Beyond Carrot and Stick: TQM Motivation Factors in Philippine Maritime Schools
Dr. Patrick Alain T. Azanza
UP College of Education
Abstract
Maritime schools in the Philippines are required to implement quality programs and maintain ISO-certification in compliance with the mandate of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and the Standards for Training Certification and Watch-keeping (STCW) that were jointly adopted by the Commission of Higher education (CHED) and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) as mandatory requirements for securing school permits to operate and offer maritime courses.
As a consequence, Philippine maritime schools had to rely heavily on the performance capability of its human resources in order to meet the said requirements and successfully integrate Total Quality Management (TQM) in their systems. Most of these schools adopted various motivation factors in the hope of rallying their people to comply with the quality implementation standards.
Utilizing Vroom’s expectancy theory, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, and Herzberg’s motivation-hygiene factors, this paper highlights the results of the survey conducted on the rewards and sanctions adopted by fifty-four (54) out of eighty one (81) maritime schools all over the country that have satisfactorily complied with the quality standard requirements in the year 2004 and as a result were included in the IMO white list which recognizes maritime schools offering quality academic programs all over the world.
Out of a scale of 1 to 5 (1= very low; 5=very high), the assessment of analysis made on the rewards and sanctions in the maritime schools showed a mean of 4.17 for both, and a standard deviation of .819 and .776 respectively which revealeda relatively homogenous set of responses.
A series of stepwise multiple regression analysis was done on nine (9) determinant factors that lead to successful TQM implementation among maritime schools. The study revealed that on the over-all, only four (4) out of the nine (9) determinant factors being studied significantly affected TQM implementation, namely, System and procedures for audit; System and procedures for documentation of student-related processes; involvement in planning process; and rewards and sanctions.
The survey results further showed that the motivation factors appeared significant at .032 level, with a beta value of positive .200. This means that the more the motivation factors (system of rewards and sanctions) are assessed, the more the TQM implementation is affected.
Given these findings, the paper discusses the implications of adopting motivation factors beyond the carrot and stick formula towards the successful implementation of TQM in educational institutions and other work organizations.
Beyond Carrot and Stick: TQM Motivation Factors in Philippine Maritime Schools
Dr. Patrick Alain T. Azanza
UP College of Education
- Introduction
The International Maritime Organization (IMO) and the Standards for Training Certification and Watch-keeping (STCW) mandate all maritime schools to implement quality programs and maintain ISO-certification in order to produce competent and quality graduates. Thus, in the Philippines, the Commission of Higher education (CHED) and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) adopted the ISO-certification as a mandatory requirement for securing school permits to operate and offer maritime courses.
Consequently, Philippine maritime schools had to integrate Total Quality Management (TQM) in their systems which require every faculty and staff to continuously improve their performance and services. In order to positively encourage their faculty and staff to perform their bestand comply with the quality implementation standards, most of these maritime schools adopted various motivation factors.
Motivation factors are supposed to be strategic drivers forbehavior and action among faculty and staff in line with the objective of successfully implementing TQM in maritime schools. Motivation factors either come in the form of rewards or sanctions. Rewards are management interventions to encourage positive compliance and performance of duties and responsibilities relative to TQM implementation while sanctions are management interventions to deter or prevent faculty and staff from negative or non-performance of their assigned duties and responsibilities relative to objectives of successful TQM implementation.
I.1 Statement of the Problem
The major problem of this study is to identify the TQM motivation factors adopted by Philippine maritime schools. The specific questions relevant to the major problem are as follows:
- What were the motivation factors (rewards and sanctions) implemented by the Philippine maritime schools in order to successfully achieve Total Quality Management (TQM)?
- To what extent did these motivation factors (rewards and sanctions) determine the success of the TQM implementation in Philippine maritime schools?
I.2 Significance of the Study
This investigation shall be very useful to industrial relations managers, human resource practitioners, government leaders, educational planners, plan implementation managers, and school administrators who shall now have a guide as to which factors motivate faculty and staff to positively contribute to the successful implementation of TQM in schools. Students and researchers in human resources management/industrial relations (HRM/IR) as well as business management, public administration and educational administration will be able to use this study as a model for their own investigation. The identified TQM motivation factors will then serve to guide their action and will trigger their avoidance of adopting motivation factors that do not produce strategic results.
I.2 Scope and Delimitation
This study concentrated on the maritime schools which had been in operation for at least one year at the time of the conduct of research and had already gone through the implementation of their quality plans as mandated by the CHED, TESDA, and the IMO-STCW series of 1995, without regard as to they failed or succeeded. The top human resource managers, educational administrators, and heads of TQM Implementation Committee served as respondents. Out of the eighty one (81) maritime schools all over the country that have satisfactorily complied with the quality standard requirements of CHED, TESDA, and IMO-STCW which were then included in the IMO white list of recognized maritime schools as of the year 2004, only fifty-four (54) agreed to participate in this study and mailed back the filled up questionnaires.
