Influence of Culture, Power and Politics on Team and Individual Performance

This report discusses the influence of culture, power, and politics on team and individual performance in an organization. It also explores the concepts and philosophies of organizational behavior within the context of the organization.

Organisational Behaviour

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
LO1..................................................................................................................................................3
P1 Influence of culture, power and politics on team and individual performance......................3
LO2..................................................................................................................................................5
P2 Content and process theories of motivation and motivational techniques.............................5
LO3..................................................................................................................................................7
LO4................................................................................................................................................10
P3: Concepts and philosophies of organizational behaviour.....................................................10
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................12
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................13

INTRODUCTION
Organisational behaviour can be referred as the study of individuals and group
performance as well as their activities in an organisation. This is the area of the study which
examines the behaviour of humans within the working environment and also helps in
determining its impact on the job structure, communication, leadership, motivation etc. For every
organisation it is really important to study its organisational behaviour as it helps in providing
the understanding why and how employees behave as they are doing in a workplace. By studying
the behaviour of the organisation, it can help in studying the complex nature of the employees in
a workplace. In this report Sainsbury Plc is taken as an organisation, which is the 3rd largest
chain of supermarkets in UK. It is also one of the largest retailing companies of the world and
there are more than 1,415 shops in UK. Present report discusses about how Sainsbury,s
organisational culture, power and politics can have on the behaviour on the employee's
performance and team behaviour. This report also includes how a company can motivate teams
and individuals to achieve the goals also include the difference between effective and ineffective
team. Present report also includes various concepts and philosophies organisational behaviour
within the context of organisation.
LO1
P1 Influence of culture, power and politics on team and individual performance
In ever organisation, its culture, power and politics can play a significant on the
performance on the performance of team and individual performance. Organisational culture
and attributes are subjected to change and Sainsbury is the company which has gone under
significant changes in past few years. There are different types of cultures which existed in the
organisation which can be analysed with reference to relevant cultural as well as motivational
theories and models below:
Task culture is a type of a culture which denoted that organisational culture of the company is
typically based on the team as well as individual performance. This organisational culture is
influencing the team performance of the employees in the organisation as team can easily
collaborate with each other support each other which can help in achieving the goals and
objectives of the organisation (Alexandru, 2019). Also, in such culture teams are formed easily
and according to order to achieve the targets or objectives. This culture also help to solve
individual and team problems, which have a strong impact on individual and team performances.

This type of culture also allows employees of Sainsbury to get equal opportunities and make
equal contributions for accomplishing their tasks. On the other hand another organisational
culture which exited in Sainsbury is Role culture as it emphasises on the delegation of roles of
the employees in the workplace (Cookand Artino Jr, 2016). The roles delegated are typically
based over the educational qualification, specialisation, etc. This culture is influencing the team
and individual performances as employees get within this culture enjoy the opportunities of
deciding the best which they can do for the company according to the selection of their job roles
willingly. This also helps in improving the performance as employees willingly accept the job
and are ready to accept the challenges.
In past the model which was followed by Sainsbury before making a change in the
organisation was bureaucratic model of power which is similar to power culture. This type of
power did not prove fit for the organisation in order to carry out the business operations
smoothly. This power model though aimed to gain efficiency by framing strict rules and
regulation and codes of conduct for their employees but it did not proved to be successful for the
company. Within this power employees does not have enough opportunity and scope of
expressing their views as well as their issues. But on the other hand after the change the power
which was used within the organisation was the reward power. This power has influenced the
work performance of team and individuals within organisation. The reason behind this is that
when company provides rewards, promotions and are praised for their performance this has a
positive influence on the team and individual performances (Ercolano and Pascucci 2017). As
Sainsbury is a retail company entire company thrives on reward power as employees are given
sales targets at individual and team level once sales are achieved by providing rewards motivated
employees and further increased their performances in the future. Besides, employees of the
Sainsbury where highly engaged in the workplace which improved their performance to higher
levels. When the management of the organisation praises the team and employee performance
rather shaming bad performers does surely influences the performances of team and individuals.
On the other hand if employees and teams are struggling and striving for achieving their sales
target and succeeds in it. If they are appreciated or rewarded this may discourage them in a
negative manner which may have negative impact on their performances in the future. Power and
influence are closely related there are two ways of using power one in a positive way and
another is negative way both of these ways may have influence on the performance of the

