Review the Captain Edith Strong case study attached in the word document.Answer the questions that follow (also listed below). Number each question; write out the questions and provide a detailed answer for each. Your answers should be supported with the textbook readings (which is attached in word document) and outside research; you need a minimum of two references and citations.Format your paper consistent with APA guidelines. (The Questions would serve as headings, but you still need a title page, reference page, and proper margins and indentions).The questions are bellow and are as follow:
What philosophical approach do you
believe Captain Strong should take in carrying out this project? What specific
motivational strategies would you recommend that she consider? Would E.R.G.
theory be applicable in this instance.? Why or why not? Give several concrete
examples. Would job enlargement or job enrichment be applicable in this case?
Explain.
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Case Study: Captain Edith Strong
Captain Strong is the commander of a Field Operations Division in the City of Rogerville that
has a population of 101,603, and the community covers 65.4 square miles. Captain Strong has
worked her way up through the ranks achieving the position of captain after 18 years of service.
She is the first woman to hold this high of a position in the department. Prior to this she served as
Lieutenant of Administrative Services. The preponderance of her service has been in patrol,
where she served as a sergeant and then a watch commander.
Within the department, 65 percent of the officers are white, and the next largest ethnic group is
Hispanic, at 27 percent. Seven percent of the force is women. Based on tradition and operational
policy, the department has a definitive chain of command and is keyed to job specialization.
Patrol officers are assigned to a specific beat and respond to calls, conduct preliminary
investigations (when minor crimes are involved), and engage in preventive patrol when time
allows. The Bureau of Criminal Investigations conducts all other investigations. Job descriptions
are definitive, and everyone follows them religiously. Deviation from a job description results in
immediate supervisory action that usually calls for being written-up. The Division handles 62
percent of the police department’s measurable workload and has 58 percent of the manpower.
Within the Division, there is a lieutenant who serves as an adjutant, three lieutenants who serve
as watch commanders, a traffic sergeant who supervises six officers, a sergeant who supervises
the Neighborhood Police unit that has a complement of 10 officers, three school resource
officers, and 71 patrol officers. Officers in the specialized assignment have higher morale and
seem well satisfied with their assignments. They have an opportunity to interact with each other
and create meaningful and satisfying relationships. Almost all patrol officers feel that their
workload is excessive and complain that all they do is go from one incident to the next and spend
an inordinate amount of time creating police reports. In fact, they feel that they are unable to
complete their preliminary investigations and in many instances have to cut corners in order to
complete a shift. Except for backup in certain cases, they never get to interact with fellow
officers apart from coming and going to roll-call sessions. Every patrol officer in the department
works solo, and departmental police prohibits more than two officer eating meals or taking
coffee breaks at the same time in the same restaurant.
The dehumanizing aspect of an excessive workload has taken its toll on the personnel assigned to
the patrol division. A survey conducted by a member of the chief’s staff indicates that patrol
officers feel in the following ways:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
The job is viewed as dissatisfying.
Morale is low.
Response time is long.
The number of citizen-initiated complaints is up.
More officers are filing disability claims.
Employee turnover is exceeding projections.
The situation has become critical and imperils the division’s ability to function efficiently,
effectively, and productively and has to be dealt with as soon as possible.
The solution is to design a program that meets the needs of both the department and the
employees.
What philosophical approach do you believe Captain Strong should take in carrying out this
project? What specific motivational strategies would you recommend that she consider? Would
E.R.G. theory be applicable in this instance.? Why or why not? Give several concrete examples.
Would job enlargement or job enrichment be applicable in this case? Explain.
Summary
Management can be defined as getting things done with and through the efforts of others. Thus,
it is the police administrator’s job to create an environment within which professional employees
motivate themselves. This can be done by establishing a concrete link between appropriate job
behavior and meaningful rewards. Motivation is a psychosocial process. It produces an attitude
that generates actions that lead to anticipated results. All other things being equal, wellmotivated police officers are more efficient, effective, productive, and satisfied than unmotivated
ones.
Most motivation theories are based on the assumption that psychosocial tensions caused by
intrinsic and/or extrinsic factors are translated into human needs. Needs elicit instrumental
behaviors that are designed to reduce the tension. Of course, different needs generate different
and unique adaptive responses. The intensity of a felt need (or needs) activates and energizes
people as they interact with one another in the workplace.
Abraham Maslow’s “progression” theory of employee needs is one of the best-known content
theories. As a positive humanistic theory of motivation, it stresses the importance of both
biological drives and psychosocial needs. According to Maslow, five basic human needs
activate, fuel, and shape the internal drive to overcome inertia affiliated with the status quo. He
classes them as physiological (survival) needs, safety (security) needs, belonging (social) needs,
self-esteem (ego) needs, and self-actualization (fulfillment) needs.