- Review of Related Literature
In any organization, the system of rewards and sanctions plays a vital role in the successful implementation of a plan or project. People see more clearly the importance of their role and are motivated to perform their tasks if they are aware that they stand to benefit or receive some rewards as a consequence of their action. These rewards may be in the form of promotion, recognition, one-shot cash incentive, additional evaluation points, or in some other manner which may not be financial in nature (Mathis, 1991).
On the other hand, sanctions facilitate enforcement of policies and performance of duties and responsibilities. When people concerned are aware that non-compliance with assigned tasks would mean receiving sanctions, then they act on their toes and strive hard to meet and deliver their share of responsibilities. Sanctions must be clear and commensurate to whatever violations incurred (Azanza, 2001).
When rewards and sanctions which are otherwise known as motivation factors are not properly implemented, those who deserve the reward but are not recognized tend to be demoralized. The reward system does not work when even those who do not deliver are rewarded, or worse, when those who do not deliver are the ones rewarded especially when the performance evaluation system is not in place. On the other hand, when those who should be meted with punishment or sanctions are able to get away with their inefficiency, negligence, or incompetence, they tend to continue with their lousy performance or violation of policies and worse, even those who used to comply see the practice as unfair and unjust (Kennedy, 1991).
It is normal for members of the organization to expect certain rewards and sanctions corresponding to their action or inaction (Mathis, 1991). In human resource management, the common practice is to ensure that the rewards for action and the sanctions for inaction or negligence are commensurate to the deed. Otherwise, the expected outcome shall not be met or the personnel themselves will either be demoralized because they will feel that they are not properly rewarded for their excellent performance. It is important in human resource management to set clearly the rewards and sanctions for certain behaviour or misbehaviour so that everything is clearly understood by everyone (Kennedy, 1991).
Total Quality Management (TQM) implementation in maritime schools is one important project which requires proper execution and utmost cooperation among assigned faculty and staff. As mandated by the CHED and TESDA in compliance with IMO-STCW requirements, TQM could either make or break as it is mandatory for all maritime schools to set up a quality system before it can be agreed a permit or license to operate. Hence, maritime schools adopt various motivation factors that would help them attain the objective of a successful TQM implementation. Utilizing Vroom’s expectancy theory, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, and Herzberg’s motivation-hygiene factors, maritime schools develop their own respective strategies to motivate their faculty and staff to perform in accordance with management expectation.
- Conceptual Framework
Every faculty and staff in the maritime school is motivated to perform his or her assigned tasks in the organization depending on certain motivation factors. Maslow (1943), identified the hierarchy of human needs as follows: physiological needs; safety needs; belongingness; esteem; and self-actualization.
When all of the physiological, safety, belongingness, and esteem needs are satisfied, then and only then are the needs for self-actualization are activated. According to Maslow (1943),“the motivation to realize one's own maximum potential and possibilities is considered to be the master motive or the only real motive, all other motives being its various forms.”
On the other hand, Herzberg (1964) proved in his research that people strive to achieve 'hygiene' needs because they are unhappy without them, but once satisfied the effect soon wears off - satisfaction is temporary. What organizations—including maritime schools -- usually fail to understand is that people are not 'motivated' by addressing 'hygiene' needs. As shown in the following diagram, maritime school faculty and staff actually become motivated when their work maritime school organization enables them to satisfy the factors that Herzberg identified as real motivators.
Hygiene (or Maintenance) Factors / Motivator Factors- Company policy and administration
- Wages, salaries and other financial remuneration
- Quality of supervision
- Quality of inter-personal relations
- Working conditions
- Feelings of job security / - Status
- Opportunity for advancement
- Gaining recognition
- Responsibility
- Challenging / stimulating work
- Sense of personal achievement & personal growth in a job
Hygiene factors are based on the need of maritime school faculty and staff to avoid dissatisfaction or de-motivation at work. This is why these factors are otherwise known to HR practitioners as maintenance factors. On the other hand, motivator factors are based on an individual's need for personal growth. Once motivator factors are in place in the maritime schools, the faculty and staff feel satisfied on their jobs and these can motivate them to exert more effort and achieve higher TQM performance.
Although Herzberg is known for his 'hygiene' and motivational factors theory, he was more concerned with promoting the people's well-being at work. In short, Herzberg was more concerned with humanizing the workplace.
Based on Victor Vroom's Expectancy Theory (1964), the behavior of maritime school faculty and staff results from conscious choices among alternatives in order to maximize rewards and minimize sanctions. The key elements to Vroom’s theory are referred to as Expectancy (E), Instrumentality (I), and Valence (V), each of which represents a belief.
