Organisational Behaviour at Eddie Stobart Logistics: A Case Study

This report provides a detailed analysis of organisational behaviour within Eddie Stobart Logistics, a leading UK-based logistics company. The report begins with an introduction to organisational behaviour, emphasizing its importance in creating a positive and efficient workplace. The main body of the report explores various organisational behaviour theories and models, including complexity theory, French and Raven's bases of power, hybrid organisation theory, informal organisational theory, and resource dependence theory. Each theory is explained in detail, providing a comprehensive understanding of its core concepts. The report then applies these theories to Eddie Stobart Logistics, examining how the company utilizes these models in practice. The analysis covers the company's structure, employee interactions, distribution of power, and commitment to corporate social responsibility, including initiatives like 'When you wish upon a star' and the Armed Forces Covenant. The report concludes by summarizing the key findings and highlighting the significance of organisational behaviour in the company's success. The report emphasizes the importance of leadership and management in fostering a positive work environment and achieving organizational goals within a complex logistics setting.

Organisational behaviour
through Eddie Stobart
Logistics

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
A section describing and explaining the theories and models found in your secondary research
.....................................................................................................................................................1
A section explaining the findings for the company linking practice in action to the models and
theories outlined..........................................................................................................................4
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
Organisational behaviour sets a workplace environment which keep the staff motivated
which in turns results in good quality of work life and working efficiency(Adams, 2018) . In any
organisation the interaction among all of its workforce plays a major role in setting up a healthy
environment. This interaction as a whole is considered as organisational behaviour. In this report,
analysis is done on the leading logistics UK based company construction company Eddie
Stobart. Started in 1940s as Eddie Stobart gained its recognition through its far distant logistics
service that include all means of transport. From buying its first truck in 1960 to having a net
revenue of 843 million Euros. The journey of the company consists of many challenge
overcoming instances which can only be executed with an excellent Organisation behaviour.
This report consists the analysis of the different models and theories adopted by the Eddie
Stobart in order to create a supportive organisational culture during its decades of existence.
Theories such as Complexity theory, French Raven's bases of power, Hybrid Organisation theory
etc. are discussed and their effect on Eddie Stobart Logistics Ltd. are analysed in brief.
MAIN BODY
A section describing and explaining the theories and models found in your secondary research
As per the viewpoint of Anne Kinsey, 2021, there are various theories and models for the
betterment of and organisational working environment(Metcalfe, 2018). These theories include
all the existing factors that influence an organisation from the employees to the Sr. managers;
from the objective of the company to its target goal, covering all key points which must be kept
in mind as areas that can be improvised for the growth and success of ant organisation. These
theories are as follows.
Complexity Theory and Organisation Behaviour
This theory gives a view of how an organisation should be looked at, i.e. when talking
about an organisation each and every employee should be considered as a unit of the whole
organisation(Seidel and et. al. 2019). The complexity described in this theory is that in an
organisation each and every unit has an influence over one another and Organisation behaviour is
a concept that includes combined behaviour and interaction in an organisation. According to this
theory the performance is enhanced by not just focusing on the behaviour of every individual but
also on interaction between employees, team leaders and managers. This way instead of
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assigning particular task to an employee with a hard and fast demand the complexity of the
organisation can be utilised for its flexibility and the task should be given to the team.
French and Raven's Five bases of Power.
In any organisation there are several unspoken divisions of power which is not obvious
through the job designation but can be easily felt in a working place(Coccia, 2018) . Such a
division of power helps in maintaining a suitable environment of a workplace which in turn
keeps the organisation behaviour at a positive end. The bases of power are:-
Legitimate: This division of power comes up with the job title in an organisation. The
existence of difference designation is must in any organisation, and its primary objective is to
have a difference in power of employee in order to make the most of the workforce. A team
includes Manager, Team leaders, staff etc.
Reward: The power doesn't always comes as a job description, sometimes the power is
earned as a reward, which doesn't has to be monetary but a title or recognition through
reinforcements.
Expert: In every organisation there are people who are considered as an expert whether
with or without an official recognition. These are the people everyone approaches on facing any
problem because these unofficial experts have a long experience(Waddell and et. al. 2019) .
These people enjoy a voluntary offered powered because of their knowledge in the field and
always helpful nature.
Referent: This type of power is enjoyed by the people who are great in communication
and are known for their nature to establish a connection with their colleagues. Such people's
presence is very valuable for any organisation as they help in breaking the ice for new
employees and also for bringing the shy natured employees into the centre of groups. Mere
presence and daily routine of people possessing referent power is helpful in creating a healthy
working environment and bringing up a cheering organisational behaviour.
Coercive: The people with power of manipulation in an organisation are said to be
displaying coercive powers. These people are far from being considered ideal. People skills are
not used at all in the use of coercive power and hence this directly means that the organisation
with coercive people will be taking a big toll on its working environment and hence an example
of a negative organisational behaviour(Waterson, 2018).
