Applying Motivation Theories

The initial concern from William (Bill) Bailey, chairman of the board of the Utah Opera regarding the proposed merger with the Utah Symphony was over the financial strength of the opera compared with the financial liabilities of the symphony. Another concern of Bill’s is that the opera would lose its identity through the merger.

Initial concerns aside, Bill determined that a merger between the two organizations would benefit them both over time. Bill now has the task of gaining support for the merger from the symphony board of directors.

A theory of motivation that would help Bill is McClelland’s Need Theory. This theory posits that humans have a need for achievement, a need for affiliation, and a need for power (Kinicki & Kreitner, 2010). The need for achievement drives people to accomplish challenging tasks. The need for affiliation generates the desire to connect and associate with others. The need for power instills the desire to influence, prepare, educate, or motivate others. These motivational needs apply perfectly to Bill’s goal of gaining support for the merger from the opera’s board members. The need for achievement would compel the board to strive for making the merger work because of the challenge it presents. The need for affiliation would generate the desire to connect with the members of the board of the symphony to accomplish the task of a successful merger. The need for power would increase the board member’s desire to coach and teach the leaders and members of the symphony during the merger process.

Scott Parker, chairman of the board of the Utah Symphony must convince Carolyn Abravanel, widow of Maurice Abravanel, who was the symphony’s conductor and music director for 32 years that the merger is in the best interest of the symphony. Mrs. Abravanel has remained very active in supporting the symphony since the passing of her husband and she has publicly announced that she is opposed to the merger between the symphony and the opera.

Scott could use Adam’s Equity Theory of Motivation to convince Mrs. Abravanel that the merger between the symphony and the opera would help strengthen the symphony’s financial position. Adam’s Equity Theory of Motivation predicates that fairness or equality motivates people to take action (Kinicki & Kreitner, 2010). Adams determined that a perceived lack of fairness causes an individual to take actions to correct the inequality. A person might focus feelings of injustice inward, creating a negative attitude or the person might project feelings of injustice outward resulting in spiteful or vengeful conduct.

A sense of equilibrium between an individual and an organization also motivates people to action. Perceived equality or equity favoring the individual prompts people to take actions that promote the status quo or ensure the state of equity continues. For example, an individual might receive a 10 percent pay increase for outstanding effort so they decide to maintain that level of effort in the hopes of receiving favorable returns in the future.

Knowing this information, Scott should emphasize the benefits the symphony would gain through the merger with the opera and downplay any negatives. Mrs. Abravanel wants to ensure the symphony’s legacy her husband left behind continues for years to come. She seeks a sense of equilibrium or equity favoring her interests. Preserving the heritage and legacy of the symphony motivates Mrs. Abravanel.

Using Positional and Personal Power

Positional or legitimate power is associated with a person’s formal position within an organization (Kinicki & Kreitner, 2010). An individual’s position provides them opportunities to exercise the authority associated with that position. Typically, the higher the position within the organization, the greater the legitimate power the individual possesses. Anne’s position as the general director of the Utah Opera (UOC) provides her with a high degree of positional power.

Personal or referent power comes from an individual’s charisma or ability to influence others through their likeable personality (Kinicki & Kreitner, 2010). An individual’s position within an organization does not influence their personal power. However, Anne clearly displays the qualities of personal power in her ability to grow the opera financially and through increased patronage during her tenure as general director.

A leader possessing personal power and positional power is able to influence others to achieve tremendous goals and accomplishments. Through her position as general director of the opera and her accomplishments with the opera, Anne clearly possesses both characteristics of positional and personal power. Anne should user her personal and positional power to persuade the public, board members, staff members, and the artists who oppose the merger that the merger between the opera and symphony would be mutually beneficial. Anne clearly possesses the qualities of a strong, charismatic leader and these traits would serve her well to help her win over those who oppose the merger.

Anne’s position as an effective general director of the opera and anticipated leader of the merged opera and symphony gives her a high degree of positional power. Her track record with the opera and her reputation for accomplishing difficult tasks make her a logical choice to lead the new organization. Her position of leadership gives her the opportunity to persuade opponents to the merger to reconsider their position, but she must wield that power responsibly to win support for the merger from those currently opposed.
People with positional power such as Anne’s might be tempted to use their power in a negative fashion by influencing others simply because of the position they hold. In this example, Anne could easily argue the merger is a good idea simply because her experience and leadership would make her a great leader of the organization, but that argument does nothing to gain support from opponents. Instead, Anne would be wise to use her positional power as an experienced and effective leader, but also apply her personal power to convince others that the merger is a good idea by providing supporting arguments.

All parties impacted by the merger need to know their concerns are heard and their interests are addressed before lending their support. Anne can draw on her positional power and experience to address specifics with authority, such as the financial and operational concerns of the new organization. She can rely on her experience to convince people she has the skills and abilities to lead a difficult merger and manage a large, complex organization. Anne can also pull on her energy, enthusiasm, and charisma to ensure opponents she is committed to the success of the merger. The winning combination of Anne’s positional power coupled with her personal power will serve her well in winning over opponents to the merger.