While Maslow’s theory has a great deal of humanistic appeal, there is simply no consistent
evidence to prove his contention that satisfying a human need at one level actually decreases the
motivational importance of that need so that the satisfaction of a person’s needs is a process that
becomes less and less concrete as time goes on. Consequently, some motivation theorists have
attempted to modify the hierarchy of needs concept to make it more realistic in terms of its
application to goal-oriented behavior. Clayton Alderfer’s “E.R.G.”
(existence/relatedness/growth) theory has become one of the better-known content theories.
Alderfer developed his E.R.G. theory in an effort to simplify Maslow’s hierarchical model.
E.R.G. collapses Maslow’s five human need categories into just three and contends they are
active in all human beings.
Taking his cue from Maslow and other content theorists, Douglas McGregor developed a
different humanistic theory of management. It is based on two distinct sets of assumptions about
human nature (he called them Theory X and Theory Y) and the idea that managers tend to fall
into one of two groups depending on which of the two assumptions they make about their
employees. Theory X (the traditional approach to direction, control, and management) is based
on a negative view of people. Theory Y (a more modern humanistic view) sees people as
innately motivated and improvable. According to McGregor, managers organize, control, and
attempt to motivate employees based on one or the other of these assumptions.
Frederick Herzberg developed another view of human needs. His “motivation-hygiene,” or “twofactor,” theory was originally derived from an analysis of critical incidents reported by 200
engineers and accountants. They were asked to describe the times when they felt exceptionally
good and exceptionally bad about their jobs. Based on the different things respondents identified
as sources of satisfaction and dissatisfaction in their work, Herzberg identified two themes
characteristic of all jobs: (1) “maintenance” or “hygiene” factors and (2) “motivational” factors.
The motivation theories discussed in this chapter fall into two very distinct categories: (1)
content theories and (2) process theories. Content theories attempt to explain exactly what
motivates people to act as they do in a given set of circumstances. Process theories, on the other
hand, deal with how people are motivated. While none of these theories provides a complete
explanation of motivation or the motivation process, they tend to supplement one another and
provide the police administrator with a comprehensive perspective on this very complex
psychosocial phenomenon.
Police administrators today must come to grips with one simple fact of life—they are dealing
with a new breed of employee. Modern police personnel are more sophisticated than their
predecessors. They are better educated, more participative, and much less resistant to change.
They demand respect and expect to be treated as professionals. While money is still a magical
word in the police subculture, it has a much different meaning than it did a generation ago.
Salaries and fringe benefits have been improved to the point where more money, in and of itself,
no longer serves as the primary motivator in many agencies while other agencies lag behind in
salaries and benefits. Police officers demand more than just money. Most of them want to do
meaningful work that meets their conscious and subconscious higher-order needs for growth,
self-esteem, and a sense of fulfillment.
Case Study: Captain Edith Strong
Captain Strong is the commander of a Field Operations Division in the City of Rogerville that
has a population of 101,603, and the community covers 65.4 square miles. Captain Strong has
worked her way up through the ranks achieving the position of captain after 18 years of service.
She is the first woman to hold this high of a position in the department. Prior to this she served as
Lieutenant of Administrative Services. The preponderance of her service has been in patrol,
where she served as a sergeant and then a watch commander.
Within the department, 65 percent of the officers are white, and the next largest ethnic group is
Hispanic, at 27 percent. Seven percent of the force is women. Based on tradition and operational
policy, the department has a definitive chain of command and is keyed to job specialization.
Patrol officers are assigned to a specific beat and respond to calls, conduct preliminary
investigations (when minor crimes are involved), and engage in preventive patrol when time
allows. The Bureau of Criminal Investigations conducts all other investigations. Job descriptions
are definitive, and everyone follows them religiously. Deviation from a job description results in
immediate supervisory action that usually calls for being written-up. The Division handles 62
percent of the police department’s measurable workload and has 58 percent of the manpower.
Within the Division, there is a lieutenant who serves as an adjutant, three lieutenants who serve
as watch commanders, a traffic sergeant who supervises six officers, a sergeant who supervises
the Neighborhood Police unit that has a complement of 10 officers, three school resource
officers, and 71 patrol officers. Officers in the specialized assignment have higher morale and
seem well satisfied with their assignments. They have an opportunity to interact with each other
and create meaningful and satisfying relationships. Almost all patrol officers feel that their
workload is excessive and complain that all they do is go from one incident to the next and spend
an inordinate amount of time creating police reports. In fact, they feel that they are unable to
complete their preliminary investigations and in many instances have to cut corners in order to
complete a shift. Except for backup in certain cases, they never get to interact with fellow
officers apart from coming and going to roll-call sessions. Every patrol officer in the department
works solo, and departmental police prohibits more than two officer eating meals or taking
coffee breaks at the same time in the same restaurant.
