Organizational Behavior in 2M Group

This project analyzes organizational behavior within 2M Group Limited, a UK-based SME specializing in chemical distribution. It examines the impact of culture, power, and politics on individual and team behavior, evaluates motivational theories and techniques, and explores team development strategies. The project aims to provide insights into how organizational behavior concepts can be applied to enhance employee performance and achieve organizational goals.

ORGANISATIONAL
BEHAVIOR IN 2M GROUP
LIMITED
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TABLE OF CONTENT
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................4
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................4
P1 Analyze the effect of culture, power and politics on individual and team behavior within
2m group limited..........................................................................................................................4
M1 Critically analyze how the culture, politics and power of 2m Group Limited can influence
individual and team behavior and performance...........................................................................6
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................6
P2 Evaluate how content and process theories of motivation and motivational techniques
enable in effective achievement of goals in 2m group limited....................................................6
M2 Critically evaluate how to influence the behavior of others by applying behavioral
motivational theories, concepts and models................................................................................8
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................9
P3 Explain what makes an effective team as opposed to an ineffective team within 2m group
limited?........................................................................................................................................9
M3 Analyze relevant team and group development theories to support the development of
dynamic cooperation..................................................................................................................10
TASK 4..........................................................................................................................................12
P4 Apply concepts and philosophies of organizational behavior within 2m group limited......12
M4 Explore and evaluate how concepts and philosophies of OB inform and influence behavior
in both a positive and negative way...........................................................................................12
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................13
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................14
Figure 1 Maslow's Need Hierarchy theory of motivation...............................................................7
Figure 2 Tuckman’s approach.......................................................................................................10
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INTRODUCTION
Organizational culture can be defined as a set of expectations, expertise and philosophy,
which is used to guide the overall behavior of team members within a company. It is expressed
in employees through a set of working strategies adopted by them and how they interact with the
other staff members (Tang and et.al., 2017). It is thus essential to have a good work culture in a
company as it puts an impact on overall working of a person not only as an individual but also
within a team (Schuette, 2016). The present study has thus been carried out as a human resource
manager of 2m group limited. It is a UK based SME that is involved in distribution of chemicals
and other services such as managing samples, storage and blending (2M group, 2018). The
company was formed in year 2004 and has an objective to become an international chemical
distributor. The requirement of present report is to assess organizational culture practices that are
been practiced in company and suggest recommendations so as to improve employee
performance. This will be done by focusing on aspects related to culture, power and politics and
its impact on employee working. This will be followed by studying the motivation, leadership as
well as team work practices in the company.
TASK 1
P1 Analyze the effect of culture, power and politics on individual and team behavior within 2m
group limited
Culture, power and politics within 2m Group limited have put many positive and negative
impacts on the behavior of employee as an individual and in team. These are as follows;
Influence of culture
It has been found that the company adheres with role culture on account of its work
processes that involves for dealing with hazardous chemicals. Hence, the need on part of
management is to maintain proper control and also supervise overall activities of employees.
This can only be done by adopting role culture where a person can be given important position to
hold a power over working of employees. Hence the culture seems to be best suitable as per
present scenario but performance of employees can further be improved by having an awareness
of cultural differences of staff members so that they can be managed in best manner (Ismail and
et.al., 2017). This can be done by applying Hofstede theory in order to improve the process of
workplace communication. This technique can be used to assess cultural background of an
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employee so as to help in generating the best behavior from them. For example, employees who
are from United States of America (USA) usually have a cultural upbringing where they share
information on a free basis and are quite comfortable with the supervisor. They also give input
from time to time which increases there motivation level. They further have a presence of high
masculinity index wherein the employee makes an attempt to generate high performance and
competes with other staff members (López and Montalvo, 2015). He or she is always ready to
accept novel ideas and innovation due to presence of low uncertainty avoidance index. Hence,
the above mentioned strategies should be taken care by management while dealing with an
employee from US culture. This will assist in generating high performance from them. The
leadership strategy can also be molded by management accordingly so as to make it work as per
cultural grounds. Things may be easy, if the manager is from US but may create difficulty in
other cases (Allan and et.al., 2017).
