Organizational Behaviour: A Case Study of BBC

This report explores the organizational behaviour of the BBC, examining its culture, power dynamics, motivation, team development, and leadership styles. It analyzes the challenges faced by the organization, including issues of child abuse, gender discrimination, and lack of whistle-blowing policies. The report utilizes various theories and models, such as Handy's cultural typology, Maslow's hierarchy of needs, Tuckman and Jensen's model of team development, and the path-goal theory, to understand the root causes of these problems and propose solutions for improvement.

ORGANISATIONAL
BEHAVIOUR

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction......................................................................................................................................1
Task 1...............................................................................................................................................1
a)..................................................................................................................................................1
b)..................................................................................................................................................3
M1................................................................................................................................................4
Task 2...............................................................................................................................................5
a)..................................................................................................................................................5
b)..................................................................................................................................................7
M2................................................................................................................................................8
D1................................................................................................................................................9
Task 3.............................................................................................................................................10
a)................................................................................................................................................10
b)................................................................................................................................................11
M3..............................................................................................................................................13
Task 4.............................................................................................................................................15
a)................................................................................................................................................15
b)................................................................................................................................................17
M4..............................................................................................................................................17
D2..............................................................................................................................................19
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................20
References......................................................................................................................................21

LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1: Handy's four cultures........................................................................................................1
Figure 2: Positive culture of business..............................................................................................3
Figure 3: Maslow hierarchy theory..................................................................................................1
Figure 4: Theory of motivation........................................................................................................2
Figure 5: Tuckman model of team development.............................................................................6
Figure 6: team and group development theory................................................................................8
Figure 7: Path goal leadership.......................................................................................................10

Introduction
Understanding the behaviour of individuals and groups along with knowing about the
organizational structure is termed as organizational behaviour. The objectives behind this
improve the performance, effectiveness, and efficiency of the organization. The business
environment is becoming more complex and competitive day by day. Therefore, it is essential to
understand the performance of the organization and make efforts to improve its efficiency and
productivity.
In the following report, to understand the issues of organizations and methods that can be used to
enhance organizations performance the Case study of BBC will be used. With the help of
Handy’s cultural typology, motivational theories, team model, Tuckman and Jensen’s model of
team development, path-goal theory, and the concept of organizational behaviour can be better
understood. There would be two parts to this assignment, in first part concepts of culture,
politics, and motivation will be discussed and the second part would state the team development
and theories.
1

Task 1
a)
The organizational culture of BBC consisted many hierarchies and was quite centralised. Some
changes are needed to be made on the organisation culture. The model will help to understand
this:
Handy’s Cultural typology:
According to this model the organization follows for forms of organizational cultural:
 Power culture: In the power culture, the power lies in the hands of few people. There
are less rules and bureaucracy as these people make use of their power and take decisions
(Kaur et.al. 2016).
 Role culture: Under this culture duties are appropriately designated, accountability for
work is pre-defined, and there is a hierarchical bureaucracy.
 Task culture: The matrix organizations usually have this culture. Under this teams are
correctly formed, and a team leader is also appointed. The team can make its own goals,
and it has its powers to take decisions (Yahyagil, 2015).
 Person culture: This culture is found in the firms of professionals. In this culture, every
individual has its own set of power and expertise.
Figure 1: Handy's four cultures
1

(Source: Tutor2u, 2015)
BBC’s earlier organisational culture:
BBC was in bad phase as stated by a smith in his opinion. Issues like child abuse cases, bullying
of staff people and situations of harassment with personnel were faced by the corporation. To
hear these issues of staff the organization didn’t have any proper mechanism. Because of
unethical behaviour and mismanagement, the teams were severely dissatisfied. The company
faced criticism for gaps in payment and gender discrimination also. Staffs were mainly
dominated by males. The perception was seen regarding payment as higher payments were made
to the male team in comparison to female staff (Glisson, 2015). The organization faced severe
issues because of all these things. It was crystal clear that the organizational culture of BBC has
failed and also it does not have appropriate systems of communication and management.
2

b)
The earlier behavioural structure of organization is explained below:
 Culture: The organization had deteriorating culture. Some severe issues like child abuse,
gender gap, and pay gap were prevailing in the organization. Moreover, the organization
didn’t have any proper mechanism to hear the complaints from staff and help them to
solve their problems (Serrat, 2017). As a result, team staffs and employees of the
organization were highly dissatisfied and were not willing to give their best to attain the
goals of the organization.
 Power: As described by Mr. Smith, the culture of the organization was quite centralized.
 Politics: The politics were played at higher levels of management as the loss of the
powers and authority were in the hands of the managers at the high level.
Such behaviour in the organization was not at all satisfactory. Non-abuse child policies and
whistle blowing policies were not strictly implemented. Moreover, the culture of the organization
was not at all friendly. The productivity of staff got reduced due to lack of support (Glisson,
2015). With the entrance of hall in BBC, some serious changes were made in the organization;
efforts were made to make BBC a better place to work and make the environment more safe and
comfortable for the employees and staff.
3

