Influence of Organisational Culture, Power and Politics on Behaviour

This document discusses the influence of organisational culture, power, and politics on individual and team behaviour. It explores different types of organisational cultures, the power dynamics within an organisation, and the role of politics in shaping behaviour. The document also evaluates how content and process theories of motivation enable effective goal achievement in an organisational context. It critically evaluates the application of behavioural motivational theories, concepts, and models to influence the behaviour of others. The relationship between motivation and culture, power, and politics in an organisation is also examined.

Organisational
Behaviour

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................5
TASK 1 ...........................................................................................................................................5
P1 Influence of organisational culture, power and politics on individual and team behaviour. .5
M1 Critical analysis of culture, power and politics on organisational behaviour.......................7
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................8
P2 Evaluate how content and process theories of motivation and motivational techniques
enable effective achievement of goals in an organisational context...........................................8
M2 Critically evaluate how to influence the behaviour of others through the effective
application of behavioural motivational theories, concepts and models.....................................9
D1 Relationship between motivation and culture, power and politics in organisation.............10
TASK 3..........................................................................................................................................10
P3 Effective and ineffective teams............................................................................................10
M3 Use of team development theories for maintaining dynamic cooperation.........................13
TASK 4 .........................................................................................................................................13
P4 Concepts and philosophies of organisational behaviour......................................................13
M4 Philosophies influence on organisational behaviour..........................................................14
D2 Critical analysis of team development theories and philosophies in influencing behaviour
of an organisation......................................................................................................................15
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................15
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................16

INTRODUCTION
Organisational behaviour is a study of performance of an individual and group working
in an organisation. This is a process of analysing and understanding once behaviour according to
their roles, duties and responsibilities in company. Organisational behaviour is a field by which
impacts are being investigated within organisation with the purpose of applying such knowledge
and improving effectiveness of company and achieving better results. Organisations have
different cultures, they holds unique power and have impacts of group politics on its processes
and behaviour. Motivation also has huge importance on the ways in which individuals within an
organisation behave and perform given tasks. For this assignment Barclays plc is chosen, which
is a British multinational bank. Barclays plc was founded in 1690 and headquartered in London,
England(Andriof and et. al., 2017). It provides investing and financial services to its clients, also
it is organized into four core businesses personal banking, corporate banking, wealth
management and investment management. Barclays plc has its primary listing on LSE (London
Stock Exchange), secondary listing on NYSE (New York Stock Exchange). Largest shareholder
of Barclays plc is Qatar Holdings which is an investment vehicle in Qatar. Barclays plc has huge
customer base as it serves in many different countries around the globe, it has number of
branches all over the world and out those most of them are in UK.
TASK 1
P1 Influence of organisational culture, power and politics on individual and team behaviour
Organisational Culture
It works as a guide or path which is given to the members of company by the leaders to
manage the behaviour of employees and other related parties, so that they work efficiently bring
effectiveness to the organisation(Panda and Leepsa, 2017). Culture means the values, customs,
beliefs on which company is working and its objectives are made by keeping them in mind.
Organisational culture reflects its vision and mission statement, norms, systems, language etc.
which are used to influence the behaviour of staff and make them effective enough to reach to its
goals and objectives. Some pf those cultures are:
 Person culture is where every individual and every employee of company are important
in their unique ways. More value is given to staff or manpower rather than any other
resources. Mostly, this culture is seen in those organisations who follow horizontal

structure and have huge value of their people. It also has its difficulties and disadvantages
like sometimes employees start feeling superior and become over confident which leads
company in trouble making it harder to manage them and to sustain efficiently.
 Power culture is another form by which leaders manage the behaviour of employees
working under them. In this culture company only has one or two leaders who take all
decisions on behalf of whole organisation and give instruction to staff(Banerjee, 2017).
Vertical structure is mostly used and appropriate for those companies who practice power
culture.
 Role culture several functional are made by leaders according to particular roles and
responsibilities in relation with the expertise they hold. Different individuals are bundled
in with unique expertise for accomplishing the objectives which are divided into role.
Divisional structure is the most suitable kind of structure for organisations who follow
role culture and work according to it.
Organisational Power
Power is an ability and authority persons holds above others for making them work
according to them for fulfil their objectives. Organisational power is capability present in
structure of company by which managers are able to make employees work according to them
for attaining goals. Some power which are being practised by managers or given to leaders which
helps them to lead and accomplish organisational aims.
 Reward power is the capability leaders have for appreciating personnels according to
different basis. These criteria are predetermined which also help managers to motivate
employees and encourage them to work harder for attaining objective of company. This
power is very effective if used well without any bias by managers. This way employees
feel important and motivate others too for pushing their boundaries and be very effective
and efficient while working(McCann, 2016).
 Legitimate power is delegated to higher level of leaders or it is a ability only top level
management staff has. It is always delegated in official manner with either in written
form through emails or in verbal form like in meetings or in some formal gathering.
 Coercive power has very negative effects on employees and their behaviour because of
the nature of this power, it demotivated them and create destructive attitude amongst

