Organisational Behaviour M&S

ORGANISATIONAL
BEHAVIOUR

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
P1 Evaluate the manner in which culture, power and politics of a company influences team
behaviour and performance....................................................................................................1
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................4
P2 Evaluation of process and content theory of motivation and motivational techniques to
attain organisational goals......................................................................................................4
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................6
P3 Describe what makes a team effective in opposition to an ineffective team ...................6
TASK 4............................................................................................................................................8
P4 Apply philosophies and concepts of organisational behaviour in context with company or
given business situation..........................................................................................................8
CONCLUSION .............................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION
Organisational behaviour is referred to the study of employee behaviour in different
situations that takes place at workplace. Main aim behind study of organisational behaviour is to
identify the relationship between employers and employees of a company. Success and growth of
a company depends upon the behaviour of employees and employers of an organisation
(Dedahanov, Rhee and Yoon, 2017). This assignment is prepared in accordance with M&S
which is a Britain based multinational retailer, dealing in clothing, food items and home
products. This organisation is headquartered in Westminster, London and offer their products in
global context. This report will discuss about the influence of power, politics and culture on the
working of teams in an organisation. Also, different theories of motivation will be discussed to
identify motivational techniques to encourage workforce. Also, aspects linked with effective and
ineffective teams are mentioned. At last, philosophies and concepts associated with
organisational behaviour of concerned firm will be discussed
TASK 1
P1 Evaluate the manner in which culture, power and politics of a company influences team
behaviour and performance
Organisational culture
Organisational culture is stated as those behaviours and values which contribute in the
appropriate working environment of a company. This involves experiences, expectations, values
and philosophy of a company due to which satisfaction level of employees working there
remains positive (Rashid, Gul and Khalid, 2018). To achieve expected outcomes in limited time,
it is essential for M&S to have an appropriate organisational culture. To analyse organisational
culture of company, Handy's typology is mentioned beneath:
Handy's typology
This is one of the best model which benefits in analysing the culture of a workplace in a
detailed manner. This model has four elements which defines different aspects of organisational
culture. In context with M&S, these elements are mentioned below:
 Power culture: In accordance with Handy's typology, organisations which have power
culture is managed by few people and their influence spreads in entire organisation. Here,
all the decisions are taken by those people which have authority to access powers. In case
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of M&S, this culture can reduce the productivity of employees as an individual and team
as they were forced to do work by following the rules of seniors without their wish. But
in case of quick decision making, this culture is useful and advantageous.
 Role culture: In this culture, work is allotted to employees in accordance with their roles
and expertise. Due to this, each employee is able to work by delivering their best
performance. In relation with M&S, this culture will allow the employee to work as per
their specialisation due to which they will work in a satisfactory manner. This culture will
increase the working potential of employees both as a team and individual as each worker
have knowledge about their responsibilities and roles within firm.
 Task culture: In this culture, different teams are formed to address issues and problems
so that organisational work can be performed with full productivity. This culture believes
in shifting of power in accordance with the situation (Conard and others, 2016). In
respect with M&S, this culture will reduce the working capability of employees as an
individual as task accomplishment by a single employee is difficult. In case of teams,
this culture will be helpful and influence performance of M&S in positive manner.
 Person culture: In this working culture, each employee considers itself as a single entity
and superior to the business firm where they are working. Under this culture,
organisations only exist so that people can come and accomplish their work at a single
place. In relation to M&S, this culture will allow the workers to work as an individual
unit due to which they will be able to give their best performance. In case of team
behaviour, this culture is not suitable as workers will work to satisfy their personal goal
rather than organisational goals. As a team, working under this culture will reduce the
productivity of M&S.
In context with M&S, manager of company can adopt role culture in which each worker
will have specified role and responsibility. This culture will benefits the company in performing
every task with high profitability and systematically so that high revenues can be earned.
Organisational power and politics
Organisational power in referred to the power which is exerted by the manager of
company on its workforce so that high output from business activities can be gained. In context
with M&S, French & Raven's model of power is describes below:
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French & Raven's model of power: There are five elements in this model which helps in
understanding different kinds of power present at workplace. These elements are mentioned
below:
 Coercive power: This is derived from the individual's ability to influence others and
helps to control the employees behaviour by ensuring that they comply to the Marks &
Spencer's norms and policies.
