Organizational Behaviour: Culture, Politics, and Power

This document explores the relationship between culture, politics, and power in organizational behavior. It discusses the influence of these factors on individual and team behavior, as well as the impact of motivational theories on achieving business goals. The document also covers team development theories and the concepts and philosophies of organizational behavior.

ORGANIZATION AND
BEHAVIOUR

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
Relation between culture, politics and power ........................................................................3
Influence of culture, politics and power on the individual and team behaviour....................5
Influence of behaviour with help of motivational theories....................................................6
Motivational theories help in achieving the goals of the business.........................................7
Relevance team development theories...................................................................................8
Effective team as opposed to ineffective team.......................................................................8
Application of concepts and philosophies of organizational behaviour.................................8
Team Development Theories.................................................................................................9
Effective Team vs. Ineffective Team...................................................................................11
Concepts and philosophies of organizational behaviour......................................................12
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................13
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................15

INTRODUCTION
Organizational behaviour is the study of the people working in the company that how
they behave to the certain situation or any event. The study of the behaviour of the employees is
very necessary because this impacts the profitability of the company (Osland, Devine and
Turner, 2015). This is majorly because of the reason that if the employees do not behave in
positive way then the company will not succeed in their business. The present study is based on
company Aldi. The company was founded in the year 1946 by two brothers Karl Albrecht and
Theo Albrecht. The company deals in super market chain which deals in mainly groceries and
household essentials.
The present report will start by an analysis of the relation between the culture, politics
and power and its influence on the individual and the team behaviour. Further the discussion will
be done on the influence of the motivational theories on the performance of the employees and
the impact on the achievement of the goals and objectives of the business. Next the different
team development theories and the difference in between the effective and ineffective team will
be carried on. In the end, the different concepts and philosophies of organizational behaviour and
how it influences the behaviour of business.
MAIN BODY
Relation between culture, politics and power
For the business to have success it is very necessary that there is good relation between
the culture, politics and the power. This is majorly because of the reason that if these three are
not good in business then there will be many conflicts and differences within the employees.
Culture- this is defined as the ambiance or the environment in which the employees are
working. The culture is very necessary for the successfulness of Aldi. This is because of the
reason that if the culture is not comfortable then the employees will not like to work in such
places. For this Aldi can use the Handy model of culture. This includes four different types of
culture which can be applied in the company to make the working effective. These cultures are
as follows-
Power culture- this is the type of culture in which the main focus is laid on the power to
take the decision (Harwiki, 2016). This culture is not much good as if more power is laid in
hands of few then this will demotivate other employees as they have no authority to take or
participate in the decision- making process.

Task culture- this is a type of culture in which more focus is laid on the building of team
for working (Van Hoye and Stockman, 2016). This team working is very necessary because this
is a more better and quality approach for the company as this will improve the efficiency of the
business.
Role culture- under this type of culture the work is allocated to the employees on the
basis of their skills and capabilities. This is necessarily because of the reason that this will
improve the efficiency of the employees as they are allotted the work in which they are experts.
Person culture- this is the last type of culture which is prevalent in the company. Under
this type of culture, the employees of the company feel that they are superior to the company
itself. Thus, in accordance to them the achievement of their personal objective is more important
as compared to the achievement of the goals of company.
The recommended culture for Aldi is the use of task culture or the role culture. This is
mainly because of the fact that if the company follows the task culture then it means that more
preference is given to the team work and this will increase the efficiency of the work. on the
other hand, the use of role culture will also increase the efficiency of the employees as they are
given that work in which they are expert.
Power- this refers to as the power to control the business or the power to take the
decision in the business. It is very necessary for Aldi to have power in correct hands. This is
mainly because of the reason that if the power is in wrong hands then the company can face the
losses. For this Aldi can use the power model of French and Raven. This model includes five
different types of power which are segregated into two main category that is positional power
and personal power.
The positional power is the one which the employees get because of their position within
the company. this includes three power that is rewards, legitimate and coercive power. On the
other hand, personal power is the one which is enjoyed by the person because of some special
knowledge and expertise which makes the employee different from the others. This type of
power includes the expert power and the referent power (Kelloway, Nielsen and Dimoff, eds.,
2017).
For Aldi the type of power which is beneficial is the personal power. This is majorly
because of the reason that if the employees are awarded with personal power then this motivates
the employees to work more efficiently so that they also get the personal power. This will