staff. Here, managers gives instructions to personnel and make them do work without
will, which makes them frustrated and they start lacking confidence in themselves.
Organisational Politics
Every company has this feature present in environment and culture, and that is politics. It
has both positive and negative impact on organisations behaviour, depending on its nature and
extent(Sahito and Vaisanen, 2017). Company has different levels in its organisational structure
and on all levels office politics takes place amongst people. This will automatically affect the
behaviour of personnel in a goods and bad way both, depending upon the degree. Politics is
defined by various types which are as follows:
 The weeds is a term which explains that this type of politics grows automatically in
company's environment without any push. It is very dynamic in nature and grows freely
in between personnel, any team members and on all levels.
 The rocks explains that kind of politics which happens in employees who ties knot with
higher level. This politics have positive impacts if stays in limit and do not hinder the
objectives of organisation. Also, it has negative impacts too when it get out of hands of
management and becomes vast(Berry, Broadbent and Otley, 2016).
 The high ground is a functional politics which is developed by using schemes like
incentives and sanction schemes in departments. These schemes keeps company in order
and compliance and politics in this section can be harmful and hindering for company.
M1 Critical analysis of culture, power and politics on organisational behaviour
These three elements has huge impacts on organisational behaviour of companies and
same is with Barclays plc. Culture, power and politics of Barclays plc have both negative and
positive impacts. All three factors will enhance the efficiency of personnel, motivates them and
make them work harder in order to achieve objectives of company. These will directly or
indirectly helps organisation to accomplish its predetermined goals and aims. On the other hand,
if misused by leaders or any other parties it can harm the company, its business operation and
hinder the goals of Barclays plc.

TASK 2
P2 Evaluate how content and process theories of motivation and motivational techniques enable
effective achievement of goals in an organisational context
Content theories of motivation can be grouped into four types namely- Maslow's
hierarchy of needs, Alderfer's ERG theory, Herzberg's dual factors theory and McClelland's
learned needs theory. These theories focus primarily on the internal components that drive
human behaviour.
Considering Maslow's hierarchy of needs theory, it can be portrayed in the form of a
pyramid with the most basic needs at the bottom and the most complex ones on the top. Starting
from bottom, The Psychological needs include the most basic needs like air, water and food.
With these requirements not getting fulfilled, an individual cannot move on to the next levels. IF
individuals are satisfied with their psychological needs then Safety needs appear. Safe and
security needs could be of any types from health safety to financial security to being secure
against accidents and threats(Salas-Vallina, Alegre, and Fernandez, 2017).
When both physiological and safety needs are fulfilled the individual then moves up to
the third level of needs, i.e., Social needs. All humans as well as animals feel the need to be
loved and a sense of belongingness. The size of a group need not necessarily be large, it can also
be a small group. There are many cases where people suffer from loneliness, nervousness isolate
themselves from others because they feel absence of love and being belonged(Burrell and
Morgan, 2019).
Moving forward, Maslow has briefly classified Esteem needs into two categories-
esteem for own self and people aspiring for respect from others. Esteem refers to being
respected, valued and admired by fellow people. The last and the final level of needs is Self
Actualization considers an individual's aspiration to grow to one's fell capability. People like
choosing between opportunities, challenging and innovative duties and jobs.
With each level of needs getting satisfied, the person moves on to the next level to satisfy
those needs. Maslow's hierarchy of needs serves as the basis for for all the theories that try to
explain job satisfaction of an individual. Maslow gave special importance to the last and final
level, i.e, self-actualization which is the process of the overall growth and development of a
person in order to enable to be potential enough.

