Organisational Behaviour: Impact of Culture, Politics and Power on Workers

ORGANISATIONAL
BEHAVIOUR

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
LO 1.................................................................................................................................................1
Impact of organisation's culture, politics and power on workers...........................................1
LO 2.................................................................................................................................................4
Motivate individuals and teams to achieve goals...................................................................4
LO 3.................................................................................................................................................7
Cooperation with others in an organisation............................................................................7
LO 4...............................................................................................................................................10
Concepts and philosophies of organisational behaviour......................................................10
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................12
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................13

INTRODUCTION
Organisational behaviour is the study of behaviour of individuals working in an
organisation so that their performance and activity in the organisation can be analysed. It is done
to determine the impact of job structures, communication, motivation, leadership etc. on the
behaviour of individuals so that they can be motivated to work more efficiently in achieving
organisational goals and objectives (Arnold and et. al., 2015). This study helps in formulating
such theories and culture in the organisation that can motivate the behaviour of individuals so
that their problems can be solved, conflicts can be reduced, employee engagement can be
encouraged and overall satisfaction of employees can be achieved which increases their
productivity. Tesco plc which is an international company headquartered in UK is taken to
understand various aspects of organisational behaviour. The company basically deals in retail
business of groceries and general merchandise and is the ninth largest retailer in the world. The
impact of organisation's culture, politics and power on the behaviour of individuals will be
discussed in detail along with the theories and techniques of motivation that can be applied so as
to encourage the workers at workplace.
LO 1
Impact of organisation's culture, politics and power on workers
Influence of culture Human resources of an organisation plays an important role in the
growth and sustainability of a business in the competitive marketplace and their performance are
greatly influenced by the organisational culture, politics and power. The management and
leadership that controls, monitor and regulate them so that they can work towards achieving
organisational goals and objectives. The influence of these factors on individuals are discussed
below:
Classification of culture : Organisational culture are the shared values, beliefs, visions,
norms, systems etc. which determine the inner workings, interactions with the outside world and
the behaviour of all members of organisation. Handy's cultural typology model to understand
work culture :
 Power culture : Power is concentrated in hands of single person usually the owner of
organisation like in small start-ups. This culture is restrictive and creates tension among
employees (Brown and Capozza, 2016).
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 Role culture : Power is determined by the roles and responsibilities of person and is
highly controlled.
 Task culture : This culture is formed when a task or a project needs to be completed and
power shifts among members depending on the status of the project.
 Person culture : This culture is found in organisations where professionals work in their
individual capacity and they have expertise in their fields like in law firms.
Task culture can be followed in Tesco so that complex problems and projects can be timely and
easily solved by the employees which will increase their productivity and organisation's
profitability will also increase.
Importance of cultural-difference awareness : Tesco plc is a multinational company
employing people from various cultures. The differences in cultures lead to differences in their
values, beliefs, visions and expectations and so the differences has to be considered by
management before forming company policies and rules. This is important so that positive
interactions in a cross-cultural organisation can be established and the employees can be directed
to achieve common goals. It also helps in reducing conflicts and increasing employee satisfaction
so that competitive advantage can be achieved as human resources plays an important role in the
success of an organisation (Dweck and Bempechat, 2017).
Hofstede's dimensions of culture theory and its application : This theory was developed
by Geert Hofstede. It is a framework that is used to understand cross-cultural communication so
that the influence of culture on organisational behaviour of individuals can be studied. The six
dimensions of this theory are as follows :
 Power distance : This considers the extent to which inequality and power are tolerated
and is generally determined from the viewpoint of less powerful people.
 Individualism vs. Collectivism : It considers the degree to which societies are integrated
into groups and their interdependence. Individualism emphasises on achieving personal
goals while collectivism on group goals (Eldor, 2017).
 Uncertainty avoidance index : It considers the extent to which uncertainty and
avoidance are tolerated.
 Masculinity vs. Femininity : It considers the preference of society for sexual equality,
behaviour etc.
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