OB: Session 10

Motivation

Professor: Happy Paul

Group: J1
Arohi Deore
Chirayu Thakuria

Radhika Apte
Samarth Khanna
Zohaib Sheriff

1
The session started with a discussion on the ABCD Model. This formed a basis for discussion
of the case, ‘Life stories of Recent MBAs: Motivations’. The ABCD Model is as follows-

Acquire- It is the need to acquire different things like goods, services & experiences. Money is
one such tool that motivates people.

Bond- It refers to the need to bond & create relationships with people. People naturally form
groups based on common interests & aspirations.

Comprehend- People tend to have the need to make a difference in the world. They like to
understand the impact of their actions & draw motivation from the same.

Defend- This refers to the need to defend one’s actions or point of view. Individuals looking
for motivation in this way are often in search of justice.
Motivation can mean many different things for many different people. Things that might drive some
people, may not be driving factors for others. This difference in the way people find value in things
depends on many external & internal factors that affect them during the course of life.

The case deals with six individuals & the different things that motivate them. These individuals
are all MBA students.
Most of these individuals drew inspiration by helping others. Some of them wanted to understand the
true impact of their actions on people & how they were able to make an impact on their lives. People
like Monica weren’t motivated by tools like money or job titles. Instead, they found value in the work
they did & the quality of people around them. Some people like Alex found inspiration in challenges.
Being able to tackle challenges & help others was a driving factor in their lives.

Some key motivational concepts that were linked to the case are-

1. ABCD Model:
We were able to correlate the four different drivers & understand what is the nature of the
motivating factors of these individuals.

2. Motivational Strategies:
Primarily, we found extrinsic & intrinsic forms of motivation. Some of them found motivation by
realising their own purpose in life while others were driven by the way they impacted people around
them.

3. Tools for Motivating

Apart from materialistic tools like money & other rewards, we found that they were motivated by
most of the other tools.

4. Need Hierarchy Theory

Predominantly, we see that all the basic needs have been fulfilled. Yet, all of them seem to be
looking for a purpose in life. This means there was a need for self-actualization in all cases.