Influence of politics
There is also a presence of politics within 2m group limited which has been found to put
a big impact on working of employees. This has been quite prevalent when the company
underwent structural changes and also appointed a new manager in recent time. There was an
existence of rigidness from some employees on account of office politics (Zhu, Djurjagina and
Leker, 2014). This happened in the presence of old manager they were able to put an impact on
official policy decisions made by management officials in 2m Limited. But with change in
structure and management, it was not possible to mold the decisions.
Influence of Power
In the same lines, there has also been existence of power relations in 2m Limited. The
influence of power is of huge importance as work in operations section of company involves
elements like increased safety, more control and supervision. Hence, management officials in the
company have been following expert and legitimate power. These come on account of
experience and level of expertise held by a person as well as formal rights given to employee by
management (Lu, Plewa and Ho, 2017). These two forms of power are apt but there can also be a
usage of reward power so as to increase employee performance. Hence, employees should be
rewarded in case they do exceptional work for the company. The rewards may not be monetary
in nature but can also be in from of praise, recognition, gift vouchers or promotion.
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M1 Critically analyze how the culture, politics and power of 2m Group Limited can
influence individual and team behavior and performance
It can be critically analyzed that culture, politics and power that is prevalent in 2m Group
Limited has been impacting individual and team behavior as well as employee performance. In
this regard, it has been assessed that there cannot be a usage of high power distance with US
employees as this may result in decreased motivation for them and they may feel constrained
while working in the company (Tang and et.al., 2017). It can thus be suggested that a room for
innovation, creativity as well as idea sharing should be given to US employees so as to enhance
their overall performance. But it is also true that high power distance strategy may work well
with employees from China as they are accustomed to work in high authority relations
(Kakabadse, Kouzmin and Kakabadse, 2017). Hence, need on part of management is to analyze
the cultural upbringing of employees and formulate strategies accordingly. These kinds of
strategies are very essential in 2m group as employees belong to different cultures and have
diverse ways of working. The need here is to make operations and research/development
activities safe and secured ones which can be possible only when management understands its
employees and adopts proper coordination and communication with them.
It can further be analyzed that the politics being practiced in 2nm group is bound to have
a negative impact on employee working. Hence, the need is to formulate clear policies as well as
chain of command so as to improve employee productivity (D’Ippolito, Miozzo and Consoli,
2014). The management must not tolerate any kind of political setup in company and should treat
all employees as equal. In the same lines, power relations are apt for the overall operations of
company and adhering with reward power can help to increase productivity followed by low
turnover rates. It can also bring a reduction in conflicting situation and unethical practices that
may reduce the morale as well as productivity of employees.
TASK 2
P2 Evaluate how content and process theories of motivation and motivational techniques enable
in effective achievement of goals in 2m group limited
An effective achievement of goals within 2m group limited can be made possible by the
application of varied motivational techniques which are as follows:
Content theory of motivation
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These theories lay focus on internal factors that aids in strengthening the overall employee
behaviour. These are as follows;
 Existence, Relatedness and Growth theory- As the company is involved in chemicals,
hence it majorly recruits highly specialized and expert employees in operations team.
Hence, it is very essential to use ERG theory where challenging opportunity should be
given to employees. These are in form of projects that create an impact on mankind or the
ones that require full use of skill set possessed by employees (Arulrajah, Opatha and
Nawaratne, 2015).
Maslow's Need Hierarchy theory of motivation
Figure 1 Maslow's Need Hierarchy theory of motivation
(Source: D’Ippolito, Miozzo and Consoli, 2014)
The management at 2m can make use of this theory so as to assess varied
employee needs. These are in form of good salary, work place safety, job security, status
etc. For example, newly joined chemical engineers may want good salary as well as job
security. Hence, management should ensure the same for them and also provide new staff
with good work culture so that they get accustomed with organization easily and stay in
the firm for long span of time (Swuste and et.al., 2016). In same way, those chemical
engineers or researchers who have spent more than 2 years in firm may expect promotion
and rise. The same is required to be taken care by management so as to boost overall
morale. Similarly, ones who have spent long time in company may want a fulfillment of
their self-actualization needs. Steps can thus be taken accordingly by management.
 Motivation-Hygiene Theory - There can further be application of Herzberg 2 factor
theory where hygiene factors should be such that employee are not disappointed with
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work culture. In the same lines, motivational factors should also be present that help them
deliver a good performance (Kakabadse, Kouzmin and Kakabadse, 2017). These can be
in form of good salary, praise from management, promotion and other growth
opportunities; focus on employee training and development etc.
