Organizational Behavior: Influence of Culture, Politics, and Power on Team Behavior

This document explores the influence of culture, politics, and power on team behavior in organizational behavior. It discusses the content and process theories of motivation and various motivational techniques. It also highlights the ways in which effective teams differ from ineffective teams.

Organizational
Behavior

Contents
INTRODUCTION.......................................................................................................................................3
TASK 1.......................................................................................................................................................4
P1. Culture, politics and power influence on the team behavior and person............................................4
TASK 2..........................................................................................................................................................5
P2 Content and process theories of motivation and motivational techniques........................................5
TASK 3..........................................................................................................................................................8
Ways in which effective teams differs from ineffective teams................................................................8
TASK 4..........................................................................................................................................................8
P4. Concepts and philosophies of organizational behavior.....................................................................8
CONCLUSION...............................................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
It is considered as the study of behavior that is poses by the people while working in a
term at the workplace. It is a scientifically used term that is used to describe attitude posed by the
group. In the modern form of business it has become essential for the firms to make their
employees to work in the form of team. There are several theories that have been given by
various researchers in order to understand the behavior of person at the workplace (Buelens and
et. al., 2011). Other than this power, politics, leadership influences the behavior of the person in
an organization. 4com plc. is a company that deals in the business of giving communication
services to its consumers. There are various types of qualities that make a team effective or
ineffective. This report highlights the ways in which effective team differs from ineffective ones.
It also describes the role that is played by the culture, politics and power in changing the
behavior of the individuals inside the firm. The theories relevant to the needs of the employees
and the manager’s role in understanding this behavior is showcased here.
TASK 1
P1. Culture, politics and power influence on the team behavior and person.
There are various factors that affect the behavior of the employees that are present at the
firm. These all factors shape the entire attitude of the person while working at the workplace. It
is important for the firm managers to understand the influence of these in the organizational
behavior. Some of these factors are as follows:
 Organizational culture: It is one of the most important factors that shape the behavior of
the firm as these factors have greater impact on the overall performance of the
individuals. In the firms such as Apple the culture of Innovative thinking and
experimentation has helped company to at the fastest of speeds. It consists of shred
assumptions, belief, values and shred beliefs as well the pattern of language that is
maintained in the organization. It also describes the ways in which employees interact
with each other as well as while interacting with management (Wood and et. al., 2016). It
is reflected in the ways they communicate with the customers. It is sometimes also
referred to as the common traits possessed staffs of the firm. It is also illustrated through
hiring decisions, set up of office, hours of working etc. It is important for the
organizations to incorporate a culture that is most common in these days according to the
industries they are operating in. team work is one such type of culture. There has been a
technological shift in the society in past few decades hence inducting technology as a part
of the organizational culture becomes essential. Previously the local societies from where
people have come used to shape the attitude of the people at workplaces. But it’s the
effect of globalization that there is a mix in the culture at workplaces throughout the
world. These days operational culture in some country at some other regions of the world
may influence the working cultures at some other part of the globe. It is most common in
the case of companies that are operating at global level. It is also the effect of
globalization on the behavior of the person that they feel that there is need of continuous

