Organisational Theory and Practice: Impact of Organisational Structure and Culture on Marks and Spencer

This report discusses the impact of organisational structure and culture on Marks and Spencer, a British multinational retailer company. It covers the company's flat organisational structure, role culture, and how they impact the way the company is managed. It also explores if the employees are motivated adequately to achieve the organisational goals and what approaches the company is undertaking to perform well.

Organisational theory
and practice

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................3
TASK...............................................................................................................................................3
ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE ...................................................................................3
ORGANISATIONAL CULTURE .......................................................................................4
How do they impact the way the company is being managed?..............................................5
Are the employees of the company motivated adequately to achieve the organisational goals?6
The company is performing well or not because of the approaches that they are undertaking.. 7
As a Senior Manager in this organisation, what changes could be made to improve the
performance of the organisation? ..........................................................................................9
CONCLUSION .............................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION
The study of organisation's design, structure, relationships, comes under the
organisational theory. It mainly focuses on the organisation's hierarchy, authority, size, goals,
complexity and strategy. Focusing on these dimensions provides a proper analysis of
organisation, solve the issues, maximise efficiency, and productivity of the firm. The behaviour
and actions of employees comes under the organisational practices. The company Marks and
Spencer has been taken in this respective report. Marks and Spencer is a British multinational
retailer company, which specialised in selling beauty, clothing, home as well as food products. It
was founded in 1884 by Michael marks and Thomas Spencer . M&S also serve worldwide as it
have almost 1463 stores across the globe. In the below report it has been discussed that what are
organisational structure and culture of the respective company and how these two aspects are
impacting the firm. (Ceil, 2019)
TASK
ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE
An organisation structure defines the flow of information between the levels of the
company. This highlights the activities which are needed to be done to achieve the organisational
goal and helps groups to work together to manage tasks. The more formalized structure is the
traditional structure. For instance, in finance region or in product line there are traditional
structure which is flexible , with the quick responding ability r change the business environments
. From being rigid, hierarchical, and autocratic the organisational structures have been evolved to
boundary less and network organised designed to give a quick response to the customers needs.
There are many types of organisations structures that have been followed in the companies
nowadays some of them are, The vertical structure which includes functional and divisional. This
structure divides the tasks and the employees according to their specialisations. This structure
forms different departments in the company like HR, accounting, marketing etc. secondly the
matrix structure, this is a combination of both functional and divisional structure and in this an
employee have to report two mangers. And the last one is open boundary structure, this removes
all the traditional boundaries of the organisation and eliminate all the external and internal
factors of organisation and all the units of the company are effectively connected. (Kwon, and
Guo, 2019)

In context to this the chosen company marks and Spencer follows flat organisational
structure also known as horizontal structure. In order to survive in the market many retailers
were forced to change and create new strategies. So, M&S did a promotional campaign aiming at
manufacturing of good which customer will desire to buy and give them the best quality product.
Also they aimed at investing the money in the shop's atmosphere. To implement the new
strategy, company applied the new organisational structure which was flatter structure. While
implementing the new strategy the company lost many layers of authority. Then only Few small
levels are employed between the upper management and workers of the company to lessen the
mediated communication between the company's head and employees. This structure allows the
company to encourage their employees to take decisions quicker and effective which will bring
customers closer to the business. In this era of rising competition in the retail industry, M&S
have focused mainly on innovation and giving customers the best quality product and services
through this structure. Overall, the challenges faced by the company can be attributed to
business's hierarchical structure and relations. (Kwarteng and Aveh, 2018)
ORGANISATIONAL CULTURE
The better organizational culture is a set of values, responsibilities, expectations, and the
practices needed to direct the actions of all the team members. The culture is the way to develop
the necessary traits for the success of business. Having a good culture also effects the bottom line
of the firm . For instance, a firm with healthy culture will 1.5 times more likely to experience the
growth in revenue about 15 percent. The culture affects all the aspects of a business. The
companies which prioritize their organisational culture stands out in the market .To develop and
maintain the organisational structure there should be proper alignment, appreciation, trust,
performance, resilience , teamwork, integrity, innovation and psychological safety. There was
this well known philosopher named Charles Handy gave four types of culture from the
organizations. The first culture is power, in some organisations only few people have the
authority in hands to take decisions regarding business. they are the most privileged employees
at the workplace. Secondly the task culture , in this the individuals with common specialisations
are grouped together to achieve the specific targets. Third one is the person culture, in this an
individual is more concerned about themself rather then the job. Lastly the role culture, in this

