Assignment on A Case Study of Extreme Motivation Course Name: Management & Organizational Behavior Course Code: MGT-515

Prepared for: Dr. Muhammad Farid Uddin

Head, Dept. of Business Administration

Prepared by:
A. S. M. Rashidul Hasan; ID: 0201124018 Md. Saiduzzaman Khan; ID: 0201124053 Md. Anisul Hoque; ID: 0201124065 Program: MBA Batch: 40th

Submission Date: 27th May, 2012

Case Study- Extreme Motivation

Introduction: This case study explores some motivational strategies and theories modern day businesses use to motivate their employees. It begins by introducing Maslows hierarchy of needs and discusses how needs are met during motivational techniques. Then presents pay-for-performance motivation by utilizing techniques from former General Electric CEO, Jack Welch. Then continues with a human resource approach to motivation. The paper briefly looks at some approaches to motivation and evaluates how they are effective and why they are effective. In todays business world, companies are employing a plethora of motivational techniques, in order to increase their profits. Human resources departments use a merit based motivational program, an approach that focuses on the esteem of the employee, or a combination of both. The merit based, pay-for-performance program, employed by Jack Welch, uses money to motivate high performance, whereas the other approach focuses more on helping an employee feel better about his or her self, which will lead to higher performance. their employees This study also explored different motivational approaches used by Seagate (worlds largest hard drive makers firm) company to motivate

Case Question 1: Use Maslows hierarchy of needs to classify each needs of the rewards mentioned in this case. How do each of these rewards increase motivation? Answer: Abraham Maslow developed a model of needs and according to his model human needs can be classified into five categories and these categories can be arranged in a hierarchy of importance. These are: 1) Physiological Needs 2) Security Needs 3) Belongingness Needs 4) Esteem Needs 5) Self-Actualization Needs

Case Study- Extreme Motivation

Concerning Maslows theory in terms of pay-for-performance, it can be analyzed under each of these five areas Physiological Needs: The physiological need is the lowest in the hierarchy, and is generally the easiest to fulfill. This physiological level is the necessities and is usually entry level of pay, which is adequate to motivate a worker to pursue the desired position. In the workplace, this need can be satisfied by adequate salary or financial rewards. In the given case Mr. Jack Welch, former CEO of General Electronic also believed in this. In his opinion, financial rewards are the most important tool in the motivation toolbox. He has pointed that money is paramount, saying; other reward can never be given lieu of money. Security Needs: Once a person attains the physiological level, security is the next need in line. Security is having the feeling of job security, pay raises and pension plans etc. If the employees dont feel secure in their job, they will be dissatified and gwoth of organizations will fall. In this study, we have found that, a world famous hard drive maker company Seagate was facing a severe motivation crisis in 1996, due to a merger and subsequent layoffs and employees werent happy. Belongingness Needs: Belongingness needs relate to social processes. They include the need for love and affection and the need to be accepted by ones peers. The former CEO of General Electronic, Mr. Jack Welch also believed that. He said that, Its not always how much you give people, though. Sometimes its how much you give them relative to their peer. Esteem Needs: Esteem needs actually comprise two different sets of needs: the need for a positive self-image and self-respect and the need for recognition and respect from others. Besides financial performance, Mr. Jack Welch also believing in recognition of employee performance and personally reviewed everyone who worked directly for him, handwriting extensive performance evaluations that sometimes ran several pages.

Case Study- Extreme Motivation

Self-Actualization Needs: At the top of the hierarchy are the self-actualization needs. These needs involve realizing ones potential continued growth and individual development. Jack Welch also used this motivational tool to keep a balance between recognizing past successes and calling for further achievement.

Case Question 2: Which theories of motivation seem to fit most closely with Jack Welchs ideas about rewards? Explain. Answer: There are many theories available, by which manager can motivate the employees to improve their performance. In the given case, Mr. Jack Welch use a motivation theory to motivate his employees and that is the Two Factor Motivation Theory. Two-Factor Theory In the 1960s, Frederick Herzberg published his two-factor theory which proposes that people are motivated by motivators rather than maintenance factors. It Consists two factors: 1) MaintenanceExtrinsic Factors & 2) MotivatorsIntrinsic Factors. MaintenanceExtrinsic Factors: Maintenance factors are also called extrinsic motivators because motivation comes from outside the person and the job itself. Extrinsic motivators include pay, job security, title; working conditions; fringe benets; and relationships. These factors are related to meeting lower-level needs. MotivatorsIntrinsic Factors: Motivators are called intrinsic motivators because motivation comes from within the person through the work itself. Intrinsic motivators include achievement, recognition, challenge, and advancement. These factors are related to meeting higher-level needs.

In the given case, Jack Welch, former CEO of General Electronic is also believed that financial rewards are the most important tool to motivate employees. The current view of

Case Study- Extreme Motivation

money as a motivator is that money matters more to some people than others, and that it may motivate some employees. However, money does not necessarily motivate employees to work harder. Money also is limited in its ability to motivate. For example, many commissioned workers get to a comfortable point and dont push to make extra money; and some employees get to the point where they dont want overtime work, even though they are paid two or three times their normal wage. But money is important. As Jack Welch says, you cant just reward employees with trophies; you need to reward them in the wallet too. Jack Welch also goes on to note four other effective means of increasing motivation, including recognition, celebration, a clear mission and a balance between recognizing past successes and calling for further achievement. He adds its not always how much you give people, though. Sometimes its how much you give them relative to their peers, money is a way of keeping score.

Case Question 3: Use one or more approaches to motivation to why explain why Seagates retreats are motivating to workers. Answer: There are three approaches to motivation. These are: 1) The Traditional Approach: According to Fredrick W. Taylor, managers knew more about the job being performed than did workers and he assumed that economic gain was the primary thing that motivated everyone. 2) The Human Relation Approach: The human relations emphasized the role of social processes in the workplace. Advocates of the human relations approach advised to make workers feel important and allow them self-direction and self-control in carrying out routine activities. 3) The Human Resource Approach: This approach assumes that that the contributors are more valuable to both individual and organizations. Managers need to create a work environment to use the human resources.

Case Study- Extreme Motivation

In 1996 Seagate Company was facing a severe motivational crisis. Due to a merger and subsequent layoff, the employees werent happy. To overcome this problem Seagate top team decided that took some drastic measures. We have used The Human Resource Approach to explain that: According to The Human Resource Approach Managers need to create a work environment to use the human resources. To apply this approach Seagates top management enrolled 200 managers in a week-long adventure race in New Zeeland. Each day team of employees spend the morning learning about the key attributes of a strong, vital culture, including trust, accountability and healthy competition and it ends with the final racing competition. Over the five days employees test themselves, open up to their colleagues, and learn to trust team members. The retreat is expensive for Seagate, but it is paid of well. In January 2006, Forbes named Seagate as its Company of the year.

Conclusion: This case gives us the ideas about how different rewards acts as motivating factors for the employees and the uses of different motivating theories and approaches to apply them. In this case we saw how Jack Welch used financial rewards to motivate the employees of general electronic. We also saw how Seagate Company used different motivating approaches to create an effective and friendly work environment to use the human resources. Any organization wants to motivate their employees can use these motivating theories or factors or approaches according to the situation.