Year 12 IB Extended Essays 2018

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This is an intrinsic motivational approach. He ensures that his employees understand that he values their work, and also that they are the ones “ Developing the technologies to make this possible” . This is another factor which could explain how Musk is able to keep motivation levels high despite having a harsh leadership style.

Secondly, engineers love solving problems, and at SpaceX, they are solving the most challenging ones. Building from scratch at minimal budgeting is the pinnacle of engineering, which is also another intrinsic motivation SpaceX employee experiences.

We can refer this as Pink’s motivational model 23 developed in the early 1900s.

Fig. 6 Pink’s Motivational theory Image Source: https://www.future- processing.com/blog/wp- content/uploads/2016/06/pinks- theory_technicalblog.png

According to Pink,

‘Promises of rewards or the threats of punishment actually narrow the focus and intellectual range of employees, which diminishes their capacity to innovate or be creative.’ – Daniel Pink 24 SpaceX’s corporate culture is to consistently be creative. Employees are carefully selected towards those who are dedicated to the purpose. This allows financial motivation to be placed as a second source of motivation, at least for most employees. They attain their satisfaction mainly through achievement and working towards the purpose.

23 Loykie Lominé, Martin Mwenda Muchena and Robert A Pierce, Business Management , 1st ed. repr., Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press, 2014.

24 Loykie Lominé, Martin Mwenda Muchena and Robert A Pierce, Business Management , 1st ed. repr., Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press, 2014.