HUM3052 Assignment-20 Marks

Essentials of Management
Assignment 20 Marks
Please analyze the case studies given below:

Motivation Case Study
Though it may seem impartially obvious that receiving praise and recognition
from one’s company is a motivating experience, glumly many companies are
failing miserably when it comes to saying “thanks” to their employees. According
to a recent report by Blessing White Inc., 24 percent of Indian workers are highly
disengaged, meaning that they couldn’t care less about their organization.
Employee recognition programs, which became more popular as the world
economy shifted from industrial to knowledge-based, can be an effective way to
motivate employees and make them feel valued. In many cases, however,
recognition programs are doing “more harm than good” according to Curt
Coffman, global practice leader at Gallup. Take Ko, a 50-year-old former
employee of a dot-com in California. Her company proudly instituted a rewards
program designed to motivate employees. What were the rewards for a job well-
done? Employees would receive a badge which read “U Done Good” and, each
year, would receive a T-shirt as a means of annual recognition. Once an employee
received 10 “U Done Good” badges, he or she could trade them in for something
bigger and better— a paperweight. Ko states that she would have preferred a
raise. ‘It was patronizing. There wasn’t any deep thought involved in any of this.”
To make matters worse, she says, the badges were handed out arbitrarily and
were not tied to performance. And what about those T-shirts? Ko states that the
company instilled a strict dress code, so employees couldn’t even wear the shirts
if they wanted to. Needless to say, the employee recognition program seemed
like an empty gesture rather than a motivator. Even programs that provide
employees with more expensive rewards can backfire, especially if the rewards
are given insincerely. Employees may find more value in a sincere pat on the back
than gifts from management that either are meaningless or aren’t conveyed with
respect or sincerity. However, sincere pats on the back may be hard to come by.
Gallup’s poll found that 61 percent of employees stated that they haven’t
received a sincere “thank you” from management in the past year. Findings such
as these are troubling, as verbal rewards are not only inexpensive for companies
to hand out but also are quick and easy to distribute. Of course, verbal rewards do
need to be paired sometimes with tangible benefits that employees value—after
all, money talks. In addition, when praising employees for a job well-done,
managers need to ensure that the praise is given in conjunction with the specific
accomplishment. In this way, employees may not only feel valued by their
organization but will also know what actions to take to be rewarded in the future.
Questions:
1) If praising employees for doing a good job seems to be a fairly easy and obvious
motivational tool, why do you think companies and managers don’t often do it?
2) As a manager, what steps would you take to motivate your employees after
observing them perform well?
Motivation Case: The Piano Builder
Jackson builds piano from scratch. He is a consultant to a piano manufacturer. He

is on call and works about one week a month, including some travel, to solve
problems of customers. He also rebuilds about a dozen grand pianos every year
for special customers; but, according to Jackson, the most satisfying part of his life
is his hobby for building pianos from the beginning. “It’s the part that keeps a
man alive,” he says, the challenge of the work is what lures Jackson onward. He
derives satisfaction from precision and quality, and he comments, “Details makes
the difference. When you cut a little corner here and the little corner there,
you’ve cut a big hole. A piano is like human body; all the parts are important.”
Jackson has a substantial challenge in making a whole piano. His work combines
skills in cabinetmaking, metalworking, and engineering, with knowledge of
acoustics and a keen ear for music. It requires great precision, because a tiny
misalignment would ruin a piano’s tune. It also requires versatility: a keyboard
must be balanced to respond to touch of a finger; the pinblock, on the other hand
must withstand up 20 tons of pressure. In addition, bird had to make many of his
own piano construction tools. http://www.gujaratstudy.com
http://www.gujaratstudy.com 3 Jackson has built forty pianos in his thirty-four-
year career. Though construction takes nearly a year, he sells his piano at the
most price of a commercial piano. He is seeking not money but challenge and
satisfaction. He says, “The whole business is a series of closed doors. You learn
one thing, and there’s another closed door waiting to be opened.” Jackson says
his big dream is to build a grand piano: “it is one thing I haven’t done yet and
want to do.”
Questions:
1. Discuss the nature of Jackson’s motivation in building pianos.
2. What are Jackson’s drives and needs? Would a behavior modification
program affect his motivation? Why or why not?
3. How could a manufacturer of pianos build the motivation Jackson has now
in to his employees?

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Essentials of Management

Please analyze the case studies given below:

Motivation Case: The Piano Builder

Jackson builds piano from scratch. He is a consultant to a piano manufacturer. He

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