employees but in opposite ways. It depends on the leaders of the organisation whether they use
the power to improve the performance of the employees or to decrease it (Irwin, 2019). While
using the power in the work place it really important for the leaders of the organisation to keep it
in mind that power’s bad reputation among the employees so, it is essential for the management
of Sainsbury to make positive use of it.
Corporate culture of Sainsbury can be directly and indirectly influenced by the external
political scenario and external power. Organisational politics plays an important role in
influencing the team and individual performance (Kim, 2017). The cultural norms as well as
cultural models which can be implemented in the organisation can be affected by the
organisational politics and country politics for example due to the impact of the Brexit,
Sainsbury have managed to cope up with the political situation due to which organisational
culture was then customised. If within the organisation there is bad politics it can create
difficulties for teams and employees in performing the job in an effective manner which may
even spoil the image of management. Organisational politics may lead to negative ambiences and
negative environment within the workplace that affects the performance in an organisation.
So, all three factors i.e. culture, politics and power can various impacts on the individual
and team performance it can also influence the decision making strategy of Sainsbury in the
long-run. It can also influence the interaction as well as collaboration of the employees in the
organisation and can also impact the profitability and productivity of the organisation.
There are two types of culture theories called; Hofstede and Handy in the organizational
behaviour.
Hofstede Model: This is also called Geert Hosfstede model which contribute to the
organisational culture. It is mainly influence the employees' behaviour in the organization.
Basically hofstede model includes five major factors; Power distance, Masculinity vs.Feminity,
Individualism, Uncertainty avoidance index, and Long term orientation. These all five factors are
really impacting the work culture in the company.
Handy Model: This model was developed by the Charles Handy in year 1999. It is included four
types of culture in the company.
Power culture: Power culture refers to the main authority of the company. It is also indicates the
work of the top-level management of the company. In which management of the company
need to use their power in productive way.

Task culture: Every employee and staff of the company need to follow their allotted task, and
need to put their efforts in their particular task to complete it on specific time.
Person culture: According to this, the management of the company need to a good and healthy
work culture for the employees to improve their workability and skills within the company.
Role culture: In the company's business environment each staff or employee has their own role
and responsibility at their workplace. In which all employees need to play their great role in
the company to achieve decided goals in limited time period.
Power: Power is a important skill of in the organization to influence other people. It is help to
the company to take productive and effective work from the employees of the company.
Types of power
This is included majorly three types of the power which are discusses below;
 Coercive power: It involves punishment or threats to influence people.
 Connection power: It depends on the user's efficiency to influence people.
 Reward power: It includes the power of give some value to the people in the company.
Politics: It is a behaviour which influence advantages and disadvantages distribution in the
company.
Types of politics
 Controlling information: It involving the controlling ability on the any information
within the company.
 Creating obligations: This is refers the workability of create obligations in the company
to gain decided advantages.
 Attacking and blaming: Attack and blame are also comes under the political behaviour
of the company which are attempting for the purpose of influence people within the
company.
LO2
P2 Content and process theories of motivation and motivational techniques
Motivation can be referred as the process of simulation of employees within the
organisation in order to achieve the goals and objectives of the organisation. Within the context
of company motivation is the process of influencing overall performance of the people within the
workplace by offering employees motivation in terms of increase in desires as well as need to
accomplish the given project. It can help in the successful implementation of the business