M1
The performance of team and organization is greatly influenced by the culture of the
organization. The values, beliefs, and morals of an organization are defined by its culture. About
BBC, an unethical organizational culture was created due to centralized and overpowered
management. The contents of such organization culture were gender discrimination, pay gaps,
biases, and issue of child abuses and lack of whistle blowing policies. Whereas, a more open and
transparent environment is created through effective delegated authority/ accountability and
proper distribution of power (Luthans et al. 2015). Moreover, the behaviour of team and
individuals increases with increase in transparency in the organization. With the help of
supportive organizational culture, the group are coordinated efficiently and aligns their goals
with that of organizational goals.
Figure 2: Positive culture of business
(Source: vgtmanagement.com, 2015)
4

Task 2
a)
Motivation can be referred to as a force which forces an individual to act in a particular manner
to achieve a pre-defined goal. The theories of Motivation are broadly classified into two
segments such as content and Process theories.
Content theories:
The primary concern of content theory is to identify the things which are needed to motivate the
individual. It focuses on several things or essentials (Miner, 2015). Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
and Herzberg-two factor theory are some of the assumptions which lie in this segment.
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs: In 1943 Maslow developed this theory. Under this model there
are five major factors which define the needs of an individual. The individuals urge increases
step by step (Robertson, 2016).
Figure 3: Maslow hierarchy theory
(Source: Tutorialspoints.com, 2017)
5

Process theories: the main focus of these theories is identifying the process which is required to
fulfil the desires of individual. Expectancy theory, reinforcement theory etc are included under
these theories (Peters, 2015).
Expectancy theory: Hopes are the main basis of this theory. To get desired outcomes every
individual puts in desired efforts. The following requirements form the basis of this theory:
Figure 4: Theory of motivation
(Source: Tutorialspoints.com, 2017)
Employees and staff members were not treated properly at BBC. They are discriminated on the
basis of gender and pay and they also face issues with the non-hearing of complaints. As a result
the productivity of staff has extremely reduced.
The organization highly needs to implement motivational techniques. Techniques like Maslow’s
theory and expectancy theory are required to be included in the culture of the organization. The
Maslow theory increases the desire of the individual for gaining more and more and also creates
many opportunities for them (Peters, 2015). This will support the individuals to establish their
own goals and make efforts to achieve them and work accordingly.
The sense of putting proper efforts in any activity and then indulging oneself to the desired
outcome of the said activity is developed under Expectancy theory.
6

b)
Human/personnel are the core resources of every organization. The chances of the organization
to achieve its goals and objectives get increased when it has a highly motivated workforce. The
staff of BBC was less motivated and less productive when they were facing specific issues in the
organization (Nisula et al. 2016). As a result, the production of the organization has reduced and
also the organization was unable to align individual’s interest with the objectives of the
organization.
The staff will get motivated; their working skills, productivity, goals, and desires will also get
enhanced with the intervention of motivational techniques. With the help of motivational
techniques, individual would decide their goals and objectives and will also identify the best
method to work and achieve the pre-defined goals. Therefore, it can be concluded that as
compared to less motivated staff, motivated staff will do more good.
7

M2
Getting tired and becoming less productive is the tendency of human behaviour. To motivate the
teams of personnel, it is essential to implement various behavioural theories and models.
Expression of human and change in their working can be brought through motivation. When the
employees of an organization are highly motivated, it becomes easy for an organization to
achieve its goals and objectives (Allen et.al. 2016). The implementation motivational theories
will help in the development of management practices which cares for its staff and also will also
help to develop leadership styles in the organization. The staffs and personnel appreciate such
organizational culture.
8

D1
Various factors implemented in the premises of organization culture, power, politics and
motivational factors determine it. The working of the team and individuals are greatly influenced
by these factors. The culture of the organization represents the relationship between the
organization and its employees. The culture of the organization should be free from gender
discrimination, centralizations of powers and biases (Bolman and Deal, 2017). This will help the
organization to create a comfortable working environment for its employees this will help it to
improve its productivity and efficiency.
However, the process of decision making will get delayed if excessive decentralization is made.
Moreover, it may also result in miscommunication. But if the organization has an active and
responsible devolution, it can form better teams and can successfully achieve its goals and
objectives.
9

