Leadership Interview Paper

Leadership Interview Paper

Jessica Ibarra

MGMT 459

March 3, 2016

Dustin Jacobs

University of La Verne

Overview of Organization

        Carl’s Muffler Shop is a domestic and foreign automobile repair shop. Not only do they repair automobiles, but they also do electrical, quality exhaust components, welding, custom fabrication, and much more. Carl’s Muffler Shop is a small business located in Santa Maria. Carl’s has been around for many years and has several owners. For the past ten years, Carl’s has been managed and owned by one owner. The business consists of five employees and the owner. Since, it is a small business the owner oversees the entire organization. In this paper I interviewed the owner of Carl’s Muffler Shop and asked him questions about motivation, group dynamics, and organization structure.

Understanding Motivation

        In this interview, two theories where discussed. The first theory is the McClelland’s Need Theory, which identified three learned, or acquired, needs, called manifest needs because they are easily perceived (Nelson and Quick, 2015). The three needs are need for achievement, need for power, and need for affiliation. In the motivation section of my interview, we focused mainly on the need for achievement. The second theory is the Expectancy Theory of Motivation, is a cognitive process theory founded on two basic notions. The key constructs in the expectancy theory of motivation are the valence of an outcome, expectancy, and instrumentality (Nelson and Quick, 2015). These three constructs all influence a person’s motivation.

Summary of Responses

        In my interview with the owner of Carl’s Muffler Shop, he stated how extremely important motivation is to him and to his organization. The owner indicated that being self-disciplined and setting goals and achieving those goals is what motivation means to him. This is important because what motivates him and his organization is the trust customer’s give by allowing them to work on their automobiles and making sure it is done correctly and efficiently. This is related to the need of achievement in the McClelland’s need theory, which states a manifest need that concerns excellence, competition, challenging goals, persistence, and overcoming difficulties. At Carl’s Muffler Shop there are difficulties when it comes to repairing an automobile. Some automobiles may take weeks to repair, but to satisfy the customer Carl’s needs to come up with challenging goals to achieve those goals.

        The owner of Carl’s Muffler Shop also indicated that to motivate his employees he gives them incentives. Meaning, every training the employees complete and receive a certificate he would give them a one-dollar raise. This is related to the expectancy theory of motivation, which states motivation can be explained in terms of an individual’s perception of the performance process. The reasoning is because ultimately it is up to the individual employee if a monetary reward is worth it for them. Some employees may think their time with family is more valuable than spending time training.