad components of personality are directed towards performance. As a result, it includes a range of dimensions that are relevant to success at work but which are not conventionally regarded as being part of performance motivation. Especially it integrates formerly separated approaches as Need for Achievement with, for example, social motives like dominance. The Achievement Motivation Inventory is based on this theory and assesses three factors (in 17 separated scales) relevant to vocational and professional success.

Cognitive theories

Piaget’s theory of cognitive development is a comprehensive theory about the nature and development of human intelligence first developed by Jean Piaget. It is primarily known as a developmental stage theory, but in fact, it deals with the nature of knowledge itself and how humans come gradually to acquire, construct, and use it. Moreover, Piaget claims the idea that cognitive development is at the center of human organism and language is contingent on cognitive development. Below, there is first a short description of Piaget’s views about the nature of intelligence and then a description of the stages through which it develops until maturity.

Nature of intelligence: operative and figurative intelligence

Piaget believed that reality is a dynamic system of continuous change, and as such is defined in reference to the two conditions that define dynamic systems. Specifically, he argued that reality involves transformations and states. Transformations refer to all manners of changes that a thing or person can undergo. States refer to the conditions or the appearances in which things or persons can be found between transformations. For example, there might be changes in shape or form (for instance, liquids are reshaped as they are transferred from one vessel to another, humans change in their characteristics as they grow older), in size (e.g., a series of coins on a table might be placed close to each other or far apart) in placement or location in space and time (e.g., various objects or persons might be found at one place at one time and at a different place at another time). Thus, Piaget argued, that if human intelligence is to be adaptive, it must have functions to represent both the transformational and the static aspects of reality. He proposed that operative intelligence is responsible for the representation and manipulation of the dynamic or transformational aspects of reality and that figurative intelligence is responsible for the representation of the static aspects of reality.

Operative intelligence is the active aspect of intelligence. It involves all actions, overt or covert, undertaken in order to follow, recover, or anticipate the transformations of the objects or persons of interest. Figurative intelligence is the more or less static aspect of intelligence, involving all means of representation used to retain in mind the states (i.e., successive forms, shapes, or locations) that intervene between transformations. That is, it involves perception, imitation, mental imagery, drawing, and language. Therefore, the figurative aspects of intelligence derive their meaning from the operative aspects of intelligence, because states cannot exist independently of the transformations that interconnect them. Piaget believed that the figurative or the representational aspects of intelligence are subservient to its operative and dynamic aspects, and therefore, that understanding essentially derives from the operative aspect of intelligence.

At any time, operative intelligence frames how the world is understood and it changes if understanding is not successful. Piaget believed that this process of understanding and change involves two basic functions: Assimilation and accommodation.

Assimilation and accommodation

Through studying the field of education Piaget focused on accommodation and assimilation. Assimilation, one of two processes coined by Jean Piaget, describes how humans perceive and adapt to new information. It is the process of taking one’s environment and new information and fitting it into pre-existing cognitive schemas. Assimilation occurs when humans are faced with new or unfamiliar information and refer to previously learned information in order to make sense of it. Accommodation, unlike assimilation is the process of taking one’s environment and new information, and altering one’s pre-existing schemas in order to fit in the new information.

Through a series of stages, Piaget explains the ways in which characteristics are constructed that lead to specific types of thinking; this chart is called Cognitive Development. To Piaget, assimilation is integrating external elements into structures of lives or environments or those we could have through experience. It is through assimilation that accommodation is derived. Accommodation is imperative because it is how people will continue to interpret new concepts, schemas, frameworks, etc. Assimilation is different from accommodation because of how it relates to the inner organism due to the environment. Piaget believes that the human brain has been programmed through evolution to bring equilibrium, and to move upwards in a process to equilibrate what is not. The equilibrium is what Piaget believes ultimately influences structures because of the internal and external processes through assimilation and accommodation.

Piaget’s understanding is that these two functions cannot exist without the other. To assimilate an object into an existing mental schema, one first needs to take into account or accommodate to the particularities of this object to a certain extent; for instance, to recognize (assimilate) an apple as an apple one needs first to focus (accommodate) on the contour of this object. To do this one needs to roughly recognize the size of the object. Development increases the balance or equilibration between these two functions. When in balance with each other, assimilation and accommodation generate mental schemas of the operative intelligence. When one function dominates over the other, they generate representations which belong to figurative intelligence.

Sensorimotor stage

The sensorimotor stage is the first of the four stages in cognitive development which “extends from birth to the acquisition of language”. “In this stage, infants construct an understanding of the world by coordinating experiences (such as seeing and hearing) with physical, motoric actions. Infants gain knowledge of the world from the physical actions they perform on it. An infant progresses from reflexive, instinctual action at birth to the beginning of symbolic thought toward the end of the stage. Piaget divided the sensorimotor stage into six sub-stages”:0–2 years, Infants just have senses-vision, hearing, and motor skills, such as grasping, sucking, and stepping.—from Psychology Study Guide by Bernstein, Penner, Clarke-Stewart, Roy

The first stage is called the Sensorimotor stage (birth to about age 2). In this stage knowledge of the world is limited (but developing) because it’s based on physical interactions/experiences. The child learns that he is separate from his environment and that aspects of his environment continue to exist even though they may be outside the reach of his senses. Behaviors are limited to simple motor responses caused by sensory stimuli. In this stage according to Piaget, the development of object permanence is one of the most important accomplishments at the sensorimotor stage. (Object permanence is a child understands that objects continue to exist even though they cannot be seen or heard).

Sub-Stage	Age	Description
1 Simple Reflexes	Birth-6 weeks	“Coordination of sensation and action through reflexive behaviours”. Three primary reflexes are described by Piaget: sucking of objects in the mouth, following moving or interesting objects with the eyes, and closing of the hand when an object makes contact with the palm (palmar grasp). Over the first six weeks of life, these reflexes begin to become voluntary actions; for example, the palmar reflex becomes intentional grasping.).
2 First habits and primary circular reactions phase	6 weeks-4 months	“Coordination of sensation and two types of schemes: habits (reflex) and primary circular reactions (reproduction of an event that initially occurred by chance). Main focus is still on the infant’s body.” As an example of this type of reaction, an infant might repeat the motion of passing their hand before their face. Also at this phase, passive reactions, caused by classical or operant conditioning, can begin.
3 Secondary circular reactions phase	4–8 months	Development of habits. “Infants become more object-oriented, moving beyond self-preoccupation; repeat actions that bring interesting or pleasurable results.” This stage is associated primarily with the development of coordination between vision and prehension. Three new abilities occur at this stage: intentional grasping for a desired object, secondary circular reactions, and differentiations between ends and means. At this stage, infants will intentionally grasp the air in the direction of a desired object, often to the amusement of friends and family. Secondary circular reactions, or the repetition of an action involving an external object begin; for example, moving a switch to turn on a light repeatedly. The differentiation between means and ends also occurs. This is perhaps one of the most important stages of a child’s growth as it signifies the dawn of logic.
4 Coordination of secondary circular reactions stages	8–12 months	“Coordination of vision and touch–hand-eye coordination; coordination of schemes and intentionality.” This stage is associated primarily with the development of logic and the coordination between means and ends. This is an extremely important stage of development, holding what Piaget calls the “first proper intelligence.” Also, this stage marks the beginning of goal orientation, the deliberate planning of steps to meet an objective.
5 Tertiary circular reactions, novelty, and curiosity	12–18 months	“Infants become intrigued by the many properties of objects and by the many things they can make happen to objects; they experiment with new behaviour.” This stage is associated primarily with the discovery of new means to meet goals. Piaget describes the child at this juncture as the “young scientist,” conducting pseudo-experiments to discover new methods of meeting challenges.
6 Internalization of Schemes	18–24 months	“Infants develop the ability to use primitive symbols and form enduring mental representations.” This stage is associated primarily with the beginnings of insight, or true creativity. This marks the passage into the preoperational stage.

