Organisational Behaviour: Analysing Culture, Politics, Power, Motivation, and Teamwork in Thomas Cook

E 164 Nicoleta Tomescu Business
Organisational Behaviour

Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................4
L01 Analyse the influence of culture, politics and power on the behaviour of others in an
organisational context......................................................................................................................4
Analysing how an organisation’s culture, politics and power can influence individual and team
behaviour and performance [P1].....................................................................................................4
L02 Evaluate how to motivate individuals and teams to achieve a goal.........................................9
Evaluating how content and process theories of motivation and motivational techniques enable
effective achievement of goals in an organisational context [P2]...................................................9
LO3 Demonstrating and understanding of how to cooperate effectively with others...................14
Demonstrating an understanding of what makes an effective team, as opposed to an ineffective
team [P3]........................................................................................................................................14
LO4 Apply concepts and philosophies of organisational behaviour to a given business situation
.......................................................................................................................................................20
Applying concepts and philosophies of OB within an organisational context and a given business
situation [P4]..................................................................................................................................20
Conclusion:....................................................................................................................................23

Introduction
The way people interact and behave with each other in organizations is known as Organizational
Behaviour or OB. The assignment is to focus on analysing the influence of politics, culture and
power on the behaviour of others in an organizational context, evaluating how process and
content theories of motivation and motivational techniques enable effective achievement of goals
in an organisational context and demonstrating an understanding of what makes an effective
team, as opposed to an ineffective team applying concepts and philosophies of OB within an
organisational context and a given business situation. The company taken into account for
discussing the traits of organizational behaviour is Thomas Cook which is a travelling company
based in the UK. The company was started by Thomas Cook who was then a cabinet maker and
his son in 1872.
L01 Analyse the influence of culture, politics and power on the behaviour of others in an
organisational context.
Analysing how an organisation’s culture, politics and power can influence individual and
team behaviour and performance [P1].
Influence of culture, politics and power on team behaviour and performance:
While running an organization, the human resources are used to convert the material resources
into products. During utilizing the human resources, the managers of the company may need to
make choices. If the company is as huge as Thomas Cook, there will be many managers and each
of them will involve in politics using their power to make sure that his/her choice is accepted.
When a company follows a certain work culture, the performance of the employees gets affected
by the decisions made by the managers which in turn decides the success or failure of the
company (Unger-Aviram and Erez, 2016).
Classification of Culture (Power, Role, Task and Person):
While describing organizational culture Charles Handy informed four types of culture: Power,
Role, Task and Person.

Unlike Thomas Cook, some organizations are there which practice power culture where the
power is limited within some commanding persons and whose decision is the ultimate in the
company. Employees don’t enjoy working in these environments as they’re judged based on
achievements only (Cuddy et al. 2015).
The companies that follow the role culture have different roles and responsibilities for each of
the employees. The power comes from the role and responsibility of an employee. Though it
may seem an ideal work culture, the chances of organizational conflict are high in these
scenarios (Kim et al. 2016).
Thomas Cook follows the task culture where employees work in teams to solve any problem or
work on a project. The power shifts from one person to another as the task is the priority here.
The company is productive because it has successfully used the personalities, leadership qualities
and the skills of the employees to get the best out of them (Dill and Zinn, 2016).
Thomas Cook doesn’t follow or encourage the person culture where people thinks that they’re
superior to the company. There aren’t any connection between the employees who work in a
company with person culture (Mazanec et al. 2015).
The importance of Cultural Difference Awareness:
Different types of cultural values and customs affect the way people dress, talk, behave etc. and
there might be differences of opinion in an organization based on cultural differences of the
employees. Being a huge organization, Thomas Cook has employees from different backgrounds
who feel content working in the company because they’re opinions matter for the growth of the
business (Crane, Kawashima and Kawasaki, 2016). The managers are culturally aware and
they’re able to communicate with people without any cultural biases. Besides, the company has a
diversity policy and is strict in terms of cultural awareness policies.
Hofstede’s theory of culture theory and application:
Thomas Cook is a multinational company that works with people from all around the globe.
Therefore, it’s important for the company to follow Hofstede’s theory of cultural dimension. As
per Greet Hofstede, there are five major factors that influence the workplace culture:

 Power distance: As Thomas Cook has team leaders and managers who are answerable
for their teams’ performance, there are companies that hold each employee responsible
for their task. In the first case, some employees enjoy more power whereas in the second
case, all the employees are treated equally (Engestrom et al. 2018).
 Individualism: Thomas Cook always encourages employees to work as a team as the
company believes that productivity increases when every individual come up with
different ideas. Some companies, on the other hand, prefer employees working
individually.
 Masculinity vs. Feminity: Different companies follow different policies depending on
the number of the male and female employees.
 Uncertainty avoiding: If an organization is as vast as Thomas Cook, there will be
unforeseen situations. The employees of the company are prepared for any kind of
unusual circumstances.
 Long-term orientation: Thomas Cook like many other established organizations offer a
long-term relationship with the employees which in turn encourages the employees to
work hard for the company and aim for betterment.
The rise of globalisation and digital technology and how they have influenced and shaped
organisational culture in the 21st century:
Though the impact of globalization and digital technology is yet to be comprehended, both have
some organizational influences that are evident. The companies have employees working from
all around the world because on the one hand globalization made the diversity possible and on
the other hand they can connect with the help of digital technology. Many organizations choose
outsourcing which helps employees earn more. Many employees working with Thomas Cook
don’t have to attend the office physically as the company allows them to communicate from
home using digital technology (Geppert, Becker-Ritterspach and Mudambi, 2016).
Principles of Network theory and Systems theory as frameworks to understand
organisations:
Network theory is based on how an organization, a person or a group get affected by the social
form of relationships. Thomas Cook follows the network theory by focusing on the relationship

between the employees, instead of focusing on individual characteristics. The company offers
open communication for the employees so that they can share ideas which help the organization
grow further (Hiatt, Grandy and Lee, 2015).
The idea of cybernetics is followed in Thomas Cook where employees are often provided with
feedbacks for their work from the team leaders. The structure and strategies of the company
affect the way the employees deliver their work. Though the system of the company is complex,
the employees adapt to the changes fast and they learn from their experiences.
Organizational Psychology:
Organizational psychology is about having a smooth work culture and a workforce that works
efficiently for the success of the company. The employees should feel happy and content which
will help them in being more productive and strengthen the structure of the organization. Besides
maintaining all the requirements, the managers of Thomas Cook also resolve the organizational
conflicts offering an effective solution.
Influence of politics:
As described earlier, each organization has organizational politics which can be used in favour of
growing the company. The leaders of Thomas Cook understand the basic four types of
organizational politics and use those for the improvement of the company (Laboissiere,
Fernandes and Lage, 2015).
When the company officials use their personal connection and influence informally for the
wellness of the organization, it’s called “the weeds”. There’re many managers in Thomas Cook
who have used their informal network so that the company earns more revenue. Though this
politics can lead to some improvement, some employees may use their personal connections to
stop the growth of the company. Therefore, the officials should keep a check on the weed
politics.
Thomas Cook hasn’t become one of the most successful organizations simply be depending on
the weed politics. It has individuals who use their expertise and resources to create a team or
taskforce that works on particular sectors within the organization. These people are “the rocks”