Leadership and Organizational Behavior Discussion

This discussion forum explores various aspects of leadership and organizational behavior, including motivation strategies, leadership theories, power dynamics, organizational change, and cultural influences. It highlights the importance of effective leadership in fostering a positive workplace culture and enhancing employee engagement. The content draws on examples from leading companies and incorporates relevant theories to provide a comprehensive understanding of the subject.

Running head: DISCUSSION FORUM
Discussion Forum
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author’s Note:

DISCUSSION FORUM
Table of Contents
Motivation 2
Leadership 2
Power and Politics 3
Organisational Change 4
Cultures 5
References 6

DISCUSSION FORUM
The topics covered in the 11 weeks examine the practices that guide organizational
behaviour.
Motivation
According to the list of best places to work in UK and Europe, I have come to
understanding that they follow creative and innovative motivational strategies. Expedia, the best
company in UK provides its employees with flex and auto-enrolment benefits
(Greatplacetowork.net 2017). They also have Destination Benefits which was announced by
adopting an innovative method for communication and not via email. The pension contribution
has been changed to 1% employee and 3% employer, 2% employee and 4% employer, and 3%
employee and 5% employer (Paterson 2014). Other companies such as Impact International,
Cisco, Unilever, Accenture and others offer flexible benefits to its employees
(Greatplacetowork.net, 2017). They offer a range of core benefits such as life insurance, critical
illness insurance and private medical insurance. Mars is one of the best multinational companies
in Europe that provides the employees with competitive pay and benefits. There is fair
compensation for all employees that is regarded as a significant motivational factor. Further, the
organization allows planning for the retirement so that the employees have sufficient savings
(Mars.com 2017). Hilton offers its employees with HHonors loyalty points and offers paid
parental leave and reimbursements (Reviews.greatplacetowork.com 2017). Therefore, these
companies use innovative methods to boost the motivational level of its employees.
Leadership
According to Zigarelli (2013), the trait and behaviour theories of leadership are different
from each other. The trait theory states that a leader is born and they have personal

DISCUSSION FORUM
characteristics such as ‘driven’ and ‘charismatic’. However, the behaviourist theory states that
leadership can be nurtured and taught by providing the people with effective skills of becoming a
leader. It believes that a good leader can be made with proper training. Both the theories are
valid as a lot of research have been conducted that forms the foundation and basis of the theories.
Effective team leaders do not magically appear in the organizations. Some people may be
natural leaders, but they can develop their skills for effective leadership. This can be explained
using an example as a good leader needs discipline. The leader that shows potential can be
selected. The leaders can develop discipline in personal and professional life. The leaders must
demonstrate discipline by meeting deadlines, ending meetings on time, and keeping
appointments. The leaders can develop their leadership skills by stepping out of the comfort zone
and develop their leadership skills. Therefore, in this way the effective leaders can be selected
and developed (Katzenbach and Smith 2015).
Power and Politics
According to the case study, If I were Samantha Parks, I would choose to prioritize tasks
based on its level of difficulty. I would take a similar approach where the managers are advised
not to “sweat the small stuff”. Delegating a small part of work to the employees shall allow me
to focus on the bigger picture (Rees and Porter 2015).
Samantha Parks can deal with the concern by stating the guidelines and describing her
involvement in the project so that full control is not given. Samantha can control by setting
deadlines for the people while collaborating with them and making changes.

DISCUSSION FORUM
Executives must have minimal control over the projects. It is not appropriate to have
control simply to have an authority over people but it should be done to be successful. They have
a right to control projects as long as the project is not going in line and not running smoothly.
There are a few tasks that the top executive must never choose to delegate to its
employees such as setting vision. Vision is the essence of leadership and the employees must not
hand over creating vision to someone else. Further, hiring decisions must be made by the top
executives (Mueller and Vogelsmeier 2013).
Organisational Change
Sustaining innovation is an incremental innovation that enables or sustains an existing
product. It does not create a new market for products, but it involves improvement and
modifications in the existing ones. A few examples are Macintosh, iPhone, iPad, hard disk drives
and mini laptops. These products made improvements in the already existing products so that the
companies could survive in the dynamic market. Amongst all, iPhone and iPad were the two
products that mainly affected me in the last year (Christensen and Raynor 2013).
The disruptive innovations can be defined as an innovation that can create a new market
by disrupting an existing market. A few examples of disruptive innovations are smartphone,
digital electronic devices, Wikipedia, LCD and Ultrasound. These technologies have added
comfort to the normal life and are available at cheaper prices. For the same reasons, I have
welcomed these into my life as they have several benefits. My life has become comparatively
easier and better because of such benefits. These disruptive innovations have made extensive
complicated products affordable and accessible while targeting the price sensitive users
(Reinhardt and Gurtner 2015).