By the end of the sensorimotor period, objects are both separate from the self and permanent. Object permanence is the understanding that objects continue to exist even when they cannot be seen, heard, or touched. Acquiring the sense of object permanence is one of the infant’s most important accomplishments, according to Piaget.

Preoperational stage

The Cognitive Development Approaches. By observing sequences of play, Jean Piaget was able to demonstrate that towards the end of the second year, a qualitatively new kind of psychological functioning occurs.

(Pre)Operatory Thought is any procedure for mentally acting on objects. The hallmark of the preoperational stage is sparse and logically inadequate mental operations. During this stage, the child learns to use and to represent objects by images, words, and drawings. The child is able to form stable concepts as well as mental reasoning and magical beliefs. The child however is still not able to perform operations; tasks that the child can do mentally rather than physically. Thinking is still egocentric. The child has difficulty taking the viewpoint of others. Two sub stages can be formed from preoperative thought.

The Symbolic Function Sub stage

Occurs between about the ages of 2 and 7. At 2-4 years of age, kids cannot yet manipulate and transform information in logical ways, but they now can think in images and symbols. The child is able to formulate designs of objects that are not present. Other examples of mental abilities are language and pretend play. Although there is an advance in progress, there are still limitations such as egocentrism and animism. Egocentrism occurs when a child is unable to distinguish between their own perspective and that of another person’s. Children tend to pick their own view of what they see rather than the actual view shown to others. An example is an experiment performed by Piaget and Barbel Inhelder. Three views of a mountain are shown and the child is asked what a traveling doll would see at the various angles; the child picks their own view compared to the actual view of the doll. Animism is the belief that inanimate objects are capable of actions and have lifelike qualities. An example is a child believing that the sidewalk was mad and made them fall down.

The Intuitive Thought Sub stage

Occurs between about the ages of 4 and 7. Children tend to become very curious and ask many questions; begin the use of primitive reasoning. There is an emergence in the interest of reasoning and wanting to know why things are the way they are. Piaget called it the intuitive sub stage because children realize they have a vast amount of knowledge but they are unaware of how they know it. ‘Centration’ and ‘conservation’ are both involved in preoperative thought. Centration is the act of focusing all attention on one characteristic compared to the others. Centration is noticed in conservation; the awareness that altering a substance’s appearance does not change its basic properties. Children at this stage are unaware of conservation. Example, In Piaget’s most famous task, a child is presented with two identical beakers containing the same amount of liquid. The child usually notes that the beakers have the same amount of liquid. When one of the beakers is poured into a taller and thinner container, children who are younger than 7 or 8 years old typically say that the two beakers no longer contain the same amount of liquid, and the taller container holds the larger quantity. The child simply focuses on the height and width of the container compared to the general concept.

The second stage is called Pre-operational stage (begins about the time the child starts to talk at about the age of 2). Intelligence is demonstrated through the use of symbols, language use matures, and memory and imaginations are developed. The child’s thinking is influenced by fantasy (the way the child would like things to be) and the child assumes that others see situations from his viewpoint. The child takes in information’s and then changes it in his mind to fit his idea. Piaget noted that children in this stage do not yet understand concrete logic, cannot mentally manipulate information. Children’s increase in playing and pretending takes place in the pre-operational stage.

Concrete operational stage

The concrete operational stage is the third of four stages of cognitive development in Piaget’s theory. This stage, which follows the preoperational stage, occurs between the ages of 7 and 11 years and is characterized by the appropriate use of logic. Important processes during this stage are:

Serration—the ability to sort objects in an order according to size, shape, or any other characteristic. For example, if given different-shaded objects they may make a color gradient.

Transitivity– Transitivity, which refers to the ability to recognize relationships among various things in a serial order. For example, when told to put away his books according to height, the child recognizes that he starts with placing the tallest one on one end of the bookshelf and the shortest one ends up at the other end.

Classification—the ability to name and identify sets of objects according to appearance, size or other characteristic, including the idea that one set of objects can include another.

Decentering—where the child takes into account multiple aspects of a problem to solve it. For example, the child will no longer perceive an exceptionally wide but short cup to contain less than a normally wide, taller cup.

Reversibility—the child understands that numbers or objects can be changed, then returned to their original state. For example, during this stage, a child understands that a favorite ball that deflates is not gone but can be filled with air again and put back into play.

Conservation—understanding that quantity, length or number of items is unrelated to the arrangement or appearance of the object or items.

Elimination of Egocentrism—the ability to view things from another’s perspective (even if they think incorrectly). For instance, show a child a comic in which Jane puts a doll under a box, leaves the room, and then Melissa moves the doll to a drawer, and Jane comes back. A child in the concrete operations stage will say that Jane will still think it’s under the box even though the child knows it is in the drawer. (See also False-belief task).

Children in this stage can, however, only solve problems that apply to actual (concrete) objects or events, and not abstract concepts or hypothetical tasks.

The third stage is known as Concrete operational stage (First grade to early adolescence): Intelligence is demonstrated through logical and systematic manipulation of symbols related to concrete objects. The child develops an ability to think abstractly and to make rational judgments about concrete or observable phenomena, which in the past he needed to manipulate physically to understand. Logic: Piaget determined that children in the concrete operational stage were able to incorporate inductive logic. On the other hand, children at this age have difficulty using deductive logic, which involves using a general principle to predict the outcome of a specific event. Reversibility: An example of this is being able to reverse the order of relationships between mental categories. For example, a child might be able to recognize that his or her dog is a Labrador, that a Labrador is a dog, and that a dog is an animal, and draw conclusions from the information available, as well as apply all these processes to hypothetical situations. The abstract quality of the adolescent’s thought at the formal operational level is evident in the adolescent’s verbal problem solving ability. The logical quality of the adolescent’s thought is when children are more likely to solve problems in a trial-and-error fashion. Adolescents begin to think more as a scientist thinks, devising plans to solve problems and systematically testing solutions. They use hypothetical-deductive reasoning, which means that they develop hypotheses or best guesses, and systematically deduce, or conclude, which is the best path to follow in solving the problem.

