Integrative Case Study On Individual Behavior

Group 4
Arjun Chaudhuri Arjun Khosla Ria Verma Sneha Manan Tandlum Suhash

This case tracks the life of Leif Johansen primarily from his career point of view. In this analysis we attempt to trace his career and how various factors like personality, motivation and attitude shaped his behavior over the years. We start with his early years, continue to the time he spent at Yale and Harvard, as well as the various jobs he was employed in i.e. at IBM and Computer Graphics. We finally move onto the entrepreneur stage of his career. Leif Johansen started his career at IBM. Initially his career goals were unclear, but he felt that he would probably work in a large corporation. He pursued business studies at Harvard, went on to work at IBM, joined a start-up and finally started his own firm and ended up as an entrepreneur. It is mentioned that during his childhood, he observed his father complain about the bureaucracy of working in a big company, and mention how he wished to start a business of his own. Though this did not materialize, we can say that it is possible for Leif to have inherited the trait of entrepreneurship from his father. Leif did well in school, where he competed with highly motivated students, and was ultimately awarded a scholarship to Yale, which he found quite impressive, though he had an erratic academic record there. While choosing his job, he seeks a role which is challenging and interesting. He settles on the Stretch project in IBM because he is motivated by the task significance( Stretch was a major improvement in computing technology and was going to impact lives of several people) of his role there. He was attracted to the glamour of working on the super-computer. He soon gets into the groove of working Stretch and becomes its number one programmer. He also takes on additional responsibilities and reduces the core requirements by 33 percent in line with Theory Y. He is impressed with the variety of applications that the super computer could perform. He enjoyed working at IBM and was getting raises at regular intervals. So it can be said that the Expectancy Theory comes into play here as his effort was leading to individual performance which in turn led to organizational rewards in the form of raises in the salary. Intuitive decision making is observed in Leifs manner of working on the Stretch project, as he went about it on an unstructured way rather than following step-by-step procedure. Using MBTI, Leifs personality can be assessed as follows: Extraverted: In the 1st year at Harvard, Leif got a reputation as the section computer jock and a wit. Intuitive: When he accepted the job just after one night of soul searching at Boulder it shows that he relied on unconscious process. Thinking: After Harvard when he had to zero in on a job, he logically considered all options available and finally decided on the job he wanted to take up.

Perceiving: When he accepted the job offer at Computer Graphics he was charting into unknown waters. He did not take much time in accepting the offer. Need for achievement is observed in Leif. In his second year at Harvard, when the time came for him to find a job he says that he did not see himself plodding rung by rung up the corporate ladder. Moreover, he visualized himself as an entrepreneur and the independence and potential monetary awards associated with it were very appealing to him. Thus, we can also say that he was motivated by the Esteem need as given in the Hierarchy of Needs Theory. While selecting a job at Harvard, he rejected those jobs that did not have any Task Significance (for instance, one of the job opportunities available was staffed with a cast of hundreds where he would not have had a major impact). When he accepted the job in ASDD at IBM, the reason behind this was that it demanded a full range of his talents. Thus, Skill Variety is evident here. While he was working on ASDD project, even though the work was interesting he missed producing anything tangible. Thus Task Identity was a significant motivating factor for him. He displays Need for Power when he says that he enjoys to give subordinates their heads and let them show what they could do. Positive Feedback received from the Boulder plant people gratified him and motivated him. Leif shows Risk Taking personality trait when he accepts a significant cut in his salary and 2000 shares in a new venture called Computer Graphics. He displays a slight tinge of Narcissism when at Computer Graphics he says that My ego was somewhat bruised because .. everyone seemed to have more knowledge and authority than I . We notice Self Efficacy in Leif. Before joining Computer Graphics when he asks Dwyer what would I be doing ? and Dwyer replies, I dont know yet, Leif goes ahead and joins the company. This reflects the belief he has in his ability to perform any role which would be assigned to him. Escalation of Commitment is observed when Leif after having a conversation with a friend on the Boulder Project, he remembers that even though he had misgivings about Boulder project while he was working on it he had not done anything about it. It is seen that Leif was thinking of the possibility of becoming wealthy but at the same time he was concerned about the comfort of his family. Thus Relatedness as per ERG theory can be applied here(since he is focusing on more than one need simultaneously). When Leif decided to leave Computer Graphics to go into business for himself he displays the personality trait of Risk Taking as the future is uncertain and he still goes ahead. This also shows his Thinking personality as per the MBTI approach since he does not let his emotions guide his decision(he did not like the idea of leaving his friends at Computer Graphics but he goes ahead with his decision).

When he started his own firm he wished to build a quality firm with a strong reputation. He loved the independence and prestige of having his own firm. This reflects his Need for Achievement. Also we notice him to be increasingly concerned about his family, to build an estate as well as to provide a quality life and upbringing for his children. Thus, Esteem need of Hierarchy of Needs Theory comes into picture here. His Need for Affiliation is evident when getting rid of one of his employees becomes a very painful process for him. Also he places another employee on a subcontract instead of firing him. Also when he says that he wants to build relationship with Dwight Nichols for future business, then Need for Affiliation comes into play.