Task 3
a)
In order to achieve the pre-defined goals, group of members come together which are known as
teams. The main objective of teams is to improve collaboration in work and increase the
productivity amongst the labourers (Howard et.al. 2016). Along with this the quality of the
product also increases. These teams can be classified into various types as follows:
Functional team: The teams or members who collaborate together on the basis of similarities of
their functions can be termed as the functional teams. The results of such teams are better
productivity and along with the work.
Problem solving team: Such teams are formed specially for resolving a particular issue faced in
an organization of committee.
Virtual team: In order to increase the global reach communication with different member
becomes important for the organization and hence for the purpose virtual teams are formed. The
members mainly collaborate through video calls or Skype talks and formal communication is
done through emails and other systems
Importance of different types of teams:
Teams of every type are formed with a specific kind of objective and benefit the organization.
For example, the famous leading news channel BBC has an issue of consumer redressed and
staff complaints (Warrick, 2016). Here the problem-solving team can be advisable for the
organization for better functioning and satisfaction of employees.
10

b)
The new channel leading in the world, BBC has been facing problems regarding redressed of
employee complaints, and this has led to the deterioration of goodwill and reputation in the
market. To avoid these issues, it is advisable for the firm to establish the social team which will
directly focus on the protection of the human rights of people and the severe staff matters
regarding child abuse will be paid due attention to and necessary steps can be taken. In order to
resolve such issues, due diligence is done by the social team and recommendations are put
forward for addressing such issues. Another group should be established to observe the
participation of employees in the organization and for completing the projects on time.
Tuckman and Jensen’s model of team development:
In 1965, Bruce Tuckman developed a plan showing the five-stage process of team development
which is as follows:
Figure 5: Tuckman model of team development
(Source: LinkedIn, 2012)
Forming: The first stage of establishing a team is when the members meet and discuss their
ideas to see if they are in involvement with others and coordination and cooperation. It is not
11

necessary to define the job roles of the team at this point (Forsyth, 2018). The leader of the group
is to be decided who will play a significant role in team decisions.
Storming: It is essential to put your ideas forward during a discussion even though they may not
be relevant. Everyone in a team is supposed to be on the same page, and that is why it is
necessary to brainstorm with the team members. While keeping in mind the goal of the
organization, the firm has to move ahead and make plans. Also, there can be many differences of
opinions in this stage.
Norming: In this third stage the members of the team resolve their issues and come to a
consensus and try and coordinate with each other gradually reaching a final idea or plan
Performing: After concluding, the team members work to their best efficiency to execute the
program entirely. They all depend on each other building trust and dedication towards each other
(Fiore and Georganta, 2017).
Adjourning: After the work is done the team is interrupted by either completion of the project or
corporate restructuring
12

M3
A team which constitutes with rational and relevant experts along with coordination between
these team members in order to achieve the goals can be called a relevant team. One of the many
theories developed in this regard, the most famous one which is the Belbin theory can be
described as follows:
Belbin theory: In order to simplify the understanding of the theory it has been divided into nine
roles which are further classified into three main groups which are thinking oriented, action
oriented and people oriented.
Thinking oriented: Mainly the roles included here are that concerned with the monitor, plant,
evaluate and specialist for which members develop better ideas and if they are feasible enough
monetary compensation is provided for the same (Bolden, 2016).
Action oriented: The roles included here are for people who can shape the teams in a manner
that is beneficial for the organization and these are the members who work on the project and
complete it (Forsyth, 2018).
People oriented: People who are good at influencing others and are ready to take up such roles
are included in this category. The important processes like decision-making and guiding the firm
towards its goals is done by them
13

Figure 6: team and group development theory
(Source: Leadership.com, 2017)
The benefits of the Belbin theory are:
In order to understand the contribution by each and every member, it is a very important theory.
The individual’s strengths and weaknesses can be analysed and work allocation can be done in
that particular manner (Meslec and Curşeu, 2015). I order to improvise on the organization’s
performance this theory can prove to be very useful.
Benefit to BBC:
The news channel can implement this theory and benefit in various ways like, defining the terms
and conditions of the team and channelling the work into one single objective with the help of
people skills. These teams will create an effective workforce and a motivated and coordinated
environment in the workforce.
14