Valence refers to the emotional orientations people hold with respect to outcomes or rewards. The depth of the want of an employee for extrinsic rewards such as money, promotion, time-off, benefits; or for intrinsic or satisfaction rewards are part of valence. Thus, top management of maritime schools must discover and identify what school employees truly value.
Expectancy refers to the fact that maritime school faculty and staff have different expectations and levels of confidence about what they are capable of doing. The task of top management of maritime schools is to discover what resources, training, or supervision maritime school employees need.
Instrumentality refers to the perception of maritime school faculty and staff whether they will actually be granted what they desire even if it there was already a promise from school management. Thus, top management of maritime schools must ensure that promises of rewards are fulfilled and that maritime school faculty and staff become aware of that fact.
Vroom (1964) suggested that an employee's beliefs about Expectancy, Instrumentality, and Valence interact psychologically to create a motivational force such that the employee acts in ways that bring pleasure (rewards) and avoid pain (sanctions) which can be translated into the following formula:
Motivation = Valance × Expectancy(Instrumentality)
The above formula can be used to indicate and predict such things as job satisfaction, one's occupational choice, the likelihood of staying in a job, and the effort one might exert in performing an assigned task such as that of TQM implementation.
Essentially, Vroom’s Expectancy Theory deals with motivation and management. According to Vroom (1964), “an employee's performance is based on individual factors such as personality, skills, knowledge, experience and abilities.” The expectancy theory says that individuals have different sets of goals and can be motivated if they believe that: 1) there is a positive correlation between efforts and performance; 2) favorable performance will result in a desirable reward; 3) the reward will satisfy an important need; and 4) the desire to satisfy the need is strong enough to make the effort worthwhile. Furthermore, Vroom (1964) suggests that “the individual will consider the outcomes associated with various levels of performance and will choose to pursue the level that will generate the greatest outcome or reward.” This is illustrated in the diagram below:
Based on Vroom’s Expectancy Theory, in order for a maritime school faculty or staff to be motivated, his or her effort, performance and motivation must be linked and the variable of Valence, Expectancy and Instrumentality shall account for this. Expectancy will lead the maritime faculty or staff to the belief that increased effort will lead to increased performance and that if he or she works harder then his performance will be better. As expounded by Vroom’s theory, this increased performance shall be affected by 1) the availability of the right resources available (e.g. raw materials, time, instructional materials, maritime equipment and simulators); 2) the right skills to do the job; and 3) the necessary support to get the job done (e.g. supervisor support, or correct information on the job).
Instrumentality is the belief of the maritime faculty or staff that if her or she performs well, a valued outcome will be received. Thus, if he or she does a good job, there is something in it for them to look forward to. This factor is affected by 1) the clear understanding of the relationship between performance and outcomes; 2) trust in the people who will make the decisions on who will be given the reward or will receive the sanction; and 3) transparency of the process that decides who gets or receives a specific outcome (reward or sanction).
Valence is the importance that the maritime school faculty or staff places upon the expected outcome. Thus, if the maritime faculty or staff is mainly motivated by money, then he or she will not appreciate or not value rewards granting for example additional leave credits.
Vroom’s theory also touches on the equity aspect of motivation as maritime school faculty and staff also tend to compare outcomes for themselves with others. Maritime school faculty and staff will alter the level of effort they put in to make it fair compared to others according to their perceptions. Thus, top management must be very careful in ensuring that there is equity in the granting of rewards and sanctions to employees.
- Methodology
This study is descriptive in nature and utilized a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods. A survey of the maritime schools was conducted using a questionnaire which was pre-tested and administered to fifteen (15) prospective respondents in order to test its validity. Tests for reliability and construct validity of the questionnaire were made using the Reliability Analysis (Cronbach’s Alpha) and Factor Loading Analysis.
A preliminary survey of the population showed that there are presently eighty one (81) maritime schools accredited by CHED and/or TESDA all over the country. In view of the dispersed location of the maritime schools nationwide, the survey questionnaire was designed for mailing to the respondents who composed of top human resource managers, educational administrators, and heads of TQM Implementation Committee. A letter of endorsement was secured from CHED to facilitate the administration of questionnaires to respondents from the various maritime schools nationwide.
Aside from frequency and percentages, regression analysis was employed to test the hypothesized relation between the independent variables and the dependent variables. Stepwise multiple regression was used to identify the significant variables based on the answers of the respondents which were gathered using a Likert scale which reflected the various levels or extent of respondents’ views relative to TQM implementation. The optimal regression equation was computed focusing the analysis on the adjusted R square to identify the significant variables. Emphasis on the beta coefficient values in the regression equation was likewise made in order to determine the relative influence of the independent variables on the dependent variables at a certain level of significance.