Student motivation within the classrooms is a widely recognized problem and will remain so in the foreseeable future. Literature suggests that students' motivation for learning and performance can be enhanced by creating an appropriate classroom environment, which is again determined by the design of various structural characteristics of a course, such as type of tasks, autonomy of students, and evaluation. On the basis of the framework of Hackman and Oldham's Job Characteristics Model (JCM) and support from educational research, this conceptual article identifies the structural characteristics instrumental to an effective course design and presents related instructional strategies for maximizing student motivation in business school classrooms. Various issues related to the proposed application of the JCM framework in classrooms, including its relevance to the larger landscape of business education, are also discussed.

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A wide variety of incentives are being employed in the financial services industry. An examination of these practices in light of reinforcement theory suggests that while encouraging higher levels of performance, these incentives fail to sustain the high levels of desired performance. A computerized video is discussed as one means of integrating theory and practice, which should yield high levels of sustained performance from the sales force.

Based on an interdisciplinary approach and a learning systems perspective couched in a broad motivational framework, an integrated model of student academic achievement motivation is presented. The model shows the classroom environment is influenced by macro-environmental factors, and is specifically determined by the teacher and five structural factors which, in turn, influences students' achievement goal(s) choice, volition, and intrinsic outcomes. Students' volition-moderated by their individual characteristics, expectancies, and outcomes' valence-leads to outcomes through goal achievements, with outcomes consequently influencing students' attributional patterns. Discussions indicate utility of the model in understanding, analyzing, managing, and enhancing student motivation in classrooms.