The Motivation Level of Steve Jobs in His Career - Research Paper Example

? Managing People Table of Contents Theme Motivation and Job Satisfaction 3 Theories and their applications in the context of the case 3 Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs 3 Herzberg’s two factor theory 4 Alderfer's ERG theory 5 Theme 2- Theories of groups and teams 6 Group Cohesiveness and Performance 6 Group Development and Maturity 7 Role Conflict 7 Effect of Technology 8 Reference 10 Theme 1-Motivation and Job Satisfaction This theme relates to what has motivated Steve Jobs in his endeavors. There have been various factors which have worked towards raising the motivation level of Steve Jobs in his career. Moreover, he also had his own notion of motivating his staffs in his organization. The analysis of the case has been done in the light of various theories of motivation. Some of the theories which have been used are the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, Herzberg’s two factor theory, McClelland theory of motivation, Alderfer's ERG theory. Theories and their applications in the context of the case As per the goal setting theory, individuals generally have a clear drive towards reaching towards a certain state or goal. Reaching this end state is perceived as being a reward in itself. However the goals’ efficiency is affected by the following features, namely, specificity, proximity and difficulty. Such was the case with Steve Jobs. Jobs motivation was derived largely through his desire to change the world through his innovation. It is true that he was much lower in comparison to his competitors in terms of riches or wealth. However, it was not his motive to earn the reputation of being the wealthiest of his time; he was rather focused towards creating such innovative products which would be appreciated and accepted by all and would be accepted and perceived as such a thing which changed their lives. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Abraham Maslow has presented the hierarchy of needs of individuals which can be explored to explain the context of the case study. He has put forth the five levels of human needs which are psychological needs, safety needs, social needs, esteem needs and self actualization needs. The case study reveals the fact that Steve Jobs has attained all of the lower order needs and is only seeking to achieve the highest order need, which is the self actualization need. Being the owner of Apple, which is one of the largest multinational organizations in the world, it is imperative to understand that he had reached the pinnacled of success in his career. Thus it can be said that all of his self esteem needs had been satisfied. However, the fact that he continued to work on innovation and creation depicts that he was still in the lookout to attain his needs to attain self actualization. His continuous strive towards enhancing his performance as being a leader as well as his people in the organization demonstrate his craving for the need of self actualization (Gorman, 2004, p.34). Herzberg’s two factor theory ‘Herzberg’s two factor theory’ is different from that of Maslow in that the former presents two categories of conditions which are known as ‘motivators’ and ‘hygiene factors’ respectively. Factors which contribute directly towards motivating people to work harder is named as motivators and factors which de-motivate employees in their absence but do not motivate them when present are known as hygiene factors. In the case of Steve Jobs, the fact of being the CEO does not act as a motivator for him. It is rather a hygiene factor for him. Even though he produced the successful iPod player and iTunes which was considered to be quite a revolution in recording industry he was not quite content with it. This was followed by the production of the iPhone and the Macbook Air in 2007 (Mullins, 2010, p.411-413). Such big achievements could not satisfy him much and thus they can be considered to hygiene factors. They did not contribute towards making him work harder; however, their absence could have acted as de-motivators in his career. The case reveals that Steve Jobs was not the kind of person to be concentrating all his efforts and being content with a single industry. The motivating factor in this case was his abilities to diversify to a number of other industries and markets. He directed his efforts to the animation industry and in 1986 purchased a computer graphics operation from the Lucasfilm. He named it Pixar. Later on Pixar emerged as one of the leading players in the world of computer animation. The subsequent emergence of the series of successful movies such as Toy Story, Wall-e is a reflection of the extent of creativity and innovation which formed the basic grounds on which Apple survived and existed for years (Gorman, 2004, p.54). Alderfer's ERG theory This theory says there are three groups of needs of individuals. They are need for existence, relatedness and growth. The three needs can be elaborated as the need for basic requirements of individuals, need for relatedness and the need for having social and status desires. The theory bears similarity with that Maslow in terms of the social needs of individuals. It requires individuals to have extensive interaction with other people for satisfying these needs. Finally the growth need for individuals have been classified by Alderfer as an intrinsic desire in individuals for developing his or her own personality. The case reveals that Steve Jobs preferred to set high standards of performance for himself and for others in the organization too. However, it must be understood that setting high standards might act as a motivator for him but not for all. This outlook failed to create cooperation and participation of his employees and only ended by creating frustration and dissatisfaction among them. It is also crucial to understand that needs differ between individual to individual and are not the same for all. At times the lower order needs attain greater importance as compared to the higher order needs. It is seen in the employees in Apple, who do not remain content with the work structures and are frustrated about the very high demands of the organization. However, that does not mean that they people left the organization or preferred to join another organization. Apple always remains the best and the most favorable choice of working for talented personnel in the industry and would continue to do so. It is seen that the company has no place for employees who cannot deliver extremely high quality of performance. However it continues to attract and retain the best minds in the world. Theme 