increase the overall efficiency of the employees and this will result in effective work for the
organization as a whole (Debusscher, Hofmans and De Fruyt, 2016).
Politics- this is defined as the different activities and behaviour of the employees in order
to keep the power in their hands or getting an advantage in the company. The excess of politics is
not good for the company. This is mainly because of the reason that if the politics is more then
the employees will not concentrate on their work and this will impact the overall organizational
efficiency. On the other hand, if the politics within Aldi is low then it means that the employees
of the company are more focussed towards the achievement of the goals of the business. Thus, it
is very necessary for Aldi to have politics free environment so that the efficiency of the
employees of company increases. This is because if the efficiency of the employees will increase
then this will result in the overall increment in the business performance.
Influence of culture, politics and power on the individual and team behaviour
All the three elements that is the culture, politics and power are interconnected and has a
great influence on the behaviour and working if the individual and team within Aldi. This is
majorly because of the reason that if the culture of the company is not good and coordinated then
the employees will not like to work in the bad culture. Similarly, if the power is not distributed in
proper way then this also will demotivate the employees. This is majorly because of the reason
that if more power is given to the employee who do not deserve then the efficiency of the other
employees will decrease. This is majorly due to the fact that they will have the feeling that power
is not in good hands and they deserve that power and this will result in decrease in efficiency of
the employees. Also, the more involvement of politics in the company will also impact the
individual and team behaviour. This is majorly because of the reason that if the politics is there
then employees will have the thinking that involvement in politics will decrease their interest in
working efficiently.
Influence of behaviour with help of motivational theories
For employees to work in proper and good manner it is very necessary for the company
to provide for some motivation to the employees so that they work harder. Motivation is defined
as some stimuli which influences or encourages the employee to work in better and improved
manner (Chib, 2016). There are may different types of motivation and motivational theories
which can be applied or offered to the employees so that the employee gets what they want. For

this Aldi can employ two different motivational theories that is content theory and process theory
of motivation.
Content theory- the content theory is the one which mainly focuses on what motivates
the person to perform any of the task (Choudhury, 2016). It means that what are the things which
can direct the behaviour of the person on some direction. The major content theory which Aldi
can employ in the company is Herzberg two factor theory.
Herzberg theory- this theory is also known as motivation- hygiene theory. This theory
states that there are two factors which governs the working of the company one is the motivating
factor and the other is the hygiene factor. The motivating factors are the one which influences the
employees to work in more effective and efficient manner. The motivating factors are like
recognition, providing responsibilities, advancement in working. These motivating factors are
used at time when there is need of increasing the job satisfaction. On the other hand, the hygiene
factors are the ones which decreases the satisfaction level of the employees. These factors
include low salary, not good and congenial working condition and environment and many other
related factors.
For the efficient and good working in the company Aldi needs to employ more of the
motivating factors and needs to restrict the hygiene factors. This is because of the reason that
these motivating factors will influence the employee to a large extent. And thus, the employees
will work more efficiently and effectively.
Process theory- the process theory is the one which outlines the fact that how a person is
motivated to in accordance to their behaviour. The process theory of motivation which is being
employed by Aldi is Skinner’s reinforcement theory.
Skinner’s reinforcement theory- this theory is based on the internal state of the
employees that is the inner feelings and different drivers which motivates the person to work.
There are two different types of reinforcement which the company can use under this
motivational theory which are positive reinforcement and negative reinforcement.
The positive reinforcement is the one which involves the positive response of the
individual towards the work because of the positive reinforcement provided by the company
(Naveed, Haris and Riaz, 2018). These are like appraising the employees, providing with
rewards and recognition for the employees. This is done in order to motivate the employees to

