Organisational Theory and Practice

This report explores various aspects of organisational theory and practice at British American Tobacco. It examines the management style and principles used by the CEO, the steps taken to achieve high performance through organisational structure, the impact of organisational culture on employees, the leadership style of the CEO, and the effects of power, influence, and conflict. It also discusses the various types of motivation used at British American Tobacco.

Organisational Theory
and Practice

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
A. Examine the management style and state the principle and functions of management used
by the CEO of BRITISH AMERICAN TOBACCO?.................................................................3
B. Analyse the steps taken with regard to organisation structure in order to achieve high
performance and state the organisation culture at BRITISH AMERICAN TOBACCO and its
impact on the employees.............................................................................................................4
C. Describe the leadership style of the CEO of BRITISH AMERICAN TOBACCO to
enhance the organisational effectiveness....................................................................................6
D. Analyse the effects of power, influence and conflict on BRITISH AMERICAN
TOBACCO..................................................................................................................................7
E. Discuss the various types of motivation used at BRITISH AMERICAN TOBACCO..........8
F. Use appropriate corporate examples and literature to justify your stand..............................10
G. Based on the discussion and debate what suggestions / recommendations (strategies) would
you make to increase BRITISH AMERICAN TOBACCO performance?..............................10
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................13

INTRODUCTION
Organisational is defined as a social group that is properly structured and managed by
respective individuals at higher levels for meeting the need and collective goals. Organisational
theory on the other hand is a concept that consist of several theories, approaches and methods or
styles which are used and implemented for making appropriate organisational analysis and
manage it smoothly (Johnston and Sheehan, 2020). Thus, organisational practices and theories
refers to different styles, methods and phenomena's used in order to attain common goals and
fulfil the requirements of company. These practices are adopted by management, leaders and
directors of company to keep people engaged, motivated and perform productively. The report is
constructed upon British American Tobacco a multinational company dealing in Tobacco
industry manufacturing and selling cigarettes, tobacco and nicotine products. British American
Tobacco was founded in 1902 which is headquartered in London, United Kingdom. The
company became the largest cigarette producer in the world in 2019 by its net sales.
The report consists of several organisational concepts beginning with determining the
functions and principles of management. Organisational structure and culture are determined
along with their impacts upon company's and employee’s performances. Moving along,
leadership styles used by the CEO of the organisation are evaluated and their motivational
strategies are analysed. At last recommendations are provided to the management and leaders of
company after making in depth and through evaluation of the organisational practices used in
order to run the functions smoothly.
MAIN BODY
A. Examine the management style and state the principle and functions of management used by
the CEO of BRITISH AMERICAN TOBACCO?
Management is a process or a mechanism that is used of managing, controlling and
administrating different tasks and actions in the organisation. Management involves several
functions that begins with Planning, Controlling, Directing, Allocating and organising which
assist in attaining aims in the respective given time period (Maylor and Turner, 2017).
Management is a broad term which involves principles, functions, features and styles.
Management styles are defined as the ways in which managers of the firm runs the operations
and manage the workforce.

Management is a combined procedure that makes managers and leaders both liable for
effective implementation of several management styles and approaches according to the plans
and in accordance to the operations of a firm. There are various management styles that are
available to the manager and used by them such as Democratic, Autocratic and Laissez faire
which are further divided into sub-sections. These three management styles are further divided
into parts which are more specific and used by managers in order to succeed their respective
department.
The management style which is adopted by The CEO of British American Tobacco is
Democratic Management style (Lindon and Trodd, 2016). This is a management approach in
which managers and in case of British American Tobacco encourages the employees, leaders and
even operational staff to render their inputs in decision making processes. That means everyone
gains the opportunity to contribute by their creative ideas and suggestions in the ultimate
decisions of company. The management principle which is used by the CEO of British American
Tobacco is of Initiative that is related with encouraging members to make their efforts in
operations and engage them more. The function of management which is performed is
Monitoring and Controlling as decisions are made by the CEO. The end power of making the
final call or the decision lies in the hands of the board and management of British American
Tobacco.
This is a productive approach of management as it allows firm to gain wider perspectives
that is fresh and innovative. Moreover, staff is kept motivated as they are engaged in the
operations and develops positive attitude towards the success and growth their organisation. The
flow of communication is of two way enabling all the members of the company a potential
chance to speak which increases team cohesiveness and encourages team work. Diverse skills,
ideas and opinions are shared for developing better and informed decision with utmost
effectiveness and productivity.
The CEO of British American Tobacco is serving the company form long time and the
management style adopted is focused over the growth and success of the firm. Democratic
management style renders new, trendy and creative perspectives which enable the in higher
standards of effective decision making in all situations and more specifically in emergency
bringing sustainable growth to British American Tobacco (BAT) (Schwarz and Baker, 2016).