the activities are delegated according to the specialisations and interest of the employee.
(Szydlowska, 2020)
In context to this the chosen company M&S, there is role culture followed in the firm.
they have a strongly held and widely shared set of beliefs which is supported by the strategy and
structure . the employees use to interact with each other and work together so that the strength
will grow. Workers know how top management wants them to respond To any situation arises in
the organisation. the culture here is highly bureaucratic with specified and detailed rules about
how people and departments should interact. The company have to deal with people out there
and build a personal relationship within the organisation. The workflow and decision-making
procedures are already documented so that the management can be sure that the roles are well
defined and assigned. The implementation of the role culture in M&S provided them stability,
certainty and continuity. The staff is encouraged to provide the best services to the clients and
the customers they have respect, care, inclusiveness, better communication, trust, and
recognition in their culture which allows the employees to share their thoughts, ideas, and to stay
truly engaged with their tasks and responsibilities to achieve the organisational goal.
Organisation's core values ensure the appropriate reward and recognition to employees.(Bernon,
2018)
How do they impact the way the company is being managed?
The organisational structure and organisational culture have a very vital and beneficial role in a
company. It also effects the business's performance as well as management since, they analyse
the organisation and its members. The culture influence the leadership style, company relations,
employee's mindset, management style and all the other factors included between an employee
and a organisation. After the imposition of rules, regulations, responsibility etc. the members
have to do clear and specified actions to achieve the organisational goal. After having a fixed
organisational culture, the company's environment and ambience gets changed and have a great
influence on the long term goals moving towards the company's vision and mission. The culture
also effects on the structure of organisation. Whereas the organisational structure is more stable
and have a specified pattern of hierarchy. The main purpose of implementing the structure in an
organisation is, the hands used in the managing the whole company gets used in directing the
activities of the firm instead. The distribution of managerial activities gets divided according to

the specialisation of the members. If there will be compatibility between the culture and structure
of organisation then it will give a positive impact on the performance of organisation. In context
to the company marks and Spencer, after implementing of the flatter structure in the firm the
things are more aligned employees. Now there is more responsibility and accountability on the
employees It has become more centralised company and have pyramid shape of structure of
hierarchy. The uniform polices have been created among the operating units and also lessened
the communication in between the company's employees and the leaders. Also the employees
need some time on trainings to make them adapt the new structure, as they are new to this.
However the culture has been changed to role culture. The leaders give priority to their
employee's suggestions, they have been launched a new scheme in the organisation that is
suggestion scheme named as “suggest to Steve” which allows their employees to put their
thoughts and ideas in front of the leader and every idea is reviewed by him. Launching this
scheme made the employees more encouraged and it made them feel like they are the valuable
assets of the company. Now, marks and Spencer have more trusted employees who are
committed to the brand and giving their best to achieve the organisational goal. (Rana and
Shankar 2020)
Are the employees of the company motivated adequately to achieve the organisational
goals?
Marks and Spencer is a UK based multinational company. Considering UK, it is a
country with one of the largest labour community. The employs motivation should be taken in
consideration to achieve the organisational goals efficiently and in time. As a leading company,
Marks and Spencer is knowledgeable enough to engage the employees. To take care of human
resources in the company, Marks and Spencer is working on one of the most important factor
which is Performance Management. According to the company Performance Management is a
collective process in which the supervisors and the employees having common goals are
connected to the goals of organization. The respective company is using mixed approach in order
to achieve the organisational goals effectively and effeciently. Marks and Spencer is using a
range of methods to motivate the work force in their company in pocket friendly ways.
The organisation is having almost 75000 employees across more than 850 stores in UK,
and the company need to know the right ways to engage their staff. To collect the information

related to the working behaviour of company's human resources, Marks and Spencer is using 360
degree strategy. The analysis of behaviour of the employees is very necessary and there should
be appraisal provided according to their working and behaviour. After analysing through the
company has recognized the relative ways to motivate its staff as the company is using
technology and traditional cost-cutting methods to engage their staff. (Eastmure and et. al, 2020)
Also the company is having their own internal social media network namely Yammer, behind
which there is the company's aim to bring the workers together by posting “employee of the
month” on their social media platform. The main idea behind this is being fulfilled which is
recognition to the employees who are devoted to the company and are working towards its goals.
The employees are trying and giving their best to the company. This is benefiting the company in
achieving their goals.
The company also offers incentives in the staff performances. The motivation in
monetary terms never gets old in gaining better performance by the work force in any
organization. The results of company using such way to engage the employees is as expected,
positive. Workers and employees are working overtime in order to earn more monetary benefits.
This is good for both employee's goals and organization's goals. Also the company has done very
well for the work force in the company by bettering the working environment. Marks and
Spencer is having a very pleasant working environment. The working hours are flexible so the
workers and employees need not to worry about tight schedule to work. This is making the the
workforce more in favour of the company.
Hence, the company is doing well in the matter of motivation for the workforce. The employees
and the workers in the company are doing efforts not only for their personal goals but also for the
organizational goals.(Taylor, 2019)
The company is performing well or not because of the approaches that they are
undertaking.
Below are the approaches the company, Mark and Spencer is using in order to perform
well: -
Goal approach: Whether the company has achieved what it planned in the past should be the
judgement criteria for an organization's effectiveness. That is what the goal approach assumes,
which is that the organizations are the entities that are logical, planned and goal -seeking. The