During this stage the adolescent is able to understand such things as love, “shades of gray”, logical proofs and values. During this stage the young person begins to entertain possibilities for the future and is fascinated with what they can be. Adolescents are changing cognitively also by the way that they think about social matters. Adolescent Egocentrism governs the way that adolescents think about social matters and is the heightened self-consciousness in them as they are which is reflected in their sense of personal uniqueness and invincibility.

Adolescent egocentrism can be dissected into two types of social thinking, imaginary audience that involves attention getting behavior, and personal fable which involves an adolescent’s sense of personal uniqueness and invincibility.

Formal operational stage

The final stage is known as Formal operational stage (adolescence and into adulthood): Intelligence is demonstrated through the logical use of symbols related to abstract concepts.

At this point, the person is capable of hypothetical and deductive reasoning. During this time, people develop the ability to think about abstract concepts. Logic: Piaget believed that deductive logic becomes important during the formal operational stage. This type of thinking involves hypothetical situations and is often required in science and mathematics.

Abstract thought emerges during the formal operational stage. Children tend to think very concretely and specifically in earlier stages. Children begin to consider possible outcomes and consequences of actions. Problem-Solving is when children use trial-and-error to solve problems. The ability to systematically solve a problem in a logical and methodical way emerges.

The stages and causation

Piaget sees children’s conception of causation as a march from “primitive” conceptions of cause to those of a more scientific, rigorous, and mechanical nature. These primitive concepts are characterized as magical, with a decidedly non-natural or non-mechanical tone. Piaget attributes this to his most basic assumption: those babies are phenomenists.

That is, their knowledge “consists of assimilating things to schemas” from their own action such that they appear, from the child’s point of view, “to have qualities which in fact stem from the organism.” Consequently, these “subjective conceptions,” so prevalent during Piaget’s first stage of development, are dashed upon discovering deeper empirical truths.

Piaget gives the example of a child believing the moon and stars follow him on a night walk; upon learning that such is the case for his friends, he must separate his self from the object, resulting in a theory that the moon is immobile, or moves independently of other agents.

The second stage, from around three to eight years of age, is characterized by a mix of this type of magical, animistic, or “non-natural” conceptions of causation and mechanical or “naturalistic” causation. This conjunction of natural and non-natural causal explanations supposedly stems from experience itself, though Piaget does not make much of an attempt to describe the nature of the differences in conception; in his interviews with children, he asked specifically about natural phenomena: what makes clouds move? What makes the stars move? Why do rivers flow? The nature of all the answers given, Piaget says, are such that these objects must perform their actions to “fulfill their obligations towards men.” He calls this “moral explanation.”

Challenges to Piagetian stage theory

Piagetians’ accounts of development have been challenged on several grounds. First, as Piaget himself noted, development does not always progress in the smooth manner his theory seems to predict. ‘Decalage’, or unpredicted gaps in the developmental progression, suggest that the stage model is at best a useful approximation. Furthermore, studies have found that children may be able to learn concepts supposedly represented in more advanced stages with relative ease. More broadly, Piaget’s theory is ‘domain general’, predicting that cognitive maturation occurs concurrently across different domains of knowledge (such as mathematics, logic, understanding of physics, of language, etc.). During the 1980s and 1990s, cognitive developmentalists were influenced by “neo-nativist” and evolutionary psychology ideas. These ideas de-emphasized domain general theories and emphasized domain specificity or modularity of mind. Modularity implies that different cognitive faculties may be largely independent of one another and thus develop according to quite different time-tables. In this vein, some cognitive developmentalists argued that rather than being domain general learners, children come equipped with domain specific theories, sometimes referred to as ‘core knowledge’, which allows them to break into learning within that domain. For example, even young infants appear to be sensitive to some predictable regularities in the movement and interactions of objects (e.g. that one object cannot pass through another), or in human behavior (e.g. that a hand repeatedly reaching for an object has that object, not just a particular path of motion), as its be the building block out of which more elaborate knowledge is constructed. More recent work has strongly challenged some of the basic presumptions of the ‘core knowledge’ school, and revised ideas of domain generality—but from a newer dynamic systems approach, not from a revised Piagetian perspective. Dynamic systems approaches harken to modern neuro-scientific research that was not available to Piaget when he was constructing his theory. One important finding is that domain-specific knowledge is constructed as children develop and integrate knowledge. This suggests more of a “smooth integration” of learning and development than either Piaget, or his neo-nativist critics, had envisioned. Additionally, some psychologists, such as Vygotsky and Jerome Bruner, thought differently from Piaget, suggesting that language was more important than Piaget implied.

Post Piagetian and Neo-Piagetian stages

In the recent years, several scholars attempted to ameliorate the problems of Piaget’s theory by developing new theories and models that can accommodate evidence that violates Piagetian predictions and postulates. These models are summarized below.

The neo-Piagetian theories of cognitive ”’development, advanced by Case, Demetriou, Halford, Fischer, and Pascual-Leone, attempted to integrate Piaget’s theory with cognitive and differential theories of cognitive organization and development. Their aim was to better account for the cognitive factors of development and for intra-individual and inter-individual differences in cognitive development. They suggested that development along Piaget’s stages is due to increasing working memory capacity and processing efficiency. Moreover, Demetrious’s theory ascribes an important role to hyper cognitive processes of self-recording, self-monitoring, and self-regulation and it recognizes the operation of several relatively autonomous domains of thought (Demetriou, 1998; Demetrious, Mouyi, Spanoudis, 2010).

Post formal stages have been proposed. Kurt Fischer suggested two, Michael Commons presents evidence for four post formal stages: the systematic, metasystematic, and paradigmatic and cross paradigmatic. (Commons & Richards, 2003; Oliver, 2004).

A “sentential” stage has been proposed, said to occur before the early preoperational stage. Proposed by Fischer, Biggs and Biggs, Commons, and Richards.

Searching for a micro-physiological basis for human mental capacity, Traill (1978, Section C5.4 [2]; – 1999, Section 8.4 [3]) proposed that there may be “pre-sensorimotor” stages (“M⁻¹L”, “M⁻²L”, … … ) — developed in the womb and/or transmitted genetically.

