The Mathematics of Human Motivation Applying the Law of Escalating Marginal Sacrifice

by Grant, Phil

• ISBN13: 9780761839644
• ISBN10: 076183964X
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2008-01-10
• Publisher: UPA

Summary

The Mathematics of Human Motivation is a pioneering effort to advance the theory of human motivation. It provides powerful, new direction for students of human behavior. Professor Grant has created a theory development book that involves construction and analysis of a mathematical framework for exploring the intricacies of human motivation and satisfaction. Backed by thirty years of study, it draws on multiple disciplines to synthesize a model that has tremendous capacity for answering numerous previously unanswered questions on human motivation, and for predicting human behavior. The model is particularly useful for deriving scores of practical strategies, which organizations can use to enhance human performance and organizational profitability. The book combines contributions from managerial economics, organizational behavior, psychology, human resources, decision theory, and industrial engineering. This is the only book on the market that provides a comprehensive mathematical paradigm for interpreting human motivation issues. It is invaluable in guiding research and application in a wide array of fields.

Author Biography

Phil Grant is a professor of management at Husson College in Bangor, Maine.

Table of Contents

List of Figures
The Effort-Net Return Model of Motivation and Satisfaction	p. 1
The Law of Escalating Marginal Sacrifice and its Corollaries	p. 21
Interpreting Motivation Phenomena with the Effort-Net Return Model	p. 39
The Nuances of Penalty Functions	p. 65
Job Design and Ability as Determinants of Employee Motivation	p. 83
Integrating the Theory of the Firm and the Theory of Individual Behavior	p. 99
Adjusting Reward Functions in Response to Productivity and Cost Change	p. 115
Designing Incentive Systems to Maximize Profitability	p. 133
Optimizing the Distribution of Constrained Effort	p. 147
Goal Selection and Employee Motivation Under Uncertainty	p. 167
Motivation Strategies and Tactics from ENR	p. 183
Coupling Functions and Perceived Utility	p. 191
Bibliography	p. 197
Index	p. 199
About the Author	p. 203
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