improvement in their own personal and professional competencies as he is competing
with the global workplace. In this regard there is network theory that suggests that people
interact or work together so as to help each other in what they want to achieve. It also
assist in describing the relationship of individuals with the other colleagues. Which is
described through informal communication mechanism that is in use inside the firm.
Similar to this theory there is another known as system theory which assists in
understanding that people within the group changes so as to fulfill the demand of the
system. Philosophy related with the organizational behavior helps to underline some of
the selective motive due to which firm operates its business and hence the attitude is
shaped according to it only.
 Politics: It is also one of the most crucial factors that play a decisive role in shaping the
behavior of the person. From the emergence of trade unions there had been increase in
the political approach in the behavior of the person. If there is internal politics at
workplace then it may result in negative outputs and can be case where there is decrease
in the performance of the staff members. The first thing that it affects the most is the
attitude of working as a team. Apart from this structural framework that is present within
the firm shapes the behavior of individuals as their approach gets according to the task
they have been assigned with. It also molds the relationship that is maintained between
the employees. Excessive personal politics always negatively effects in achieving set
objectives (Creed, 2011). There are many kinds of structural changes are going on in the
company. These all increases the politics at firm which also affects the attitude of the
employees. Hence alterations must be based on requirement of the firm.
 Power: It is influencing aspect that is posed by the company as well as the people present
at the firm. The distribution of the powers must be done in a proper manner so that
everyone can understand their importance at the workforce. In most of the firms at
present times power distribution is uneven as it lies in the hands of one or two officials at
the top of the organizational structure. These powers present with the employees helps to
determine the shape of the behavior that is posed by the employees. It is the fact that
power needs to be accompanied with responsibility (Butler and Rose, 2011). More the
power more should be the responsible behavior that must be present. Here they need to be
monitored every time. The position they handle brings the power to them. The only
power that remains with the workers that they could choose the methods that they would
follow in any specific situation.
All these elements shape the overall levels of performance of the staffs as they directly
effects on the behavior of the person.
TASK 2
P2 Content and process theories of motivation and
motivational techniques.
There are several types of theories of motivation which is provided by different
researchers all over the world. These theories have closer relation with the employee

performance. There are two types of motivational theories that are present namely process and
content theories. It is the role of the leaders to increase the levels of motivation in the employees
that too at regular intervals. It helps them to perform in a better way. Motivation flares the fire of
confidence which is helpful in increasing the personal productiveness. It is helpful in
accomplishing the goals and objectives which is set by the organizations that too in the desired
time frame (Kitchin, 2017). It is also the fact that there are two types of motivation one is
intrinsic which is present inside the firm and other is the extrinsic motivation that is generated by
the leaders and managers of the enterprise. Extrinsic motivation is of many types and affects the
employee performance in the longer run.
There are two kinds of motivational theories that are given by researchers and scientists. First is
the content theory of motivation which is as follows:
 Maslow’s hierarchy of needs: It relies on the approach that is humanistic in nature. It
helps to understand that every staff at the workplace has certain kinds of basic needs
which have to be fulfilled ad without which it is impossible to work. It illustrates the need
hierarchy in the shape of the pyramid. The need differs as per the level at which it is
arranged. At the bottom most level the need is categorized as deficiency or physiological
demands and at the highest level there lies the growth needs. It is also applied with the
workers at 4com Plc. where they have to ensure that workers need related with the
workplace has to be fulfilled. For example safety concerns are basic and then come
higher levels of demand like the social needs of interaction and team building. To
increase the levels of motivation of staffs at workplace, self-actualization growth need
and development has to be considered.
 Herzberg’s motivational theory: It is one of the most used and compelling theories having
empirical nature. It is motivational theory that splits out demotivating factors for the true
motivator. It enforces the concept of movement with respect to motivation. It says that
there are many factors which are present at workplace, some are the factors that bring
satisfaction and other is the ones that dissatisfy (Suppiah and Singh Sandhu, 2011).
According to the Herzberg, Individuals are not satisfied with lower levels of needs like
the demand of the basic wages or pleasant working environment.
 Alderfers motivational theory: It was the development of the Maslow’s hierarchy of
needs. He categorized demand into ERG theory which is related with the Existence,
relatedness and growth. The people in existence group are those who are related with the
safety and physiological needs. The second group is associated with the relatedness; it is
desired for maintaining interpersonal relationship. In the last group has need for the
personal development. It is basically associated with the esteem needs. This theory also
says that if the need at higher levels is not fulfilled then the individuals try harder which
he has given to the lower level of needs.