 Reward power: It considered from the person's ability to influence the incentive
allocation in Marks & Spencer's. Incentives includes salary, promotion and positive
appraisals. If reward power used in well defined manner or without biasses greatly
motivates employees.
 Legitimate power: It defines as a positional power and derived from the person's
positions which holds in Marks & Spencer's hierarchical structure. Legitimate power is
held by the CEO of M&S.
 Referent power: This power is related to the interpersonal relationships that a person
cultivates with others in Marks & Spencer's. It is derived from the personal connections
that a person has with the key people of company's hierarchy like CEO, MD etc. and this
power is arises from charisma to influence others through respect and trust (Khan, Khan
and Gul, 2019).
 Expert power: This consists of the principle of Knowledge is power which is derived
from possessing experienced or expertise in a specific field. This power is generally held
by the senior manager to influence the employees actions through opinion, ideas as well
as decisions.
 Informational power: This power derived from the having informations which are
unique or others does not have and it is used for effecting the changes. This power
influence the strategies, tasks and processes of Marks & Spencer's for analysing and
improving them.
Impact of power, culture and policies on individual and team behaviour and performance:
Individual behaviour and performance Team behaviour and performance
When manager of Marks & Spencer not assign
the task in an appropriate manner and allotted
work without ascertaining skills and abilities
When power is more exercised on individuals
or team member by the manager of M&S will
influence the behaviour and reduce their
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of workforce impacts negatively on the
employees behaviour and performance because
they are not able to complete those tasks on
time and incapable to use skills effectively.
performances. If individual performance is
reduced then overall team is affected and
results in poor performance and dissatisfaction.
TASK 2
P2 Evaluation of process and content theory of motivation and motivational techniques to attain
organisational goals
Motivation: Motivation is the process of influencing the behaviour and mindset of other
people in such a manner that they can be convinced to perform those activities and functions that
are required to accomplish the objectives ans goals of the motivator. Motivation can be divided
into two sections which are as under:
Intrinsic Motivation: This is the type of motivation that comes from inside the person
itself and no one have to force or make extra efforts to motivate the individual to perform a job
or task. An individual get motivated to perform the task to satisfy or entertain him/herself.
Extrinsic Motivation: Extrinsic motivation is one that comes from the external people or
factors. The person do not get motivated itself but the other factors such as other's expectations,
demands, perceptions or obligations drive the individual to perform that task. These external
elements may be money, power, success, pressure of superiors, etc. (Mueller, Renken and van
Den Heuvel, 2016).
Motivational Theories: Various philosophers and theorists are presenting their theories
from the decades to explain the behaviour of an individual and evaluate those factors that can
motivate the one to perform any activity. Some of the content and process theories given by
various theorists are presented below:
Maslow's Hierarchy Theory: This theory is one of the most earliest content theory that
was given by American philosopher Abraham Maslow between 1940s and 1950s in which
Maslow has divided the needs of an individual into five levels that motivate the one to work.
These levels or needs are as under:
Basic or Physiological needs: Basic needs are those requirements of a person that are
essential for human being to survive in the world such as good food, fresh air, clean water,
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residence, cloths, etc. These are the lowest level requirements which motivate employees to work
so that they can earn to attains such things.
Safety and security Needs: When a person achieve the first level needs, the individual
wants to save them and seek for security for oneself and family. The person wants to be
financially secure and worried about the health and well-being, security from accidents or other
events (Chan and Lai, 2017). Organizations can provide security and safety to its employees by
providing them, health insurance and medical benefits for their families and follow safety rules
at the workplace.
Social Needs: After achieving the first two level needs, a person needs to belong
someone. The person want to be emotionally satisfied and seek for love, affection, acceptance
and mental peace. These needs make the individual eager for enhancing networks and relations.
Companies can motivate the employees by satisfying these emotional needs and provide them
opportunities to explore social events.
Esteem Needs: At this level of hierarchy theory, Maslow explained that person now
seeks for self-esteem and self-respect. Employees at this level needs to be motivated by intrinsic
motivators because extrinsic motivation is no more effective at this stage. Employees work for
those things that can provide them respect and boost their self-esteem. Organizations can
motivate them by recognitions and appraisals.