work up to their maximum potential. This is done so that the objectives of the business are
achieved and accomplished.
On the other hand, the negative reinforcement is the one which is made to increase the
potential of the employees (Rurkkhum and Bartlett, 2018). This is because of the reason that if
the employee is not performing well and then they are provided with the negative reinforcement.
These negative reinforcements are the punishments and penalties which Aldi can apply on the
employees who are not performing well. This is majorly done because of the reason that if the
employees will be published for not achieving the objectives then they will be punished for this.
And this punishment will motivate the employees to work more harder so that they also get the
rewards and recognition instead of the punishments.
Both the theories that is Herzberg theory of motivation and the Skinner’s reinforcement
theories are applied in Aldi because of the reason that both these theories provide for the positive
and negative both motivations depending on the situation within the business.
Motivational theories help in achieving the goals of the business
The motivating theories that is the content and the process theory helps Aldi in motivating the
employees of their company. The motivation is very necessary for the company to employ in the
company. This is majorly because of the reason that if the employees are not motivated then the
efficiency of the employee will not be good. The major reason underlying this fact is that the
lack of motivation does not encourage any person to perform any of the task. This motivation
majorly impacts on the achievement of the group goal of the company. It is so pertaining to the
fact that if the employees of Aldi are not motivated to work then the achievement of the goals of
business as well as company will be hampered (Randhawa and Kaur, 2015).
Team Development Theories
Team work playing very big role in the Aldi currently, because company has supermarket
chains which spreads in around 20 countries. So, the company very necessarily need the large
human resource in the company to cover their all business activities. Human resource department
divided their employees into teams to focus on particular areas. In that case company need to use
some important team development theories in the business environment for increase work
efficiency of different team. There are two major team development theories are included below.
Tuckman's Team Development theory : In year 1965, Dr Bruce Tuckman was published his
Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing model of group or team development (Grădinaru,

2016). He said these are very necessary for the team to grow. It helps to increase maturity and
ability of the team work in the any company.
1. Forming : This is the first stage of theory for team development. It includes the direction
and guidance of the team leader, where the leader of team show the all aspects of the
targeted goals to their particular team members. In which the team learns about the
challenges and opportunities of the business.
2. Storming : in this second stage of the Tuckman's team development theory, the team
members began to connect with each other and try to gain everyone's trust (DEACONU
and GHENU, 2016). All team members put their opinions on any particular situation in
the business to achieve team goals. The team leader give specific responsibility to each
member, and also give required power to the members to cover that responsibilities. For
avoid the elements which distract the team goal, each member need to be focus only on
the work to achieve final goals.
3. Norming : In norming stage of the team development, the team members clear and
accept the respective roles and responsibilities in the team work (Hopkins, 2016). During
this stage team also need agreement while taking any big decisions, which important for
future's proof. When team take any action to cover their task, in this situation leader need
to pre analyse the impact of the action. It also includes the appreciation aspect where after
the goal achievement, everyone appreciates each other in the team. It is necessary
because it gives motivation for the future work as well.
4. Performing : This is the last stage of this theory, in which the team members are knows
their responsibilities, and strategically aware about what's their strength. All team
members come together to focus on achieving common team goals. Leader leads all the
team members systematically by motivate them, understand them etc. Many times in the
team work some dispute conditions are also comes between team members because all
have different mentality (Andersson, 2015). So, this is the responsibility of the team
leader to solve this type of conditions and try to make a positive environment in the team
work by developing interaction values.
Belbin's Team development theory : This theory is discovered by Dr Meredith Belbin in 1981.
It also called Belbin's team role theory which included 9 major terms for development of team
work.

 Resource Investigator : This is playing role of finding some innovative ideas for team
work.
 Teamworker : Identifying better ways to conduct task activities of the team.
 Co-ordinator : The role of co-ordinator is to focus on the team's major objectives.
 Plant : Playing role to solve team problems.
 Monitor Evaluator : This is analysis the all aspect of team work in systematic or logical
way.
 Specialist : Specialist provide specific knowledge which are needed in the team work.
 Shaper : It is provides help in removing unnecessary elements from the decided team
goals.
 Implementer : Implementer run useful strategies in the team activities for better result.
 Completer Finisher : This is effectively work for the quality control in the team work.
Influences of the Team Development Theories : Both theories of the team development are
very useful in improvement of the Aldi's business performance and productivity. These are
providing some important terms for the team work which increase ability and efficiency of
employees in the team work (Cameron and Green, 2019). There are many strategies are available
for the Aldi to implement in their business environment for improve skills and innovation ability
of the team. It is very helpful for the company to gain good reputation in the global market,
because with the help of these theories any business can achieve their business goals in the
limited time period. Concepts ans philosophies of these theories are really impact behaviour in
the workplace positively, and at the final result it improves the Aldi's business performance and
productivity in the international market.
Effective Team vs. Ineffective Team
 Effective team : When all members are punctual at their work, and stay focused on their
common team goals it will become the effective team. In this all team members are try to
avoid such elements from the team which are distracts the team goals. The leader also
need to become hard worker to manage their respective team in the company
(Cruickshank and Collins, 2015). Leader need to improve their leadership skills in the
organization by using such important team development theories for make an effective
team. With the help of team or group development theories management of the Aldi able
to improve their team work productivity, which are help to the achievement of business