Hybrid Organisation Theory
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This theory emphasis on the concept that organisations in the modern world do not
necessary have to choose between either being an non profit social welfare organisation or being
a hardcore profit making organisation(Tunley and et. al. 2018). This theory suggests a company
to adopt believes and objectives of a welfare organisation in order to give a constant welfare
cause to the staff and also that projects a positive image of a company towards the clients of that
organisation.
Informal Organizational Theory
As the name suggests this theory guides an organisation to allow and rather promote the
gathering or meeting of staff coming from a different background or department. As it is normal
for the organisation to have spacing arrangements based on the field or background of staffs the
free time gathering should be managed in such a way that various different department people
meet. This practice allows staff to be open to different conversations and experience and creates
a sense of versatility in the organisation rather monotonous work environment.
Resources Dependence Theory
The particular theory spots the light on the reliability and dependence on resources of an
organisation and the proper management of these resources. Customers too are considered a vital
resource thought this theory. Without customers or clients there cannot be any business hence the
management of the customers should be very carefully done in order to reduce the dependency
of any organisation on customers (Karatepe, Ozturk, and Kim , 2019) . The staff and work force
should be guided to adopt a behaviour that promotes tasks like retaining the old customers and
attracting new ones.
Team Management Flexibility
It is the job of the managing department to be aware of the external influence and internal
system, ways to differentiate power, way to diversify the objective of the organisation and a
complexity that constantly exists in the organisation. The understanding above mentioned
theories helps in finding solutions to the problem faced because of an unhealthy organisational
behaviour. The theory is executed by finding out the specific skill set of employees and assigning
them the task that is best suited for them. This requires an intellectual superior manager and HR
team as the challenges is not just finding out the skill set but to also bringing it out which is a
quality only experienced managers and recruiters can possess.
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A section explaining the findings for the company linking practice in action to the models and
theories outlined
Eddie Stobart Logistics is a Britain based logistic company with transport system existing
in Belgium Ireland, United Kingdom. Its revenue as of 2018 was around 843 million Pounds
The company has several means of transport available including Rail gauge, Sea Port both deep
sea and inland as well accompanied by Trucks warehouses. Apart from these transport system
Eddie Stobart Logistics has various storage facilities through these three countries such as,
warehouses, lockers, etc.
Complexity in the Eddie Stobart: As of 2018 Eddie Stobart had a total of 6100
employees. This number itself explains the amount of complexity that company to deal with
specially for a company in logistic and transport company. Given that organisation behaviour is
the study of human interaction with the organisation on not just personal or individual level but
as a whole, in the logistic industry the entire company has to work as a team. The completion of
a single transport or delivery involves several level of staff and hence they all are connected to
each other(AlManei, Salonitis, and Tsinopoulos,2018). If that particular delivery encounters any
issue the combined effort will be at risk. Therefore it is very important for the organisation to
have an excellent vocal and communicational skills in order to execute a task. Also it is the
interpersonal relation of the co-workers that sets the task quality and time efficiency. Eddie
Stobart ensures that each and every employee has a sense of familiarity with their colleague and
with their managers as well. Although individual level of behaviours should notices and taken
care of but a logistic company's organisational behaviours can only be successfully interpreted
as staff interaction and on a whole organisational level.
Distribution of power in Eddie Stobart: Logistics is a sector of business in which a chain
of people work along, these chain might not see each other each day but their task are in chain
motion. Therefore to efficiently manage this chain movement of the company, having a very well
defined distribution of power becomes a necessity. In a typical logistic company there are
delivery man, warehouse managers, local area managers, Sr manager and each of them report to
the later mentioned higher designated authority. This way a smooth chain movement of the task
is manages by Eddie Stobart. Additionally the company has introduced some extra posts in order
to help the employees. These people were expert in their specific work and were promoted
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because of how well informed and helpful they were at their jobs. With this operational system
and division of power Eddie Stobart is able to manage a smooth transport and delivery of goods.
Eddie Stobart as a Hybrid Organisation: Eddie Stobart has proved its commitment time
and time again towards developing a company looking after its responsibilities(Parker And et.
al. 2018). Along with ensuring health ad safety of its employees and taking several measures to
ensure its continuity the company also found various ways in which it can contribute towards the
betterment of the society such as being environmentally bewared, helping special children,
ensuring health and safety of its employees and taking several measures to ensure its continuity.
 Corporate and Social responsibility: The company make sure that in no region of its
service any instance of work slavery happens or none of its employee is being forced to
work in inappropriate working conditions.
 When you wish upon a star : With this initiative Stobart grants the wish of children with
life threatening illness. This programme was started 25 years of ego, Wish upon a star as
the name suggest is an activity in which employee of the company voluntarily take part
in money raising activities and events and this money raised by the enthusiastic
employees is then used for granting with of some special children. After 2016, the
company and its motivated employees have raised a total of 369,000 Pounds for this
charity work.
