Organisational Theory and Practice

This report discusses the management style, organization structure, leadership style, power and influence, and motivation at Mothercare. It examines the principles and functions of management used by the CEO and analyzes the steps taken to achieve high performance. It also explores the organization culture and its impact on employees. The report concludes with recommendations for Mothercare.

Organisational Theory
and Practice

Contents
INTRODUCTION.......................................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY..............................................................................................................................................4
a) Examine the management style and state the principle and functions of management used by the
CEO?.......................................................................................................................................................4
b) Analyze the steps taken with regard to organisation structure in order to achieve high performance
and state the organisation culture at Mothercare and its impact on the employees..................................5
c) Describe the leadership style of the CEO of Mothercare to enhance the organisational effectiveness.6
d) Analyze the effects of power, influence and conflict at the chosen firm.............................................7
e) Discuss the various types of motivation used at Mothercare...............................................................8
f) Use appropriate corporate examples and literature to justify your stand............................................10
CONCLUSION & RECOMMENDATION..............................................................................................10
REFRENCES............................................................................................................................................12

INTRODUCTION
Every organization management adopts different theories and practical as that help them
in conducting its business operations and functions in effective ways so that they attain their
desire goal as well as objective. Moreover they also adopt different management style according
to the situation or condition of workplace as that will aid in decision making process as well as
attainment of predetermined target (Burgstaller, 2020). Company also need to determine their
leadership style, power, influence, motivational practices and many more aspects as that will
help directly in decision making. Organization selected for this report is Mothercare which is a
British retail store that specializes in expectant mother and children merchandise of up to eight
years old. It is founded by Selim Zikha and James Goldsmith in year 1961 as well as its head
office is located at Watford, Hertfordshire. They offer their products at the worldwide market.
Respective company is listed on the London Stock Exchange as well as it also constituent of the
FTSE SmallCap Index. Mothercare supply their products at the international, national and local
level by the franchisees method. The CEO of respective company is Mr. Glyn Hughes who has
extensive international retail as well as finance experience which he gained during his 10 year
residence in the Asia (2006 -2016). He has prior experiences in the Kingfisher, TESCO and
KPMG as Senior finance, strategy and business developer. He is appointed as CEO (Chief
Executive Officer) in December 2017 (Dwivedi and et. al., 2020). The main aim of conducting
this report is to understand management as well as leadership style of the Mr. Glyn Hughes at
Mothercare. Topics discussed in respective report are management style, principle and functions
of Mothercare CEO as well as it also include organization culture and structure of this firm.
Moreover, it explain leadership style of CEO and effectiveness, power, influence and conflict of
same firm as well as it also include example and recommendations. For conducting explanations
of these topic different methods, models and approaches are used so that evaluation will be
conducted in the effective and successful manner as it help in providing recommendations
related to the Mothercare situation.

MAIN BODY
a) Examine the management style and state the principle and functions of management
used by the CEO?
Management style is considered as method or style of a person through which they can
manage an organization operations and functions properly. There are several types of
management style which a company may adopt such as directive, authoritative, participative,
coaching, transformational, and transactional and many more. Selection of the management
styles is totally depending on the situation of the workplace because it helps in developing
effective decision. In respect of Mothercare, which is operating its business in retail industry at
the worldwide level as well as they are also offer they also have numbers of potential or loyal
customers. In this their CEO (Chief Executive Officer) plays a major role i.e. Mr. Glyn Hughes
as they conduct proper evaluation of workplace as well as market and accordingly they develop
most appropriate strategies with their management style (Mothercare plc: Transformation Plan
Update, 2020). The Management style of respective person is transformational style according to
which they replace senior leadership so that firm gets to grips with the new and effective life. In
respect of this they are planning to redesign their whole operations as well as products,
packaging and so on as well as these are mainly for the international franchises.
In addition to this respective strategy of Mr. Glyn Hughes is based on the specific
principles as well as functions, according to which Mothercare operations will be complete
change through the transformational plan i.e. to energies the management and be more
productive so that we can focus on the day job to deliver value to the stakeholders. According to
this principle respective company is going to add relevant skills as well as expertise person to the
workplace so that operations will conduct properly (Erooga, Kaufman and Zatkin, 2020).
Moreover, under the principle and function of new transformational plan Boot will become the
Mothercare’s exclusive franchise in the United Kingdom. The principle as well as function of
respective company according to the new transformational plan is they are refocusing the group
on their core competencies of the brand management as well as the other factors such as design,
development and sourcing of the products. This is so because it helps in growing the business of
Mothercare along with the different franchises partners in the United Kingdom as well as around

