Question 1
Traits that make Josebachvili and Levy self-motivated
Willingness to take risks makes the two self-motivated. Josebachvili just had three years of high school and took the risk to apply for college despite everyone saying that she could not. She took the risk and started Urban Escapes after quitting her job. Besides, they have a passion for what they are doing. They are also motivated by the belief in themselves. They believed that the idea was going to work, and they treated every trip that did not go perfectly as an opportunity to learn. They also have the attitude of success and are also persistent. Josebachvili also had an extraordinary purpose as she believed in creating her own thing. Even in her job after college, she knew that it is not the thing she was meant to do and took it as a mean to an end.
The traits I share with Josebachvili and Levy
I share the traits of being passionate in what I do. I also have the attitude of success and a strong belief in myself that I can achieve my goals in life. Besides, I understand my purpose in life and also focused and persistent in achieving my goals.
Areas that I differ with and areas of personal improvement
One area I differ with Josebachvili and Levy is that I am willing to feel uncomfortable in life. That is doing something that drives me out of the comfort zone. I would have chosen to do something not fun to me, but that makes me feel uncomfortable.
Question 2: Human resource approach to motivation
This approach argues that employees are always willing to make a real contribution to the organization’s success and that the desire to make a contribution is enough to motivate them. Josebachvili and Levy use this approach to managing Urban Escapes. They employed people who believed that the idea can work and are passionate about it. As Levy pointed out, they encouraged employees to take the concept and run with it. They had employees working for virtually no income because of their passion. Levy also points that a person who joined the organization to become rich made a poor choice.
This practice is likely to change after the acquisition of Urban Escapes by Living Social Escapes. They will be handling employees of Living Social Escapes, who may not have been integrated into a culture similar to that of Urban Escapes. At Urban Escapes, passion and contribution to the organization motivated employees, some even working for virtually no income. Employees of Living Social Escapes could be motivated by factors other than passion and the need for achievement. Besides, Josebachvili and Levy will not have the same power to influence human resource policies as they had at Urban Escapes since there will be other directors on the board.
Question 3
How Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs theory applies to Josebachvili
The theory provides that needs of human being fall into five different levels. A person satisfies a lower level need before focusing on higher level needs. Application of this theory to Josebachvili portrays her as a person with an inborn desire to self-actualization. She is focused on achieving her full potential. She is drawn to doing her things and that is what motivated her to quit her job and start Urban Escapes.
Maslow’s theory applies well to Josebachvili. The theory argues that the lower level needs must be met first before one can focus on higher level needs (Koontz, 2010). Josebachvili was focused on the desire to do her things from the word go. She liked the job she had after college and cited good salaries and experience she gained. However, she was focused on achieving self-actualization by doing her things. She considered the job as a means to an end rather than an end itself.
Question 4
Josebachvili and Levy had a passion for the idea and worked hard to see its success. Josebachvili was motivated by the need to have her own business and seeing Urban Escapes success fulfils her need for achievement. Employing people who share the vision and believes in the idea makes Josebachvili and Levy fulfil their needs for affiliation. Josebachvili fulfils her need for power by owning her business. She agrees with the argument of a friend who started his company because he wanted to pick who he works with and do things the way she feels was right. The need for achievement ranks highest followed by the need for affiliation. The need for power is the least ranked.
Josebachvili and Levy fulfilled the need for achievement in employees by encouraging to take the business as their baby and do what is necessary for its success. Josebachvili says that they encouraged employees to work hard and that they will feel awesome to know that their efforts helped people get out of the city. Besides, they shared profits with their employees as Levy points out. They also met employees’ need for affiliation by maintaining mutual respect. There is no indication of fulfilling the need for in employees.
Question 5: Expectancy Theory
Josebachvili’s career choices were influenced by her expectations. She was passionate about doing her things and had an interest in ski diving. She felt high school was not the right course to that objective, so she applied for college. Her interest in skydiving prompted her to take a semester off and work for a skydiving company. She believed her career choices would lead to the satisfaction of her objectives.
References
Maslow, A. (2013). A Theory of Human Motivation. Start Publishing LLC.