process with higher productivity. The study of motivation has been classified in to two major
theories such as process theories and content theories.
Content Theories: The focus of content theories lies within the factor that are present within a
person which has the ability to direct, sustain, energise etc. Such theories focus on the individual
needs of employees and these needs are considered to be the motivational factors of the
employees. For example there are various theoretical concepts which can be applied within the
organisation like Federick Herzberg, Abraham Maslow, David C McClelland etc.
According the content theories main focus is on the satisfying the needs of employees in
the organisation but it require the process of identifying the needs in a workplace. For example in
Sainsbury meaningful reward can often prove helpful in order to satisfy the needs of the
employees within the organisation (Landowski and et.al., 2019). This can help Sainsbury in
achieving the objectives as rewards can prove to be one of the best motivator factors for
achieving the organisational objective. The reason behind this is that if employees are rewarded
as per their performance they feel valued in the organisation and believe that organisation is
taking care of them. This increases their engagement within the workplace which can prove
effective for Sainsbury to achieve objectives. So, it is really important for the management to
offer appropriate rewards in order to optimise the performance of the employees in the
workplace.
Management assumptions (Theory Y and Theory X): With the help of these theories
managers of Sainsbury can assume the several needs of the employees and they can be explained
below:
Theory X: Here the managers which follow this theory simply adopt the dominant management
approach which is based on the following assumptions:
 It is the nature of human to avoid work load as it is their general tendency to avoid work
load,
 Most of the people in the organisation require to be controlled directly or indirectly like
threat or punishment in order to increase employee performance.
 There are also average employees in the organisation which requires directions and there
normally trend to prefer to avoid responsibilities.
Also, it has been analysed that real needs of the employees are often misinterpreted by
the management so in this context another theory was proposed such as

Theory Y: It is opposite of Theory X and is based on the assumptions such as:
 Working is natural or playing.
 People are prone to exercising self-control and self-direction in order to achieve the
objectives of the organisation.
 Learning of average employees depends on the proper conditions.
 Within the organisation ability of the employees is nor being explored completely.
So, it can be analysed with Theory X Sainsbury can only meet Maslow’s Deficiency
needs but with the help of Theory Y can help company to meet the developmental needs of
employees which can help in meeting the objectives of company.
Process Theories: These theory focuses on providing of the description as well as analysis of
the process which can be followed to sustained, energise, sustained, directed and stopped. Some
of the most important process theories which can help Sainsbury to achieve its objectives are as
follows:
Reinforcement and goal setting theories: Company can use this theory to energise the
behaviour of the employees in the organisation. Sainsbury can make use of positive
reinforcement in make employees to achieve the objectives of the organisation (Low, 2018).
Like providing positive response if employees shows positive behaviour which is effective way
for achieving objectives of the organisation.
Expectancy and equality theories: A model of expectancy focuses on the likeliness of outcome
of the performance. Also, according to this theory company can allow employees to decide
whether or not job can be accomplished.
With the help of these theories and motivational techniques Sainsbury can achieve its
objectives of the business in an effective way.
LO3
P3 Fundamentals of Effective team and Ineffective Team
There are various aspects of organisation that put an impact on the performance of the
organisation. Effective team and ineffective team are one of such factors.
Effective Team: Effective team can be denoted as the team that generate returns effectively with
the operations. Effective team carry the various factors that make them effective. Such factors
include:

Team Bonding: The biggest aspect that work behind the efficiency of the team is the strong
bonding between the members of the team. Team bonding denotes the relationship of the people
in the team. Team bonding is always a key factor that work behind the success of the team.
Sainsbury has a wide range of staff that consist with numerous number of teams. The basic
reason behind all the efficient teams is the bonding between the members of the team.
Role Identity: In the effective team the factor works most efficiently is the clarification of the
role of each member in the team. Each member carry the decided role in the team which assigned
to them at the time of the formation of the team that helps in mastering the assigned role because
of the repetition and the focus towards the task (Otte, Konradt and Oldeweme, 2018). In the
Sainsbury all the operation processes are distributed in various teams and each member in the
team has the defined role that improves the work efficiency not just as a whole team but
individually also.
Group Thinking: Effective team always carry the mutual thinking process. All the members of
the group discuss the task of the team and make a strategy together to achieve all the targets of
the team.
Communication: In the effective team communication play the huge role in the performance of
the team. Every team member of Sainsbury interact with each other and make a positive working
environment for the whole team that results into productive outputs of the whole team.
Ineffective Team: Ineffective team denoted as the inefficient team. Factors contribute for the
team are:
Divided Team Members: One of the major reason behind the inefficiency of the team is the
divided unity between the members of the team (Shirey and White-Williams, 2018). Divided
members in the team spoil the whole motto behind the team building. Divided members in the
team effect the overall productivity of the team and turns out to be as ineffective team.
Lack of Trust: Lack of trust amongst the members in the team becomes one of the major reason
for the inefficiency of the whole team. All the teams in the operation processes of the sainsbury
are divided in the teams and lack of trust becomes the major reason behind all the ineffective
teams.
Vision: Vision must be clear in the team members to achieve the targets for the team. Many
times the vision remains unclear because of certain reasons and that becomes the reason behind
the inefficiency of the team. Sainsbury keep the vision clear between all the team members in the