approach states that there should be one or more predetermined achievements or goals to be
accomplished in an organization.
The goal -attainment for the company, Mark and Spencer is to become completely
sustainable and sell health cautious and environment friendly products and services.
Through this approach the company has started a project which is called Plan A. The
main aim of Plan A is to make a sustainable future by working for planet. The respective
company is very much successful with the help of this approach as it has been producing
environmental friendly and budget friendly quality products and services like apparel,
foods, home products, and others.
System resource approach: The system resource approach states that any organization
is an open system . The organisation as a whole performs three tasks which are obtaining
output, participating in transformation process, and generating outputs. Input over output
is the main highlight of the approach.(Grayson, Coulter, and Lee, 2018)
The approach states that any organization is made up of many or few interrelated
sub -systems. Due to which, because of any reason a sub -system works inefficiently, the
performance of whole system will get influenced. The respective company has taken this
in consideration, due to which they are able to perform well and achieve their aims as all
of the sub -systems that are the sub departments, are taken care of responsibly. This is
resulting in smooth running of the business.
Internal process approach: The development of this is a result of the output view of
the goal approach. The internal process approach states that for the company's internal
efficiency, coordination and staff satisfaction there should be effectiveness. This
approach focus on internal activities in the organization.
The company has been applying this approach as the company knows for the
achievement of external organizational goals there is a need of achieving internal goals first. Due
to this the company is performing very well as because of the internal approach the company has
improved the working environment for one of the most important internal factors which is the
work force.(Olivera and Carrillo, 2021)

As a Senior Manager in this organisation, what changes could be made to improve the
performance of the organisation?
Focus on education and growth: A leader in any organization is required to know and
under stand the strengths and weakness of each and every professional being working in
the organization before making any decision and making any plan. The education of
professional beings in different parts of business should be considered before making any
kind of changes in an organization. There should be knowledge of abilities, skills and
strengths of the work force of the organisation in order to understand about what to train
them.
The company should focus more on the education and growth of the employees and the
workers. Understanding the different professional beings of the company and their
assigned role in the company, also the ways to improve their skills and abilities is the key
to perform efficiently in the company.(Nguyen, 2018)
Connect people to a purpose: the most powerful way to gain good workplace culture
for employees is to connect them to a purpose. With no sense of purpose, identifying the
things to do is almost impossible.
The company Mark and Spencer need to make difference for the betterment of the
organization by identifying the purpose during the time of hiring process. That is because
for success it is important to attract the right required talent and all this will happen only
if the people who identify and believe in the organization's goals. Another strategy the
company can use is to help their employees and workers see how they and their work will
contribute to the company. Better communication is considered the best way to do this.
It can be a critical step to connect the current and the potential employees and workers to
work for the organizational purpose but it will be a great move to improve work place
culture.(Shymko, 2018)
Improved orientation and on boarding: The employees feel of being welcomed from
the starting will create enthusiasm leading to efficient working in the company. There
should be a effective and impactful orientation program designed for new hires. This will
ensure the new hires a feeling of connection towards their job, their team and the
organization.

Recognizing the employees how they want to be recognized: Sometimes even after
praising and recognition the employees and workers feel unrecognised or even ignored.
Each and every employee has their own ideology and way of acceptance for the
recognition given to them. Some want the recognition to be heard, some want to see it,
some want to experience it and some even don't need to be recognized. The
recommendation is to take care of each and every being in the work force need to be
recognized in the way they expect to be. In order to keep the working environment and
work force happy and positive the company need to understand the expectations about
recognitions. Every employee in the company is different, so the mode of recognition has
to be customized for each person.(Grover and et. Al, 2022)
Transparency: Transparency is the foundation of any successful organization.
Transparency is great for both organization and its internal and external forces as well. It
is recommended that the company, Mark and Spencer should be more clear and
transparent to its audience. The respective company should be sharing both the success it
is achieving and the challenges it is facing. (Rahi, 2019)
CONCLUSION
This respective report concludes that the design and structure comes under theory of an
organisation and the behaviour of the customers comes under the organisational practices. The
chosen company marks and Spencer follows the flat structure as well as role culture in the
organisation. These two aspects have also affected the organisation in some ways like new rules
and regulations have been imposed and also they have prioritized their employees suggestions.
Then the report described that the mangers working in M&S are encouraged and motivated.
They are using mixed approach in the organisation to achieve the goals. There are some
approaches used by the Company to perform well which are goal approach, system resource
approach and Internal process approach. After that there are some changes which a manager can
make in in his organisation like focusing on education, growth, transparency etc.

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