Postulated physical mechanisms underlying “schemes” and stages

Piaget (1967) considered the possibility of RNA molecules as likely embodiments of his still-abstract “schemes” (which he promoted as units of action) — though he did not come to any firm conclusion. At that time, due to work such as that of Holger Hydén, RNA concentrations had indeed been shown to correlate with learning, so the idea was quite plausible.

However, by the time of Piaget’s death in 1980, this notion had lost favour. One main problem was over the protein which (it was assumed) such RNA would necessarily produce, and that did not fit in with observation. It then turned out, surprisingly, that only about 3% of RNA does code for protein (Mattick, 2001, 2003, 2004). Hence most of the remaining 97% (the “ncRNA”) could now theoretically be available to serve as Piagetian schemes (or other regulatory roles now under investigation). The issue has not yet been resolved experimentally, but its theoretical aspects have been reviewed; (Traill 2005 / 2008).

Relation to psychometric theories of intelligence

Piaget designed a number of tasks to verify hypotheses arising from his theory. The tasks were not intended to measure individual differences, and they have no equivalent in psychometric intelligence tests. Notwithstanding the different research traditions in which psychometric tests and Piagetian tasks were developed, the correlations between the two types of measures have been found to be consistently positive and generally moderate in magnitude. A common general factor underlies them. It has been shown that it is possible to construct a battery consisting of Piagetian tasks that is as good a measure of general intelligence as standard IQ tests.

Goal-setting theory

Goal-setting theory is based on the notion that individuals sometimes have a drive to reach a clearly defined end state. Often, this end state is a reward in itself. A goal’s efficiency is affected by three features: proximity, difficulty and specificity. Good goal setting incorporates the SMART criteria, in which goals are: specific, measurable, accurate, realistic, and timely. An ideal goal should present a situation where the time between the initiation of behaviour and the end state is close. This explains why some children are more motivated to learn how to ride a bike than to master algebra. A goal should be moderate, not too hard or too easy to complete. In both cases, most people are not optimally motivated, as many want a challenge (which assumes some kind of insecurity of success). At the same time people want to feel that there is a substantial probability that they will succeed. Specificity concerns the description of the goal in their class. The goal should be objectively defined and intelligible for the individual. A classic example of a poorly specified goal is to get the highest possible grade. Most children have no idea how much effort they need to reach that goal.

Models of behaviour change

Social-cognitive models of behaviour change include the constructs of motivation and volition. Motivation is seen as a process that leads to the forming of behavioural intentions. Volition is seen as a process that leads from intention to actual behaviour. In other words, motivation and volition refer to goal setting and goal pursuit, respectively. Both processes require self-regulatory efforts. Several self-regulatory constructs are needed to operate in orchestration to attain goals. An example of such a motivational and volitional construct is perceived self-efficacy. Self-efficacy is supposed to facilitate the forming of behavioural intentions, the development of action plans, and the initiation of action. It can support the translation of intentions into action.

Unconscious motivation

Some psychologists believe that a significant portion of human behaviour is energized and directed by unconscious motives. According to Maslow, “Psychoanalysis has often demonstrated that the relationship between a conscious desire and the ultimate unconscious aim that underlies it need not be at all direct.”

Intrinsic motivation and the 16 basic desires theory

Starting from studies involving more than 6,000 people, Professor Steven Reiss has proposed a theory that found 16 basic desires that guide nearly all human behaviour. The 16 basic desires that motivate our actions and define our personalities as:

Acceptance, the need for approval
Curiosity, the need to learn
Eating, the need for food
Family, the need to raise children
Honour, the need to be loyal to the traditional values of one’s clan/ethnic group
Idealism, the need for social justice
Independence, the need for individuality
Order, the need for organized, stable, predictable environments
Physical activity, the need for exercise
Power, the need for influence of will
Romance, the need for sex
Saving, the need to collect
Social contact, the need for friends (peer relationships)
Social status, the need for social standing/importance
Tranquillity, the need to be safe
Vengeance, the need to strike back/to win

In this model, people differ in these basic desires. These basic desires represent intrinsic desires that directly motivate a person’s behaviour, and not aimed at indirectly satisfying other desires. People may also be motivated by non-basic desires, but in this case this does not relate to deep motivation, or only as a means to achieve other basic desires.

Controlling motivation

The control of motivation is only understood to a limited extent. There are many different approaches of motivation training, but many of these are considered pseudoscientific by critics. To understand how to control motivation it is first necessary to understand why many people lack motivation.

Employee motivation

Workers in any organization need something to keep them working. Most of the time, the salary of the employee is enough to keep him or her working for an organization. An employee must be motivated to work for a company or organization. If no motivation is present in an employee, then that employee’s quality of work or all work in general will deteriorate.

When motivating an audience, you can use general motivational strategies or specific motivational appeals. General motivational strategies include soft sell versus hard sell and personality type. Soft sell strategies have logical appeals, emotional appeals, advice and praise. Hard sell strategies have barter, outnumbering, pressure and rank. Also, you can consider basing your strategy on your audience personality. Specific motivational appeals focus on provable facts, feelings, right and wrong, audience rewards and audience threats.

Job Characteristics Model

The Job Characteristics Model (JCM), as designed by Hackman and Oldham attempts to use job design to improve employee motivation. They have identified that any job can be described in terms of five key job characteristics;

Skill Variety – the degree to which a job requires different skills and talents to complete a number of different activities
Task Identity – this dimension refers to the completion of a whole and identifiable piece of work versus a partial task as part of a larger piece of work
Task Significance – is the impact of the task upon the lives or work of others
Autonomy – is the degree of independence or freedom allowed to complete a job
Task Feedback – individually obtaining direct and clear feedback about the effectiveness of the individual carrying out the work activities

The JCM links these core job dimensions listed above to critical psychological states which results in desired personal and work outcomes. This forms the basis of this ’employee growth-need strength.” The core dimensions listed above can be combined into a single predictive index, called the Motivating Potential Score.

Motivating Potential Score

The motivating potential score (MPS) can be calculated, using the core dimensions discussed above, as follows;

Jobs that are high in motivating potential must be high on at least one of the three factors that lead to experienced meaningfulness, and also must be high on both Autonomy and Feedback. If a job has a high MPS, the job characteristics model predicts that motivation, performance and job satisfaction will be positively affected and the likelihood of negative outcomes, such as absenteeism and turnover, will be reduced.

Education

Motivation is of particular interest to educational psychologists because of the crucial role it plays in student learning. However, the specific kind of motivation that is studied in the specialized setting of education differs qualitatively from the more general forms of motivation studied by psychologists in other fields.

Motivation in education can have several effects on how students learn and how they behave towards subject matter. It can:

Direct behaviour toward particular goals
Lead to increased effort and energy
Increase initiation of, and persistence in, activities
Enhance cognitive processing
Determine what consequences are reinforcing
Lead to improved performance.