B. Analyse the steps taken with regard to organisation structure in order to achieve high
performance and state the organisation culture at BRITISH AMERICAN TOBACCO and
its impact on the employees.
Organisational Structure is basically a system which outlines the hierarchy in which
activities, power and authority is delegated certain organisation for obtaining goals and
objectives of the firm. The communication flow is also determined and outlined through the
hierarchical structure of the entity and this reflects upon the speed and direction of information
flow between all the levels that are existing in the organisation. The organisational structures are
mainly of three types that are Functional, Divisional and Matrix.
British American Tobacco is a huge and popular brand which was established in around
1902 and since then company is being operated through Functional Style of Structure with
regular and appropriate changes and alteration taking place in accordance with the market and
trends (Hayes, 2018). The functional structure is the oldest structure in which organisations
divides on the basis of different departments existing in the company such as financial,
marketing, legal, sales, production, human resource etc.
Few steps taken in regards to organisational structure and for making it successful are as
follows:
 Directed the company to change oriented approach, that is in functional structure changes
takes place with time, in hierarchy, position, power and authorities. Therefore,
management developed and kept change oriented approach in the environment for ease
and better control.
 The individuals are given all the possible and available opportunities to learn and develop
further which is beneficial for their personal and professional development.
 Power is delegated equally in hand of respective individuals holding the authority to gain
power and work with it potentially.
These are some steps which are undertaken by management and leaders of British
American Tobacco for making the organisational structure appropriate for the firm and for the
overall performance. The only issue faced is of lower communication and inflexible
communication flow and channels used.

Illustration 1: British American Tobacco, 2020
§
(Source: British American Tobacco, 2020)
Organisational Culture encompasses the values, expectations, beliefs, attitudes,
attributes, practices and behaviours which contributes to the unique and diverse social
environment which develops in the workplace of a respective organisation. All companies are
different and their cultures are too, separate them guides and direct all employees new or old in
the right path while working and make them aware about the best practices to follow to achieve
objectives and end targets of the firm.
There are several types of organisational cultures as well which flourish in the market and
which are adopted by managers and leaders of organisations. These different cultures are Role
culture, Power culture, Task culture and Reward Culture. One culture which is used in
British American Tobacco is Role culture that is based on rules and responsibilities and highly

controlled environment is created holding authority to control via their role and position in the
entity. Role culture is specifically established for those organisations which are tall not flat like
British American Tobacco (Leiber, Stensaker and Harvey, 2018).
Both the culture and structure of British American Tobacco that is implemented renders
easy and comfort to both management and employees to work accordingly and provide better
performance results which will be contributing to higher profits and earnings. The steps taken for
developing effective culture and structure of British American Tobacco have definitely served
the firm with higher outcomes and performance of workforce keeping them motivated and
satisfied with the job role.
C. Describe the leadership style of the CEO of BRITISH AMERICAN TOBACCO to enhance
the organisational effectiveness.
Leaders and managers are the individuals present at higher level in the firm who make
sure that all respective activities and tasks are appropriately performed by managing and
motivating all employees or team members. Leadership and Management are two unique and
separate concepts and terms which are used interchangeably. Leadership is a style and action
related to leading a group and directing them to right path for accomplishing common goals of
their teams and contribute to the ultimate aim of the firm (Stahl and et. al., 2017).
Leaders are very diverse and unique form one another generating new and creating ideas
and plan of action for conducting particular tasks and fulfilling the objective behind it. Leaders
do not have employees they have followers who move in the direction shown by implementing
their own opinions and perspectives. Leadership styles are the ways and approaches used by
leaders to keep employees and their subordinates motivated and dedicated towards the goal of
the firm and to their team. The leaders British American Tobacco also make uses of such
leadership styles and the CEO of British American Tobacco make use of Transactional
leadership amongst Autocratic, Supportive, Participative, Directive, Administrative and
others.
Transactional Leadership is a leadership approach through which leaders promotes and
induce compliance in employees or followers by both rewards and punishments. That means
leaders adopt the approach of balance in which they reward subordinates on their performances
and also make them face consequences of their mistakes and carelessness which could have
costed company a huge loss (Reedy, 2020).