Self-Actualization Needs: At this last stage of motivation, an employee wants to achieve
the optimum potential and things that can be achieved by a human-being. Employees want to
achieve top most personal growth and development. Selected organization provides training and
development sessions on a time to time basis that help them to fulfil this need.
Vroom's Expectancy Theory: This process theory was given by Victor Vroom in 1964.
according to the Vroom's expectancy theory, a person perform any activity when the one feel that
he/she has acquired required skills and competencies related to the work, the individual work
will be recognized and will provide expected outcomes for the person (Wang and Sung, 2016).
There are three elements of this theory which are:
Expectancy: Each employee have some expectations from any job or task and have
different confidence level from oneself to perform the job. If the employees does not have
expected performance level and confidence, the quality of the work will be affected. The
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organization can classified the authorities and responsibilities according to the skill level of the
employees.
Instrumentality: A person get motivated when the one feels attached and connected with
the work he/she is performing so do the employees. When employees consider themselves as cog
of the organizational machine, they work with more efficiency and performance level increased.
Establishments can motivate employees by involving them in decision making processes.
Valency: Every individual have assorted expectations and the meaning of reward is
different for everyone. For instance, an employee expect bonus as the reward for his/her
performance while the other one require working hours flexibility. Companies can motivate
employees by identifying their expectations from the rewards and provide them accordingly.
The leaders of M&S consider Vroom's theory more effective and apply it to motivate its
employees and providing rewards transparently.
TASK 3
P3 Describe what makes a team effective in opposition to an ineffective team
Team refers to group of people mainly works together in order to attain organisational
goals and objective in an effective manner & within given time frame. It is essential for every
organisation to develop effective teams in order to perform all the functions positively and
produce effective outcome. It has been identified that there are two types of teams effective &
ineffective teams (Halbesleben and Wheeler, 2015). In context of present organisation which is
Marks & Spencer, main objective of the managers is to reduce the inefficiency of employees by
providing them training & development.
Effective team provide various benefits to the company in order to acquire and attain all
the task of an organisation in an effective & organised manner. All these teams are the one which
provide success and benefit to the company and aid them to attain their performance in an
effective manner. In the present context of Marks & Spencer, effective teams are the one who
provide assistance to the organisation in order to attain their pre defined goals.
Characteristics of effective team: There are various characteristics of an effective team
which are as follows:
 These are the teams which includes ample number of individuals having various skills
and knowledge and assist in attaining organisational goals and objectives.
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 In addition to this, members of effective team have clear goals and purpose which help
them in performing their task in a positive manner.
On the other hand, Ineffective team are the one who have various issues & conflicts
within their group which affect their overall profitability at the company. All these factors affects
the whole performance as well as functionality of the business organisation (Mackey and others,
2018. In the context of Marks & Spencer, there are some teams which does not perform their
work in an effective manner. In addition to this, it is the team which do not leads to attain
organisational goals and objectives.
Characteristics of ineffective team:Some of the main characteristics of an ineffective
team are as follows:
 In this type of team, not everyone is attached with other employees which negatively
affect their business functions.
 All the members have lower skills and knowledge which reduces the effectiveness of
employees.
Tuckman Theory: It is define as a theory which was developed in the year 1965 by
Bruce Tuckman. It is also known as team development theory which includes five main stages.
All these stages are going to be discussed in detail as follows: Forming: It is the first stage where team members of the company are polite with each
other. In this stage, employees come together and face various kinds of issues such as
uncertainty as well as anxiety (Skinner and Stewart, 2017). In the context of Marks &
Spencer, this is the level where each and every team members feel motivated and behave
effectively which enhances their performance. In this type, role of a team manager is to
create positive environment and motivate employees so that they can perform their task
effectively. Storming: In the second stage of Tuckman theory employees gain each other trust by
discussing various things with every staff members related with their work. In the
present context of Marks & Spencer, there are various employees within the organisation
which communicate each other in an effective manner. This as a result raise conflicts and
problems within the organisation. Norming: It is the stage where team members start resolving their issues and difference
with each other and develop a coordination between them. In the present context of
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Marks & Spencer, employees socialise them in order to understand each other so that
they can perform their task with more effective and efficient manner. In this stage, major
role of a team manager is to work in a systematic and positive way which leads towards
the attainment of goals of objective. Performing: It is the fourth stage of this theory where thoughts and ideas of every
members start matching with each other, it will assist in performing the pre define task in
an effective manner (Szabó and others, 2018). In the present context of Marks &
Spencer, it is the stage where opinions, thoughts and perceptions of every team members
start matching with other employees. This will leads towards the enhancement of
efficiency of staff members.
