Organisational Theory and Practice: Management Style, Organisational Structure, Leadership Style, and Motivation at Mothercare

This report examines the management style, organisational structure, leadership style, and motivation techniques used at Mothercare, a global brand for parents and children. It analyzes the effects of power, influence, and conflict within the company and provides recommendations for its revival. The report also discusses the principles and functions of management and the impact of organisational culture on employees.

Organisational theory
and practice

Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................1
Main Body.......................................................................................................................................1
Examine the management style and state the principle and functions of management used by
the CEO?......................................................................................................................................1
Analyse 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.
.....................................................................................................................................................3
Describe the leadership style of the CEO of Mothercare to enhance the organisational
effectiveness................................................................................................................................4
Analyse the effects of power, influence and conflict at the chosen firm.....................................5
Discuss the various types of motivation used at Mothercare......................................................6
Use appropriate corporate examples and literature to justify your stand....................................7
Based on the discussion and debate what suggestions / recommendations would you make for
the revival of Mothercare.............................................................................................................7
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................8
References........................................................................................................................................9

Introduction
In present business world, running a company in an effective manner is one of the hardest
thing to do. It is said because, an organisation would required to take decisions in relation to
management style, organisational culture, leadership style in order to run the operations in a
successful manner (Larson and Foropon, 2018). In this report, organisation that has been taken
into consideration is Mothercare, one of the main worldwide brands for guardians and small kids
– again has a more promising time to come ahead as a dissolvable and money generative
organisation (group). Also, report is going to deliver the information about management style,
organisational culture, and leadership style, effect of power, influence and conflict within the
company and lastly assignment will put light on types of motivation used by Mothercare.
Main Body
Examine the management style and state the principle and functions of management used by the
CEO?
Management style: The CEO of Mothercare, Mr Glyn Hughes has specifically taken into
consideration of collaborative management style. Administrators with the cooperative style
discussed widely with workers and settle on choices by the larger part. The chief accepts that
including everybody and making the group take possession will bring about the best choices
made. The principle drawback of this style is that the time has come expending, and some of the
time the larger part choice isn't the best choice for the business element, wherein case, the
director should assume responsibility for the last decision. Therefore, Mr. Glyn Hughes
specifically takes suggestions from its employees and reach to the decision because he is the one,
who specifically takes the decision at the final stage of bringing any changes within the company
for the betterment of existing situation in near future (Enya, Pillay and Dempsey, 2018).
Contingency Management Theory: The hypothesis expresses that relations inspirations are
dependent upon whether the supervisor can both control and influence the gathering's situational
positivity, or result. If it is talk about Mothercare, then organisation was specifically going
downwards. It is must for Mr. Glyn to consider all the three elements of contingency
Management Theory and these are given underneath:
1

 Pioneer part relations - This factor tends to the director's impression of his helpful
relations with his subordinates. As such, is the collaboration among Mr. Glyn and
workers fortunate or unfortunate? With the help of this, CEO of Mothercare will
effectively take into consideration of those steps which are required to collaborate with
staff members in order to perform well in today's business environment.
 Undertaking structure - This factor identifies with whether the structure of the work task
is exceptionally organized, subject to standard techniques, and subject to sufficient
proportions of appraisal. It will be required by Mr. Glyn to develop different range of
policies in order to motivate staff considering the different approaches like appraising
them in terms of money and many more other (Gunasekaran and et. al., 2018).
 Position power - This factor inquires as to whether the Mr. Glyn's degree of power
depends on rebuffing or compensating conduct.
Principles of Management:
Henry Fayol has given a range of principles of management and these are given underneath:
 Division of work: This is considered to be one of the crucial principal which is followed
by Mr Glyn in Mothercare, where are number of specialised tasks given to the staff
members which helps them in improvising their own skills much effectively and
efficiently.
 Authority: Being the CEO of Mothercare, Mr Glyn has already taken into consideration
of full authority considering ethical aspects in order to conduct every single business
operation for benefiting the society and company as well.
 Discipline: The culture which has been developed by Mr Glyn, has helped him in
building discipline considering different aspects like motivation, organisational rules and
so.
Functions of Management: Specifically, there are 5 different types of functions of
management are available and these are planning, controlling, staffing, organising and leading
that has helped Mr Glyn enhancing the proficiency of staff and held company in sustaining
within the market for a longer period of time at global level (Reedy, 2020).
2

