John Noble speculated that Howie really didn't know much about his employees, including the types of rewards that they found meaningful and whether they personally felt if they worked hard, they could achieve a reward. Nobles thoughts referred to

A. Equity theory

B. Expectancy theory

C. Theory J

Nobles thoughts referred to is B. Expectancy theory. The expectancy theory refers to someone knowing how someone else will react based on motivators. If there is a specific motivator that an employer knows an employee refers to with positive behaviors, there is a good chance the employeer will be able to guesstimate what the end result of the situation would be. In this case, Howie needs to spend more time learning what his employees like and dislike to figure out a way to keep them motivated long term.