Process theories of motivation
These are those set of theories that are concerned with how to motivate the employee so
that he or she can attain work related goals full zeal and energy.
 Goal setting theory - Goal setting theory is all about setting of challenging goals for the
staff members. This can be in form of meeting quality standards while blending of
chemicals; working with precision and accuracy etc. Another example is of setting supply
chain targets, where the need should be to export fixed quantity of boxes to a client
company in a specific time. This can help to motivate the supply chain staff; aid in
getting increased commitment from employees and also increase their overall zeal to
work.
 Adams' Equity Theory – This theory states the need to treat all employees in an equal
manner in terms of efforts that have been rendered by them for success of company.
Hence, hard working employees and the ones who work diligently must be paid a fair
remuneration in comparison to other employees. If this strategy is not adopted, then it
may demotivate the employees to a great extent (Tang and et.al., 2017). In drastic cases,
an overall increase in employee turnover can also be seen.
M2 Critically evaluate how to influence the behavior of others by applying behavioral
motivational theories, concepts and models
Other than the above mentioned approaches, there can also be an application of certain
other behavioral motivational theories, concepts and models so as to impact the overall employee
behavior. Firstly, the concept of emotional intelligence can be applied by management which is
all about ability to assess emotional traits not only in employees but also in themselves. The
management of 2M is thus required to master skill set of emotional awareness so that he or she
can look beyond words and try to assess what exactly is being said by employees (Sundin and
Brown, 2017). This will help him to generate empathy and deal with motivational issue in a
better manner. For example, if annual review meeting is held by HR manager for an employee
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with less than satisfactory performance then he can take help of emotional intelligence. It can be
used to assess the level of frustration and anger in employees and management can then alter his
way to deal with staff member (Ismail and et.al., 2017). In this way, a positive and productive
outcome can be produced which is good for both management and staff member.
Then comes the concept of psychodynamic approach which is used by leaders to study
dynamics of employee behavior; motivational drivers as well as communication pattern with
them. In this regard, if leaders’ at 2m are aware about above mentioned concept then they can fill
employee with motivational thoughts and increase their overall zeal to work. Although it is also
true that there is no way to test or observe psychodynamic approach directly. Hence, difficulty
may arise with respect to identifying cause and effect pattern. But, it is also true that the concept
has been widely applied by managers and same can be done by 2M as well so as to produce
positive behavior in staff members.
TASK 3
P3 Explain what makes an effective team as opposed to an ineffective team within 2m group
limited?
There is a presence of team work culture in 2M group limited just like any other
organization. There is an existence of functional teams in various departments such as finance,
marketing, HR., research and development as well as supply chain. In order to make the team an
effective one. The need is to maintain efficient communication by sharing of information in a
two way manner. Team ineffectiveness may arise when proper flow of communication is not
maintained and manager just gives orders rather than listening to the employees (Tang and et.al.,
2017). Then comes Problem-Solving Team which has got a temporary origin and can be formed
when there is an increase in product recalls or a technological issue in the company. This team
can work in an effective manner when all the members coordinate with each other and focus on
issue that demand increased concern (Kakabadse, Kouzmin and Kakabadse, 2017). There can be
creation of an ineffective team work when all the employees do not take part in problem solving
process, which results in generation of less option to solve issue. Problems may also arise if no
documentation is done and reliance is just on memory for sorting out the future concerns (Ismail
and et.al., 2017).
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There can be a formation of project team in company when the need is to handle big tasks
such as export order for chemicals. This type of team is formed between employees who are
from diverse areas such as supply chain, chemical engineers, quality analyst, project manager,
finance etc. Hence, need is to attain increased coordination in team members who should have a
strong belief in vision and mission of firm as well as success ratio of the project. Ineffectiveness
of team can occur if the employees deviate from set of goals.
M3 Analyze relevant team and group development theories to support the development of
dynamic cooperation
In order to attain dynamic cooperation among team members, the need is to focus on
team as well as group development theories. One such is Tuckman’s approach where focus is on
various stages. For example, teamwork is required while handling a big chemical consignment
which is to be supplied to a particular company on time.