Figure 1 Organisation behaviour
Apart from these there are some process motivational theories:
 Vroom theory: This theory says that behavior is the outcome of conscious choices
between the alternatives that are available to him. It purposes to reduce the pain and
maximize the pleasure hence it is also known as expectancy theory. It considers the fact
that employee performance is based on the factors like his skills, knowledge, abilities and
experience he has. It also describes that due to the expectation of worker they behave in a
specific manner. This changes the actions that are taken by the employees at every time.
In the base lies the mental or cognitive process. It also illustrates that workers must be
appreciated with rewards which must only be based on what they deserve.
 Adams theory: it is also known as equity theory that is focused on identifying that
whether the distribution of resources is appropriate relative to both the partners. Equity is
measured by comparing the ratio of the contribution and benefits for each staff. It also
describes that staffs aims to maintain equity between inputs they give and the outcome
they receive relative to these (Robbins and et. al., 2013). It relies on the belief that people
gives value to fair treatment and it motivates them to perform well at the workplace and
maintain healthy relationship with other co-workers.
 Lantham and Locke theory: It is also known as the goal setting theory of motivation. It
focuses towards the interrelationship between goals and performance. It empowers the
forecast that effective performance is most likely to be achieved when targets are specific
and has challenging nature. When there is analysis of the performance and feedbacks are
given to employee then they are destined to perform better. The motivational impact of
goals is affected by the moderators like ability and self-efficiency. When the goal is
deadlined then goals becomes more effective as it bring out better performance from the
workers.

Along with these there are certain motivational techniques that are given in this regard. Which is
as follows:
 Job design: If the job is designed as per the expectation of the employees then higher
levels of motivation is achieved. It has four elements in it job satisfaction, job
enlargement, rotation of jobs and job enrichment.
 Rewards: When workers are rewarded according to their performance their motivation
gets high. It can be in the form of monetary value, verbal appreciation or prizes. It
increases their confidence to perform better in the future. It motivates them in the longer
go.
 Employee participation: Increasing the participation of the workers especially in the core
areas like decision making process as well as the process of controlling the quality of the
products and services that are produced at the firm (Bissell and Dolan, 2012). It increases
the commitment levels of the workers towards their assigned task.
 Quality of work life program: Individuals have to make perfect balance between the work
and personal life. Flexibility in the working timings as per requirement motivates
employees.
TASK 3
Ways in which effective teams differs from ineffective teams.
There are many ways in which effective teams differs from ineffective teams. This is due
to the characteristics that are posed by both the teams. Some of the characteristics is as follows:
 Effective teams are those who promote healthy discussion on the issues occurred. With
such kinds of discussion they agree or disagree to any points. This helps to bring
creativity and changes in the ideas before reaching to any conclusion. It is always an open
discussion where everyone view point is being entertained. Such type of practices is
missing in the ineffective teams where most of the decisions are taken by team leaders.
 Situational leadership is one of those important things that make a team effective. Here
the role of leader in group is exchanged as per the requirement of the situation. It also
depends on the ability of team member to lead the group (Suma and Lesha, 2013). It is
different from ineffective team where there is a culture of having single leader in a group
irrespective of the situation.
 In the bad times of any team mate other helps them. This is the culture in the effective
teams. It helps to increase the motivational level of the team members. Whereas in
ineffective teams everyone is self-centered.
 Effective teams have higher coordination among themselves. This has developed due to
feeling of trust among them. It is not present in the ineffective teams.
 Effective team comprises of team mates having various kinds of skills. It helps team in
solving issues that occurs from time to time (Effective and Ineffective teams. 2017). This
is not present in ineffective teams.