the world. Through this transformational management style respective company able to boost
their business at the international as well as national market effectively.
b) Analyze the steps taken with regard to organisation structure in order to achieve high
performance and state the organisation culture at Mothercare and its impact on the
employees.
An organizational structure characterizes how practices or activities such as task
distribution, coordination, and supervision are coordinated toward the accomplishment of
authoritative aim (Evans, 2020). The organizational structure influences organizational activity
as well as gives the establishment on which standard working methodology and schedules rest.
Organizational structure is comprises of a few components or elements such as
departmentalization, a chain of leadership, a range of control, centralization or decentralization,
work specialization, and the level of formalization. An organization can adopt diverse
organizational structures such as functional, divisional, matrix, team, and networking as well as
the selection of organizational culture is totally depend upon the situation and working process of
a company (Favour and Tamunomiebi, 2020). In respect of Mothercare, the organizational
structure follow by them is divisional organizational structure, which is generally adopted by
companies who are working at the large and international level. In this there are different
departments based on the power as well as authority.
Figure 1- Organization structure of Mothercare
(Source: Mothercare, 2020)
In addition to this, organization culture is an arrangement of shared value, assumptions,
and beliefs, which oversees how individuals carry on in company. These mutual values impact

the individuals in the association and direct how they dress, act, and play out their jobs or task.
Culture has five fundamental qualities such as it is found out, shared, in light of images,
incorporated, and dynamic. The culture of the work environment controls the manner in which
staffs act among themselves just as with individuals outside the organization (Hoel, Cooper and
Einarsen, 2020). The culture chooses the manner in which employees cooperate at their work
environment. In respect of Mothercare they follow Handy’s cultural model according to which
there are four cultural aspects i.e. power, role, task and person. According to the power aspect, in
Mothercare power is belongs to the higher authority of the firm as well as they develop decision
and plans for their workplace. In respect of person culture respective company leader motivate
employees that they have power within themselves as well as they also provide training and
development. According to role culture people of Mothercare know their role and responsibilities
in effective manner which help them in conducting effective work as well as in respect of task
culture all members of firm know their task and perform it effectively.
c) Describe the leadership style of the CEO of Mothercare to enhance the organisational
effectiveness.
A leadership style is a leader's strategy for giving guidance, actualizing plans, as well as
spurring individuals. Different authors have proposed distinguishing various leader styles as
displayed by leaders in the political, business or different fields. In an organization by adopting
effective leadership style management able to conduct their work effective manner as well as it
will also help them in conducting business operations and functions properly for the attainment
of predetermined goal as well as objectives. Every company has their own leadership style which
is based on their situation, position and target which they want to attain. This is so because that
will help in developing effective strategies as well as plan which help in attaining desire target
successfully (Hsu and Backhouse, 2020). In respect of Mothercare, they are operating at the
international level in retail industry and their CEO Mr. Glyn Hughesco is an experienced as well
as skilled person who knows which leadership style is effective for their business growth. In
respect of this, Mr. Glyn Hughes adopt are transformational leadership style according to which
they adopt new thinks or practices so that they can grow business effectively according to their
target. Transformational leadership is considered as a hypothesis of leadership where a leader
works with groups to recognize required change, making a dream to manage the change through

