Kenneth W. Thomas, Ph.D.

The New Expanded Edition of : Intrinsic Motivation at Work

“Solidly grounded in research and theory, Intrinsic Motivation at Work allows readers to view the problem of motivation
in a different light and provides many practical, easy-to-implement techniques to engage and retain employees — techniques that do not depend upon additional expenditures of money.”

— Steven Kerr, Senior Advisor, Goldman Sachs; former Chief Learning Officer, GE; and author of Reward Systems

More About Ken

Academic Credentials

Academically, I have been a tenure-track professor of management at UCLA, Temple University, the University of Pittsburgh, where I was also director of the Ph.D. program, and the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. I hold a Ph.D. from Purdue University in administrative sciences. I am a member of the Academy of Management, International Association for Conflict Management, American Psychological Association, Association for Psychological Science, and the International Association for Applied Psychology.

I have an international reputation as a researcher. Click here for a selected set of research publications.

Applied Credentials

I am very concerned with the usefulness of my work. So I boil down issues to their essence to produce deceptively simple models that capture key factors in a way that is easy to remember.

I have also developed the assessment tools and support materials featured in this website so that coaches, managers, trainers and consultants can use them to make a difference in their organizations.

I have delivered workshops in various executive programs, made presentations to corporate boards and top management teams, and served as faculty for the National Association of Corporate Directors. I have also spoken at a number of professional organizations for trainers and change agents and written applied articles for their newsletters or magazines. I have also partnered with the New West Institute – an early-adopter consulting firm that uses my intrinsic motivation materials in all its change and executive coaching applications.

Personal Information

I took early retirement from academia in 2004 to spend more time on applied work.
I live with my wife and colleague, Dr. Gail Fann Thomas, in Monterey, California.