Analyse 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.
Organisational structure:
Mothercare, specifically take into consideration of Lean organisational structure that has
helped company in building client less administration levels, less occupation arrangements and
engage labourers to oversee themselves in work groups. With the help of this, company has
become able to engage staff members in much more effective and in efficient manner. This has
helped Mothercare in lowering the cost of operations, building effective communication among
staff members at lower, middle and top management level.
Also, it has helped company in enhancing the motivation level along with the job
satisfaction among staff. In present context the steps which were taken by managing department
of Mothercare from adopting lean organisation structure then the functional, is first to assign jobs
to staff members by giving them one particular authority. Another step which was taken by
management was to motivating staff members to work on a particular goal. This has helped the
company in enhancing their profit margins at international market (Tourish, 2020).
Organisational culture at Mothercare:
Handy's Model of Organisational Culture: Charles Handy, has specifically given four
different types of organisational culture that can be followed by a business organisation and these
are power, role, person and task. All of these are presented underneath: Power Culture: In an association with a force culture, power is held by only a couple of
people whose impact spreads all through the association. Role Culture: Associations with a role culture depend on rules. They are profoundly
controlled, with everybody in the association comprehending what their jobs and
obligations are. Force in a role culture is dictated by an individual's position in the
authoritative structure. Task Culture: Task culture structures when groups in an association are shaped to address
explicit issues or progress ventures. The assignment is the significant thing, so power
3

inside the group will frequently move contingent upon the blend of the colleagues and the
status of the issue or venture. Person Culture: Associations with individual culture, people especially consider
themselves to be one of a kind and better than the association. The association basically
exists with the end goal for individuals to work. An association with an individual culture
is extremely only an assortment of people who happen to be working for a similar
association (Romero-Silva, Santos and Hurtado, 2018).
In present context, Mothercare take into consideration of task culture, which specifically
delivers the power to the designated staff members based on their job profile. This specifically
reduces the conflicts among staff members and majorly impacts positively on their performance
level as well.
Describe the leadership style of the CEO of Mothercare to enhance the organisational
effectiveness.
Leadership styles: Specifically, there are a range of leadership styles that are available for
the leaders which has been followed by them in order to run a business organisation and some of
these are presented underneath:
Autocratic style: In present context, a leader specifically takes the decisions which is
required by staff members and all the other management level individuals required to follow the
instructions given by him or her (McShane and et. al., 2018).
Democratic style: This is considered to be one of the crucial leadership style which is
followed by most of the leaders in today's business environment. This is where, all the decisions
are taken by leaders but this is where specifically the suggestions are taken from staff members
and all the other individuals that are connected with the particular task. Then only, a leader
reaches to to the decision after analysing all the suggestions given by the individuals.
Delegative Leadership (laissez-faire): This kind of pioneer is the person who gives rules
and guarantees correspondence among the remainder of the individuals from the gathering. The
risk of having a delegative pioneer comes from circumstances which require their activities, and
in which they probably won't mediate (Andalib, Darun and Azizan, 2019).
4