This leadership style is adopted by the CEO of British American Tobacco for improving
employee’s productivity by developing a competitive environment which is positive in nature
making them compete with one another for earning rewards and being safe from any
punishments. This leadership style the CEO of British American Tobacco to keep check on
people's even on team performances made them competitive and induce their motivation and
encouragement to be the best team and employee in the company and made them work with all
of their potentials and abilities. This also evolved the opportunity for everyone that is workforce
in British American Tobacco to grow on personal and professional level.
The issues is of one leadership style is being adopted and practised by the leaders in the
whole organisation. People are unique and indifferent it is not compulsory that one leadership
style will be suitable to all in different situation. This is an issue which leads to reduced
effectiveness of the leaders and their efficiencies.
D. Analyse the effects of power, influence and conflict on BRITISH AMERICAN TOBACCO.
Organisational Power, Influence and Conflicts are the three major factors playing vital
role in performance, earnings and growth of companies and in this case British American
Tobacco. These three factors affect the profitability of the entity as employee performances are
impacted. Thus, the CEO of British American Tobacco have to develop a brief understanding
and knowledge about these terms in order to take appropriate measures for reducing the conflicts
in the company and induce a safe and positively influenced environment in the workplace.
Power refers to the ability and authority one have for making things done according to
their commands and plans. Conflicts are the misunderstandings and difference in opinions of
two or more individuals in a firm that is caused due to differentiated value and interest.
Influence refers to attribute of the respective firm which imposes some type of impact on
employees and other people that either is in favour of completing all task and major activities in
time for potentially attaining goals and requirements or can negatively affect people that is
workforce of organisation and hinder the goals and performances.
Organisational power distribution in British American Tobacco is done on the basis of
hierarchy that is followed by the organisational structure. Therefore, every team leader and
managers have the power which they delegate to their subordinates for completing their tasks in
time. If power is not distributed properly it will affect the productivity level of overall
performances of employees and British American Tobacco. In the similar manner conflicts

which are arising in the firm will be having negative influence over the mind-set of people and
automatically affect their performances. Moreover, the influence and aura of the whole
organisation can affect the performance and objectives. The management of British American
Tobacco is responsible for imposing positive influence over staff and other members. The
influence which people have about the firm will be deciding their attitudes and attributes to the
entity and on their performances. Thus, British American Tobacco have to take measures to
delegate power potentially and make sure to maintain positive influence in work environment by
reducing and mitigating all conflicts.
E. Discuss the various types of motivation used at BRITISH AMERICAN TOBACCO.
Motivation is a phenomena and a technique that helps in driving the interest of people in
a common direction with the company and align their objectives for accomplishing goals and end
targets of company and individuals themselves (James, Crawford and Oplatka, 2018). Motivation
is dependent upon those specific factors which keep people over the edge and make them
perform in the best manner possible. British American Tobacco, CEO induce the use of
Maslow's Need Hierarchy theory of motivation for increasing enthusiasm of employees and keep
them working with utmost potentials and keep on developing their capabilities further.
Maslow's Need Hierarchy is a motivational practice which is very commonly used by
managers and leaders of organisations for keeping up with those basic needs for which people
work to fulfil and be satisfied. It has five elements in a pyramid that are explained below:
 Psychological Needs- These refers to basic need of an individual as human being which
are food, shelter and others necessary for them to survive. These needs are satisfied by
British American Tobacco by offering enough pay to employee which are sufficient for
them to pay their bills and maintain their family (Patterson, Zibarras and Ashworth,
2016).
 Safety and Security Needs- This defines the need for providing a safe, secured and
healthy work environment to employees. British American Tobacco offers job security to
employees and frequent raise for fulfilling this need. Also the work culture is established
in a way to render a healthy environment to the personnel and to make sure that their
work is not hindered.
 Love and Belongingness- This needs refers to the social recognition and holding a
reputation in company. Team leaders of British American Tobacco conducts regular

meeting and activities which offers people a chance to know each other and develop
personal and professional relationships with each other.
Illustration 2: The 5 Levels of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, 2020
(Source: The 5 Levels of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, 2020)
 Self Esteem Needs- These are related with dignity and self respect of the employees in
their own eyes and in other too. For this need to be fulfilled British American Tobacco
leader rewards personnels according to their performances that offers them satisfaction
and self recognition (Dalkir, 2017).
 Self Actualisation Needs- Last but not the least self actualisation needs are the part of
Maslow's hierarchy of needs model that is fulfilled by the management and leaders of
British American Tobacco by setting higher goals and complex tasks for employees
which boosts their enthusiasm and make them work with utmost potentials and induce
their belief in themselves and their capabilities.