Task 4
a)
Path-goal theory: To achieve the pre-determined goals and objectives of the organization a
path-goal is necessary which is defined by the path-goal theory. Here the teams work on
establishing a path which leads to the goal which motivates the employees and sets a clear target
to be achieved (Phillips and Phillips, 2016). The deviation from the path is measured and can be
analyzed and corrected.
The theory of determining the path-goal consists of four styles of leadership viz, directive,
supportive, and participative and achievement oriented. Looking at the situation, the required
path is chosen, and the theory is applied further.
Figure 7: Path goal leadership
(Source: Dudovskiy, J., 2013)
Directive: In order to avoid the fumbling and deviation from the right path a particular path is
directed and the team is provided with directions for the same.
Supportive: Even though a path is pre-defined there can be obstacles if the workers are not
coordinated. The supportive path goal theory works with complete coordination and members
and leaders are friendly and supportive in nature
15

Participative: Participation term should never be limited to one single member of the team due
to which the participative path goal theory focuses on the participation of both the workers and
the leaders in order to get a broader perspective and understanding (Goswami et.al. 2014). The
theory considers each and every member of the team to be important.
Achievement oriented: The firm’s end goal and target are set and there can be
misunderstandings regarding the same amongst the members. Hence, in order to avoid the
conflicts, the end power is in the hands of the leader who is always supposed to be achievement
oriented and works in accordance with the same.
Suggestions for improvement in BBC:
In a firm like BBC which is competing with various national and international giants, it is
strange to see that the firm operates on decentralization and it is high time for the firm to start
implementing the path-goal theory, as the leadership styles currently are not suitable for proper
growth. If the firm begins executing the path-goal method, it will lead to a boost in the
enthusiasm of the members and will motivate them to work better, improving the organizational
culture.
16

b)
The massive organization like BBC finds it very hard to maintain their reputation in the market
with the accused allegations of child abuse, inefficient relationships amongst the management
and lack of whistle blowing along with problems of centralization of authority and weak
participation and HR policies. Because of such systems, it is clear that the organizational
practices slow down and the corporate culture is ruined (Cascio, 2018). Because of such issues, it
becomes hard for the employees to focus on the end goal and some of the major problems can be
described as follows:
Ineffective management and employee relationships: To motivate your employees, it is essential
to maintain a mix of formal and informal contact which at BBC the command is not able to
achieve because if excessive centralization of authority.
Lack of whistle blowing policy: Whenever anything wrong happens in an organization, there
are employees who acknowledge that and bring it to the notice of others. However, in the case of
BBC many of the staff complaints have been unheard because of which management is failing to
understand the requirements of the staff.
Lack of motivational concepts: There are no proper teams formed in the BBC’s organization
which leads to fumbling and lack of leadership which means that there is a lack of motivation as
well. In order to change the same leadership styles are required (Brewster, 2017).
Lack of team goals and team productivity: As there is an absence of leadership and motivation,
the formation of teams is improper leading to reduced productivity.
Hence, these and many others are some of the barriers that BBC is currently facing and can
overcome with the proper implementation of theories for avoiding the failure of the organization.
M4
The analysis of teams and the behaviours of individuals while working in groups can be termed
as the organizational behaviour of that individual. No organization can function without the
human element, and that is why it becomes essential to understand the influence of human
behaviour and its changes on the organization.
17

Even though studying such behaviour can be beneficial for the organization there are some
downsides to it as well like reducing accountability, an excessive delegation of authority, team
conflicts, delayed and pending decisions (Certo, 2018). Hence, while implementing the
organizational behaviour, the manager needs to consider both the positive and the negative side
of it. There is a need to assess an individual accurately before hiring him into the organization
and manager is expected to that by an understanding of organizational behaviour.
18

D2
It is a known fact that individuals tend to work better and stay motivated while working in teams
and hence team development theories play a major role in the functioning of the organizational
behaviour. To develop team qualities like leadership, effective performance, etc. are to be
considered (Woodcock, 2017). With the use of Belbin theory and path-goal theories, an effective
and enthusiastic workforce can be created leading to a highly influential workforce. These types
of changes in the working patterns and leadership of the firm leads to a higher participation rate
amongst the employees
19

Conclusion
For the conclusion of the report, it is clear that the organizational behaviour in any firm plays a
significant role regarding understanding the structure of the organization, personnel, and
formation of teams in the organization. Concerning the chosen company, BBC, it is clear that the
centralization of authority is one of the causes of the problems faced by the company. The
number of acquisitions for the inhuman acts undertaken by the firm and politics and cultural
aspects the reputation of the firm is questioned. However, the firm is trying to make the entrance
hall changes in the organization. The report shows that if the concepts of organizational
behaviour like the Handy’s cultural typology, Tuckman and Jensen’s model of team
development, path-goal theory and Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, etc. are to be implemented,
immense learning can be generated and the company can gain the lost goodwill back in no time.
20

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