Process Theories in turn attempt to describe why behaviours of any kind are initiated by
humans. There are four types of process theories- Skinner's reinforcement theory, Vroom's
expectancy theory, Adam's equity theory and Locke's goal setting theory.
Adam's equity theory states that people feel motivated when they are treated evenly and
receive what they feel is fair for the efforts they have put in getting a task done. Employees in
any organization give inputs like experience, education, energy and in turn expect some output.
It can either be in the form of rewards, salary etc. in fair and equal amount. This theory can be
applied at workplaces and at schools as well(Chumg and et. al., 2016). For example- when two
employees performing same task are marked differently, the employee who is marked low will
in turn may lose motivation to work. The worker may then reduce inputs and quality of work
they do.
The drawback of this theory is that it does not consider the differences among individuals
with respect to their needs, personalities and values. This theory explains that employees put in
the efforts after carefully evaluating the amount of output that they will receive. The more
recognition and rewards that they receive, more efforts are put in by them resulting in greater job
satisfaction. There are various factors that influence the employees' job satisfaction as well as
levels of their being absent and staff turnover. It has been observed that employees compare their
inputs and outputs with other employees and if they find them to be unequal then this results in a
loss of motivation and dissatisfaction.
Financial institutions like Barclays plc pay attention on developing their employees and
making them feel they are part of an important project. In turn, people who feel the sense of
belongingness do their work with a positive mindset and are less likely to change their current
jobs. The company follows different steps in order to retain its employees and help them grow.
Barclays plc hosts quarterly meetings for its employees wherein updated goals and objectives are
explained and rewards the employees who are recognized for their work. The company also
conducts regular surveys evaluating the performances of the employees and involves them while
making decisions(Salt, 2018).
M2 Critically evaluate how to influence the behaviour of others through the effective application
of behavioural motivational theories, concepts and models
Providing different kinds of benefits to the employees can help them stay motivated and
put in real efforts to their tasks in order to achieve maximum outputs and parallelly grow and

develop to their full potential. The employees' desire to be recognized and rewarded should be
considered in order to help them feel motivated. Also, treating all employees equally and fairly is
a concept that companies should take up in order to reduce their staff turnover and low
productivity(Stewart and Klein, 2016). Good wages, sense of job security and appreciation are
some factors that work towards building employees' motivation and helping them grow. The
structure of an organization can one a factor responsible for having an impact the ways in which
employees in a company interact with each other which in turn impacts how do they perform and
work towards achieving the goals and objectives of the company.
D1 Relationship between motivation and culture, power and politics in organisation
Motivation is a tool or technique which is used by leaders to encourage employees by
understanding their needs and fulfilling them so that they work effectively. Motivation is
connected with the culture, power and politics situated in structure of Barclays plc. All three
factors are helpful for managers to make their strategies and motivate their subordinates. If
employees feel important and culture of company is suitable, they will be very comfortable
which motivates them be with entity and perform better. On top of that, managers rewarding
power and its criteria will enable personnel to be very particular with their word and enhance
their performance. This is another way of motivating them in an effective manner and bring their
full potential and expertise out while they are working(Davies and et. al., 2018).
TASK 3
P3 Effective and ineffective teams
Team
It's bundle of personnel which are brought together for achieving particular task or job in
an organisation. Once these teams are made and tasks are assigned to by their leaders, after that it
is evaluated that if team is effective or not. This analysis is done on the basis of the performance
of the whole team and the level of achievements gained.
Effective Team
A team is called effective and efficient when all the assigned jobs are completed on time
with utmost satisfaction and with highest or satisfactory level of objectives attained. Effective
teams has some kind of qualities or characteristic which helps them to become an impressive

units. Some of those features are proper communication, positive attitude of members and
healthy competitive spirit in teams environment.
Ineffective Team
Inefficiency of teams are seen by inability of that unit of attaining their given task or
completing them beyond time when it holds a very little or actually no importance. This is when
a team is declared inefficient and it fails as one unit. Many reasons are there behind teams
becoming ineffective and failing like less clarity of jobs.
Difference between effective and ineffective teams
Basis Effective Team Ineffective Team
Communication In teams who are effective and
efficient enough, proper
communication takes place. Team
members are very much open with
one another and communicate
properly about everything, their
issues, any opinions and included in
decision-making(Dominici, Yolles
and Caputo, 2017).
On the contrary, teams members
sometimes are not very cooperative
and comfortable with each other.
This result in low communication
and development of conflicts in
team personnel, which makes it
difficult for proper communication
to take place in teams.
Participative Effective unit employees are always
very participative and ready to take
new challenging jobs. This attitude of
members makes their team strong and
help in developing new skills making
them more efficient day by day.
Ineffective units are non
participative and least interested in
learning new things or grabbing
new opportunities(Tomlinson and
Holmes, 2016). Members are so
demotivated and develop negative
attitude which result in their
inefficiency and inabilities to
perform their jobs on time.
Tuckman's Five Stage Team development theory

