Printers signed his first contract with the BC Lions in 2004, for $65 000 a year. He asked for
a new four-year contract that would pay him more than $400 000 a year. The team turned him
down, countering with an offer of $1 million over three years. Printers turned that down.
Printers’ rationale for the seemingly high salary demand was that his teammate and fel-
low quarterback Dave Dickenson makes $400 000 a year, as does Edmonton Eskimos quar-
terback Ricky Ray and Montreal Alouettes quarterback Anthony Calvillo. “My value is just as
equal as these guys, so why not try to get equal or more? It just makes perfect business sense,”
he explains. Will Printers continue to be motivated to play for the BC Lions? And is he making
the right salary comparisons?To a large extent, motivation theories are about rewards. The theories suggest that indi-
viduals have needs, and will exert effort to have those needs met. The needs theories
specifically identify those needs. Goal-setting and expectancy theories portray processes
by which individuals act and then receive desirable rewards (intrinsic or extrinsic) for their
behaviour.
Three additional process theories ask us to consider how individuals respond to
rewards. Equity theorysuggests that individuals evaluate and interpret rewards. Fair process
goes one step further, suggesting that employees are sensitive to a variety of fairness
issues in the workplace that extend beyond the reward system but also affect employee
motivation. Cognitive evaluation theory examines how individuals respond to the intro-
duction of extrinsic rewards for intrinsically satisfying activities.
Equity Theory
Equity theorysuggests that employees compare their
job inputs (i.e., effort, experience, education, compe-
tence, creativity) and outcomes (i.e., salary levels, raises,
recognition, challenging assignments, working condi-
tions) with those of others. We perceive what we get from
a job situation (the outcomes mentioned above) in rela-
tion to what we put into it (the inputs mentioned above),
and then we compare our outcome-input ratio with the
outcome-input ratio of relevant others. (This idea is illustrated in Exhibit 4-8.) If we
Chapter 4Motivating Self and Others 119equity theory Individuals com-
pare their job inputs and outcomes
with those of others and then
respond so as to eliminate any
inequities.4 Do equity and fairness
matter?Person 1
Inequity, underrewardedEquityInequity, overrewardedRatio of Output to Input Person 1ís PerceptionPerson 2Person 1Person 2Person 1Person 2EXHIBIT 4-8 Equity TheoryHow important is