Because students are not always internally motivated, they sometimes need situated motivation, which is found in environmental conditions that the teacher creates.

If teachers decided to extrinsically reward productive student behaviours, they may find it difficult to extricate themselves from that path. Consequently student dependency on extrinsic rewards represents one of the greatest detractors from their use in the classroom.

The majority of new student orientation leaders at colleges and universities recognize that distinctive needs of students should be considered in regard to orientation information provided at the beginning of the higher education experience. Research done by Whyte in 1986 raised the awareness of counsellors and educators in this regard. In 2007, the National Orientation Directors Association reprinted Cassandra B. Whyte’s research report allowing readers to ascertain improvements made in addressing specific needs of students over a quarter of a century later to help with academic success.

Generally, motivation is conceptualized as either intrinsic or extrinsic. Classically, these categories are regarded as distinct. Today, these concepts are less likely to be used as distinct categories, but instead as two ideal types that define a continuum:

Intrinsic motivation occurs when people are internally motivated to do something because it either brings them pleasure, they think it is important, or they feel that what they are learning is significant. It has been shown that intrinsic motivation for education drops from grades 3-9 though the exact cause cannot be ascertained. Also, in younger students it has been shown that contextualizing material that would otherwise be presented in an abstract manner increases the intrinsic motivation of these students.

Extrinsic motivation comes into play when a student is compelled to do something or act a certain way because of factors external to him or her (like money or good grades).

Cassandra B. Whyte researched and reported about the importance of locus of control and academic achievement. Students tending toward a more internal locus of control are more academically successful, thus encouraging curriculum and activity development with consideration of motivation theories.

Motivation has been found to be an important element in the concept of Andragogy (what motivates the adult learner), and in treating Autism Spectrum Disorders, as in Pivotal Response Therapy.

Doyle and Moeyn have noted that traditional methods tended to use anxiety as negative motivation (e.g. use of bad grades by teachers) as a method of getting students to work. However, they have found that progressive approaches with focus on positive motivation over punishment has produced greater effectiveness with learning, since anxiety interferes with performance of complex tasks.

Sudbury Model schools adduce that the cure to the problem of procrastination, of learning in general, and particularly of scientific illiteracy is to remove once and for all what they call the underlying disease: compulsion in schools. They contend that human nature in a free society recoils from every attempt to force it into a mould; that the more requirements we pile onto children at school, the surer we are to drive them away from the material we are trying to force down their throats; that after all the drive and motivation of infants to master the world around them is legendary. They assert that schools must keep that drive alive by doing what some of them do: nurturing it on the freedom it needs to thrive.

Sudbury Model schools do not perform and do not offer evaluations, assessments, transcripts, or recommendations, asserting that they do not rate people, and that school is not a judge; comparing students to each other, or to some standard that has been set is for them a violation of the student’s right to privacy and to self-determination. Students decide for themselves how to measure their progress as self-starting learners as a process of self-evaluation: real lifelong learning and the proper educational evaluation for the 21st century, they adduce. According to Sudbury Model schools, this policy does not cause harm to their students as they move on to life outside the school. However, they admit it makes the process more difficult, but that such hardship is part of the students learning to make their own way, set their own standards and meet their own goals. The no-grading and no-rating policy helps to create an atmosphere free of competition among students or battles for adult approval, and encourages a positive cooperative environment amongst the student body.

Business

At lower levels of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, such as physiological needs, money is a motivator; however it tends to have a motivating effect on staff that lasts only for a short period (in accordance with Herzberg’s two-factor model of motivation). At higher levels of the hierarchy, praise, respect, recognition, empowerment and a sense of belonging are far more powerful motivators than money, as both Abraham Maslow’s theory of motivation and Douglas McGregor’s theory X and theory Y (pertaining to the theory of leadership) demonstrate.

According to Maslow, people are motivated by unsatisfied needs. The lower level needs such as Physiological and Safety needs will have to be satisfied before higher level needs are to be addressed. We can relate Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs theory with employee motivation. For example, if a manager is trying to motivate his employees by satisfying their needs; according to Maslow, he should try to satisfy the lower level needs before he tries to satisfy the upper level needs or the employees will not be motivated. Also he has to remember that not everyone will be satisfied by the same needs. A good manager will try to figure out which levels of needs are active for a certain individual or employee.

Maslow has money at the lowest level of the hierarchy and shows other needs are better motivators to staff. McGregor places money in his Theory X category and feels it is a poor motivator. Praise and recognition are placed in the Theory Y category and are considered stronger motivators than money.

Motivated employees always look for better ways to do a job.
Motivated employees are more quality oriented.
Motivated workers are more productive.

The average workplace is about midway between the extremes of high threat and high opportunity. Motivation by threat is a dead-end strategy, and naturally staffs are more attracted to the opportunity side of the motivation curve than the threat side. Motivation is a powerful tool in the work environment that can lead to employees working at their most efficient levels of production.

Nonetheless, Steinmetz also discusses three common character types of subordinates: ascendant, indifferent, and ambivalent that all react and interact uniquely, and must be treated, managed, and motivated accordingly. An effective leader must understand how to manage all characters, and more importantly the manager must utilize avenues that allow room for employees to work, grow, and find answers independently.

The assumptions of Maslow and Herzberg were challenged by a classic study at Vauxhall Motors’ UK manufacturing plant. This introduced the concept of orientation to work and distinguished three main orientations: instrumental (where work is a means to an end), bureaucratic (where work is a source of status, security and immediate reward) and solidaristic (which prioritises group loyalty).

Other theories which expanded and extended those of Maslow and Herzberg included Kurt Lewin’s Force Field Theory, Edwin Locke’s Goal Theory and Victor Vroom’s Expectancy theory. These tend to stress cultural differences and the fact that individuals tend to be motivated by different factors at different times.

According to the system of scientific management developed by Frederick Winslow Taylor, a worker’s motivation is solely determined by pay, and therefore management need not consider psychological or social aspects of work. In essence, scientific management bases human motivation wholly on extrinsic rewards and discards the idea of intrinsic rewards.

In contrast, David McClelland believed that workers could not be motivated by the mere need for money—in fact, extrinsic motivation (e.g., money) could extinguish intrinsic motivation such as achievement motivation, though money could be used as an indicator of success for various motives, e.g., keeping score. In keeping with this view, his consulting firm, McBer & Company, had as its first motto “To make everyone productive, happy, and free.” For McClelland, satisfaction lay in aligning a person’s life with their fundamental motivations.

