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Sunday, December 8, 2013

Herzberg's Two Factor Theory - Criticism

In the last byte, we looked at Herzberg's 2 factor theory. In today's byte, we look at some of the criticisms for the theory.

While the distinction between the motivational and hygiene factors is interesting to understanding the applicability of motivation theory directly in the design of the organization; there are certain criticisms that have to be noted:

There exist some factors that cannot clearly be classified into hygiene factors or motivational factor. We have already looked at salary as an example for this dichotomy. It the situational influence that gets the influence defined as a motivational factor or a hygiene factor. This is the first criticism concerning the classification of factors.

Individual differences like age, sex, social status, education or occupational levels also influence to what extent these factors have an impact. These individual differences are not considered in the theory.

When we look at organizations, they typically have an internal flow process that would determine what sort of feelings an individual would develop toward the factors. This aspect too is not considered in the 2 factor theory.

The technique used to identity has been from the critical-incidents method or research, and most of the work here has been done by Herzberg and his students. This is again a criticism sited by experts.

In spite of these criticisms, the 2 factor theory is extremely useful in the design of work.

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