Influence and Organizational Culture

This assignment delves into the concepts of influence tactics and organizational culture. It examines various methods used to persuade others, such as exchange, personal appeals, ingratiation, pressure, and political maneuvering. The assignment also emphasizes understanding organizational culture, including its impact on team structure, motivation, decision-making, and interpersonal relationships. Students are tasked with analyzing the interplay between influence and culture within organizations.

management and organisational behaviour
Assignment 2

Management and Organizational Behavior
Executive Summary
The aim of this paper is to understand and define how dynamics of a team can motivate and
affect or improve the decision-making process. An important aspect covered in this report is the
meaning of social facilitation and various services that are provided for this purpose. Also, this
report throws light on the difference between groups and teams and critically analyses what are
the factors that make a team successful. The role of power and politics is also discussed and the
meaning of “up -power” and organizational culture are analytically reviewed.
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Management and Organizational Behavior
Contents
Executive Summary.........................................................................................................................1
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Part One, groups..............................................................................................................................2
Understanding group dynamics...................................................................................................2
Part Two, teams...............................................................................................................................3
Understanding team dynamics.....................................................................................................3
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................5
Understanding multicultural teams..............................................................................................5
Reviewing how the team can be effective in an organization......................................................5
Communication........................................................................................................................5
Be transparent...........................................................................................................................5
Case study of James Hannam, team management consultant......................................................6
Benefits of teamwork in a business.................................................................................................6
The P-O-L-C framework.................................................................................................................7
Power...............................................................................................................................................7
Importance of power....................................................................................................................7
Using power.................................................................................................................................7
Organization Culture.......................................................................................................................8
References......................................................................................................................................10
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Management and Organizational Behavior
Introduction
Every organization consists of a groups of individuals that work separately to reach a common
goal. Groups can have both positive and negative effects on individual performance and
decision-making abilities. “Groups are basically people working together for a common
purpose”, (Kozlowski, 2006).
Primarily it is imperative to understand the difference between groups and teams.
Part One, groups
Groups are two or more workers who come together to achieve specific personal responsibilities
and particular common objectives. The group’s performance is merely a summation of each
group members’ individual effort. For example, if there is an organization with three workers
and each of them is able to produce ten units per day individually. It can be assumed that when
they will be working together as a group they will produce thirty units. There could invariably be
certain activities conducted during the day like social loafing that would impact the group’s
performance. But it is safe to assume that the group’s performance will be better than one
individual’s performance.
Understanding group dynamics
All groups have dynamics owing to members of the group individually due to their
personality. Group dynamics reflect interactions between group members, and the group’s
interactions with other groups. The meaning of group dynamics is, “the influential actions,
processes, and changes that occur within and between groups over time.” (Forsyth, 2009). The
behaviors of individuals in one group and the behaviors of one group of people with another
group of people can affects these processes and are an important factor responsible for group
dynamics.
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Management and Organizational Behavior
How do group dynamics affect the decision-making proce
(Forsyth,
2009)
Part Two, teams
Teams are a type of groups that generate positive actions through coordinated efforts. Bailey and
Cohen (1997) proposed the following definition of teams:
“A team is a collection of individuals who are interdependent in their tasks, who share
responsibility for outcomes, who see themselves and are seen by others as an intact social entity,
embedded in one or more larger social systems and who manage their relationships across
organizational boundaries” (Claire B. Halverson, 2008)
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Orientation(Aims)
the particular things that a person prefers, believes, thinks, or usually does.
"didactic overview of the group."
Experience(Knowledge)
the skill that the person gets from seeing, feeling, and doing things.
"interaction within the group, simulations, including roles, discussion tasks."
Debate and Discussion
try to make a discussion about sometihng
"summarization the experience, sharing personal reactions and interpretations."
Analysis(Judgement)
"making sense of the experience, formulating meaning, drawing conclusion."
Application
"identifying implication, proposing changes to make outside of the group setting."

