Li is a software engineer in a start-up company based in Chicago, IL. This is his second job after college, and he has been working there for two years. Before this job, he worked as a software developer for a large, successful company. He left that large company because the job there was too specialized, and he had little opportunity for promotion. His goal for this current job is to gain as much experience as possible, be promoted to project manager, and save as much money as he can before starting his own business in the next few years.

As a Chinese American, Li has always enjoyed working in a group. Back in college, he was very active in student organizations and social activities. His current job duties include writing codes for computer programs together with several co-workers (50 percent of his time), maintaining programs that have been up and running individually (40 percent of his time), and supporting project managers when needed (10 percent of his time). Since this job is within his ability and allows him to interact with others, he works very hard.

However, until recently, Li has not received any formal evaluations from his supervisor. Though several co-workers and a few project managers have given him some informal feedback, the comments were not very consistent. Some of them have praised his work, while others have found some problems. This past Monday, his supervisor finally met with him to review his performance. Though Li was looking forward to hearing his supervisor's opinions, the evaluation was very vague and general. The supervisor did not clarify which particular areas he performed well and which areas he needed to improve. Nevertheless, the supervisor gave a positive evaluation of Li's work during his two-year tenure, and as a result, he was given a three-week paid vacation and the opportunity to enroll in the company profit-sharing plan.

Case Study Questions

1. What do you think of the rewards offered by the supervisor? Do you think Li would be satisfied with what he received?
2. What is your assessment of Li's motivation level? Why?
3. Evaluate the strength of each link in the Pritchard-DiazGranados motivation model; how might the organization improve the weak links to better motivate Li?