The supervisor wants to motivate Jamal, an intelligent but risk-averse engineer, to be more independent in his work. Using ERG theory, the supervisor could motivate Jamal in three ways. First, assure Jamal's existence needs through insurance and flexibility. Second, develop Jamal's relatedness through team projects to build confidence. Third, challenge Jamal's growth through opportunities to realize his full capabilities. ERG theory addresses Jamal's needs simply without frustrating any level, which could motivate him to be more self-sufficient.

1. PEOPLE DYNAMICS IN MALAYSIAN ORGANIZATIONS
UCM60303U3
Individual Task: CASE STUDY (15%)
Title: Motivating Jamal
Student Name : Muhammad Hasif bin Alias Student ID : 0316413
Jamal is an engineer in a large design engineering office. Jamal comes from a rural background,
and his family had a low income and stern rules. In order to earn his college degree, he had to
work and he paid most of his own expenses. Jamal is an intelligent and capable worker. His main
fault is that he does not want to take risks. He hesitates to make decisions for himself, often
bringing petty and routine problems to his supervisor and to other engineers for a decision.
Whenever he does a design job, he brings it in a rough draft to his supervisor for approval before
he finalises it.
Since Jamal is a capable person, his supervisor wants to motivate him to be more independent in
his work. The supervisor believes that this approach will improve Jamal’s performance, relieve
the supervisor from extra routine, and give Jamal more self-confidence. However, the supervisor
is not sure how to go about motivating Jamal to improve his performance.
Questions
1. In your opinion, why do you think Jamal is behaving in such a manner? (6 marks)
In my opinion, Jamal is focusing on extrinsic value of work and have zero intrinsic value. He is
affected by his background and past. His family difficulty have put him on the edge of a cliff, where he
need to work and help his family no matter how much pain he suffers. And with such knowledge behind
him, he clearly is the only hope his family have and being careful not to get fired is all that he thinks.
Meanwhile, his family strict rules have always placed him in an isolated forest, where he learned to survive
using his every might but didn’t think of finding an escape route. Assuming that such past have taught him
to always be careful with his surrounding and not to try or challenge himself to be outside of the box. He
survived but it is always dark and lonely, not being able to be free. Thus, he grow up with an idea of being
formal,static, instead of moving forward, being flexible. As conclusion, tt is natural for him to feel
pressured, uncertain or uncomfortable with his works that lead him to behaved as such a manner.

2. 2. How would you motivate Jamal using a motivation theory? Illustrate your answer with
specific examples. (9 marks)
In order to motivate Jamal, I would use the ERG theory by Clayton P. Alderfer. ERG theory is
distinguished the famous Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs into 3 basic categories of human needs that
influence worker’s behaviour which are Existence (E), Relatedness (R) and Growth (G). The theory is
much simpler which does not require too much work as stated in the context where the supervisor don’t
want an extra routine or homework. Also, the theory includes a frustration-regression element, that
suggests if the achievement of a higher-level need is frustrated, we may change the course of our efforts on
the attainment of a lower-level need to an enhanced degree.
Existence needs include all the various forms of material and physiological desires. One of the
characteristics is that they can be divided among people in such a way that one person's gain is another's
loss. Jamal need to be motivated, thus we can’t create a riot between his co-workers. Money may be the
option, but what I have in mind is giving assurance to him, especially in term of his family safety. The
management should allow claims and insurance to not just Jamal, but for all employee. Claims such as for
equipment, stationaries and transportation, while insurance is mostly for the family in term of health and
financial help. This way, he would be able to save his money without any worries. Jamal must also be
allowed to be flexible with his work and getting less restriction in term of work.
In term of Relatedness needs, it involved the relationship with other people. The focus would be mainly
the family, however, superiors and co-workers are also usually significant. This needs satisfaction
depends on a process of sharing or mutuality. After achieving his self satisfaction, Jamal must be taught
about the exchange of acceptance and understanding. Usually, in a group, one or two person would feel
insecure about themselves , thus making their level of uncertainness higher. However, if they take it
positively, it could develop into positive things. Assuming Jamal does not have many friend and work by
himself all day long, Jamal need to be put in a team or a group where he can meet new people and venture
new ideas. This will increase his confidence and develop new personality traits from his colleagues.
Afterwards, he can use the idea of the needs to confront his family.

3. Lastly, growth needs involve a person making creative or productive effects for himself and the
environment. It comes from Jamal himself, for him to engage problems, so that it’ll served as wake up call
for him to realize his full capacities and and also, develop additional ones too. This satisfaction depends on
Jamal himself because it needs to be find. It could either be opportunities that he himself find or delivered
to him purposely to motivate him. We’re not trying to make him feels good about himself to the point of
negative attitudes such as arrogant. As stated in the context, Jamal is already a great independent and
capable person in the industry. He’s just being held back one step away from his evolution. If Jamal is
guided to the right path, he will then earn his intrinsic work values.
As conclusion, it’ll be best to use this method because the needs can be multi-assessed instead of
taking time segmenting his life. This surely help Jamal to realize the efficiency of the company and his
unimaginable capabilities to work in it.
Figure 1 : ERG Theory

4. References
1) Alderfer, C. (1972). Existence, relatedness, and growth; human needs in organizational settings. New
York: Free Press.
2) Alderfer, C. P. (1969). An empirical test of a new theory of human needs. Organizational behavior and
human performance, 4(2), 142-175.
3) Maslow's Theory Vs. ERG. (n.d.). Retrieved October 1, 2015, from
http://yourbusiness.azcentral.com/maslows-theory-vs-erg-12074.html