operations but sometimes lack of awareness of the individual member in the team or sometimes
for the whole team become the reason for the inefficiency of the team.
Teams Theory
Group development theories specifies the process to build an efficient and effective team
that can conduct its operations efficiently. This theory involve the process to frame a group. Such
process involves:
Forming: Forming is the initial stage in group development. In the process of forming all the
members of the team meet each other and discuss about all the goals and targets of the team. All
the challenges that possibly can be a part of the group or team activities are also discussed in the
process of forming. In this process all the team members assigned their role in the team and starts
initiate the assigned role (Tang, 2019). Sainsbury is a big brand so as the challenges for the
operation teams are bigger. Forming is a crucial process because all the members of the team get
aware about all the possible challenge they might face in the processes of the operation. Mature
team members can work effectively from the stage of forming as well because of the experience.
Storming: Storming is the second stage in the team development. All the employees of
Sainsbury which individually a part of the team start to gain each other’s trust in the team (The
Five Stages of Team Development, 2019.). Storming also cause to some conflicts between the
team members because all the members start to express the view point that might be
contradictory also but strong and positive behaviour can make the team efficient. In this process
all members experience the working styles of other members that bring new techniques in the
working style of the other members in the team.
Norming: At this stage all the team members start taking responsibilities for the overall success
of the team (Wiese and Burke, 2019). All the issues get resolve between the team members
because of the bonding in the team. Sainsbury has a wide range of staff with plenty of qualities
that will help in achieving all the goals timely. At this stage of team bonding all the team
members individually start taking initiates of all the individual goals and at the same time overall
goal of the team as well.
Performing: This is the final stage of team bonding. Performing itself indicates the performance
of the team overall and even at individual level. Based on the set rules and regulations of the
team all the team members start performing to achieve individual target of the whole team based
on the Sainsbury operations (Woodcock, 2017). At this stage of team bonding all the Sainsbury

staff start dealing with all the challenges and hustle that can be a part of the operations of the
company. Performing is a crucial stage of team bonding because it also leads to decision-making
abilities of the team members. Performing involves decision-making process at multiple level of
the task that also brings out the leaders in the teams.
LO4
P3: Concepts and philosophies of organizational behaviour
Generally the organizational behaviour is based on some logical and fundamental
concepts. These concepts help to the organization to evaluate the flow of the business operations.
In case of the Sainsbury's the study of organizational behaviour is very necessary to handle such
factors which influence the business environment of the company in both term; positively or
negatively (Subba and Rao, 2017). There are discusses the concepts and philosophies of the
organizational behaviour in the Sainsbury's organizational structure below;
Individual differences: The Sainsbury's has a large business structure in the United
Kingdom. For cover all business activities of the company there are many employees are
working. These all employees are comes from the different background, and has different
mentality. In this situation many times company may face crisis within employees by
individual difference. In that case company need to make positive work environment
within the organization to build healthy relationship within the employees. This step also
help to the company to improve productivity of the employees in the business operations.
Perception: Perception refers the personal thinking and mindset of the employees within the
Sainsbury's. It means there are various types of the employees in the company, and
company has no control on the employee's personal life. In this case the personal issues
of the employees are also influencing the productivity of the company. For Example; any
employee has negative experiences regarding their family in their personal life. In this
situation this will impact the workability of that employee at workplace (Basu, 2016). It
is also not good for the company. So to deal with this situation the management of the
company need to interact with employee, and try to solve this situation on self basis to
maintain the productivity of the employee at workplace.

