Igniting Passion: Motivating Employees Intrinsically

This is an experiment told to me by my Prof in a management class about an experiment carried out on chimpanzees. 

The chimps were divided into two groups – say, A and B, and kept in two different large rooms. They were given canvases, some paint brushes and color vials. 

When one of the chimps of group-A managed to take color from one of the vials and made a stroke on the canvas, it was immediately rewarded by a banana. The others in the group followed suit and were also rewarded. This carried on for sometime and whenever the chimps made a stroke, they would get bananas. This excited the chimps initially.

At the same time, in a different location, the chimps of group B also started off exploring the new things given to them and made some strokes on the canvas with their brushes. But they did not receive any reward. They started making strokes after strokes on the canvas. The new colors made them more inquisitive and excited other chimps too as they made number of color combinations out of the same set of colors.

Relevance of Behavioural Management: Exploring the link between Strategy and Change Management

With the present times showing a greater level of uncertainty and ambiguity, it has become pertinent to understand the deeper determinants of sustainable competitive advantage. If we look at the developments over the last three years, the Indian Industry has witnessed tremendous changes – the unbundling of electricity sector, revision in mobile tariff-structure, banking norms, disinvestments in PSUs, liberalization of foreign investment regulations etc. All these indicate that reform and deregulation would be a norm. Traditional bureaucracies would be struggling to come out of a protectionist regime and don the mantle of Corporate; domestic players would be evaluating the opportunities of strategic alliances, cross-border mergers and acquisitions to enter transnational markets. Competition would become fiercer as entry of new players would be easier.