Organisational Behaviour and Leadership: A Case Study of Wesfarmers

BUS501 ORGANISATIONAL
BEHAVIOUR AND LEADERSHIP
(MAJOR O.B. ASSIGNMENT)
Name: Harpreet Singh
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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Wesfarmers and its current organisational and industry scenario...................................................4
Wesfarmers’ culture and structure...................................................................................................6
Identification and analyse of the organisational behaviour issue/s, conducting research as
appropriate to define and assess the issue at Wesfarmers...............................................................9
Application of theories and research of organisational behaviour and leadership to the identified
problem within Wesfarmers..........................................................................................................11
Developing and analysing various alternatives to address the issue/s of Wesfarmers..................13
Recommendations for implementation..........................................................................................13
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................14
References......................................................................................................................................15
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Introduction
Following assignment has been formulated to inscribe the valuation of leadership in governing
the organisational behaviour. A case study of Wesfarmers has been considered for a thorough
evaluation of structural and cultural conditions. A failure in the alignment of organisational
strategy and execution of diverse processes has been considered to have occurred due to
inefficient governance and leadership of Wesfarmers. This public firm is one of the largest
employers in Australia. The company had been set up in 1914 with its headquartering in Western
Australia. The brand covers diverse operations under its successful business such as chains of
supermarkets, hotels, liquor, home and office supplies, departmental stores, chemicals,
fertilizers, safety and industrial products and coal, etc. It has approximately 530,000 shareholders
(Wesfarmers, 2017). This assignment is structured to illustrate several theories and research of
organisational behaviour and the leadership quality that lead to poor management. Several
recommendations have been attempted to be provided addressing the identified issues for
significant and improvising implementation.
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Wesfarmers and its current organisational and industry scenario
The Wesfarmers is one of the leading Australian listed companies with diverse operational
activities involved for business purpose. The major mission of this company is to provide a sense
of complete satisfaction for its shareholders. The company’ share price is about $47.00
(Wesfarmers, 2017). The organisational arrangement commits to keeping on engaging the local
communities with special adoptions strategically designed to reduce the environmental impacts.
The Wesfarmers offers greatest opportunities to people for their career development and
enhancement in job performance.
Figure 1: Wesfarmers
(Source: Merit, 2010)
With the introduction of automation and analytics for market analysis, a disruption within the
company has been noticed. The operational changes brought about within the firm have faced a
lack of leadership concentration resulting in a huge gap left between organisational strategies and
execution. The tentative value-based strategies, to feed shareholders with the satisfactory return,
are as listed:
 Utilization of operational excellence to strengthen existing Wesfarmers’ businesses
satisfying the customer needs.
 Ensuring the security of businesses' growth opportunities via initiatives that include
entrepreneurship (Belias, et. al., 2015).
 With responsible management ensuring the sustainability of the company.
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