Transactional leadership style: This type of leadership style cantered on targets. This sort
of pioneer procures the job of the seeker of the inspiration for the particular group. They give
remunerates and implement disciplines relying upon the gathering's advantage and execution.
Transformational leadership style: This leadership styles concentrated on the gathering's
inspiration, yet saw from the assignment itself. His expectation is that the gathering will
accomplish its objectives, however without disregarding different objectives. These sidelong
goals can be altogether different and changed: the obtaining of aptitudes by the gathering
individuals, the dynamic that is created inside the gathering, thinking about the earth, and so
forth.
Leadership style which has been followed by Mr Glyn Hughes, who is the CEO of
Mothercare is democratic leadership style which helps him in understanding the whole situation
through getting suggestions from the staff members that specifically consists of connections with
the ground level. This, helps him in taking right decisions in correct time (Roscoe and et. al.,
2019).
Analyse the effects of power, influence and conflict at the chosen firm.
Over the years, Mothercare has been dealing with ample number of problems which is not
only impacted upon its performance level but let the company to mostly close all the stores in
United Kingdom which was considered as a big loss for them. This has not only impacted upon
performance level along with the Goodwill but it on the employment rate of United Kingdom as
well because company cost more than 1500 individuals to leave their jobs as company was about
to close their stores in UK.
Therefore, effect of power can easily be seen through different it negative decisions which
were taken by management and due to change in trends along with the necessity for the needs of
customers. Basically, power has always been with the board of directors as they can implement
the changes and ask for staff to do the same as mentioned by them. But some of the wrong
decisions led the whole company to close all the stores within United Kingdom. On the other
hand, if it is talk about the influence that company has faced was particularly in relation to the
rapid changes which Mothercare was not become able to adapt at the right time. This impacted
negatively on motivation level of staff members and most of the staff from United Kingdom
became jobless (Parent and Hoye, 2018).
5

Lastly, if it is talk about the conflict then most of its employees were dealing with ample
number of problems in relation to getting promotions, bonuses, compensation. Basically,
company that is Mothercare specifically did not develop effective policies in relation to benefit
the staff members in an equal manner. This impacted negatively on overall performance level
and raised employee turnover ratio at a higher level than the way it was. Also, the environment
was also unpleasant because of the rise in conflict faced by staff members on daily basis due to
irregular modifications made by management of Mothercare (Kamble, Gunasekaran and Dhone,
2020).
Discuss the various types of motivation used at Mothercare.
The different types of motivation which are used by mothercare at workstation can be
understood with Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. Specifically, there are 5 different needs related
stages that are given by Maslow and these are given underneath:
 Physiological needs - On the off chance that these necessities are not fulfilled the human
body can't work ideally. Maslow considered physiological needs the most significant as
the various needs become optional until these necessities are met. Therefore, Mothercare
specifically take into consideration of this type of need in order to motivate staff
members.
 Safety needs - When a person's physiological needs are fulfilled, the requirements for
security and wellbeing become remarkable. Individuals need to encounter request,
consistency and control in their lives. These requirements can be satisfied by the family
and society (for example police, schools, business and clinical consideration). Also,
Mothercare has helped its staff members to work in a secured environment which is also
safe in nature in terms of medical considerations and other health related aspects as well.
 Love and belongingness needs – Just when physiological along with the security needs
have been satisfied, the third degree of human needs is social and includes sentiments of
belongingness. The requirement for relational connections rouses conduct, which is also
fulfilled by Mothercare in order to keep on motivating its staff members (Hawkins and et.
al., 2018).
 Esteem needs are the fourth level in Maslow’s hierarchy - Maslow demonstrated that the
requirement for regard or notoriety is generally significant for youngsters and teenagers
6

and goes before genuine confidence or pride. In the same way, Mothercare has motivated
the staff members through developing equality and diversity related policies which has
helped them in reducing conflicts in relation to discrimination and many other aspects.
 Self-actualization needs- The most elevated level in Maslow's chain of command, and
allude to the acknowledgment of an individual's latent capacity, self-satisfaction, looking
for self-improvement and pinnacle encounters. This is where, Mothercare has developed
policies in relation to compensation, bonus and other monetary benefits other staff
members in order to fulfil their self actualization needs while working at a workstation.
Use appropriate corporate examples and literature to justify your stand.
According to Ferdousi and et. al., (2018), Google has taken into consideration of
democratic leadership style which has helped them in sustaining with the market for a longer
period of time and to carry the name as a leader in the business sector and which it is performing
all the different it operations. Basically, the leadership style which has been followed by Mr
Glyn Hughes would help him in getting ample number of competitive advantages from the other
retailers that are dealing within Retail industry at international level that are offering the same
products and services. On the other hand, if it is talked about the Maslow’s Need theory of
motivation then many of the business organisations like Apple that has helped in looking among
different needs and requirements of staff members in order to to enhance their safety and security
related concerns so that they can perform the best at workplace. Therefore, it will deliver the best
results to the business organisation which Mothercare sustain in the market for a longer period of
time.
Based on the discussion and debate what suggestions / recommendations would you make for the
revival of Mothercare
 Primal suggestion for a recommendation that can be given to Mothercare is to adapt all
the current trends and imply them among existing products and services with the help of
modifications in order to sustain in the market for a longer period of time and to gain the
lost reputation in United Kingdom.
 Changes to the landing page: The 'Reach us' tab ought to be set in such spot that it is
obvious to the watchers instead of keeping it at the base left hand corner of the site.
7