Elton Mayo found that the social contacts a worker has at the workplace are very important and that boredom and repetitiveness of tasks lead to reduced motivation. Mayo believed that workers could be motivated by acknowledging their social needs and making them feel important. As a result, employees were given freedom to make decisions on the job and greater attention was paid to informal work groups. Mayo named the model the Hawthorne effect. His model has been judged as placing undue reliance on social contacts at work situations for motivating employees.

William Ouchi introduced Theory Z, a hybrid management approach consisting of both Japanese and American philosophies and cultures. Its Japanese segment is much like the clan culture where organizations focus on a standardized structure with heavy emphasis on socialization of its members. All underlying goals are consistent across the organization. Its American segment retains formality and authority amongst members and the organization. Ultimately, Theory Z promotes common structure and commitment to the organization, as well as constant improvement of work efficacy.

In Essentials of Organizational Behaviour, Robbins and Judge examine recognition programs as motivators, and identify five principles that contribute to the success of an employee incentive program:

Recognition of employees’ individual differences and clear identification of behaviour deemed worthy of recognition
Allowing employees to participate
Linking rewards to performance
Rewarding of nominators
Visibility of the recognition process

Social-awareness

Social consciousness is consciousness shared within a society. It can also be defined as social awareness; to be aware of the problems that different societies and communities face on a day-to-day basis; to be conscious of the difficulties and hardships of society.

Acquired

A subject with an acquired social consciousness derives his or her viewpoint from the mainstream culture.

Awakened

A subject with an awakened social consciousness explores alternatives to the dominant cultural viewpoint.

Expanded

A subject with an expanded social consciousness strongly identifies with their marginalized group.

In the past, Social Awareness has always been about finding a non-profit that fits with your own personal values and then designing some kind of communication to highlight their plight. This is fine but it does not require you to look deeper into social issues and also think about how YOU can make a real change, not just a cursory rendition of manufactured meaning.

Therefore, this year we are going to look at manufacturing real social change. The surest way to end inequality is education and, to this end, it is your task to develop, design, make and then market/sell/get funding for an educational game or toy.

This can be as simple as you want, allowing young children to learn about colour, texture and shape through wooden blocks, to an online game etc. Remember, the simpler and more rudimentary the product, the more chance it has of really becoming a tool of change.

Outcome:
NEEDS TO BE PRESENTED IN AN ONLINE SPACE – YOUTUBE ETC, this is up to you. Slideshare, Youtube, however you choose. You basically need to put together a presentation to get funding/help/sales of the toy or game.
When developing new products it is essential that one presents the idea, along with all the sales and marketing material that would help drive sales when talking to prospective partners, chain stores or other. It is therefore mandatory that you develop and include this material in your presentation (4 contact points). How this is done is up to you, it’s your time to fly.

Considerations:
What kinds of things do children need to know? What will encourage them to think, explore and learn new things in an interesting way? You can look into child psychology, the nature of learning, South African educational issues etc. for inspiration.

Objectives:

Be able to give examples of excellent historical and contemporary social responsibility solutions and practitioners in this field.

Understand the concept of sustainability in visual communication media and messages

Be able to conceptualize visual communication solutions that are informative, socially responsible, and sustainable.

Be able to demonstrate thorough research that informed innovative strategic and creative solutions.

Be able to demonstrate at least 10 initial concepts through scamps that would solve the brand problem.

Execute on a professional level a visual communication solution that is informative, socially responsible, and sustainable..

Efficiently present the campaign on an online space (ex. YouTube)

Relationship-Management

Customer relationship management (CRM) is a widely implemented model for managing a company’s interactions with customers, clients, and sales prospects. It involves using technology to organize, automate, and synchronize business processes—principally sales activities, but also those for marketing, customer service, and technical support. The overall goals are to find, attract, and win new clients; nurture and retain those the company already has; entice former clients back into the fold; and reduce the costs of marketing and client service. Customer relationship management describes a company-wide business strategy including customer-interface departments as well as other departments. Measuring and valuing customer relationships is critical to implementing this strategy.

Benefits of Customer Relationship Management

A Customer Relationship Management system may be chosen because it is thought to provide the following advantages:

Quality and efficiency
Decrease in overall costs
Increase Profitability

Challenges

Successful development, implementation, use and support of customer relationship management systems can provide a significant advantage to the user, but often there are obstacles that obstruct the user from using the system to its full potential. Instances of a CRM attempting to contain a large, complex group of data can become cumbersome and difficult to understand for ill-trained users. The lack of senior management sponsorship can also hinder the success of a new CRM system. Stakeholders must be identified early in the process and a full commitment is needed from all executives before beginning the conversion. But the challenges faced by the company will last longer for the convenience of their customers.

Additionally, an interface that is difficult to navigate or understand can hinder the CRM’s effectiveness, causing users to pick and choose which areas of the system to be used, while others may be pushed aside. This fragmented implementation can cause inherent challenges, as only certain parts are used and the system is not fully functional. The increased use of customer relationship management software has also led to an industry-wide shift in evaluating the role of the developer in designing and maintaining its software. Companies are urged to consider the overall impact of a viable CRM software suite and the potential for good or bad in its use.

Complexity

Tools and workflows can be complex, especially for large businesses. Previously these tools were generally limited to simple CRM solutions which focused on monitoring and recording interactions and communications. Software solutions then expanded to embrace deal tracking, territories, opportunities, and the sales pipeline itself. Next came the advent of tools for other client-interface business functions, as described below. These tools have been, and still are, offered as on-premises software that companies purchase and run on their own IT infrastructure.

Poor usability

One of the largest challenges that customer relationship management systems face is poor usability. With a difficult interface for a user to navigate, implementation can be fragmented or not entirely complete.

The importance of usability in a system has developed over time. Customers are likely not as patient to work through malfunctions or gaps in user safety, and there is an expectation that the usability of systems should be somewhat intuitive: “it helps make the machine an extension of the way I think — not how it wants me to think.”

An intuitive design can prove most effective in developing the content and layout of a customer relationship management system. Two 2008 case studies show that the layout of a system provides a strong correlation to the ease of use for a system and that it proved more beneficial for the design to focus on presenting information in a way that reflected the most important goals and tasks of the user, rather than the structure of the organization.

This “ease of service” is paramount for developing a system that is usable.

In many cases, the growth of capabilities and complexities of systems has hampered the usability of a customer relationship management system. An overly complex computer system can result in an equally complex and non-friendly user interface, thus not allowing the system to work as fully intended. This bloated software can appear sluggish and/or overwhelming to the user, keeping the system from full use and potential. A series of 1998 research indicates that each item added to an information display can significantly affect the overall experience of the user.

Fragmentation

Often, poor usability can lead to implementations that are fragmented — isolated initiatives by individual departments to address their own needs. Systems that start disunited usually stay that way: [siloed thinking] CRM and decision processes frequently lead to separate and incompatible systems, and dysfunctional processes.

