1. What role has intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation played in Lord Fosters career and architectural practice?

CASE 11.2 THE DRIVEN DESIGNER WHO CONSTRUCTED A GLOBAL EMPIRE EMMA JACOBS (Source: Financial Times, 31 December 2011) Lord Norman Foster is reputed to be a cold technocrat. The modernist architect behind HSBC's Hong Kong building and Swiss Re's 'Gherkin' uses glass and steel, and his interiors are often white. Profiles refer to his 'bullet head' and portray him as inscrutable. The only architect in last year's Sunday Times Rich List, he is renowned for being fiercely driven, having created a corporate machine unusual in an industry so vulnerable to recession and strewn with bankruptcies. Lord Foster's grip on the international brand he has forged over four decades since founding Foster + Partners in 1967 is tight - so much so, that he even insists that the typeface on all his build- ings' signage and company reports is also used in books published about him. And his reputation as an interviewee is poor; he is said to know what he is going to say before he has been asked. So, it is a surprise to discover, when meeting him at his riverside London headquarters, that he is rather person- able. The 75-year-old architect, dressed in a light blue gingham shirt with a pink trim, speaks softly and appears relaxed, occasionally leaning so far back into his chair that he is almost lying down. There is truth in his characterization, however. He concedes that he is extremely demanding. A point reinforced when, halfway through our interview, he takes a call from his youngest son. 'Push for first, Eduardo, push to be best,' he implores the nine-year-old. But, while demanding of others, characterizing himself as a 'tough but fair critic', he is 'also very demanding' of himself. It is this drive that has propelled him to forge an empire with a workforce of about 1000 employees spread across 14 offices in 13 countries. In the architecture world, this is huge - the firm, run by his friend and rival Lord Richard Rogers, currently has fewer than 200. (Continued) (Continued) The scale of Lord Foster's ambition has attracted critics who suggest his hardheaded commercialism compromises his judgment, most notably with the Palace of Peace and Reconciliation in Kazakhstan There's a feeling that if you are business-minded) then somehow you've tarnished your creativity," he observes. Lord Foster's drive emerges as a central theme of the film How Much Does Your Building Weigh, Mr Foster?-a reference to the question posed by Richard Buckminster Fuller , the American engineer-vision- ary - which was released last week and traces the architect's career from his modest origins in Manchester. Lord Foster's father was the manager of a furniture and pawn shop, who worked nights in an aircraft factory during the war. At the age of 21, through toil and determination, Lord Foster, who as a child spent stretches of time sketching buildings, won a place at architecture school, where he had to pay his way by working. He went on to win a scholarship to Yale in 1961, where he met Richard Rogers, with whom he set up the practice Team 4 together with Mr Rogers's first wife, Su, and Wendy Cheeseman, who became Lord Foster's first wife. At the time, having to fund his own education made Lord Foster 'feel really hard done by'. Now, he believes it was the best thing that happened to me... [because I was so passionate about what I was doing that I would literally pay to do it... It taught me values. If I bought something, whether a sheet of paper or my tuition, I knew how much it was costing. And it showed him, he says, 'how to optimise time'. Even now, 'if I'm in a car, I'm working'. A desire for financial security has never been his motivation, he insists, in spite of his passionate enthusiasm for piloting planes and helicopters. He rejects his characteri- zation as a tax exile, saying he pays taxes in the UK as well as Switzerland, where his Spanish wife, Elena Ochoa, an academic psychologist turned publisher, and two young children, are based. Money 'has absolutely nothing to do with what I do. In the past (the company has been on the edge and gambled everything. It was like approaching the cliff edge.' Did it scare him? It sharpens you.' He claims never to have had sleepless nights over finances. 'I'm more likely to lie awake (over bad design direction That may be just as well. Foster + Partners has been hurt by the recession, which saw global demand for big building projects slide. Last year, it shed a quarter of its staff, as tumover fell to 134m from 154m the year before. The privately held firm reported a pre-tax loss of 15m. The company's heavy debt burden is 327m, having risen since 3i, the private equity firm, acquired a 40 per cent stake in 2007, the annual debt interest payments - almost 40m - wiped out operating profits of 25m. Will there be more job losses? 'It's probably guaranteed.' A small smile flickers across his face, before he pauses, worried about appearing insensitive. 'That's a trite way of saying that anybody who's been around any length of time is no stranger to cyclical ups and downs. But the fact that we are widely spread geographically, and providing more services (integrated) with engineering, pro- vides insulation against downturns. Lord Foster-recently a judge on the Zayed Future Energy Prize, which awards $1. 1m for innovative environmental projects, as well as designing Masdar, the zero-carbon city being built in Abu Dhabi - adds that the firm's expertise in sustainability will prove increasingly valuable. He maintains that the relationship with 3i will prove beneficial in the long term by giving the architectural practice access to expertise in foreign finance, 'We have a fantastic relationship: (3i has a very light touch, we do what we do and get on with it. Total non-interference. Unlike Lord Rogers, whose firm changed its name to Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners in 2007 to lessen the impression that the firm revolves around him, Lord Foster has no plans to include others on his company's masthead. Is that due to vanity? "[It's] pride. Pride is a valuable, motivating quality. Vanity is dangerous because it's superficial.' Indeed, he dismisses the characterization of architects as egotists intent on remaking the world in their own image. The architect has no power,' he says, suggesting that he is simply an 'advocate for the client. "To be really effective as an architect or as a designer, you have to be a good listener. Surely there are clients who are deferential, in awe of his reputation? 'I think you'd be surprised how fast that would evaporate,' he laughs, before eventually conceding that the more successful he has become, the less likely he is to hear criticism. 'People do tell you what they think you want to hear.' He will not be drawn on succession, except to say that the day-to-day operation works without his presence - and insists that he has no plans to retire. 'I still get a great buzz from (work].' A number of partners have been at the company for 30-40 years, and all senior manag- ers, including chief executive Mouzhan Majidi, are architects rather than businessmen. "We're driven by design,' he says proudly. The vast open-plan white and glass riverside office - which is either the embodiment of modernist meritocracy or sleek sweatshop, depending on your point of view - is intended to encourage ideas. 'I don't have a desk. I'm moving around. Everything is transparent,' he says. "That doesn't mean to say it is not hierarchical. Of course, it's hierarchical. You have to have leadership.' What would his parents, who came from humble backgrounds, have said if they saw this huge office? 'I think they would be incredibly touched and very moved and very proud.' Suddenly, Lord Foster's voice wavers and his eyes appear to redden with tears. 'But, I think I would be more proud of them. Why? Because I had] two exceptional parents extraordinarily loving, very supportive, incredibly hardworking.' This flicker of intimacy spurs me to confide that he is easier company than I had expected. Lord Foster admits that he cannot identify himself in the severe and cold man described in interviews. He posits it may come from aloofness, borne out of shyness. 'It's something I've had to overcome.' THE CV Born: Manchester, 1 June 1935 Education: 1961 University of Manchester School of Architecture; 1962 Yale University School of Architecture Career: 1963 Set up Team 4 architects with Richard Rogers, Wendy Cheeseman and Rogers' wife, Su Rogers: 1967 Founded Foster Associates, later Foster + Partners Buildings include: HSBC headquarters in Hong Kong; 30 St Mary Axe ('The Gherkin'); Beijing airport; Palace of Peace and Reconciliation, Kazakhstan Interests: Flying, cycling, skiing QUESTIONS What role have intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation played in Lord Foster's career and architectural practice? What does Lord Foster argue typically leads to creativity in an organization? Creative individuals are motivated by the opportunity to pursue their passions that trigger creative discovery.' How does this statement apply to Lord Foster's case