Researcher Bruce Tuckman first came up with team development theory in 1965 which
had four stages Forming, Storming, Norming and Performing. After that in 1970's, Bruce
Tuckman added one more stage which was addressed as Adjourning. All these phases are
essential and inescapable for developing plus growing effective teams and attaining
organisational objectives.
 Forming is the foremost and initial stage where teams are being formed, personnels are
brought together for performing particular job and attaining aims behind forming a team.
At this phase things are very difficult for teams members, they don't know one another,
have no clarity of their duties and roles, lacks trust and communication skills or channels.
All these features makes it very complicated for employees to survive and be effective.
Leaders of Barclays plc role on this phase is to make people comfortable and put efforts
for making their subordinates understand each other and their roles(Evans and Tourish,
2017).
 Storming is next phase where some competitive spirit start developing in minds and
attitude of member. They are still unclear about their tasks and aims of their teams, still
lack proper communication channels as they are not comfortable enough with one
another. This is the stage where most teams fails and disperse as they couldn't survive it
but those units which cross this phase then walks towards success with efficiency.
 Norming stage is better from above two stages members start understanding each other,
get comfortable, now have clarity about their common goals and work for it together.
Barclays plc team managers now start involving there subordinates into decision-making
and discuss first with them and ask for their opinion before any taking decision. This is
the phase where employee will develop good relationships and healthy competitive spirits
are generated. Members do not compete amongst each other they develop competitive
attitude with other teams present in organisation and working on same levels or even
higher(Waterson, 2018).
 Performing phase comes after lot of understanding and adjustments people do for
making their team effective and efficient. At this stage managers of Barclays plc just
have one job assigning job roles and duties to there subordinates. Employees are clear
about aim of team and they are motivated enough for performing their tasks in
accordance with the team for attaining common goals.

 Adjourning is the last stage but only for those teams who are made for short period.
Teams are made either for permanent or temporary duration with relation to their aims
and objectives. Those units who are formed for shorter period has to go through this
phase. Barclays plc managers role on this phase is to appreciate their subordinates and
praise them for their performance.
M3 Use of team development theories for maintaining dynamic cooperation
Team developing theory which is discussed in above section is Tuckman five stage team
development theory which includes various steps for making a team effective and attain all its
objectives. This theory also helps managers of Barclays plc in building cooperative environment
in structure of company and maintain it. As team members known one another, build good
relations and are comfortable they will maintain this relationship in future too. This will bring
cooperation in organisation and make its easy for leaders to work(Holland, 2016).
TASK 4
P4 Concepts and philosophies of organisational behaviour
Organisational behaviour is not just a study of individual but also of an entire
organisation which enables the leaders to form their strategies and plans accordingly and for
better outcomes(Yuen and et. al., 2017). Purpose behind studying organisational behaviour is to
understand it properly for making effective goals and objectives. Leaders chose different
leadership styles and methods to do so and to analysis the environment and nature of their
company. It is suggested to Barclays plc leaders to use path goal theory.
Path Goal Theory
It is a unique leadership style which manager of Barclays plc can use to motivate their
subordinates and to achieve given objects and goals. Path goal theory is inspired by Martin G.
Evans study and it is the best model by which leaders can behave in specific manner and get
effective results. This model is made up of four unique leadership styles out which managers can
select and bring productivity in organisation. Those four styles are as follows:
 The directive path of leadership states that the leaders knows what needs to be done,
how they want it to be executed and when they want it to be completed. They give clear
instructions or guidelines to their subordinates about what they need to do and how they
have to perform it. Supervisory activities are conducted by managers to monitor that all

