Utah Symphony and Utah Opera Merger

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1. Bill Bailey, chairman of the board of the Utah Opera Organization, could use McClelland’s need theory to support the merger with the Utah symphony based on the three principles that are entailed in the theory; need for achievement, need for affiliation, and need for power (Kreitner & Kinicki, 2010, p. 215).

Firstly, the need for achievement is met by understanding that people strive to master difficult situations, endeavors or challenges. This idea works on both an organizational level, as well as an individual level. From an organizational level, it is well known that a merger of this magnitude had never been attempted. With that brings a great challenge to succeed, and lets the leadership work in new and innovative ways to make such a merger successful. McClelland’s theory states, in regards to need for achievement, that people strive “To excel one’s self…to rival and surpass others… to increase self-regard by the successful exercise of talent” (Kreitner & Kinicki, 2010, p. 215). By this definition, the merger would motivate leadership to excel in the face of a challenge, and to increase their professional self-regard in their success in doing so. On an individual level, you are asking the performers and employees to recognize both economic and social climates, and to come together in action to save both their careers, as well as their passion in life. Such a merger would only embolden self-worth and perceived achievement, because they would be part of a much larger organization more adverse to risk and future change, and they would easily be able to look at other similar organizations and realize they were part of an organization who accomplished something never before attempted.

Another key idea in this theory that ...

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... employees trust going into such a merger is instrumental in influencing their decision to approve of such a merger.

In speaking with her staff, Anne needs to set very clear and obtainable goals to help motivate her employees. Kreitner and Kinicki (2010, p. 228), in speaking about how goals regulate effort, state that “Not only do goals make us selectively perceptive, they also motivate us to act…Generally, the level of effort expended is proportionate to the difficulty of the goal”. With this in mind, she should set challenging goals, and lead her organization to accept the merger with motivation.

Works Cited

Kreitner, R. & Kinicki, A. (2010). Organizational behavior (9th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.

DeLong, Thomas J (2005). "Utah Symphony and Utah Opera: A Merger Proposal." Harvard Business Review, 5-406-027. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Publishing.

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