Essay: Monsters Inc.

Monsters, Inc., is an animated film about a corporation that powers the monster city by capturing the screams of little children and turning them into energy. The company uses specialized scare monsters that enter each child's bedroom through the closet door, and then deliver a frightening affront. The only problem is kids are not scared anymore. And because of this problem, Monsters, Inc. is in a jam as the city is facing an energy crisis. The problems escalate when a little human girl, Boo, follows Sulley Sullivan the protagonist into the monster world. Monsters are in fact afraid of human children as they believe them to be highly contagious. As the story progresses Sulley develops a bond with the child and protects her from other monsters and the antagonist Randall and brings her back to human world. Mike Wazowski the best friend of Sulley also gets entangled into the crisis. Although initially he tries to get rid of the child by any means, he eventually gets attached to Boo and assists Sulley in getting her back to the human world. Monsters Inc. addresses many Organizational Behaviour topics such as Needs Theory, Ethics and Leadership. A closer examination of how employees and organization as a whole are impacted by the desires, motives and views of individuals is an interesting topic.

The dynamic between rival characters of Randall Boggs and Sulley Sullivan the top scarier, astutely illustrate the differing motivating factors and actions of these characters. Looking at the need theories of motivation, Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Theory is key to understanding the motives and subsequent actions of the main characters. According to Maslow, within every human being there exists a hierarchy of five needs, specifically physiological, safety, social, esteem and self-actualization needs. As each of these needs becomes substantially satisfied the next need becomes dominant (Robbins & Langton, 2007). Randall’s dominant need is for esteem, and he focuses on the...