 Effective teams define clear line of control for each member. It helps in reducing the
conflicts among team mates. When there is any conflict arisen then they resolve it by
discussion. In teams that are ineffective there is no proper distribution of control.
 Effective team also makes short and long term goals, objectives which they need to
achieve in desired time frame. They conduct timely meetings so that position can be
determined. Where as in ineffective teams there goals are not clear.
TASK 4
P4. Concepts and philosophies of organizational behavior.
There are many concepts and philosophies that are given in this context. Some of the
concepts are as follows:
 Individual difference: Every individual in this world differs from each other. It is
supported through scientific facts. Attitude comes in a person from the day of their birth.
These personal differences leads to different kinds of behavior which different from
everyone else. It is unique in the whole firm. Experiences in their personal life makes
them more unique.
 Perception: It differs from person to person as they have different view point when they
see any object. Two people when they see any particular object then they may have
different views on it which is entirely different. An individual always interprets anything
as per the knowledge and experiences he or she had gained in the lifetime or the values
that he has gathered (Teh and Sun, 2012). Workers sees task in entirely different ways
according to the personality, needs, demographic factors, social surrounding and past
experiences.
 Whole person: It is suggested that personal life of a person is not different from that of
their working life. Their relationship influences on the performance in each case.
Personal life puts burden on the working life as it also impacts on the ways they achieve
their task. This concept also illustrates that no leader or manager must understand their
employee as a whole person.
 Motivational Behavior: Every staff has several needs and demands. This is the only thing
for which they work for. To fulfill this requirement they work very hard at the
workplaces. Some motivations are required for enhancing the quality of work.
 Desire for involvement: Every worker is looking for opportunities at the firm like
involving in the process of decision making. In every individual there is desire that they
want to share their knowledge and experience with others in any situations. This is
important for the organization that they involve their workers in the decision making
process. This provides platform for the individual to share their thoughts. It also assists in
increasing the motivational level of the staff which is important increasing their
performer. Such kind of meaningful involvement brings mutual benefit for both the
parties.

 Value of person: Apart from treatment with the monetary value like capitals, land etc.
worker wants to be treated in different ways. They want to get treated with social values
like respect, dignity etc. along with the monetary treatment.
 Nature of the firm: There are two kinds of assumption i.e. social system and mutual
interest. First suggests that firm is social system and are governed by social and
physiological laws. It has social role and status (Kaur, 2013). Other is mutual interest
which suggest that organization needs people and people needs organization for
satisfying each other needs.
 Ethics: In order to retain the experienced and valuable workers they need to be treated in
ethical manner by the organizations. To succeed enterprise must treat their employee in
ethical manner. So it is important for the organization to establish code of ethics,
publicize its statement of values related to ethics and they also have to train ethic related
ethics, and must reward their workers on their best ethical behavior and also publicize
their role models.
CONCLUSION
From the above based report it can be deduced that organizational behavior is a scientific
approach in which people attitude in the group is studied. Culture, politics and power affects the
behavior of the employees at the workplace hence performance of theirs is also enhanced. There
are many motivational theory and techniques that are used by leaders so as to increase the
motivation level of their workers. There are several characteristics which differs effective teams
from ineffective teams. There are several concepts and philosophies that are used to describe
organizational behavior.
REFERENCES
Books and Journals

Buelens, M. and et. al., 2011. Organisational behaviour. McGraw-Hill Higher Education.
Wood, J.M. and et. al., 2016. Organisational behaviour: Core concepts and applications. John
Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd..
Creed, A., 2011. Organisational behaviour. OUP Catalogue.
Butler, M. and Rose, E. eds., 2011. Introduction to organisational behaviour. Kogan Page
Publishers.
Kitchin, D., 2017. An introduction to organisational behaviour for managers and engineers: A
group and multicultural approach. Routledge.
Suppiah, V. and Singh Sandhu, M., 2011. Organisational culture's influence on tacit knowledge-
sharing behaviour. Journal of knowledge management. 15(3). pp.462-477.
Robbins, S. and et. al., 2013. Organisational behaviour: Pearson Higher Education AU.
Bissell, G. and Dolan, P., 2012. Organisational behaviour for social work. Policy Press.
Suma, S. and Lesha, J., 2013. Job satisfaction and organizational commitment: The case of
Shkodra municipality. European Scientific Journal, ESJ, 9(17).
Teh, P.L. and Sun, H., 2012. Knowledge sharing, job attitudes and organisational citizenship
behaviour. Industrial Management & Data Systems. 112(1). pp.64-82.
Kaur, A., 2013. Maslow’s need hierarchy theory: Applications and criticisms. Global Journal of
Management and Business Studies. 3(10). pp.1061-1064.
Online
Effective and Ineffective teams. 2017. Available through
<https://www.acowtancy.com/textbook/acca-f1/d4-team-formation-development-and-
management/effective-and-ineffective-teams/notes>. [Accessed on 10th November, 2017 ]