THE ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR

Running head: ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR
ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Question 1 – Analyse the current Art’s Food situation in terms of Human Capital.
Answer 1:
Human resources are one of the most important resources of any organization.
Managing human resources is therefore a very critical task performed by organizations.
Personnel management is that section of Human Resource Management where focus is
given on hiring employees and developing them so as to make them more valuable for
the company in the future. Recruiting proper people for the organization is not the end.
After recruiting and selecting the desired people for the organization, it must focus on
their training and development, proper work environment and work culture, adequate
financial and non-financial benefits. The better the work place and incentives being
provided the better will the employee satisfaction and lesser will be the employee
turnover. This will also help in increasing efficiency and productivity of the organizations.
In the given case, Art’s Food human capital condition has been discussed and details
about the work culture and environment has also been mentioned. The case analysis
states that although the educational sectors cater to more than 150 schools, yet the
number of workers allotted for the work in the educational area is just 19 workers.
Moreover the analysis of these workers mentioned in the case study also suggests that
the workforce is not happy with their current situation. The workers are unhappy and
they cannot even share their feedbacks and grievances to the top level as the top level
management is not keen to listen to the problems of the workforce.
Question 1a -What is the position in which the staffs of the Educational Area have
found themselves?
Answer 1a:
As stated in the case study, the staffs are not happy with their present situation in
the company. It is seen that in spite of being a 28 years old company, Art’s Food
Personnel Management system is very weak. Although the company serves more than
150 schools in terms of catering education, yet the structure of the organization is not
great and needs to be reorganized. The management is facing problem to handle
situations in meeting client demands and managing employees, as a result of which

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there is a huge discontent among the employees and the work environment is getting
poor. Stress and lack of recognition has also led to the decrease in efficiency and
productivity. There has been a decrease in the service quality of the staffs. The staffs
continuously face stress and lack of empathy from the administrative heads, more
specifically the directors. In fact Raquel being one of the area directors and
experienced, faces a lot of trouble in managing the bad environment and even she is
not sure about her endurance on the same. The employee pay is also not revised and is
paid below what is being stated in the interview.
Question 1b- Define the causes of how this point has been reached and what
consequences can be derived if you do not intervene.
Answer 1b
The top heads of the organization Josep Font and Roger Art are not interested
about the condition of their staffs. They are only interested in the output. They are very
authoritarian in nature. They have little interest in taking input from group members and
only move by certain specific objectives. The workers also do not have a direct contact
with these top administrations. This leads to a communication gap between the top
management and the lower levels. This also creates a lack of transparency and
miscommunication of the company mission and vision. These directors hardly take any
advice from any of the workers and are only interested in setting up targets and policies
as per their requirements and ideas. This leads to employee dissatisfaction and higher
employee turnover. The workers are frustrated as Roger is not at all interested about
the personal situation of the workers or their motivation. The workers are made to do 10
hours extra per month if they are unable to meet their targets. He even suggests that
the workers should come motivated from home and do tasks with the given resources. If
the workers are unable to complete the work and are not motivated that is none of
Roger’s concern and they must be disregarded for their low performance. If the situation
is not intervened then negative repercussions are going to be formed in the coming
future in the educational area. The lack of support and empathy from the directors
create frustration among the employees thereafter creating degradation in the
productivity and service quality. The leadership style is viewed as very dominating by

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the employees and hence it can create resentment among the workforce. Problem
solving skills are generally not formed in authoritative leadership, as a result of which it
can also hurt the group operation in the future.
Question 1c - Draw up the needs that you think the company requires and which
Management hasn’t detected.
Answer 1c:
Authoritative leadership are generally applicable in those organizations where
urgent decisions are required and where the tasks are very specific and critical. In case
of Art’s Food, this type of leadership will not suffice. The company is at a growth stage
and there is a huge pressure of work as the organizational structure is small for serving
the increasing client base. It is therefore required by the organization to have Strategic
Leadership. Strategic leaders usually focus at the growth opportunities of the
organization and the main operations of the organization. Thus these leaders focus on
the interest of the executives and the employees and ensure that the work condition
remains stable for every people within the organization. The management has not
recognized the problems that the employees are facing. They have not detected that the
decrease in motivation and job satisfaction is leading to decreased productivity. They
are not aware that in order to meet the increasing demand it is necessary for the
organization to maintain the quality of the services otherwise the goodwill of the
organization will be damaged. They have also not noticed the requirement of additional
workforce in order to meet the increasing demand in the educational sector of catering.
Raquel, Anabel, Julia, Enrique and Elizabeth form a very competent and cohesive
working group and this group is totally dissatisfied with the leadership strategy of Roger.
They are willing to leave the organization if the situation does not get better soon. Thus
it is very essential for the management to manage the human capital. The management
must take feedbacks from all the employees and must hear all the grievances of the
employees. The management must not be centralized, rather it must be decentralized
and the employees must be allowed to take part in decision making. This will make the
employees feel belonged to the organization. The company must have a proper
grievance redressal forum so that the employees feel that the administration care for