F. Use appropriate corporate examples and literature to justify your stand.
In the corporate world every firm or an organisation is operating separately in their
unique form, making plans and executing them in accordance to their suitability for their specific
pre-determined goals and aims. This uniqueness of companies and their operating style render
several examples for the industry and the world of both success and failures. In the similar
manner few examples are present in front of British American Tobacco as well which are
accepted and inherited by the firm for operating smoothly and effectively in the marketplace and
being stable in the industry.
British American Tobacco management and leadership panel believes in motivating and
encouraging approaches of managing staff and developing strong roots for the company. This
enable them to work in the prescribed manner and keep their concentration over bringing new
and most talented individuals who are pooled with skills and innovative ideas and develops them
further by potential training sessions (McCormack and McCance, 2016).
Another example is of Toyota a leading automotive manufacturing company which is
internationally recognized. The company's management also follows the similar style as of
British American Tobacco along with it provides a qualitative resource to their potential buyers
too. The entity make use of several operational management style for making their functions
more productive and earning higher profits. The approaches are Total Quality Management,
Six Sigma and Lean Production.
Google is a great example as the company make use of equivalent motivation in which
helped their business, operations and most importantly efficiency of company. Google earned
huge profits and popularity on the basis of hard and creative work of their skilled and unskilled
workers. These are few ways and methods should be adopted or evaluated by the managerial
staff and directors of British American Tobacco in order to keep staff motivated and satisfied
with their jobs in the firm benefiting both the employees and organisation (Kalkan, 2016).
G. Based on the discussion and debate what suggestions / recommendations (strategies) would
you make to increase BRITISH AMERICAN TOBACCO performance?
In above discussion conducted all the varied form of organisational tools and practices
that the CEO and other managerial staff of British American Tobacco is adopting for running the
company in adequate manner are identified and evaluated. These tools and styles enable the
entity to work in productive manner, induce staff engagement and motivation levels and develop

more efficient outcomes in the given time and lead the firm towards growth and success.
Although there are few suggestions or recommendations which can lead the firm towards better
execution of all plans and development of better procedures and processes for completing task in
time and attaining higher level of performance standards.
 Effective communication- The British American Tobacco is immensely working for
benefits of company and adopting unique practices. But communication play a vital role
too in several aspects such as for inducing Team working environment and many others
(Rojot, 2016). Therefore, it is suggested that management of British American Tobacco
should indulge in more potential communication channels and tools in operations for
making flexible interactions with operational level workers and immediate mangers or
leaders. This will reduce conflicts as well in the firm and enable collogues to develop
better relationships on personal and professional levels.
 Diverse leadership styles- British American Tobacco is a large international firm which
has numerous departments and teams implying number of varied team leaders and
managers. Every leaders works according to their separate way but align their practices
with the organisational cultures and workplace environment. In British American
Tobacco Transactional leadership is commonly adopted by leaders and employees are
guided accordingly but it is suggested that leader should evolve their leadership practices
and innovate constantly. This approach enables employees to gain a new insight about the
creative and engaging working environment and induce employee thinking for better
innovative and creative opinions for future operations (Nielsen and et. al., 2017).
CONCLUSION
The above report is developed upon the practices and multiple styles used by the
management and leaders of an organisation for smooth running and effectively achieving all
goals by fulfilling all needs and requirements. The report summarises the need and potentials
appropriate organisational theories and practices provided to the company and its operations. The
leaders and manager plays vital role in their respective positions in developing best practices for
keeping staff motivated and satisfied in their job roles. Moreover, organisational structure and
culture imposes huge influence over the functioning of the entity as the firm is guided in the right
direction with best suited organisational structure and correct motivating culture which is
developed. Maslow's need hierarchy theory is used by the management and leaders of the entity

for developing positive attitude amongst staff and inducing their encouragement level and
keeping them engaged in the operations. All these following styles and practices made the firm
reach to its goals and achieve them potentially and successfully.

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