Likewise the Customer Services number ought to be there on the landing page with the
goal that clients can contact if there should be an occurrence of inquiries and protests.
 Utilization of RSS channels: RSS is a blend of web channel positions used to distribute as
often as possible refreshed works, for example, blog passages, news features, sound, and
video in a normalized group. Mothercare can utilize RSS channels to distribute their data
on their site just as connections.
 Keyword devices: Keyword apparatuses are basic to get positioning on web search tools.
Watchword instruments are required so as to decide the words that individuals utilizes
while looking and inquiring about on the Internet. Google have free catchphrase devices
that most SEO employments. Utilizing the most looked through watchwords on the
substance of Mothercare site will make more traffic and increment the odds for
Mothercare online business to succeed.
Conclusion
With the help of above mentioned report, can easily be said that developing an effective
organisational structure, delivering motivation to staff in both psychological and monetary terms,
fulfilling needs of both customers and employees through focusing upon current trends can help
a business organisation to sustain in the market for a longer period of time even in the uncertain
situation. On the other hand, it has been analysed that democratic leadership style not only help a
business organisation to run much more effectively but it also helps staff to get credits of the
suggestions given by them as they are directly connected to the ground level where operations
effectively takes place through direct communication with customers.
8

References
Books and Journals
Andalib, T. W., Darun, M. R. and Azizan, N. A., 2019. East Asian trends of human resource
management: theories and practices. International Journal of Human Resources
Development and Management. 19(2). pp.135-149.
Enya, A., Pillay, M. and Dempsey, S., 2018. A systematic review on high reliability
organisational theory as a safety management strategy in construction. Safety. 4(1). p.6.
Ferdousi, F. and et. al., 2018. Associations between organisational factors, TQM and competitive
advantage. Benchmarking: An International Journal.
Gunasekaran, A. and et. al., 2018. Bridging humanitarian operations management and
organisational theory.
Hawkins, R. J. and et. al., 2018. ‘If they don't use it, they lose it’: how organisational structures
and practices shape residents’ physical movement in care home settings. Ageing &
Society. 38(9). pp.1817-1842.
Kamble, S., Gunasekaran, A. and Dhone, N. C., 2020. Industry 4.0 and lean manufacturing
practices for sustainable organisational performance in Indian manufacturing
companies. International Journal of Production Research. 58(5). pp.1319-1337.
Larson, P. D. and Foropon, C., 2018. Process improvement in humanitarian operations: an
organisational theory perspective. International Journal of Production
Research. 56(21). pp.6828-6841.
McShane, S. and et. al., 2018. Organisational behaviour.
Parent, M. M. and Hoye, R., 2018. The impact of governance principles on sport organisations’
governance practices and performance: A systematic review. Cogent Social
Sciences. 4(1). p.1503578.
Reedy, P., 2020. Impossible organisations: Anarchism and organisational praxis. ephemera:
theory & politics in organization. 14(4).
Romero-Silva, R., Santos, J. and Hurtado, M., 2018. A note on defining organisational systems
for contingency theory in OM. Production Planning & Control. 29(16). pp.1343-1348.
Roscoe, S. and et. al., 2019. Green human resource management and the enablers of green
organisational culture: Enhancing a firm's environmental performance for sustainable
development. Business Strategy and the Environment. 28(5). pp.737-749.
Tourish, D., 2020. Towards an organisational theory of hubris: Symptoms, behaviours and social
fields within finance and banking. Organization. 27(1). pp.88-109.
9