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them. There should be a structured training and development system within the
organization in order to make the employees feel that the company thinks about the
growth and development of the employees. Last but not the least adequate amount of
financial benefits and non-financial benefits should be given to the good performers in
order to make them feel motivated and retain them in organization.
Question 2a -Define the stages of evolution in work teams and identify in which
stage the Educational Area of the company currently is.
Answer 2a
The above analysis mainly focused on the current condition of the organization
and its employees. It focused mainly on the external characteristics. This paragraph will
now deal with the internal characteristics. It is the internal structure and the
characteristic of a team that helps in determining the evolution and development of a
team. In order to be most effective a team must be coordinated and must work together
and collectively for the best result. But this does not happen all of a sudden. The team
evolves as it works together for a long period of time. It is very usual that when a team
meets together for the first time it takes time for the team to know each other. Over the
time expectations begin and tasks are assigned. Thereafter the team starts working in
different phases. The stages of evolution in a team are stated as below:
Forming
Storming
Norming
Performing
Adjourning
Time
Team
Effectiveness

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Forming Stage- This is a stage where the team members meet each other and
gets acquainted with each other. This stage has high degree of uncertainty and people
looks for leadership and authority. Team members think about their expectations and
what will be offered to them.
Storming Stage – It is a very critical stage in team evolution. This stage is
characterized by huge competition and conflicts. Energies are put into unproductive
activities as a result of which output decreases. The members also disagree in team
objectives.
Norming Stage – This is a stage where some degree of unity is created and
conflicts are resolved to some extent. Consensus is developed around the leaders and
individual roles. The differences in the interpersonal thoughts are resolved and
coordination increases. Members try to align and work with each other and focus on
team goals. Team performance and productivity increases to some extent.
Performing Stage – This stage has a greater degree of cohesion and
coordination, the team is matured and organized in this section. The structure of the
team becomes stable and the team goals are clear. The members are committed
towards the team goals and objectives. Even if conflicts and miscommunication takes
place within the team, the situation is handled effectively and constructively. The team is
more focused on solving problems and meeting team goals.
Adjourning Stage – This is the stage where most of the goals of the team are
accomplished and team effort is given upon completion of the final activities. It deals
with the documentation of the overall efforts and the final results. As soon as the results
are achieved the team is disbanded and the team members are assigned to new teams.
The case study states that Art’s Food is in the “Norming Stage” of team
evolution. The team members are highly cooperative and coordinated among each
other but there exists a clash between the higher authority and the lower groups. The
team is very competent and cohesive but the authoritative style of the higher authority
has led to dissatisfaction between the team members and this has resulted in the

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decrease in productivity. Although the team is aligned towards working together, they
are unable to do the same because of their head Roger.
Question 2b - Identify the formal and informal teams that you detect in the
company and justify your response.
Answer 2b:
Formal teams are those teams that are supervised by management. In these
kind of teams the functioning of the team and the structure of the team is determined by
codes and principles that are pre-established, whereas informal teams does not have
pre-determined structures and principles. These teams are not supervised by
management. Casual interactions take place within the organization and these teams
can be disbanded without consulting any management. The formal team that can be
detected in the case study is the higher authority. Josep Font, the Chief of Operations
and Roger Art, the founder and the director of the company are the two members that
form a formal structure within the team. Raquel Torra also has a formal relationship with
these two administrative officials. However the relationship that she has with her juniors
and other colleagues are not stringent and can be stated as informal. She is very
communicative and supportive. She offers direct support to the area coordinators and
leads her team very proactively and efficiently. Among all the colleagues however Joan
is a bit formal as he is not interested about the others and just aims in performing his
tasks well above the other. His selfishness makes him a part of the formal team.
Enrique, Lorena, Elisabeth and Julia however are a part of the informal team as they
are more or less smiling person and strive to do their job without harming each other or
being a part of any controversies.
Question 2c - Following the typology of Meredith Belbin, give a role to each of the
workers in the educational area who are in the office.
Answer 2c:
If a team perform effectively and efficiently it can be noticed that each of the team
members share some clear set of responsibilities. Each member undertakes certain