A fragmented implementation can negate any financial benefit associated with a customer relationship management system, as companies choose not to use all the associated features factored when justifying the investment. Instead, it is important that support for the CRM system is companywide. The challenge of fragmented implementations may be mitigated with improvements in late-generation CRM systems.

Business reputation

Building and maintaining a strong business reputation has become now increasingly challenging. The outcome of internal fragmentation that is observed and commented upon by customers is now visible to the rest of the world in the era of the social customer; in the past, only employees or partners were aware of it. Addressing the fragmentation requires a shift in philosophy and mind-set in an organization so that everyone considers the impact to the customer of policy, decisions and actions. Human response at all levels of the organization can affect the customer experience for good or ill. Even one unhappy customer can deliver a body blow to a business.

Some developments and shifts have made companies more conscious of the life-cycle of a customer relationship management system. Companies now consider the possibility of brand loyalty and persistence of its users to purchase updates, upgrades and future editions of software.

Additionally, CRM systems face the challenge of producing viable financial profits, with a 2002 study suggesting that less than half of CRM projects are expected to provide a significant return on investment. Poor usability and low usage rates lead many companies to indicate that it was difficult to justify investment in the software without the potential for more tangible gains.

Security, privacy and data security concerns

One function of CRM is to collect information about clients. It is important to consider the customers’ need for privacy and data security. Close attention should be paid to relevant laws and regulations. Vendors may need to reassure clients that their data not be shared with third parties without prior consent, and that illegal access can be prevented.

A large challenge faced by developers and users is found in striking a balance between ease of use in the CRM interface and suitable and acceptable security measures and features. Corporations investing in CRM software do so expecting a relative ease of use while also requiring that customer and other sensitive data remain secure. This balance can be difficult, as many believe that improvements in security come at the expense of system usability.

Research and study show the importance of designing and developing technology that balances a positive user interface with security features that meet industry and corporate standards. A 2002 study shows, however, that security and usability can coexist harmoniously. In many ways, a secure CRM system can become more usable.

Researchers have argued that, in most cases, security breaches are the result of user-error (such as unintentionally downloading and executing a computer virus). In these events, the computer system acted as it should in identifying a file and then, following the user’s orders to execute the file, exposed the computer and network to a harmful virus. Researchers argue that a more usable system creates less confusion and lessens the amount of potentially harmful errors, in turn creating a more secure and stable CRM system.

Technical writers can play a large role in developing content management systems that are secure and easy to use. A series of 2008 research shows that CRM systems, among others, need to be more open to flexibility of technical writers, allowing these professionals to become content builders. These professionals can then gather information and use it at their preference, developing a system that allows users to easily access desired information and is secure and trusted by its users.

Sales force automation

Sales force automation (SFA) involves using software to streamline all phases of the sales process, minimizing the time that sales representatives need to spend on each phase. This allows a business to use fewer sales representatives to manage their clients. At the core of SFA is a contact management system for tracking and recording every stage in the sales process for each prospective client, from initial contact to final disposition. Many SFA applications also include insights into opportunities, territories, sales forecasts and workflow automation.

Marketing

CRM systems for marketing help the enterprise identify and target potential clients and generate leads for the sales team. A key marketing capability is tracking and measuring multichannel campaigns, including email, search, social media, telephone and direct mail.

Metrics monitored include clicks, responses, leads, deals, and revenue. Alternatively, Prospect Relationship Management (PRM) solutions offer to track customer behaviour and nurture them from first contact to sale, often cutting out the active sales process altogether.

In a web-focused marketing CRM solution, organizations create and track specific web activities that help develop the client relationship. These activities may include such activities as free downloads, online video content, and online web presentations.

Customer service and support

CRM software provides a business with the ability to create, assign and manage requests made by customers. An example would be Call Centre software which helps to direct a customer to the agent who can best help them with their current problem. Recognizing that this type of service is an important factor in attracting and retaining customers, organizations are increasingly turning to technology to help them improve their clients’ experience while aiming to increase efficiency and minimize costs. CRM software can also be used to identify and reward loyal customers who in turn will help customer retention.

Even so, a 2009 study revealed that only 39% of corporate executives believe their employees have the right tools and authority to solve client problems.

Appointment

Creating and scheduling appointments with customers is a central activity of most customer oriented businesses. Sales, customer support, and service personnel regularly spend a portion of their time getting in touch with customers and prospects through a variety of means to agree on a time and place for meeting for a sales conversation or to deliver customer service. Appointment CRM is a relatively new CRM platform category in which an automated system is used to offer a suite of suitable appointment times to a customer via e-mail or through a web site. An automated process is used to schedule and confirm the appointment, and place it on the appropriate person’s calendar. Appointment CRM systems can be an origination point for a sales lead and are generally integrated with sales and marketing CRM systems to capture and store the interaction.

Analytics

Relevant analytics capabilities are often interwoven into applications for sales, marketing, and service. These features can be complemented and augmented with links to separate, purpose-built applications for analytics and business intelligence. Sales analytics let companies monitor and understand client actions and preferences, through sales forecasting and data quality.

Marketing applications generally come with predictive analytics to improve segmentation and targeting, and features for measuring the effectiveness of online, offline, and search marketing campaigns. Web analytics have evolved significantly from their starting point of merely tracking mouse clicks on Web sites. By evaluating “buy signals,” marketers can see which prospects are most likely to transact and also identify those who are bogged down in a sales process and need assistance. Marketing and finance personnel also use analytics to assess the value of multi-faceted programs as a whole.

These types of analytics are increasing in popularity as companies demand greater visibility into the performance of call centres and other service and support channels, in order to correct problems before they affect satisfaction levels. Support-focused applications typically include dashboards similar to those for sales, plus capabilities to measure and analyse response times, service quality, agent performance, and the frequency of various issues.

Integrated/collaborative

Departments within enterprises — especially large enterprises — tend to function with little collaboration. More recently, the development and adoption of these tools and services have fostered greater fluidity and cooperation among sales, service, and marketing. This finds expression in the concept of collaborative systems that use technology to build bridges between departments. For example, feedback from a technical support centre can enlighten marketers about specific services and product features clients are asking for. Reps, in their turn, want to be able to pursue these opportunities without the burden of re-entering records and contact data into a separate SFA system.

Small business

For small business, basic client service can be accomplished by a contact manager system: an integrated solution that lets organizations and individuals efficiently track and record interactions, including emails, documents, jobs, faxes, scheduling, and more. These tools usually focus on accounts rather than on individual contacts. They also generally include opportunity insight for tracking sales pipelines plus added functionality for marketing and service. As with larger enterprises, small businesses may find value in online solutions, especially for mobile and telecommuting workers.