Motivation: All staff or employees has their own motivations and inspirations at their
respective work. The personal motivation is really impacting the work quality of the
employee. Motivation if based on the positive term always helpful for the company.
Other side the negative motivation of the employee is not good for the performance of the
company. Suppose any employee always want to learn some new things at their
workplace. It is their own motivation, in this situation it is a profitable asset for the
company, but any employee has no motivation to learn some new things and always
make bad image of the company in their mind. In this situation this is really not good for
the company. To positively motivate employees in the organization, the management of
the Sainsbury's need to arrange some seminars related to the motivation within business
environment to develop the mindset of the employees and also improve their productivity
in the business operations.
Desire: Every people have some personal desire to gain something in their life. In the
Sainsbury's too employees have their personal desire to achieve selected things. This
factor is also influencing the business environment of the company. Suppose an
employee in the company have desire to buy a luxury car in their life. So, this desire will
always get motivated them to work hard to complete that desire. This is also good for the
company, because that employee work hard and try to put their all efforts in the company
work (Goh, Ritchie and Wang, 2017). At the final result is company performance will
also improve automatically. The personal desire truly impact the organizational
environment of the company in both term; positively and negatively.
Value of the person: value of person refers to appreciation, promotion, rewards in the
business term. In the Sainsbury's there are many employees are working with different
work efficiency. In this case employee which put more efforts in the company to achieve
business goals in specific time period than the other employees. At the result that
employee want some appreciation from the upper level management of the company for
their high input in the company. Now this is responsibility of the management of the
company to give appreciation or promotion to that employee. This is necessary for the
management, because this promotion and appreciation will make more motivate them to
work hard in the company. In this same situation the other employees are also become
motivate to put more efforts in the business operations. Upper level management always

need tom understand the value of employees in the company, because without them
company can't able to achieve their decided goals in the market.
Human Dignity: Human dignity is also major part of the organizational behaviour. In which
employees want to hold dignity in the business environment. All has their personal values
and emotions. Employees are thinks upper level management the company understand
and interact them. Suppose in the Sainsbury's the upper top-level management is try to
well communicate with their employees. Then employees feel dignity in their work. They
will understand the management thinks and care for them. Employees really get
comfortable with their work when management of the company improve better
communication values within business environment. They always get inspired to learn
new things at work place and, their skills, talent and workability develop as well.
Employee’s dignity is very helpful in the improvement of the business performance.
Organizations are social system: The company is also a social system where different type
of the people work for the same goal. In which company need to fulfil the social
responsibility also in the business operations. For example; any employee's health is not
good for last few days and still unenergetic at their workplace. In this situation company
need to give them some medical support to recover their health. Company also need to
allot leave to them for rest for some day till get well. It is necessary to gain complete trust
from the all human resource of the business environment. In the response employees are
also trying to do their best to cover all business activities. Company need to make social
system in the company to maintain healthy environment in the company.
CONCLUSION
This report concluded that how an organisation culture, politics and power influence all
the individuals in the organisation and also how it influence the behaviour of the team and the
performance of the team. This report also concluded about the effect of content and process
theories in the achievement of the goals in the context of the whole organisation. All the reasons
behind the effectiveness and ineffectiveness of the teams have also concluded in this report. This
report also concludes about the crucial team and group development theory that support in
achieving goals of the organisation as a whole. All the concepts and philosophies related to the
organisational behaviour in the context of the whole organisation have also concluded in the
report. All the influence of organisational behaviour is concluded briefly in this report that

involves the achievement of the targets individually as a team and in the context of the whole
organisation also.

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