motivation as well as executing the adjustment pair with submitted individuals from a group; it is
an integral part or piece of the Full Range Leadership Model. There are four main principle of
Transformational Leadership style which are followed by CEO of Mothercare are individualized
consideration, intellectual stimulation, inspirational motivation, as well as idealized influence
(Kirkham and Stuhmcke, 2020). Through this leadership style respective company able to gain
numbers of benefits, from which some are mentioned below:-
 Transformational leader communicate their vision or aim appropriately to different leader
in their organization and to all the staffs to get everybody ready. This would assist them
with managing challenging situation, as all individuals can see the master plan. In respect
of Mothercare, CEO effectively communicates or interacts with every person so that
understand aim as well as feel motivated. This will help in ensuring that they will attain
their desire goal successfully.
 Transformational leader will in general hold employees more regularly than different
types of leadership. They can hold more clients or customers also. That is a direct result
of the allure this leadership style requires. So in respect of respective company, their
CEO adopts transformational leadership which help them in attracting as well as retaining
more customers towards their newly designed products.
d) Analyze the effects of power, influence and conflict at the chosen firm.
Power is considered as the capacity to get things going as indicated by one's viewpoint by
getting another person to do that work. In an organization, there are different sources of power.
Be that as it may, the essential source of power is legitimate force or power, which implies the
power assigned dependent on work assignment (Nwagbara, 2020). The power impact on the
company in both positive and negative manner, so it is essential for its management to
considered those aspects as that will help in developing effective decision accordingly. In respect
of Mothercare, the power impact on their business operations as well as functions in both
negative and positive manner. Below effect of power along with their influence and conflict
situation in respect of respective company are given:-
Positive effect of power –

The positive effective of power is when it cans the authority at the workplace will use
power in effective manner without doing discrimination with any person. In respect of
Mothercare they are operating at the international level as well as they are operating through
numbers of store around the world (O'Byrne, 2020). Through the positive effective of power
employees feel motivated as well as encouraged that enhance their work performance for the
attainment of desire goal as well as objective. In addition to this, positive effective of power is
also leads to the minimize in situations which leads to conflict at the workplace.
Negative impact of power –
Negative impact of power will take place when the employer or senior authority at the
workplace will misuse their power and exploit employees by doing discrimination with staffs on
the basis of age, position, believe, religion, gender, color and many more aspects. In respect of
Mothercare they are operating at several locations as well as it is a large company which has
numbers of employees as well as employers. So when the higher authority conduct
discrimination by misusing their power it impact on the workplace negatively which leads to
decrease in employees performance as well as it also affect the customers ratio. In addition to
this, it will also lead to conflict because employees feel issues due to discrimination situation at
the workplace.
e) Discuss the various types of motivation used at Mothercare.
Motivation is the word derived from the word 'motive' which means needs, wants, needs,
or drives inside the people. It is the way toward stimulating individuals to activities to achieve
their objectives. In the work objective setting the mental variables stimulate the individuals'
factors or behavior - the craving for cash, victory and so on. Motivation in the working
environment is characterized as the readiness to apply significant levels of exertion toward
hierarchical objectives adapted by the exertion's capacity to fulfill some individual needs. It also
motivates employees through which their productivity as well as effectiveness get enhanced
which help in boosting of business successfully (Reedy, 2020). There are several ways through
which a company can motivate their employees so that they attain desire goal as well as
objectives. In respect of Mothercare their CEO adopt different methods for motivating their
staffs so that they perform effectively for the attainment for desire goal or objective. From which
some are mentioned below:-