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specific roles that help in achieving team goal more easily and effectively. Dr Meredith
Belbin observed team works and stated that members within the team start assuming
different roles. According to him, team role refers to how the member behaves, inter-
relates and contributes to the team in some specific way. He stated nine such team
roles that can help in bringing team success. These roles are stated as below with the
help of the following table:
Action Oriented
Roles
Shaper
They help in shaping the team and
aims in overall improvement of the
team.
Implementer
They help in putting the ideas into
actions.
Finisher
They help in timely completion of
activities and timely achievements.
People Oriented
Roles
Coordinator
They coordinate all the team
members and acts as the head.
Team Worker
They help in encouraging all the
team members and help everyone
in working together.
Resource
Investigator
They help in understanding the
requirements of the team and
explore several opportunities that
are both internal and external.
Thought Oriented
Roles
Plant They come up with new ideas.
Monitor-Evaluator
They analyze the current situation
and looks for better options.
Specialist
They provide with specialized
developmental skills and trainings.
In the given case study there are 12 area coordinators who work at distance but
there are six workers excluding Raquel who work within the office and they are Joan,
Enrique, Lorena, Elisabeth, Julia and Anabel. The employees can be given the following
roles as per their nature:

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Employee
Name Nature Role
Joan
Severe and responsible person. Tries
to do his job well above the others.
Receives bonus for his tenders and
achievements.
Finisher
Enrique
He gets well along with his colleagues
and is very happy and confident. He
has excellent communicative ability.
Team Worker
Lorena
Crucial player in the group. Cheerful,
confident and is responsible for
training. She is willing to help anyone
who needs it.
Specialist
Elisabeth
Senior employee engaged in
managing routine actions. Smiling
person and tries to improve the day of
her companions.
Team Worker
Julia
Administrative assistant and is the
youngest in the group. She avoids
controversies and tries to go
unnoticed. She is responsible for
administrative tasks
Monitor-
Evaluator
Anabel Has an experience of more than 8
years and is a specialist in her field. Specialist
Raquel
Provides direct support, acts as
administrative assistant and is
responsible for various other tasks as
well as managing her team.
Coordinator
Questions 3a – What type of power do you think Roger has?
Answer 3a:
Roger has an authoritative leadership power. He is only interested in getting
better economic results without thinking about the personal situation of the employees.
He is very self-centred in nature and only aims in achieving the maximum He is not
interested in listening to the problems of the employees and makes them do additional
work if they fail to achieve the desired result. This states the level of autocracy Roger
holds in terms of managing human capital. He states that he pays the people for
working and hence they are supposed to work. If they are not motivated then that is

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their problem. This tells that Roger just considers that if someone is paid for something
then they are liable to do that thing with the available resources without considering any
other factors. Roger is more of an authoritarian than authoritative. His ideology is “Do as
I say” rather than “Come with me”. His power makes him dominating in nature
thereafter creating a very stringent and poor relationship with his peers and
subordinates.
Question 3b - What management functions do you think Roger performs? And
what other roles does he lack? Justify your answer.
Answer 3b:
Roger is the founder and the director of the company Art’s food. He is
responsible for a broad range of activities as per his position in the organization. As a
founder of the company Roger needs to perform the following functions:
i. Managing the board of directors
ii. Preparing the mission and vision of the company
iii. Recruiting the required human resources
iv. Building up a proper executive and administrative team
v. Ensure that the products and the services are aligned to the vision of the
company
vi. Controlling and keeping an eye on all the key performance indicators
vii. Plan for raising funds and investing in the right places
viii. Plan for diversification
ix. Developing the perfect plan and maintaining it
x. Engaging the team.
As thee director of the company, Roger needs to perform the following functions:
i. Implementing policies and making decisions
ii. Arranging annual meeting with the shareholders and meeting with the
stakeholders