Management and Organizational Behavior
Understanding team dynamics
In 1991 Dr. Raymond Belbin published a book called management teams. His theory was
how different strengths and weaknesses can contribute to the success of the team. In his model,
Belbin’s theory on team dynamics identified nine different roles which fall into separate
categories. Each role had clear behavioral and interpersonal strengths as well as weaknesses.
Action Oriented Roles
Shaper Implementer Completer finisher
People Oriented Roles
Coordinator Team worker Resource investigator
Thought Oriented Roles
Plant Monitor-Evaluator Specialist
Each person brings to the team some strength’s and some weaknesses as discussed below.
Team role Strengths Weaknesses
Shaper Competing, contending and dynamic,
successful on pressure, strong willed to
overcome obstacles.
Falling ill to provocation,
displeasure, offends others
feelings.
Implementer Moderation, self-control, custom,
efficient; turns ideas into experiencing
and suffering actions.
Somewhat strong-willed; slow
to respond to new possibilities
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Management and Organizational Behavior
Completer finisher Complicated, effort, and expending
energy; searches out errors and
omission, delivers on time.
Inclined to worry too much,
and unnecessary. Reluctant to
delegate.
Coordinator Self-assurance, confident, a good people
in charge; clarifies goals promotes
decision – making and delegates well
Can be seen as controlling;
offloads personal work.
Team worker Co-operative, small, intelligent and good
on noticing, listen, builds and averts
friction.
Ambivalence in crunch
situations. Unable to make a
choice
Resource
investigator
Energetic, enthusiastically,
communicative; explores opportunities
and delivers contacts.
Over optimistic; believing that
good things will happen in the
future, loses interest once
initial enthusiasm has passed.
Plant Inspiring, imaginative, strange,
suspicious; solves difficult problems
Ignores details, too continually
to thinking about communicate
effectively.
Monitor-Evaluator Sobriety, planning, expecting; sees all
options and judges accurately
Lacks drive or the ability to
inspire other
Specialist Single – minded, faithful, loyal, brings
knowledge and skills in rare supply
Provided and supplying only
on a narrow front; dwells on
technicalities.
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Management and Organizational Behavior
(Senior, 2007)
Successful teams would need to have a mixture of qualified individuals. A team would be
unbalanced if all of its members have similar styles of behavior. Belbin found people with
similar strengths tend to compete for the tasks and responsibilities that best suit their natural
styles rather than cooperate for the good of the team. Team development is important for all
teams, but especially for a multicultural one.
Conclusion
Teams Groups
- Joint leadership roles
- Distinct and mutual accountability
- Specific conclusion delivered by the
team itself
- Collective purpose
- Collaborative discussions
- Discussing problems and processes to
find solutions during the meetings
- Individual leader that makes the final
decision
- Separate responsibilities for each
group member
- The purpose is the same as the larger
organizational mission
- Individual work products
- Lack of communication
- Discuss the final product during
meetings
(Claire B. Halverson, 2008)
Understanding multicultural teams
Groups are not tools for a better organization. The individual efforts of people result in a level up
of performance which would be greater than the sum of individual input if the employees work
as a team.
Reviewing how the team can be effective in an organization
Teams work in an organization to improve quality, complete projects and change processes. A
team must have some components to ensure the success of the project or objective. Each member
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Management and Organizational Behavior
of the team brings a unique talent or skill to the table, which contributes to the overall success of
the group.
Communication
Team members can inspire and reward each other by showing their talent and creativity. Good
communication makes a team successful. Providing plenty of opportunities to give feedback
allows a team to grow. Team leaders should focus on developing accountability, trust, and less
hierarchical approach.
Be transparent
Transparent working environments have been found to make teams more creative, and its
members more content and motivated. Transparent and open workplace help employees feel
secure in their positions. Therefore, team members feel more comfortable to provide ideas and
suggestions thus enhancing creativity. Transparent environments help to develop a feeling of
mutual respect between team members and team leaders. For example, Marc de Grandpre who is
the senior VP of Marketing at KIND Healthy Snacks believes that transparency in the workplace
is extremely important. Marc explains how they use transparency for effective team management
at their company:
“How can your company learn, grow and succeed if people are afraid to be themselves, voice
their opinions and genuinely show that they care about the brand and team? Having the
company become a sort of safe space allows for brilliant ideas to flow and for problems in your
company to be flagged and addressed head-on.”