 Create friendly working environment – According to this, CEO of Mothercare develop as
well as maintain effective as well as friendly working environment because through this
employees feel motivated and conduct their allotted work properly. This will directly
help in improving quality of production as well as delivering of services to the customers.
 Acknowledge employee’s achievement – According to this, CEO of respective company
motive or acknowledge their employees for their good performance so that they will feel
encouraged (Shahar and Hazzan, 2020). This will also help them in motivating other
employees so that they can also be acknowledge in front of all.
Along with this, respective company also adopt different models of motivation as that
helps in providing proper guidelines which help in developing proper decision related to the
motivating employees. Below model of motivation is given which is adopted by Mothercare for
motivating or inspiring employees:-
Theory X and Theory Y
Douglas McGregor determined two distinct perspectives on person dependent on interest
of laborers. According to him there are two behavior types’ people available at workplace and it
is essential for management to consider both of them (Tourish, 2020).
Theory X -
 Individuals are essentially sluggish. That is, they like to fill in as meager as could be
expected under the circumstances.
 Individuals need desire, detest duty, and like to be coordinated by others.
Theory Y -
 Individuals are not commonly passive or impervious to firm objectives.
 They need to accept responsibilities.
 They need their organization to succeed.
In respect of Mothercare their CEO considered both types of employees and develop
motivational strategies accordingly so that both X and Y behavior employees feel motivated and
perform effectively.

f) Use appropriate corporate examples and literature to justify your stand.
According to the article given on the MBG, 2020, for every company leadership plays a
main role through which they can attain the desire goal as well as objectives in successful
manner (Importance of Leadership, 2020). Some of the main benefits of leadership which are
gain by Mothercare are given below:-
 Initiate activity – Leader is an individual who begins the work by imparting the strategies
and plans to the subordinates from where the work really begins. In respect of Mother
care their CEO show this factor because he initiate for the new project like transformation
plan.
 Inspiration – A leader ends up being assuming a motivating force job in the worry's
working. They inspire the employees with monetary as well as non-financial prizes and
along these lines get the work from the subordinates (Xiang, Zhang and Liu, 2020). In
respect of respective company their CEO motivate their employees so that they show fill
efforts in the accomplishment of the transformational project.
 Provide direction – A leader needs to regulate as well as assume a controlling job for the
subordinates. Guidance here methods teaching the subordinates the manner in which they
need to play out their work successfully and effectively (Ylä-Kujala and et. al., 2020). In
respect of Mothercare their CEO motivate as well as provide guidance so that employees
perform effective and transformational plan get successfully accomplish.
CONCLUSION & RECOMMENDATION
By conducting analysis of above mentioned points it can be summarized that for every
company it is essential to evaluate their working process as that will help them in developing
effective strategies according to the requirement. While conducting evaluation they need to have
analyzed its management style, principles, function of management, leadership styles,
organization structure, culture and many more. In addition to this, they also need to determine its
power, influence and conflict because through it they can determine their strengths as well as
weakness in effective manner as well as they also need to adopt different type of strategies for
the motivation as it improve performance of employees effectively. These motivation strategies
can be in monetary term or non monetary term. In respect of Mothercare their CEO Mr. Glyn

Hughes who is experienced as well as skilled person adopt transformational leadership and
management style. According to which they want to redesign whole process or operations mainly
for the franchises operating around the world as well as in respect of this they are planning to
redesign their products, packaging, process and many other aspects. Moreover respective person
adopt several practices and methods so that they perform effectively at the workplace as he
wants that its company attain its desire goal and get succeed at the marketplace. In addition to
this, there are some recommendations which they may adopt for their plan such as they can sold
their old products on discount as that will help in attracting more customers at the store as well as
at the same time respective company can offer them new products which are attractive. Through
these customers get attract as well as get encouraged to sales. Furthermore, respective company
also needs to motivate their employees so that they give their full efforts for the attainment of the
company desire goal as well as objectives successfully. By adopting these strategies respective
organization able to attain its objective this is related to the implementation of transformation
plan in effective manner.

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https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2020/01/23/1974065/0/en/Mothercare-
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Mothercare. 2020. [Online]. Available through:<https://prezi.com/meoawpbk7-8t/mothercare/>.

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