Sarah Goodman, senior manager of network development for Holy Managed Care Company, looked over her calendar for the day and sighed deeply. It seemed as if there would be no time at all to work on the project she’d been putting off for most of the week. Circumstances seemed to be such that she simply didn’t have any control over her own time anymore.

Well, first things first, she determined. At 9:00 she was due at a meeting of senior managers who were involved in trying to devise a strategy for counteracting a threatened unionization drive by the company's nonexempt employees. As Sarah thought about the people working for her, she began to wonder exactly what they wanted. They had a pleasant working space, good benefits package, and secure employment. She heard the laughter and chatter drifting into her office as people came into work and thought what a pleasant and congenial group they were. What more could they want?

Then at 10:30 there was another meeting. This one could be very exciting! In 6 months Sarah’s office was scheduled to be moved to a new industrial park on the west side of town. The plans she’d seen so far had all kinds of great perks for employees: on-site day-care center, fitness center, ample parking, great facilities for training. The company was certainly spending a lot of money on this new site. Sarah hoped it would help increase productivity; it certainly would make the employees happier and make recruitment easier.

She’d have to hurry to her lunch meeting with the adviser for the MHA program at Saint Thomas University. Sarah had decided as a part of her New Year’s resolution that she was finally going to begin her graduate degree. She felt she was simply stagnating in her job and, after looking around at positions in her company that looked interesting, she realized she needed a graduate degree if she were going to progress. The only problem was that she wasn’t sure how enthusiastic Richard, her husband, would be about the whole idea. And her mother certainly wouldn’t be happy! The hints about grandchildren had become an outright discussion over the holidays.

Discuss the various motivation theories reflected in this case study.