Work motivation and work satisfaction continue to be major topics in organizational behaviour because it is assumed that they exert an important influence on action and behaviour in organizations. Often called 'soft factors' (as opposed to so-called 'hard factors' such as hardware, costs and benefits and the like), motivation and satisfaction constitute hidden realities in organizations which cannot be measured in a direct, objective way. Research concerning these soft factors does not provide much evidence for a relationship between motivation/satisfaction and behaviour. But despite these not-very-encouraging results, work motivation and satisfaction are regarded as very important human resources in organizations. They are seen as resources one should not only take seriously with regard to organizational culture and identity but also should take into account for managing effectiveness and quality.

Motivation theories can roughly be divided into process-orientated and content-orientated theories. Both types are shown to have considerable limitations, especially with respect to the prediction of action from motivation. Several modern theories of motivation, volition and action are therefore introduced. Some of them are distant ('distal'), others close ('proximal') to action, and some allow for a link between the content, process and action perspective of motivation. It appears that these integrative approaches to motivation and volition of goal-directed action may substantially contribute to a better prediction of work satisfaction, employee withdrawal or job performance.

Work satisfaction is the most prominent result of work motivation, and research continues to produce a large number of results relevant to organizational behaviour. However, while work satisfaction is one of the most frequently studied concepts in industrial and organizational psychology, it also suffers from critical shortcomings. This derives especially from its mostly theory-free concepts and from the very large proportion of satisfied workers and employees in almost all studies since the 1960s (to the extent that more and more researchers speak of an artificial character of these results). To overcome these problems, a model of different forms of work satisfaction can be developed, distingushing forms ('qualities') as opposed to quantities of work satisfaction and allowing the processes behind these forms to be explained. By differentiating between forms of satisfaction (for example, resigned, stabilized, progressive) it can explain the high percentages of satisfaction in earlier studies.

André Büssing