 Armed Forces Covenant: Through this model of hybridisation, the company has
established a relation between the military by actively recruiting people who decided to
leave the army due to theory personal reasons and giving them a chance to continue their
civilian life as soon as they decided to resume it. Apart from this the company also
provides its work force to join military with its initiative and links to direct forces
admission. Eco Friendly structure: Eddie Stobart have taken multiple initiatives to cause least
damage to the Environment. These initiatives are Carbon reduction scheme , Wholesale
power forum, Fleet utilisation, Checking carbon footprints counts, i.e. the amount of
carbon released in the environment through the burning of fossil fuels used to transport a
unit article. These steps and initiatives are very effective towards protecting the
environment. The company has more than 2700 vehicles which means that every small
initiative per vehicle can have a large positive impact on nature, Fleet utilisation is the
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process of managing and utilising the capacity of any every transport vehicle in order to
make the most of the fuel used in that route and hence reducing the carbon footprints in
the process. Also the company ensures that any empty vehicle in terms of loaded goods
and articles travels least because that distance covered would be a waste of fuel. Through
these initiative Eddie Stobart gives a sense of responsibilities to its staff which in turn
results into an excellent organisation behaviours.
Informal Organisational in Eddie Stobart: The company in special criteria provides jobs
to armed forced leavers and veterans (Kashif, , Zarkada, and Ramayah, 2018) . This provides an
accumulation and gathering of people coming from different background which helps in keeping
the environment healthy. For instance when thinking about a logistics company the very first
image that appears is; boxes and cartons in a warehouse and the staff engaged in carrying them
around and this process continues all day long but the reality at Eddie Stobart is interestingly
different, the employee of the company gets an insight of the military services through its many
ex-military men around them. Also the company allows the employees who are in Reserves or
Cadet programmes to full fill their commitment towards their national deities by taking 2 weeks
of of paid leaves. This way the workforce of the company stay healthy minded by following their
passion and contributing to a perfect organisation behaviour.
Team management flexibility in Eddie Stobart: Eddie Stobart is very well known for its
flexible behaviour when it comes to performing the assigned task. For bringing yup the best
behaviour of the employees and ultimately of the organisation flexibility is one of the key
models. Eddie Stobart adapts quickly to satisfy the need of its employee i.e. whenever things do
not go according to the plan the company adjust according tot he situation giving its employee
the liberty they need in order to have a balanced work life culture. For example, when an
employees is not able to perform the take then the organisation as team will compensate it in the
behalf of the employee. Such a flexibility in an organisation is much appreciated by its
workforce thus setting a benchmark organisational behaviour.
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CONCLUSION
From the above report we come to a conclusion that Eddie Stobart has adopted several
models to better the organisational behaviour and the company make sure that it works
effectively for the performance and success of the company. The company analysed and applied
the concepts of complexity, hybridisation, flexibility and distribution of power in an
organisation. And fulfilling the main objective of all these model and concepts which is to create
an Organisation behaviours that leads the company towards glory. Out of all these models the
best suited and efficient model for the company has been its flexibility and the hybridisation
commitment the company has made. Due to the hybridisation, as discussed wish upon a star
initiative has really worked well in order to keep the work force motivated, enthusiastic,
dedicated on individual level and interactive vocal and committed at the organisational level.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
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AlManei, M., Salonitis, K. and Tsinopoulos, C., 2018. A conceptual lean implementation
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Coccia, M., 2018. An introduction to the theories of institutional change. Journal of Economics
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Karatepe, O.M., Ozturk, A. and Kim, T.T., 2019. Servant leadership, organisational trust, and
bank employee outcomes. The Service Industries Journal .39 (2). pp.86-108.
Kashif, M., Zarkada, A. and Ramayah, T., 2018. The impact of attitude, subjective norms, and
perceived behavioural control on managers’ intentions to behave ethically. Total
Quality Management & Business Excellence .29 (5-6). pp.481-501.
Kondalkar, V.G., 2020. Organizational behaviour. New Age.
Metcalfe, S. ed., 2018. Evolutionary theories of economic and technological change: present
status and future prospects (Vol. 44). Routledge.
Parker, D.W. And et. al. 2018. Agency theory perspective on public-private-partnerships:
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Seidel, A. and et. al. 2019. How can general leadership theories help to expand the knowledge of
lean leadership?. Production Planning & Control .30 (16). pp.1322-1336.
Tunley, M. and et. al. 2018. Preventing occupational corruption: utilising situational crime
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Waddell, D. and et. al. 2019. Organisational change: Development and transformation.
Cengage AU.
Waterson, P. ed., 2018. Patient safety culture: Theory, methods and application. CRC Press.
ONLINE
Kinsey. A., 2021. What Are Some Theories of Organizational Behavior?. [Online] Available
through: <https://bizfluent.com/info-7742116-theories-organizational-behavior.html>.
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