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iii. Preparing statutory documents and filing with the company offices and
agencies
iv. Maintaining records
v. Promoting the success of the company
vi. Avoid conflict of interests
Among all these activities stated above Roger only performs a few activities like
controlling and keeping eye on everyone and managing the finances. He is involved in
policy making and decision making. He is also involved in recruiting and selecting the
desired candidates. However he lacks a number of roles like he is not interested in
avoiding the conflict of interests. He does not promote the success of the company and
does not engage properly with the employees. He is not interested in creating a
transparent environment in the organization. He lacks the communicative roles and
lacks the transparency of communicating the mission and vision of the organization to
the employees. He is also not interested in engaging the team in planning sessions and
administrative discussions.
Question 3c - From the characteristics of a leader, what specific aspects should
Roger work on to be a more complete leader?
Answer 3c:
Roger needs to be more authoritative rather than being more authoritarian. He
must understand the difference between a leader and a boss. As a leader Roger must
strive to learn more by communicating well with the employees rather than acting bossy.
He must be willing to listen to all rather than talking more. He must address the
grievances of the employees properly and think about the training and development of
the employees to keep them motivated. Rather than giving answers to everything he
must try to seek for better solutions and must be more problem solving in nature. As a
leader he needs to encourage more and recognize more employees rather than
criticizing and pressurising them. He must empower the workforce and recognize
natural gifts of the employees rather than simply pointing out their weaknesses every
time. He must coach instead of directing. Roger is egoistic in nature. As a leader he
must avoid being more egoistic and must focus on the team efforts and needs. He must

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understand the requirements of the workforce in completing the tasks rather than just
saying them that they must complete the work with the limited resources. So in order to
become a complete leader Roger needs to take responsibility and inspire personnel
performance rather than merely demanding for performance. He must understand that
productivity and efficiency is dependent on motivation and motivation is directly
dependent on the financial and non-financial rewards and the working environment. It is
essential for Roger to act as an inspiration and role model so that the people listen to
them out of respect and not fear. He must build trust, communicate and offer required
resources to the employee. He must allow the employee engagement in decision
making and discussions.
Question 3d - Propose actions to improve those skills in communication,
motivation, awards and group cohesion.
Answer 3d:
In order to increase communication skills and motivation level within the
organization it is essential that there exists a proper team, who will be responsible for
understanding the requirement of the group as a whole and the problems within the
group. This team will then try to solve the problems accordingly. This team including
Roger must do the following as a start:
i. Scheduling communication meetings: The meeting needs to be held on a
weekly basis. The purpose of the meeting shall be opening up the
communication lines between the employees and the employer. The valuable
feedback from all the employees should be noted down and all these
feedbacks must be addressed properly in these meetings.
ii. Maintaining transparency: Every member within the organization must be
kept in a loop. Effective communication will not only empower the team
members but also build trust and loyalty. Increased trust and loyalty increase
productivity and boosts motivation level.
iii. Encouragement: All the employees must be encouraged. The team is to be
brainstormed and their valuable inputs must be considered. In many

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complicated situations the employees want to share feedbacks and to solve
the problems. Under such situation the employees must be encouraged to
share their inputs which will make them feel listened to.
iv. Keeping the lines open: Toxic work environment is harmful for
communication and motivation. The performance of the employees must be
well recognized. There should be proper reward and recognition. The more
the people get recognized the more motivated and happy they will be. The
best performers must be awarded and must be set as a role model so that the
other also tries to be the same. In the given case only Joan has been
awarded a number of times because of his tenders while the others are not
recognized in spite of their hard efforts. This should not be the case instead
all the employees must be given with equal opportunities.
v. Diversify the communication plan and keeping it positive: There are few
employees in the given study who work at different sites as per requirement.
So communication plan should be designed in a manner that should help
reaching the thoughts and ideas to them as well. Webinars, podcasts, e-
mails, video conferencing will help in achieving the same. It should also be
understood by the management that instead of belittling the employees, the
management should provide opportunities for improvement.
Questions 3e - What style of leadership should Roger have to improve the
situation?
Answer 3e –
Roger must opt for Strategic and Transformational Leadership strategy at the
present situation. As a transformational leader Roger will work along with the team and
will try to understand the changes required within the organization. He can create a
transparent vision and can guide change through inspiration. Transformational
leadership will help in inspiring the workforce to embrace changes within organization. It
will create a feasible working culture with accountability and ownership.
Transformational leadership will help the employees in becoming more creative and will