goals. For make an effective team, leader need to clear the decided goal in the front of
their team member. Try to make a healthy and positive environment in the team for build
good relationship within team members. It is necessary for the company because without
the support of effective team work Aldi not able to achieve their target in the
international market. Company' s run their business activities in the many countries, the
company highly need effective team work in the business environment (Hamlin and
Patel, 2017). The team leader need to understand their members also which comes under
their command in the team work. If any member have any problem in the team, in that
case this is the responsibility of the team leader to listen their employee or member, try to
solve that problem of self basis. These are the some terms which are help to the company
to make an effective team.
 Ineffective Team : Ineffective team refers to that group of people which are not
productive at their work. There are many reasons behind ineffective team work. Suppose
if Aldi's management not use team development theories in their business, in that case the
team work of the company are become too much ineffective. This type of teams are not
good for the business, because it will put business in the downside in the international
market by its loose work procedure (Lanaj and Hollenbeck, 2015). Company need to
implementer these all useful team development theories in their organizational
environment to get positive results from the team work. Lack of cohesion is also big
reason behind ineffective team, in which all team members are chosen different ways for
cover common work, and disagree with the other team member's opinion. All members
are need to understand each other, and try to listen other's opinion in the team work.
Many times the leader is also not take their responsibilities in serious way, so this is also
makes an ineffective team. The leader need to stay focus on their work and try to
motivate team members for achieve business goals (Kiehn, 2016.). In the team work,
everyone has their own speciality, so the supervisor of the team is responsible to give
tasks to the members according to their interests. Maintain positive culture in the work
system is the major responsibility of the team leader, otherwise dispute conditions are
raise in the team work. All the team members are also needs to throw out such negative
elements which impact team work negatively. Knowledge gap is also major reason
behind the ineffective team, So this is the responsibility of the leader or supervisor in the

Aldi to fulfil that gap by provide necessary training to the all team members. These all
are about what makes an ineffective team, and also mentioned solution of convert
ineffective team into effective team.
Concepts and philosophies of organizational behaviour
Generally organizational behaviour is based on the specific concepts which help to
understand nature of the human resource in the organization. It includes some major concepts of
organizational behaviour below;
1. Individual Differences : It refers in the organisation there are many employees work
together for achieve the common business goals, but there are all have different
mentality, different body language, different motivation. So, the work efficiency is also
not the same of all employees.
2. Perception : Everyone's perception aspect is also different from each other in the
business. Suppose if Aldi company try to implement any new technology in the business
for improve company's productivity (Northouse, 2019). In that case some employees may
agree with this or some are may disagree, because all have their own perception.
3. A Whole Person : It indicates the personal life of the employees, in which employee’s
personal emotions, feelings, thoughts etc. also impact their work in the organisation.
Suppose if any employee happy with their family, in that case their input in the work is
higher than that employee which not happy in their personal life.
4. Motivation : This is also an important part of the organizational behaviour in which
particular motivation of the employee is also impacting the business terms of the Aldi
(Mai, 2016). People have their own idols, inspirations which they taken from the daily
life experiences, and these are influence their work abilities.
5. Value of Person : Everyone has need of respect in the world. This factor applied in the
organizations also, because the employees wants some appreciation from their top-level
management towards their work. They also need respect and dignity in their workplace
(Wallance, 2016.). If company treated them well for their inputs in the company, in that
case employees become motivated for put more efforts in their work. At the final result it
is good for the company to achieve business goals.
According to these all concepts and philosophies, the organizational behaviour highly
influence the whole company. There are company needed high human resource for cover their all

business activities, in which humans have different kind of need and perceptions. It all impacting
the business in both term, negatively or positively (Ling, Lin and Wu, 2016). Aldi management
need to know their employees basic need and try to understand them for increase their
performance in the business environment. It includes some major terms to deal with different
behaviour of the employees. Many times company face some negative elements which distract
the mindset on the employees towards their work. In that case company need to remove such
elements from the business environment and try to make a healthy and positive work culture in
the entire organization.
CONCLUSION
It can be concluded that the culture, politics, power and motivation of the organization
are connected to each other. These all elements are work together for achieve common goals to
the company. These all are truly influencing behavior and performance of the individual and
team of the organization in the both term negatively or positively. On the basis of effective
behavioural application, motivational theories, concepts and models management of the
company is able to influence organizational behaviour as company want. It also includes the
content and process theories which are very important to the achievement of business goals.
There are different types of team development theories are also available which give systematic
ideas to the leader or supervisor of the team to improve their members performance and
productivity for the Aldi. It includes major reasons behind effective team or ineffective team.
Top-level management of the company need to remove such negative elements from the
company which are makes an effective team into ineffective team. There are various concepts
and philosophies are also mentioned above which shows the human nature in the business
activities. Management need to use some useful strategies to deal with such different behaviour
of the employees in organization, because it is influence the business environment of the Aldi.
REFERENCES
Books and Journals