Social media

Social media sites like Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and Google Plus are amplifying the voice of people in the marketplace and are having profound and far-reaching effects on the ways in which people buy. Customers can now research companies online and then ask for recommendations through social media channels, as well as share opinions and experiences on companies, products and services. As social media is not as widely moderated or censored as mainstream media, individuals can say anything they want about a company or brand, positive or negative.

Increasingly, companies are looking to gain access to these conversations and take part in the dialogue. More than a few systems are now integrating to social networking sites. Social media promoters cite a number of business advantages, such as using online communities as a source of high-quality leads and a vehicle for crowd sourcing solutions to client-support problems. Companies can also leverage client stated habits and preferences to “Hyper-targeting” their sales and marketing communications.

Some analysts take the view that business-to-business marketers should proceed cautiously when weaving social media into their business processes. These observers recommend careful market research to determine if and where the phenomenon can provide measurable benefits for client interactions, sales and support. It is stated^] that people feel their interactions are peer-to-peer between them and their contacts, and resent company involvement, sometimes responding with negatives about that company.

Non-profit and membership-based

Systems for non-profit and membership-based organizations help track constituents and their involvement in the organization. Capabilities typically include tracking the following: fund-raising, demographics, membership levels, membership directories, volunteering and communications with individuals.

Strategy

For larger-scale enterprises, a complete and detailed plan is required to obtain the funding, resources, and company-wide support that can make the initiative of choosing and implementing a system successful. Benefits must be defined, risks assessed, and cost quantified in three general areas:

Processes: Though these systems have many technological components, business processes lie at its core. It can be seen as a more client-centric way of doing business, enabled by technology that consolidates and intelligently distributes pertinent information about clients, sales, marketing effectiveness, responsiveness, and market trends. Therefore, a company must analyse its business workflows and processes before choosing a technology platform; some will likely need re-engineering to better serve the overall goal of winning and satisfying clients. Moreover, planners need to determine the types of client information that are most relevant, and how best to employ them.

People: For an initiative to be effective, an organization must convince its staff that the new technology and workflows will benefit employees as well as clients. Senior executives need to be strong and visible advocates who can clearly state and support the case for change. Collaboration, teamwork, and two-way communication should be encouraged across hierarchical boundaries, especially with respect to process improvement.

Technology: In evaluating technology, key factors include alignment with the company’s business process strategy and goals, including the ability to deliver the right data to the right employees and sufficient ease of adoption and use. Platform selection is best undertaken by a carefully chosen group of executives who understand the business processes to be automated as well as the software issues. Depending upon the size of the company and the breadth of data, choosing an application can take anywhere from a few weeks to a year or more.

Implementation issues

Increases in revenue, higher rates of client satisfaction, and significant savings in operating costs are some of the benefits to an enterprise. Proponents emphasize that technology should be implemented only in the context of careful strategic and operational planning.

Implementations almost invariably fall short when one or more facets of this prescription are ignored:

Poor planning: Initiatives can easily fail when efforts are limited to choosing and deploying software, without an accompanying rationale, context, and support for the workforce. In other instances, enterprises simply automate flawed client-facing processes rather than redesign them according to best practices.

Poor integration: For many companies, integrations are piecemeal initiatives that address a glaring need: improving a particular client-facing process or two or automating a favoured sales or client support channel. Such “point solutions” offer little or no integration or alignment with a company’s overall strategy. They offer a less than complete client view and often lead to unsatisfactory user experiences.

Toward a solution: overcoming siloed thinking. Experts advise organizations to recognize the immense value of integrating their client-facing operations. In this view, internally focused, department-centric views should be discarded in favour of reorienting processes toward information-sharing across marketing, sales, and service. For example, sales representatives need to know about current issues and relevant marketing promotions before attempting to cross-sell to a specific client. Marketing staff should be able to leverage client information from sales and service to better target campaigns and offers. And support agents require quick and complete access to a client’s sales and service history.

Adoption issues

Historically, the landscape is littered with instances of low adoption rates. Many of the challenges listed above offer a glimpse into some of the obstacles that corporations implementing a CRM suite face; in many cases time, resources and staffing do not allow for the troubleshooting necessary to tackle an issue and the system is shelved or sidestepped instead.

Why is it so difficult sometimes to get employees up to date on rapidly developing new technology? Essentially, your employees need to understand how the system works, as well as understand the clients and their needs. No doubt this process is time consuming, but it is well worth the time and effort, as you will be better able to understand and meet the needs of your clients. CRM training needs to cover two types of information: relational knowledge and technological knowledge.

Statistics

In 2003, a Gartner report estimated that more than $1 billion had been spent on software that was not being used. More recent research indicates that the problem, while perhaps less severe, is a long way from being solved. According to CSO Insights, less than 40% of 1,275 participating companies had end-user adoption rates above 90%. Additionally, many corporations only use CRM systems on a partial or fragmented basis, thus missing opportunities for effective marketing and efficiency.

In a 2007 survey from the UK, four-fifths of senior executives reported that their biggest challenge is getting their staff to use the systems they had installed. Further, 43% of respondents said they use less than half the functionality of their existing system; 72% indicated they would trade functionality for ease of use; 51% cited data synchronization as a major issue; and 67 % said that finding time to evaluate systems was a major problem. With expenditures expected to exceed $11 billion in 2010, enterprises need to address and overcome persistent adoption challenges.

The amount of time needed for the development and implementation of a customer relationship management system can prove costly to the implementation as well. Research indicates that implementation timelines that are greater than 90 days in length run an increased risk in the CRM system failing to yield successful results.

Increasing usage and adoption rates

Specialists offer these recommendations for boosting adoptions rates and coaxing users to blend these tools into their daily workflow:

Additionally, researchers found the following themes were common in systems that users evaluated favourably. These positive evaluations led to the increased use and more thorough implementation of the CRM system. Further recommendations include
“Breadcrumb Trail”: This offers the user a path, usually at the top of a web or CRM page, to return to the starting point of navigation. This can prove useful for users who might find themselves lost or unsure how they got to the current screen in the CRM.
Readily available search engine boxes: Research shows that users are quick to seek immediate results through the use of a search engine box. A CRM that uses a search box will keep assistance and immediate results quickly within the reach of a user.

Help Option Menu: An outlet for quick assistance or frequently asked questions can provide users with a lifeline that makes the customer relationship management software easier to use. Researchers suggest making this resource a large component of the CRM during the development stage.

A larger theme is found in that the responsiveness, intuitive design and overall usability of a system can influence the users’ opinions and preferences of systems.

Researchers noted a strong correlation between the design and layout of a user interface and the perceived level of trust from the user. The researchers found that users felt more comfortable on a system evaluated as usable and applied that comfort and trust into increased use and adoption.

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