Figure 2 Tuckman’s approach
(Source: The Tuckman Model of Team Development, 2017)
The first stage will be of forming where employees will be gathered together and will be
informed about task to be attained, time duration as well as risk areas that are linked to it. The
employees will start to interact with each other in this stage (Ismail and et.al., 2017). The second
step will be of storming where employees may enter into disagreements with each other and
personality clashes may occur on account of difference in thoughts and opinions. The need is to
attain dynamic cooperation so as get close to goal in a timely manner. Then in norming stage
where employees realize importance of task in hand and start handling responsibilities followed
by tolerating difference in each other’s way of working. Last but not the least stage is of
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performing where team leader motivates the employees and they are able to generate a good
performance.
Conflict resolution strategies
Team working in a firm like 2M often leads to conflicting situations which can be
handled by the manager through usage of techniques like withdrawal, increased collaboration as
well as accommodation. It is required to be understood by the manager that there is not a single
way to handle conflict and a combination approach can be best in this regard (Tang and et.al.,
2017).
Belbin Team Roles theory
Belbin team theory can be used in order to ensure towards better team development. This
can involve for assigning roles in a group on basis of personality type possessed by the person.
This is quite essential in group work so as avoid personality clashes which may disrupt overall
flow of working within the company. Moreover, as work involves for too much of concentration
and coordination on account of safety measures. Hence, need is to avoid issues. Hence various
roles can be assigned such as person who has an ability to drive work towards process of
completion can be appointed as a shaper (Kakabadse, Kouzmin and Kakabadse, 2017). On the
other hand, one who has an expertise in working can be given the role of an Expert-Specialist.
However, in spite of assigning the roles as per above mentioned criteria there is still a chance
that difficult may arise in it if employee does not behave as per said classification. In the same
lines, it is also not easy to predict that all employees will behave in the same manner in all times.
But in spite of this, Belbin theory can help to reduce conflict in work place to a great extent and
also led to a good team work.
Dynamic cooperation
Then comes the usage of dynamic cooperation which can be done by maintaining two
way communication amongst the employees. This should be succeeded by motivating staff to
render a best possible performance and also adhere with innovation in the work processes
(Kakabadse, Kouzmin and Kakabadse, 2017).
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TASK 4
P4 Apply concepts and philosophies of organizational behavior within 2m group limited
House's path-goal theory
The management at 2m group can make use of path goal theory for increasing employee
performance as well as productivity. This approach is all about specifying a leadership style that
is in best fit with employee and work culture so as to help in attainment of goal. As per the
theory, focus should be given on goal achievement such as reaching of sale targets, attaining
quality standards among others. It is thus essential for management to render support and guide
the team members in attainment of set goals. Challenges may arise in between but need is to
work on them and motivate employees by giving support. Other than this, the firm should also
offer pay raise, bonuses, praise, rewards and recognition in case good work has been done by
them (Ismail and et.al., 2017). There may also be a need to make use of supporting and
participating management style. This is a most needed strategy as company is undergoing
changes in areas of technology, managerial structure among others. The need here is thus to
ensure that management has an understanding about employee related concerns and they are
ready to render them support that is needed by them.
Fiedler's contingency theory
There can further be an application of contingency theory which is all about the fact that
there is no one best way to manage employees or take most necessary decisions. The need here is
to take the help of more than two strategies as per requirement of situation.
M4 Explore and evaluate how concepts and philosophies of OB inform and influence behavior in
both a positive and negative way
From above mentioned approaches, it can be assessed that the concepts and philosophies
related to organizational behavior are most likely to put an impact on employees in positive or
negative manner. For example, there is need to take help of directive approach wherein ideas
may be initiated from employees and they can be made responsible for completing the task in
better manner so that goals can be attained on time (Tang and et.al., 2017). It is further true that
this strategy has got its own set of advantages and limitations such a staff may not get a chance
to give there feedback or suggestions which may make them feel demotivated.
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CONCLUSION
A conclusion can be drawn from above report that it is very essential to follow practices
related to organizational behavior so as to help in building of a strong and loyal workforce in 2m
group limited. There can be an adherence to motivational strategy, emotional intelligence, and
psychodynamic approach among others. This is most likely to aid in delivery of effective work
performance. This should be followed by ensuring that there is effective team work in the
employee. It is all the more essential in 2m group as work of dealing with chemicals requires
immense collaboration as well as communication. Hence, if employees do not work in team then
it may hamper the overall work process and may prove hazardous. In the same way, the leaders
should also follow good culture practices such as no politics, using strategies like reward power
and dealing with employees as per there cultural upbringing.
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