An Islamic Perspective on the Expectancy-Valence Theory

Abstract

The most commonly used classification of motivation theories among
organizational behavior scholars is the content and process theories (Altman,
Valenzi, and Hodgetts 1985). While content theories address what motivates
employees, process theories speculate about how to motivate them (Bedeian
1980).
When Muslim scholars have discussed motivation theories, they have
explained the Islamic perspective on the content approach. For example,
Sharafeldin (1988) compared content theories with the socialist approach of
motivation. He emphasized the extrinsic motives of Islamic values and
concluded that these values are alternative motivators for Muslims to achieve
better performance. Ahmad (1988,3) also reviewed content theories and argued
that the ritual aspect of the human personality is an intrinsic motive other
than the “materialistic-orientation”o f the content theories. In addition, Shareef
(1988, 11) noted that while certain Islamic actions will fulfill the selfactualization
needs, “economic incentives are motivators only in life-threatening
situations.”
Despite this focus on the content approach of motivation theories, Muslim
scholars have given less attention to how to motivate employees. They also
have not provided sufficient conceptualization for an Islamic process by which
Muslim employees make their motivational choices within an Islamic context.
This paper addresses this gap in Islamic organizational behavioml literature
by a) presenting an Islamic model of motivation process dmwn from the @fan;
b) discussing the model’s dynamics in relation to both social learning theory
and Vroom’s expectancy theory; and c) introducing an Islamic expectancy
and exploring its instrumentalities and implications ...