Andersson, A., 2015. The Molecular Modeling Language GEMAL (Master's thesis, NTNU).
Cameron, E. and Green, M., 2019. Making sense of change management: A complete guide to
the models, tools and techniques of organizational change. Kogan Page Publishers.
Chib, S., 2016. Study on organizational commitment and workplace empowerment as predictors
of organization citizenship behaviour. International Journal of Management &
Development. 3(3). pp.63-73.
Choudhury, M.A., 2016. Contrasting Epistemologies of Organizational Behaviour. In God-
Conscious Organization and the Islamic Social Economy (pp. 20-49). Routledge.
Cruickshank, A. and Collins, D., 2015. Illuminating and applying “the dark side”: Insights from
elite team leaders. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology. 27(3). pp.249-267.
DEACONU, A. and GHENU, C. I., 2016. The impact of Sustainable Human Resource
Management from a Romanian perspective. ENERGY, CLIMATE CHANGE AND
SUSTAINABILITY. p.163.
Debusscher, J., Hofmans, J. and De Fruyt, F., 2016. The effect of state core self-evaluations on
task performance, organizational citizenship behaviour, and counterproductive work
behaviour. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology. 25(2). pp.301-
315.
Grădinaru, C., 2016. Leadership in XXI Century. Manager. (24). pp.185-190.
Hamlin, R. G. and Patel, T., 2017. Perceived managerial and leadership effectiveness within
higher education in France. Studies in Higher Education. 42(2). pp.292-314.
Harwiki, W., 2016. The impact of servant leadership on organization culture, organizational
commitment, organizational citizenship behaviour (OCB) and employee performance in
women cooperatives. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences. 219. pp.283-290.
Hopkins, C. T., 2016. Precarious work in Montreal: women, urban space, and time (Doctoral
dissertation, University of Toronto (Canada)).
Kelloway, E.K., Nielsen, K. and Dimoff, J.K. eds., 2017. Leading to occupational health and
safety: How leadership behaviours impact organizational safety and well-being. John
Wiley & Sons.
Kiehn, O., 2016. Decoding the organization of spinal circuits that control locomotion. Nature
Reviews Neuroscience. 17(4). p.224.
Lanaj, K. and Hollenbeck, J. R., 2015. Leadership over-emergence in self-managing
teams:Andersson, A., 2015. The Molecular Modeling Language GEMAL (Master's
thesis, NTNU). The role of gender and countervailing biases. Academy of Management
Journal. 58(5). pp.1476-1494.
Ling, Q., Lin, M. and Wu, X., 2016. The trickle-down effect of servant leadership on frontline
employee service behaviors and performance: A multilevel study of Chinese hotels.
Tourism Management. 52. pp.341-368.
Mai, J. E., 2016. Looking for information: A survey of research on information seeking, needs,
and behavior. Emerald Group Publishing.
Naveed, R.T., Haris, M. and Riaz, A., 2018. Review Paper Based On Organizational Cultural
Changes And Organizational Development Aspects. PERSPECTIVES IN
ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR.
Northouse, P. G., 2019. Introduction to leadership: Concepts and practice. Sage Publications,
Incorporated.
Osland, J., Devine, K. and Turner, M., 2015. Organizational behavior. Wiley Encyclopedia of
Management, pp.1-5.

Randhawa, G. and Kaur, K., 2015. An empirical assessment of impact of organizational climate
on organizational citizenship behaviour. Paradigm. 19(1). pp.65-78.
Rurkkhum, S. and Bartlett, K.R., 2018. Organizational citizenship behaviour for collectivist
cultures: instrument development and human resource development implications. Human
Resource Development International. 21(2). pp.107-124.
Van Hoye, G. and Stockman, S., 2016. Rewarding employee referrals: effects on organizational
attractiveness. In 9th Dutch HRM Network Conference.
Online
Wallance, L. 2016. Ineffective vs. Effective Team Leadership. [Online]. Available Through:
<https://sites.psu.edu/leadership/2016/10/24/ineffective-vs-effective-team-leadership/>