Case study of James Hannam, team management consultant
James explains that on his projects, teams make use of Meister Task in order to achieve effective
team and project management. They do this by providing team members with an overview of
projects and responsibilities, via their shared Project Boards:
“If all of your team members can have a high-level of visibility over the project, while also
understanding the part they are playing at any given time, you will foster a sense of
responsibility, creating accountability among team members.”
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Management and Organizational Behavior
He agrees that transparency is an important part to high-functioning teams. Each task within each
project is assigned to a specific team member, making each individuals’ responsibility clear.
With all tasks and responsibilities displayed transparently, team leaders do not have to be
available on site for each project, knowing each task will be seen through by the assigned person.
One of the best ways to support the team member in developing personally and professionally is
by providing them with daily feedback. This also enables team members to clearly understand
their overall role within the team.
If you are finding a conversation complicated or causing anxiety, remember that your aim in
providing feedback is to help your team members grow and succeed. Although feedback
conversations can be difficult, especially in non-hierarchical organizations, they are important
and necessary for the development of team members and the success of your distance team.
Benefits of teamwork in a business
Teamwork contain and involve different people and different groups working together to
maximize their efficiency and reach a common goal. There are many ways of organizing teams –
some teams are organized around a particular product that is being developed, while others are
organized around a process, such as manufacturing or research. In addition to providing team
members with experience, benefits of teamwork include financial savings, increased efficiency,
and new innovation and morale.
Teamwork allows team members to control more of the work process and the employees to take
greater responsibility for decision making. This can lead to improved confidence felt by a person
or group of people as employees gain more authority and ownership over the projects they are
working on. The extra responsibility can lead to a more rewarding work environment and lower
attrition. Working on a team also gives employees a greater sense of belonging and of accepting
and agreeing, which helps them take more feeling of pleasure in their work, and their company.
Teamwork can help companies to be able to change and become adapting and modifying. By
bringing employees from different parts of a project together into one team, problems or
bottlenecks can sometimes be ironed out more easily. Case in point for example, “car
manufacturers might sometimes use this method when designing automobiles. Instead of each
new car design going through separate areas, such as design, engineering and parts supply, the
car manufacturer will organize one team that includes employees from all those areas to design
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Management and Organizational Behavior
each car. As problems arise in one area, the entire team can deal with them and the work can
proceed much faster.”
Some companies use teams and teamwork to create a work environment which excels at
creativity. These companies sometimes base their corporate structure almost entirely around
teamwork. For example, W.L. Gore & Associates is a technology company based around multi-
disciplinary, project-based teams. People are hired into general work areas and then chosen to
work on projects that best match their skills and interests. Leaders are appointed, and there is no
chain of command or leadership hierarchy. Employees are also free to start new teams as new
ideas come to them. This is called a flat lattice teamwork-based corporate structure, and is used
by companies wishing to be leaders in innovation.
The P-O-L-C framework
Planning Organizing Leading Controlling
- Discussin
g the
vision and
mission
- Conversin
g
strategizes
- Providing
goals and
objectives
- Ability of
formulating an
organizational
design
- Culture
building
- Communicatio
n through
social network
- Leadership/
decision making
- Communication
through hierarchy
- Consisting of
groups and teams
- Motivating team
members
- Providing
systems,
processes,
and
responsibiliti
es of each
team member
- Strategic
human
resources
The organization’s structure can be an even more powerful influence over employee actions.
Power
“Power is the ability to influence other’s behavior”. (Lussier, 2009) “is the capacity to influence
the behavior of other. Power is a social term; that is, individuals have power in relation to other.