 Adjourning: This is the last stage of a team development theory where goals and
objectives of the company achieved in an effective manner and produce positive
outcome. Each and every team member of Marks & Spencer, celebrate their victory at
this stage. Apart from this, it is considered as the break up stage of a team. This is
because the pre define goals and objectives of the company attained by every members
in an effective and positive manner.
TASK 4
P4 Apply philosophies and concepts of organisational behaviour in context with company or
given business situation
Every leader has different leadership style and have his/her own ways to lead the
followers. Managers are also assorted with their motivational skills and use different ways to
motivate their employees. Some of the leadership styles and theories are presented below to
understand organizational behaviour and identify instrumental factors in effective team building:
Path-goals Theory of Leadership: This theory inspire the leaders to communicate the
goals and objectives among the team along with the path or process that will be taken to achieve
those goals. There are four types of behaviour can developed by leaders to motivate the team
which are:
 Directive Leader behaviour: The leaders inform their followers about the expectations
from them, such as informing them how to perform a work, what to do and coordinating
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and scheduling work. This behaviour is most effective to motivate the team when there is
a lot of precariousness within the surroundings or the team is unsure about the task.
 Achievement Leader behaviour: With this leadership behaviour leaders set challenging
scores for the followers, anticipate them to execute at their advanced level and shows
confidence in their capability to meet the expectation. This behaviour is most impressive
in achievement environments such as sales or professional workplace environments like
scientific and technical.
 Participative Leaders Behaviour: The leaders confer with their followers before planning
strategies or making any decision on how to proceed. It is most effective when
subordinates are highly trained and involved in their work (Yadav and Rangnekar, 2015).
 Supportive Leader Behaviour: The leader makes work pleasant for the workers by
showing concern for them and by being friendly and approachable. It is most effective in
situations in which tasks and relationships are physically or psychologically challenging.
Contingency Theory: Contingency theory suggests that leaders should change or adapt
different leadership style to handle different situations. This theory is made of two factors which
are:
 Leaders-Member relations: The level of confidence and trust that the team has in its
leader represents the relation between them.. A leader who is more trusted and has more
influence within the group is in a more favourable situation than a leader who is not
trusted.
 Task Structure: This refers to the type of task that the team is performing that it is vague
and unstructured or clear and structured. Unstructured tasks, or tasks where the team and
leader have little knowledge of how to achieve them, are viewed unfavourably (Harvey,
Bolino and Kelemen, 2018).
Social Capital Theory: This theory suggests a leader to be connected and friendly with
workers employing within the establishment in order to eliminate the fear and open discussions
about the problems and new ideas that can actually assist the company to attain high position in
the market and provide the growth in company's performance. Basically, it is promoting trust
amongst employees and their leaders through better communication and open-mindedness of
both managers or higher level of the organisation and workforce (Khalid and Ahmed, 2016).
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The leaders or managers of M&S can opt out any style of leadership to build healthy
relations with their teams and provide motivation to them. Path-goal theory is the optimum style
for the selected organization as it help the managers to communicate adequate manner and
process among the teams which increase their confidence level and efficiency. By involving
teams and employees in decision making, consecutive and creative ideas can be derived which
make the achievement of goals easy and approachable.
Positive and negative impact: The management of M&S utilise path-goal theory to
motivate its employees which provide the guidelines and way to perform their tasks that make
their work easy and achievable. It also helps in distributions of authorities and responsibilities.
On the other hand, when the objectives and targets are too high to be attained, the employees feel
stressed and pressure of completing the task on time along with the quality also give them burden
and affect the performance negatively.
CONCLUSION
After analysing the above discussion, it can be concluded that analysis and understanding
of the employees working within the organization is significant in order to identify the
requirements and desires of the employees so that they can be motivated to achieve
organizational objectives by accomplishing those requirements. Theories given by various
philosophers can help the administration of the respective organization in determining the needs
of the employees. An effective team management can help the management to achieve
organizational goals in an effective manner rather than individual management hence it is
necessary for the management to build up an effective team or workers with the help of various
theories and strategies which can help the organization to be efficient and attain organizational
aims on time as well.
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