Incentives and motivation and how they relate to productivity: the case of the Tanzania sisal industry

Provision of incentives in most enterprises in Tanzania, has not been linked to productivity and as such it has not been possible to determine their impact over productivity. Hence, incentives have continued to be provided without much difference in the level of productivity. It is aim of this study to provide a contribution on the understanding of the impact of incentives and motivation on productivity so as to see whether they lead so a fall or rise in productivity. The study attempts to look at variables such as awareness of workers concerning the provision of incentives to them, the strength and impact of participation in determining their incentive needs. It is the conclusion of this study that the problem of declining productivity, is not only caused by non-provision of incentives but also the nature, frequency and amount of incentives provided. Managerial ignorance in identifying the incentive needs which are most liked by workers amounts to another problem area. Again, the nature of work including working conditions have greater impact on the behavior of workers on their willingness to increase productivity. Other intervening variables such as economic hardships and organizational structure of the enterprises have been revealed as aspects which shed more light on the nature of the problem. It is a final contention that a proper and critical treatment of the variables can help raise productivity. In chapter one therefore we provide a conceptual overview and research design of the study so as to understand the nature of the understand the nature of the undertaking of the study. What follows in chapter two is a theoretical overview over the theories of incentives and motivation as they relate to productivity. This provides a look at history so as to enable us understand the question in a historical perspective. Chapter three is the historical discussion of the case study- the sisal industry in Tanzania and Chapter four includes the data and information related to the variables studied as revealed by the actual data from the research exercise. The last chapter five provides the summary and tentative generalizations and recommendations.