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Management and Organizational Behavior
People also involves a dynamic relationship among people that can change over time.” (Pfeffer,
1993)
For example, there is team member A, who is the manager, and team member B who is an
employee. Power refers to a capacity that team member A has to influence the behavior of team
member B. Therefore, team member B acts in accordance with what team member A wishes. In
this situation, the employee is dependent on the manager, because the manager has something
that the employee desires. This means that the manager has power over the employee to
influence his or her behavior. Power does not require goal compatibility, merely dependence.
Importance of power
Power matters because it is how we live together in a community, governing how any form of
organization works, and determining who gets to make the rules for the process. So, learning
how power operates is the key to becoming effective. It limits the ability of being taken
advantage of and increases the capability of being taken seriously.
Using power
“Power issues in organizations often focus on interpersonal relationships between managers and
subordinates, or leaders and followers” (pferrer, 1981). There are specific actions called ‘power
tactics’ which are used in a slightly different situation.
The power tactics include:
- Validity which includes relying on the authorities’ position or making a request according
to organizational policies.
- Rational persuasion consists of presenting logical arguments and factual evidence to
demonstrate a request that is reasonable.
- Inspirational appeals, meaning developing emotional commitment by appealing to a
target’s values, needs and hopes.
- Consultation leading to increasing the target’s support by involving him/her in the
decision-making process.
- Exchange by rewarding the target with benefits or favor in exchange for following the
request.
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Management and Organizational Behavior
- Personal appeals which includes asking for a compliance based on friendship or loyalty.
- Ingratiation by using flattery, praise, or friendly behavior prior to making a request.
- Pressure by using warnings, repeated demands and threats.
Political behaviors and guidelines for developing political skills
- Learn the organizational culture.
- Learn the power players
- Do not surprise your boss.
- Be an honest team player.
- Stay tuned in to the grapevine.
- Resolve conflicts.
Organization Culture
Culture is a complex and unclear phenomenon. Redfield (1948), defined culture as a "shared
understanding made manifest in act and artifact." This consists of shared ways of thinking,
feeling, and behaving rooted in deep-level values and symbols associated with societal
effectiveness and attributable to an identifiable group of people. (Claire B. Halverson, 2008)
"One has to recognize that countries and people differ in their approach and their ways
of living and thinking. in order to understand them, we have to understand their way of life and
approach. if we wish to convince them, we have to use their language as far as we can, not
language in the narrow sense of the word, but the language of the mind." -Jawaharlal Nehru
Any organization, specifically any human organization develops its own culture over time. A
company may operate and expand to many different countries as it becomes more successful.
Each corporation develops its own unique identity. Culture is the way we do things around
‘here,’ specifically. This means to understand the organization culture you have to be here for a
long time before knowing how things work, because there are unique characteristics of every
organization and it develops over time. As a leader, the person needs to understand and know
how to manage that what we see is reflected in the values, beliefs, and assumptions that build up.
It is important to try to understand how the values were created in the past.
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Management and Organizational Behavior
Cultural values can deeply affect organizational and team structure, motivation and rewards,
decision making, interpersonal interactions, and effectiveness. Schwartz reasoned that since
values are motivational goals, basic human values might be derived by considering the most
basic need of human beings. He divides the values into three fundamental categories, such as our
biological needs as individuals, our need to coordinate our actions with other, and the need of
groups to survive and flourish.
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Management and Organizational Behavior
References
Claire B. Halverson, S. A. T. E., 2008. Effective multicultural teams. s.l.: Springer Verlag.
Forsyth, D. R., 2009. Group Dynamics. 5 ed. s.l.:Cengage Learning.
Kozlowski, S. W., 2006. Enhancing the Effectiveness of Work Groups and Teams. Psychological Science in
the Public Interest, 7(3), pp. 77-124.
Lussier, R. N., 2009. Management Fundamentals. 4 ed. s.l.:s.n.
Pfeffer, J., 1993. Managing with power:Politics and influence in organizations. boston: s.n.
pferrer, J., 1981. Power in organizations. s.l.:s.n.
Senior, S. S. a., 2007. Belbin's Team Role Model: Development, Validity and Applications for Team
Building. Journal of Management Studies, 44(1).
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