Life Stories of Recent Managers

Submitted to- Submitted by-

Prof. Roopak Gupta FAS Group B1-

Aman Poddar (18F107)

Disha Kundra (18F118)

Hrushikesh Tapadiya (18F121)

Kaundinya Bose (18F123)

Sanjana Bail (18F144)

Monica Chi

While extrinsic factors such as better pay and good job title motivate most people, this is not the case
with Monica Chi. For Monica, her needs for achievement are important. This is because working on
meaningful work is important to her. She likes to take up a challenge as long as it is not too
overwhelming and challenging. She breaks these into smaller tasks so she is assured of achieving them.

The component of Self-Esteem of Maslow’s Theory of Need Hierarchy is applicable here. Monica strives
to keep her self-esteem by her accomplishments. The Goal Theory also motivates her. This is because
learning and growth is important to her and when she receives a challenge, she takes time to pay
attention to it and draw out what the task requires from her and plan out the course of action and her
efforts so as to arrive at the best outcome for the task.

Her motivation is also drawn from how her parents have been her role models as they stood as an
example of hard work. The sacrifice her parents made for her and her sibling and the values they
instilled in her have shaped how she behaves due to her observations. This is explained in Bandura’s
social cognition theory.

Ann Gildroy

Ann drew most of her motivation from watching how her brother Colin behaved who despite his severe
learning disabilities and constant failures at tasks would still put forth enormous effort in every task he
performs. Bandura’s Social Cognition Theory explains this. She also derives her motivation to push
forward by keeping in mind that her actions in the war zone would help improve conditions for the Iraqi
people. She drew motivation from whether they were doing better personally and were more capable
and whether their perception about Americans had changed. Bandura’s Theory states that social
cognition often makes us perform social activities and self-efficacy makes us often perform difficult tasks
because we watch someone else perform difficult tasks and then believe we will be able to do it too (in
this case she observes her brother perform difficult tasks despite failure).

Self-Actualization from Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs also motivates her to perform her duties because
she takes up challenging roles here by being stuck in a war torn zone and thinks of providing safety and
security to the Iraqi people as her primary objective.

Jaime Irick

Jaime Irick has been very involved in community activities in his town and his motivation to do this can
be derived from McClellands Need for Affiliation Theory. This theory provides for three different drives
of motivation namely – need for power, need for achievement and need for affiliation, and every person
has one of these as his predominant drive. People who have need for affiliation as their predominant
drive are the people who are more likely to volunteer for social activities and corporate social
responsibilities. They do not pay much attention to extrinsic factors like money and this substantiates
Jaime’s beliefs. Jaime believes that one does not have to wait till he is or till he collects a lot of money to
be able to make a positive impact on society.

Sachin Jain

Sachin Jain believes in giving back to society in whatever possible manner for him. He has gained these
values from his family which is a starter of giving back to society at their respective works. Also, his
entrepreneurial values have been imbibed since his high school days and he has learnt from people in
his life. The motivation content theories applicable here is Maslow’s Theory of Need Hierarchy. Sachin is
at the stage of self-actualisation. It includes needs such as altruism and finding a purpose and meaning
of life and work.

The Bandura’s Social Cognition and Self-Efficacy Theory also motivates him. According to this theory, a
person is driven to act in a particular way by observing or hearing others like parents, teachers,
colleagues, leaders and celebrities. Here, Sachin was motivated by observing his family and teachers in
his life.

Alex Mandl

Alex Mandl gets motivated by exploring new opportunities and validating unconventional methods and
strategies. She likes to bring fresh perspective to complex problems and work on problems that others
neglect. She also likes to use deep talents and skills in solving problems and helping other people
navigate complex problems. The motivation content theory of McClelland’s Need Theory is applicable
here. Alex has traits of Need for Achievement component of this principle. She is driven to achieve
success and use creativity in her tasks.

The Goal Theory also motivates her. Her goal is to remain strong in tough situations and accept them.
This, in turn, leads to working hard and thus increases the performance. Here, goals have valence or
power to generate actions.

Daniel Salvadori

The main motivational factor for Daniel is to make difference in other people’s lives. Helping people
living better and longer life motivates him. This attribute traces to Self-Actualisation concept of
Maslow’s Theory of Need Hierarchy. Here, he wants to give back something to society by making
difference in people’s lives.

Also, he is motivated by continuous learning and meeting new people. The importance of learning is
rooted back to school days and motivation by his grandfather. This can be related to the Goal Theory.
Here, the process is meeting new people and understanding their perspectives and the final goal being
learning.