The dehumanizing aspect of an excessive workload has taken its toll on the personnel assigned to
the patrol division. A survey conducted by a member of the chief’s staff indicates that patrol
officers feel in the following ways:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
The job is viewed as dissatisfying.
Morale is low.
Response time is long.
The number of citizen-initiated complaints is up.
More officers are filing disability claims.
Employee turnover is exceeding projections.
The situation has become critical and imperils the division’s ability to function efficiently,
effectively, and productively and has to be dealt with as soon as possible.
The solution is to design a program that meets the needs of both the department and the
employees.
What philosophical approach do you believe Captain Strong should take in carrying out this
project? What specific motivational strategies would you recommend that she consider? Would
E.R.G. theory be applicable in this instance.? Why or why not? Give several concrete examples.
Would job enlargement or job enrichment be applicable in this case? Explain.
Summary
Management can be defined as getting things done with and through the efforts of others. Thus,
it is the police administrator’s job to create an environment within which professional employees
motivate themselves. This can be done by establishing a concrete link between appropriate job
behavior and meaningful rewards. Motivation is a psychosocial process. It produces an attitude
that generates actions that lead to anticipated results. All other things being equal, wellmotivated police officers are more efficient, effective, productive, and satisfied than unmotivated
ones.
Most motivation theories are based on the assumption that psychosocial tensions caused by
intrinsic and/or extrinsic factors are translated into human needs. Needs elicit instrumental
behaviors that are designed to reduce the tension. Of course, different needs generate different
and unique adaptive responses. The intensity of a felt need (or needs) activates and energizes
people as they interact with one another in the workplace.
Abraham Maslow’s “progression” theory of employee needs is one of the best-known content
theories. As a positive humanistic theory of motivation, it stresses the importance of both
biological drives and psychosocial needs. According to Maslow, five basic human needs
activate, fuel, and shape the internal drive to overcome inertia affiliated with the status quo. He
classes them as physiological (survival) needs, safety (security) needs, belonging (social) needs,
self-esteem (ego) needs, and self-actualization (fulfillment) needs.
While Maslow’s theory has a great deal of humanistic appeal, there is simply no consistent
evidence to prove his contention that satisfying a human need at one level actually decreases the
motivational importance of that need so that the satisfaction of a person’s needs is a process that
becomes less and less concrete as time goes on. Consequently, some motivation theorists have
attempted to modify the hierarchy of needs concept to make it more realistic in terms of its
application to goal-oriented behavior. Clayton Alderfer’s “E.R.G.”
(existence/relatedness/growth) theory has become one of the better-known content theories.
Alderfer developed his E.R.G. theory in an effort to simplify Maslow’s hierarchical model.
E.R.G. collapses Maslow’s five human need categories into just three and contends they are
active in all human beings.
Taking his cue from Maslow and other content theorists, Douglas McGregor developed a
different humanistic theory of management. It is based on two distinct sets of assumptions about
human nature (he called them Theory X and Theory Y) and the idea that managers tend to fall
into one of two groups depending on which of the two assumptions they make about their
employees. Theory X (the traditional approach to direction, control, and management) is based
on a negative view of people. Theory Y (a more modern humanistic view) sees people as
innately motivated and improvable. According to McGregor, managers organize, control, and
attempt to motivate employees based on one or the other of these assumptions.
Frederick Herzberg developed another view of human needs. His “motivation-hygiene,” or “twofactor,” theory was originally derived from an analysis of critical incidents reported by 200
engineers and accountants. They were asked to describe the times when they felt exceptionally
good and exceptionally bad about their jobs. Based on the different things respondents identified
as sources of satisfaction and dissatisfaction in their work, Herzberg identified two themes
characteristic of all jobs: (1) “maintenance” or “hygiene” factors and (2) “motivational” factors.
The motivation theories discussed in this chapter fall into two very distinct categories: (1)
content theories and (2) process theories. Content theories attempt to explain exactly what
motivates people to act as they do in a given set of circumstances. Process theories, on the other
hand, deal with how people are motivated. While none of these theories provides a complete
explanation of motivation or the motivation process, they tend to supplement one another and
provide the police administrator with a comprehensive perspective on this very complex
psychosocial phenomenon.
Police administrators today must come to grips with one simple fact of life—they are dealing
with a new breed of employee. Modern police personnel are more sophisticated than their
predecessors. They are better educated, more participative, and much less resistant to change.
They demand respect and expect to be treated as professionals. While money is still a magical
word in the police subculture, it has a much different meaning than it did a generation ago.
Salaries and fringe benefits have been improved to the point where more money, in and of itself,
no longer serves as the primary motivator in many agencies while other agencies lag behind in
salaries and benefits. Police officers demand more than just money. Most of them want to do
meaningful work that meets their conscious and subconscious higher-order needs for growth,
self-esteem, and a sense of fulfillment.
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