2- Theories of groups and teams Theme 2 relates with the group activities and teamwork which is found in Apple. Under this theme, the various aspects of group cohesiveness and their performance factors are discussed in the project. The factors contributing to group development, group maturity and role conflicts are discussed in the project too. Lastly the impacts of technology on the performance of groups in the organization are presented. Group Cohesiveness and Performance The condition in Apple, as apparent from the case study is a reflection of effective group performance coupled with effective leadership too. Teams and groups account for major features in an organization. Any work organization is composed of units and sub units of people. It is the extent of interaction and coordination of activities of each member of the team that accounts for the performance and productivity of a group. However coordination is not possible without the intervention of a good leader in the organization. Such was the case in Apple too. It is seen that the vision for incorporating creativity and innovation in all products produced by the organization could be realized only through effective group performance. However, these team works and group performances must be led in the right direction by the organizational leaders. Steve Jobs has been effective in leading his team members to realize the mission and vision that he had developed for Apple. Effectiveness of group performance is also apparent from the fact that it was able to transform the organization from the midst of turmoil to a very successful one through effective team work and performance led by Steve Jobs (Gorman, 2004, p.92). Group Development and Maturity The degree of cohesiveness of a group is largely dependent on the ways through which it progresses through the different stages of development. Moreover, development of the individual teams and groups in an organization depends on certain disciplines and rules predominant in the organization. Group development and maturity in Apple is demonstrated in the ways employees have successfully picked up the roles excepted of them arising out of the vision and strategic interest of their leader Steve Jobs. The diversity and portfolio of products that the company has produced would not have been possible without the development and maturity of group work and team activities. The mutual knowledge sharing that the company indulges in and the efficiency with which each employee had been able to adopt his or her role in the organization is also a reflection of group dynamism and maturity. Most importantly Job’s desire to incorporate technological innovation in all activities and products produced by the company are a demonstration effective direction, control and coordination of group activities and performance (Mullins, 2010, p.411-413). Role Conflict The successful performance of groups and teams depends largely on the extent to which their roles and responsibilities are defined and transparent. Inappropriate and improper definition of individual and team roles might lead to performance clashes and can often to lead to redundancies in work processes. The effectiveness of role definition is apparent from the way activities and processes have run in the organization Apple. Apart from being a highly technologically advanced organization where work processes remain highly streamlined and efficient the clarity and definition if individual and group responsibilities is also on account of the good direction and leadership of Steve Jobs. The transparency of individual roles and effectiveness with which roles and responsibilities are defined in the organization is a mark of efficient organizational processes. It is also reflected through the succession planning of the company. When Steve Jobs stepped down from the role of CEO of Apple, he was succeeded by Tim Cook in August 2007. This was an outcome of long term planning and strategic thinking by the company and by Jobs. The role of the CEO had been particularly made clear to the new CEO who has successfully led the company thereafter. Besides the top management team, it is also seen that role clarity and definition exists vividly in the lowermost levels of the organization. Steve Jobs was very particular about the roles of each employee in the organization and set very high performance standards for all. This has been the main reason why people failing to meet the responsibilities accountable to them were subsequently terminated from the organization. People failing to meet the set standards of the organization have been eventually ended up being terminated from their jobs and Steve Jobs does not regret in doing the same for the sake of maintaining the position and standards of the organization in the market. It is seen that there has been certain amount of dissatisfaction, frustration and anger among employees due to this attitude of the employer but it has not caused even the slightest change in his perceptions (Mullins, 2010, p.411-413). Effect of Technology Being one of the leading giants in the information and technology sector it is evident that information and technology has played a positive role in enhancing and improving group performances and team activities. The efficiency with which group performances and activities could be collaborated and reflected through their performance could not have been possible without the application of information and technology. The success of information and technology is apparent through the firms’ production of diverse products and services for its customers. The launching of the iPod, iPhone and Macbook Air only goes to show how successfully and innovatively technology has been utilized and contributed to the growth the organization. In facts Apple products are perceived as being responsible for bringing about revolution in the field of information and technology. Apple products have revolutionized the ways households work and have become part of their regular activity such that it is impossible to think life without Apple products (Mullins, 2010, p.411-413). Reference Mullins, L. J. (2010). Management and Organisational Behaviour. London Financial Times Prentice Hall 9th edition 2010. [Online]. Available at: http://view.ebookplus.pearsoncmg.com/ebook/launcheText.do?values=bookID::3796::bookPageNumber::i::invokeType::lms::launchState::goToEBook::scenarioid::scenario1::logoutplatform::1026::platform::1026::languageid::2::scenario::1::globalBookID::CM29225275::userID::1776685::pageid::i::hsid::939c4caaffeb739cb466c57c1546b866. [Accessed on January 10, 2012]. Gorman, P. (2010). Motivation and emotion. Routledge. Read More