Group Assignment Organizational Behavior Group 2

Group Assignment
OB GROUP 2
Group members
1. Sid B
2. Sudeep
3. Rajat Tewari
4. Neeraj Siingh
What Drives Employees at Microsoft?
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Questions:
What kind of personality attributes would be desirable for workers in Microsoft?
How many activities in this case can you tie into specific motivation theories? List the activities, the
motivation theories, and how they apply.
What kind of personality attributes would be desirable for workers in

Microsoft?
Several personality inventories exist in the psychometric research community; the two
commonly used in software engineering research are the Meyers-Briggs Type Indicator or
MBTI, and the Five Factor or “Big Five” model.
The Big Five personality model is probably the most widely used framework in personality
research as well as in practice.
Let’s explore how each of the Big Five personality traits (i.e., agreeableness,
conscientiousness, extraversion, neuroticism, and openness to experience) might be relevant
to the employees at Microsoft.
1. Conscientiousness
Conscientiousness is characterized by being hardworking, persistent, neat, well-organized
and goal-oriented.
One of the statement says “ a substantial portion of your work involves days of boredom
punctuated by hours of tedium”. Also, “ Microsoft employees are famous for putting in
long hours”.
This reflects hardworking and persistent nature of Microsoft employees.
“ Microsofties believe that the firm has a manifest destiny to change the world affecting
lives of millions of people”.
The goal is very much clear and its about belief that the Microsoft employees can change the
world and they come to work with this mindset.
With leadership of Bill Gates, Microsoft was able to surpass IBM which proves achievement
over the time in growing the business stronger and solid.
With all these, high conscientiousness could be one of the desired trait.
2. Agreeableness
Agreeableness is a personality trait manifesting itself in individual behavioral characteristics
that are perceived as kind, sympathetic, cooperative, warm, and considerate.
The employees are known for their high tolerance for nonconformity. The compassion of
being highly agreeable comes out in their nature towards co-workers who are not judged for
being themselves.
Employees at Microsoft show this trait also in terms of the final goal in united and co-
operative way. This unity can be shown in one of the statements
“the underlying theme that unites Microsofties is the belief that the firm has a manifest
destiny to change the world”.
With all these, moderate to high agreeableness could be one of the desired trait.
3. Neuroticism
Neuroticism is a measure of affect and emotional control. Low levels of neuroticism indicate
emotional stability whereas high levels of neuroticism increase the likelihood of experiencing
negative emotions. Persons with high levels of neuroticism are reactive and more easily
bothered by stimuli in their environment. They more frequently become unstable, worried,
temperamental and sad. Resistant persons on the other hand need strong stimuli to be
provoked.
The emotional stability that is measured with being neuroticism might be a matter of concern
for Microsoft employees. Their mental state of mind is somewhere closely linked to the stock
option price. It is said that employees tend to get moody and shifty during periods where the
stock price of Microsoft is down, irrespective of what employee benefits are provided.
With all these, moderate to high neuroticism could be found in employees which may not
be a desired trait by Microsoft.
The company would prefer someone with low level of neuroticism which shows
confident and secured character.
4. Openness to Experience
Openness to experience is characterized by a tendency to have an active imagination, an
intellectual curiosity as well as the willingness to consider new ideas and try new things.
Since Microsoft believes in changing the world, employees must be equipped with new ideas
and more innovative way of looking at the PC/software world, which attributes to their
success.
With this, high openness to Experience could be one of the desired trait.
5. Extraversion
In general, Extraverts are known for being sociable and assertive, as well as for their
tendency to experience positive emotions. They are enthusiastic, seek excitement.
Microsoft starts off at a disadvantage here, because the people Microsoft hires tend to be self
driven and a little socially dysfunctional. So employees already tend to screw up their
relationships with others and focus on work to the exclusion of everything else, without any
encouragement from Microsoft. Lots of young, ambitious professionals with no time for
making friends.
Microsoft adds jobs that are very mentally challenging, sometimes aggressive product
schedules, a campus that's a bit isolated from the outside world you've got all the ingredients
for poor work/life balance.
Some of the statements justify this:
Microsoft employees are famous for putting in long hours. One program manager said,
“In my first five years, I was the Microsoft stereotype. I lived on caffeine and vending-
machine hamburgers and free beer and 20-hour workdays. . . . I had no life. . . . I
considered everything outside the building as a necessary evil.”
“ a substantial portion of your work involves days of boredom punctuated by hours of

tedium.”
Anything that is different to the daily monotony could also be considered under extraversion
but at Microsoft, monotony is prevalent.
With this, Microsoft employees could be low at extraversion.
How many activities in this case can you tie into specific motivation theories?
List the activities, the motivation theories, and how they apply.
Answer:
Different theories address different outcome variables. Some, for instance, are directed at
explaining turnover, while others emphasize productivity. The theories also differ in their
predictive strength.
Here, our group,
1) reviews the key motivation theories to determine their relevance in explaining our
dependent variables, and
2) assess the predictive power of each taking into consideration our case of
Microsoft.
Motivation is “the process that account for an individual’s intensity, direction, and
persistence of effort toward attaining a goal.”
Many people incorrectly view motivation as a personal trait—that is, some have it and others
do not. Motivation is the result of the interaction of the individual and the situation.
We will narrow the focus to organizational goals in order to reflect our singular interest in
work-related behavior.
The three key elements of our definition are intensity, direction, and persistence.
Intensity is concerned with how hard a person tries. This is the element most of us focus on
when we talk about motivation.
Direction is the orientation that benefits the organization.
Persistence is a measure of how long a person can maintain his/her effort. Motivated
individuals stay with a task long enough to achieve their goal.
Now,let’s analyze different theories and related activities playing at organizational and
personal level at Microsoft.
Maslow’s theory
Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is the most well-known theory of motivation. He
hypothesized that within every human being there exists a hierarchy of five needs.
Maslow separated the five needs into higher and lower orders.
Physiological and safety needs are described as lower-order needs which are predominantly
satisfied externally.
Social, esteem, and self-actualization are as higher-order needs which are satisfied internally.
Now, tying activities in Microsoft as per Maslow’s law:
New Employee Orientation = Social
Tolerance for nonconformity = Esteem
Stock Program = Physiological or even esteem due to the recognition factor
Two-Factor Theory/ Herzberg Theory

