Summary of the Case
According to the research carried out by the US economist Richard Easterlin, the economic stability of a country does not necessarily relate to their state of happiness. The research further postulated that the increase in richness does not mean that the level of happiness in the country also increases. However, Easterlin’s theory or paradox as it has developed to be known has been challenged by professors who in turn believe that richer countries have a higher level of happiness than poorer countries and the case also applies between rich and poor people. The paradox has also been challenged by the professors who have held that as the country stabilizes economically, the tendency to be happy also increases. The professors have asserted that the income an individual earns is directly proportional to their level of satisfaction and happiness and also the fact that there is a close relationship between the GDP and the level of happiness. Easterlin came to agree that wealthier people report more happiness except for the fact that money is the sole reason.
Critical Thinking Questions
Money is an important determinant of job satisfaction in a number of ways. There is a close link between a higher salary and an increase in the level of motivation. It is widely agreed that a reasonable salary would play an important role in attracting and retaining the existing employees. Some companies have used money as a tool for motivation and increasing the performance of the workers. Money is important not only as a tool for remuneration but also as a mechanism of compensation for overtime duties and extraneous work. It is also important to note that money is important in life in general as it enables people to satisfy their needs easily. There is a close link between employer satisfaction, happiness, and the ability to retain workers with the amount of money an organization pays. Therefore, it remains the duty of the organization to ensure they pay their employees well to improve the organizational performance.
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A majority of companies use money as an incentive. The use of money as an incentive has some benefits such as improving satisfaction and the overall performance. However, there is a myriad of negative implications that come with the overemphasis of money as an incentive. Such a culture can lead to unethical behavior, discontent, and in some cases envy. The use of the incentives as motivational tools has also been questioned if at all they have a positive influence on the organizational performance (Veenhoven & Vergunst, 2014). The belief that people will always perform a better job if they are promised some sort of incentive has also been put under the microscope. Many scholars have suggested that improving the organizational performance mainly depends on intrinsic factors such as the working conditions, leadership, and qualification levels among others. Therefore, incentives alone cannot improve the input of the organizational employees.
Key Learning
The first key learning that is drawn from the text is employee benefits. The employee benefits highlighted in the text is concerned with salaries and their impact on the state of job satisfaction and their state of happiness (Shields et al. 2015). It is therefore apparent that people with better employee benefits depict a higher level of satisfaction and happiness than those earning less pay. The second key learning from the text concerns the relationship between the economic well-being of a country and the level of happiness shown by the citizens. The GDP determines the measure of a country's economy. Oishi and Kesebir (2015) asserted that whereas the GDP has been postulated to be a major determinant of happiness, research has shown that it is not the sole reason for the happiness.
References
Oishi, S., & Kesebir, S. (2015). Income inequality explains why economic growth does not always translate to an increase in happiness. Psychological science , 26 (10), 1630-1638.
Shields, J., Brown, M., Kaine, S., Dolle-Samuel, C., North-Samardzic, A., McLean, P., ... & Plimmer, G. (2015). Managing Employee Performance & Reward: Concepts, Practices, Strategies . Cambridge University Press.
Veenhoven, R., & Vergunst, F. (2014). The Easterlin illusion: economic growth does go with greater happiness. International Journal of Happiness and Development , 1 (4), 311-343.
