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Motivation in Apollo 13

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Introduction In contemporary organizations, motivation is a very hot issue. Not only in a large corporation but also in a team or a group, how to motivate teammates has already become the most important theme. As Westwood (1992) said, motivation can be defined as “an internal state...giving rise to a desire or pressure to act”. However, in the field of management, there are a large numbers of motivation theories. Therefore, this essay will investigate three types of motivation theories from a film-Apollo 13 (1995). It will provide some useful insights into how it might feel to work or manage in an organization. Analysis The first section of the film shows us Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs theory. At the beginning of the film, one of the astronauts Ken felt he hadn’t controlled the machine expertly when he practiced with his partner what might increase the risk of safety. Therefore, in order to decline the risk when him drives the spacecraft in the outer space, him pushed himself to spend more time on practicing. Like Judge et al.’s (2002) meta-analysis, which demonstrated an average correlation of 0.26 between conscientiousness and job satisfaction. In the analysis, the teammates pay more attention on the details or individual’s high in conscientiousness. In this issue, because of the high risk in outer space, it motivated Ken to promote his own skills of controlling. Therefore, they were still in the second level of Maslow’s theory. More positive practices could increase the survival probability in the solar system. Only after they completed the safety level, they will seek for the higher demand. To sum up, in this part, Ken motivated himself according to Maslow’s theory. Increasing the level of safety impel him do more exercises on flowing the space shuttle. The next section of the film embodies the goal-setting theory what could also motivate the group members. In the film, the doctor who works for NASA said Ken might get the measles in the space. Therefore, the organization changed him into another person Jack what give Ken a huge attack. However, when NASA need him to imitate a plan what might save the astronauts who were in trouble in the outer space. He set a clear goal to motivate himself completed the mission. According to this section, to the extent, Ken might be a person who has the sense of responsibility. Staw et al. (1986) argued that individual disposition may have a profound influence over how the work

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