The Two-Factor Theory is sometimes also called motivation-hygiene theory.
Intrinsic factors, such as advancement, recognition, responsibility, and achievement seem to
be related to job satisfaction.
Dissatisfied respondents tended to cite extrinsic factors, such as supervision, pay, company
policies, and working conditions.
The opposite of satisfaction is not dissatisfaction and removing dissatisfying characteristics
from a job does not necessarily make the job satisfying.
To motivate people, emphasize factors that are intrinsically rewarding that are associated with
the work itself or to outcomes directly derived from it.
Now, tying activities in Microsoft as per two factor theory:
Stock Plan, tolerance for nonconformity (e.g. dress) = Hygiene
United belief that Microsoft has a manifest destiny to change the world = Motivational
ERG Theory
This theory, also a reworked Maslow’s law, argues that there are three groups of core needs—
existence, relatedness, and growth.
The existence group: Providing our basic material existence requirements. They include
Maslow’s physiological and safety needs.
Relatedness: The desire we have for maintaining important interpersonal relationships. These
social and status desires require interaction with others. They align with Maslow’s social need
and the external component.
Growth needs: An intrinsic desire for personal development. These include the intrinsic
component from Maslow’s esteem category and the characteristics included under self-
actualization.
ERG theory also differs from Maslow’s in that:
More than one need may be operative at the same time and does not assume that there exists a
rigid hierarchy.
Now, tying activities in Microsoft as per ERG theory:

Stock Plan = Existence
New Employee Orientation, tolerance for nonconformity = Relatedness
Freedom to Make Decisions/Goals = Growth
McClelland’s Theory of Needs:

This theory focuses on three needs: achievement, power, and affiliation.
Need for achievement: The drive to excel, to achieve in relation to a set of standards, to strive
to succeed.
Need for power: The need to make others behave in a way that they would not have behaved
otherwise.
Need for affiliation: The desire for friendly and close interpersonal relationships.
Some people have a compelling drive to succeed. They are striving for personal achievement
rather than the rewards of success. This drive is the achievement need. High achievers
differentiate themselves from others by their desire to do things better.
Now, tying activities in Microsoft as per McClelland’s theory:
Freedom to Make Decisions/Goals = Achievement
New Employee Orientation = Affiliation
Goal Setting Theory:

This theory states that clear and difficult goals lead to higher levels of employee productivity.
This evidence leads us to conclude that goal-setting theory provides one of the more powerful
explanations of this dependent variable. The theory, however, does not address absenteeism,
turnover, or satisfaction.
People will do better when they get feedback on how well they are progressing toward their
goals. Self-generated feedback is more powerful a motivator than externally generated
feedback.
Goal setting also appears to be important from the statement that “obsess on the goal of
shipping product.” Any modifications should include goals and financial rewards.
Now, tying activities in Microsoft as per Goal Setting theory:

Freedom to Make Decisions/Goals
In General:
It is assumed that Microsoft follows Mayo Elton’s motivation theory to keep its employees
floated which places emphasis on manager and employees communicating , working together
in groups and managers having more involvement in employees working lives.
Second theory which Microsoft is assumed to follow is Herzberg or two factor theory which
we already have discussed.
Possible factors driving employees during recession:
1. Sum total of all the above factors discussed.

2. Clear communication between managers, leaders and employees which makes the
whole system open and transparent.
3. Other employee benefits:
a) Comprehensive healthcare coverage for employees and dependents.
b) Adoption fee assistance, Maternity leave, Paid time off for new parents, Discounts on
child care services, Home care services.
c) Employee stock purchase program, Education program for employees to create
financially fit portfolio.
d) Learning and development programs run for employees taught by instructors from
world’s top educational institutes.
4. Another aspect that Microsoft focused was to try to mellow down its perfectionist
organizational culture in an effort to lessen the pressure that is always being felt by
their employees. This helped ease the tension and make the employees feel more
relaxed. This created a sense of belongingness.
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Group Assignment

What Drives Employees at Microsoft?

What kind of personality attributes would be desirable for workers in Microsoft?

What kind of personality attributes would be desirable for workers in

“ a substantial portion of your work involves days of boredom punctuated by hours of

With this, Microsoft employees could be low at extraversion.

Two-Factor Theory/ Herzberg Theory

Now, tying activities in Microsoft as per ERG theory:

McClelland’s Theory of Needs:

Goal Setting Theory:

Now, tying activities in Microsoft as per Goal Setting theory:

Possible factors driving employees during recession:

1. Sum total of all the above factors discussed.

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