Keith Lockhart, music director of the Utah Symphony would report to Anne in the merged organization. It is important to the merger and successful operation of the two organizations that Anne allow Keith to operate as the head of the symphony in the new organization. Keith possesses intimate working knowledge of the symphony that Anne lacks. The patrons of the symphony and the musicians currently look to Keith as the director of the symphony and need assurance that his leadership will still be intact in the future. Anne will benefit by allowing Keith to tap his full potential as a leader and the new organization will benefit if Keith and Anne work together to maintain the strong artistic and creative talent both organizations possess individually.

However, Keith needs to know with all certainty that he will have true leadership over the symphony – not just in name only. Anne must use her charisma and likability to convince Keith that he will have control over the symphony, even though he will report to Anne in the new organization. She must make Keith understand that she is empowering him by sharing a portion of her leadership with him.

The Musicians’ Concern

An ad hoc committee representing the 83 musicians of The Utah Symphony formed upon learning of the proposed merger. The committee formed to voice the musicians’ concerns over the merger to the board. Christine Osborne, chairwoman of the committee identified four items of importance to the symphony musicians. The first three items characterized enhanced artistic excellence, effective fund-raising, and a 52-week operational budget as essential to the orchestra’s success. These are valid concerns that Anne, Keith, and the board would likely agree with. However, the final concern identifies a strong collective bargaining agreement as essential to the future of the symphony. Some of the musicians feel the board entered into merger discussions to modify the terms of the current collective bargaining agreement.

The union-represented musicians receive hefty salaries that make up approximately 60% of the annual operating budget of the symphony when combined with payroll taxes and other benefits. With the symphony’s tight operating budget, a strong collective bargaining agreement favoring the musicians threatens the financial stability of a newly merged symphony and opera. The symphony’s fragile financial position is one of the main factors driving the decision to merge the organizations.

The opera singers may become perturbed and petulant upon learning of a favorable collective bargaining agreement with the symphony musicians. The opera singers might feel like they got a raw deal in the merger, especially since the opera has a better financial standing than the symphony.

A collective bargaining agreement benefiting the musicians threatens the financial stability of the new organization and threatens the morale of the opera singers. A week agreement favoring the new organization threatens the morale of the musicians.

Anne is in a difficult position with the musicians and their desire for a strong collective bargaining agreement. Anne has the unenviable task of balancing budget concerns; ensuring musician morale does not erode and maintaining opera member morale. To resolve this issue, Anne should consider using the programmed conflict Dialectic Decision Method. The Dialectic Decision Method of stimulating functional conflict fosters a structured debate of opposing viewpoints (Kinicki & Kreitner, 2010). The process mirrors that used by the legal system in America and in other countries where opposing viewpoints are heard and considered by judges or juries before a decision is made on a matter. Both sides state their cases with supporting arguments before the conflict is resolved.

This method of managing conflict is a good fit for Anne when considering how to approach the union issue with the symphony musicians. The musicians want the union representation to safeguard their salaries and benefits, but the newly merged organization may find it difficult to meet the desires of the union and musicians while maintaining financial stability for the organization as a whole. It is crucial that both parties hear and understand the arguments from all perspectives to arrive at a mutually beneficial decision. The Dialectic Decision Method provides the best option to resolve the conflict of interests in a functional manner.

Influence Tactics

Anne does not need 100% endorsement from the staff members and artists impacted by the merger proposal, but their support would certainly make the unification easier for everyone involved. A seamless transition to a merged organization with enthusiasm and support from everyone involved would help get things off to a great start. The community would benefit from a harmonic union as well. It is important to Anne’s success as leader of the combined organization that she has as much support as possible in reaching an agreement on the merger proposal.

Anne could choose from several influence tactics to gain support for the merger. Two such tactics are rational persuasion and consultation. By using rational persuasion, Anne would attempt to convince the staff members and artists that the merger is mutually beneficial to the opera and symphony by applying reason, logic, or facts (Kinicki & Kreitner, 2010). Anne would simply explain the financial and operational benefits both organizations would realize under the proposal. Anne’s understanding the main points of concern to all parties involved and addressing them with sound logic and reasoning is vital to success for this strategy to work.
Anne could also use the influence tactic of consultation to gain support for the merger. By allowing staff members and musicians to take part in planning, decision making, and change implementation processes, Anne will influence team members to support the merger proposal (Kinicki & Kreitner, 2010). People tend to support projects they directly work on because human nature compels people to accomplish things and succeed at what they labor at. By including as many people as possible in the planning and implementation stages the more support Anne will gain for the merger.

Anne certainly has an uphill battle on her hands, but if she adheres to tried and true management techniques and properly applies them in her dynamic and diverse environment she will succeed as the new CEO of the merged Utah symphony and opera.

Reference

Kinicki, A., & Kreitner, R. (2010). Organizational Behavior, 9th Edition. New York: McGraw-Hill Higher Education.