DISCUSSION FORUM
Cultures
In the past 11 weeks, I have covered multiple topics on Organizational Behavior. I
covered topics such as interpersonal skills, motivation, group behavior, leadership style, conflict
management, structure, predominant leadership style and training. Every organization differs in
cultural context in terms of ordering of beliefs, assumptions and values. For example, there are
organizations that follow different set of training methods or leadership style for managing and
developing the employees. The organizational culture adapts overtime to meet the changing
demands and dynamic changes to gain competitive advantage. Motivation helps the organization
to perform smoothly and efficiently (Zhong, Wayne and Liden 2016). All the practices are
culturally relative as interpersonal skills can be developed using appropriate leadership style. All
the practices are linked with one another and every factor is relatively important. The human
resources put effort to reduce conflicts among the employees which is a critical part of
management. The organizations need quality staff to operate in an environment that goes through
dynamic changes. It creates and sustains organization’s competitive advantage. Organizational fit
covers a range of organizational attributes which is the most common and frequently cited
element that centres on the congruence between individual and organizational values (Kehoe and
Wright 2013).

DISCUSSION FORUM
References
Christensen, C. and Raynor, M., 2013. The innovator's solution: Creating and sustaining
successful growth. NY: Harvard Business Review Press.
Greatplacetowork.net, 2017. Best Multinational Workplaces in Europe - Great Place to Work®
Global. [online] Greatplacetowork.net. Available at: <http://www.greatplacetowork.net/best-
companies/best-workplaces-in-europe/best-multinational-workplaces-in-europe> [Accessed 2
Oct. 2017].
Katzenbach, J.R. and Smith, D.K., 2015. The wisdom of teams: Creating the high-performance
organization. NY: Harvard Business Review Press.
Kehoe, R.R. and Wright, P.M., 2013. The impact of high-performance human resource practices
on employees’ attitudes and behaviors. Journal of management, 39(2), pp.366-391.
Mars.com, 2017. Competitive Pay and Benefits. [online] Mars, Incorporated. Available at:
<http://www.mars.com/global/careers/work-at-mars/pay-benefits> [Accessed 2 Oct. 2017].
Mueller, C. and Vogelsmeier, A., 2013. Effective delegation: Understanding responsibility,
authority, and accountability. Journal of Nursing Regulation, 4(3), pp.20-27.
Paterson, J., 2014. Expedia aligns flex and auto-enrolment - Employee Benefits. [online]
Employee Benefits. Available at: <https://www.employeebenefits.co.uk/issues/march-online-
2014/expedia-aligns-flex-and-auto-enrolment/> [Accessed 2 Oct. 2017].
Rees, W.D. and Porter, C., 2015. Delegation–a crucial but sadly neglected management
skill. Industrial and Commercial Training, 47(6), pp.320-325.

DISCUSSION FORUM
Reinhardt, R. and Gurtner, S., 2015. Differences between early adopters of disruptive and
sustaining innovations. Journal of Business Research, 68(1), pp.137-145.
Reviews.greatplacetowork.com, 2017. Hilton. [online] Reviews.greatplacetowork.com.
Available at: <http://reviews.greatplacetowork.com/hilton> [Accessed 2 Oct. 2017].
Zhong, L., Wayne, S.J. and Liden, R.C., 2016. Job engagement, perceived organizational
support, high‐performance human resource practices, and cultural value orientations: A cross‐
level investigation. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 37(6), pp.823-844.
Zigarelli, M., 2013. Ten Leadership Theories in Five Minutes. [online] YouTube. Available at:
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKUPDUDOBVo> [Accessed 3 Oct. 2017].