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enable them to find better solution to old problems. Strategic leadership on the other
hand will help Roger to express his strategic planning in a better way. This type of
leadership will help in persuading others to accept the vision of the leader with a better
understanding and without coercion. The main objective of this form of leadership is to
increase productivity strategically. It enables the potential of the leader in foreseeing
and comprehending the work environment. Most of all strategic leader put great
emphasize on incentive system and rewards, which in turn helps in increasing
productivity, performance and service quality. These two forms of leadership will help in
increasing positivity, honesty, collaboration, innovation and empathy within workforce.
Question 4 - Lorena's leave has gone down like a ton of bricks for Roger, who did
not expect it. He has realised that the situation is extreme, and has decided to
take action. He has given orders to hire two administrative staff to deal with the
high workload of the educational area, but, as well, he has thought about the
need to apply empowerment in the group. It is requested. As an advisor, you
must develop an empowerment Action Plan for Art's Food with Roger:
Answer 4:
The case study has highlighted very clearly about the critical condition of the
workforce. The current demand in the educational sector has increased but there is
problem with the workforce. The stringent and strict behaviour by the authority, without
addressing the grievances of the employees has made them demotivated and
frustrated. The employees are not happy with their current pay and work conditions. As
stated in the case study, Raquel’s personal assistant has already informed Roger that
she has not been valued by the company and her pay has also not been reviewed and
hence she has decided to accept a better opportunity for her. The whole office is
against the management of Roger. Roger must therefore take the following actions to
prevent from further mismanagement within the organization:
i. Roger must go for empowerment within the organization. Empowering the
workforce will help in bringing a certain degree of autonomy in the
workforce and the employees can take decisions all by themselves. It

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helps in improving the service quality and job satisfaction. Whenever an
employee gets the option to make decisions he becomes more
accountable. The confidence of the superior on the subordinates helps
them in feeling more confident and accountable. Empowerment also helps
in dealing with business problems smoothly. The employee does not need
to run around seeking for permission and can make fast decisions. It helps
in better coordination between the employers and employees and the
process and services improves. The empowerment will help Art’s Food in
providing better services in the scattered locations of the Catalan territory.
It will also enable them to meet the increasing demands in the educational
area of catering efficiently.
ii. The company can achieve better control over the service quality and
smooth handling of growing demands with the help of empowerment. The
problems with the employee will also be reduced as the employees will get
the chance to take decisions. They will feel respected and will feel
themselves to be a part of the organization, which in turn will boost their
motivation. the empowerment will also reduce the gap between the
subordinates and the heads thereafter increasing the level of
communication.
iii. There are two types of inspiration – active and passive. Roger must
undertake active inspiration. This inspiration will help him in implementing
new ideas and will allow all to make mistakes and learn from it. Active
inspiration helps in achieving long term passion and enthusiasm. Active
inspiration is a game changer in case of team building. Active inspiration
helps in motivating and inspiring the workforce by action, which usually
persists for a long term.
iv. The empowerment action plan will be as follows:
a. Roger must become a transformational and a strategic leader.
b. He must prepare a clear set of goal and a SMART objective.

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c. Since there will be a change in the structure and leadership roles,
therefore a proper change management team should be implemented,
who will also help in training and development o the workforce.
d. The plan should be transparent and the works must be delegated to
the employees.
e. Clear boundaries must be mentioned within which the employees can
act freely.
f. The employees must be provided with autonomy over diversification
and customer handling.
g. Proper grievance redressal portal should be setup to take regular
feedbacks from the employees.
h. Feedbacks will help in understanding the business requirements as
well as personnel requirements. The necessary resource will therefore
be provided on a priority basis.
i. Constructive feedbacks should be provided to all by arranging weekly
huddles or meetings. This will increase communication and
understanding as well as boost communication.
j. The ideas and inputs of the employees must be appreciated and
rewarded.