the work is being done properly or not. Barclays plc's managers can use this leadership
styles when any new employees joins the company and they are not skilled enough, also
they can use it existing employees but when they are being appointed for some new work
which is not their expertise.
 The achievement style of leadership is chosen by those leaders believes in their
employees and trust their capabilities. Managers through challenging situations on their
employees with unique goals and expects them to achieve them with their expertise and
sometimes by pushing their boundaries. This way staff gets to learn new things, develops
better skills and become more productive in their work. This way managers encourage
their personnel and indirectly made them learn how to face challenging situations in very
less time and with proper ways(Kitchin, 2017). All these advantages of this leadership
style helps leader attain there aims and get success.
 The participative leadership approach is for those leaders who believes in taking
opinion of their employees while taking any decisions. Personnels are very important for
those leaders who chooses to take participative approach for leading and managing. They
take open suggestions, discuss things with staff and ask for their opinions in decision-
making process. This leadership style will also help in motivating employees as they feel
important and recognized by their superiors which makes them more effective and
efficient. This leadership style can be used by Barclays plc leaders to manage and define
a cooperative and open behaviour.
 The supportive leadership style refers to those leaders who are attentive and pays their
full attention to their employees. They take friendly approach and behave in very
supportive manner with staff for staying close to them understanding them properly. This
way Barclays plc leaders can motivate and encourage personnel for effective
performance and for working hard in order to attain organisational objectives. This
leadership style also create good communication flow in company's environment by
which employees can openly discuss anything with their leaders and resolves lot of
conflicts and problems they are facing.
M4 Philosophies influence on organisational behaviour
Different philosophies have their unique impacts on organisational behaviour, these can
be negative and positive. Some of the positive impacts are Barclays plc leaders when selects any

leadership style will do it according to the situation at the moment. This way they can bring
synergy in organisation, helps in bringing cooperation in structure and motivate staff. All these
result in better performance of subordinates, brings productivity and keeps employees satisfied
and motivated fulfilling their needs. Ultimately all this will help organisation in enhancing their
operations and ways they work bringing more profits to it and attaining predetermined goals of
company. These philosophies can also impact negatively if not practised in an effective manner
making everything opposite and leading towards losses and demotivation(Knights and Willmott,
2016).
D2 Critical analysis of team development theories and philosophies in influencing behaviour of
an organisation
Path goal theory of leadership and Tuckman's five stage team development theory has
different elements. Those factors describes various stages of developing an effective team and
selecting best leadership styles for managing those teams. Proper implementation of leadership
styles by Barclays leaders and use of effective team process will bring better results to company.
They help in achieving goals, increase expertise of employees, create cooperative atmosphere
and motivate staff for better performance and working hard. Some disadvantages of these styles
and processes are if not practised properly it can lead to demotivation of employees and also they
restrict leaders to some specific boundaries. This leads to waste of managers unique expertise
and stop new ideas to lead to organisation.
CONCLUSION
Organizational Behaviour is referred to applying one's knowledge about how people and
groups impact the overall behaviour in an organization in turn to reach and achieve high
performances and productivity. There are various theories and models designed for the
continuous improvement and enabling the employees to be more productive. Different
organizations use different methods that in turn have impact on the overall output of the firm.
The companies should have a culture focussed on creating opportunities for their employees,
customers and suppliers to rise which as a result regulates the organization to rise. Also, the
company should be well recognized globally and is diversified in its business as well as
geographically.

REFERENCES
Books and Journal
Andriof, J., and et. al., 2017. Unfolding stakeholder thinking: Theory, responsibility and
engagement. Routledge.
Banerjee, S. B., 2017. Corporate environmentalism and the greening of strategic marketing:
Implications for marketing theory and practice. In Greener Marketing (pp. 16-40).
Routledge.
Berry, A. J., Broadbent, J. and Otley, D. T. eds., 2016. Management control: theories, issues and
practices. Macmillan International Higher Education.
Burrell, G. and Morgan, G., 2019. Sociological paradigms and organisational analysis:
Elements of the sociology of corporate life. Routledge.
Chumg, H. F and et. al., 2016. Factors affecting employees' knowledge-sharing behaviour in the
virtual organisation from the perspectives of well-being and organisational
behaviour. Computers in Human Behavior. 64. pp.432-448.
Davies, G and et. al., 2018. Brand personality: theory and dimensionality. Journal of Product &
Brand Management. 27(2). pp.115-127.
Dominici, G., Yolles, M. and Caputo, F., 2017. Decoding the dynamics of value cocreation in
consumer tribes: An agency theory approach. Cybernetics and Systems. 48(2). pp.84-
101.
Evans, S. and Tourish, D., 2017. Agency theory and performance appraisal: How bad theory
damages learning and contributes to bad management practice. Management
Learning. 48(3). pp.271-291.
Holland, J., 2016. A behavioural theory of the fund management firm. The European Journal of
Finance. 22(11). pp.1004-1039.
Kitchin, D., 2017. An introduction to organisational behaviour for managers and engineers: A
group and multicultural approach. Routledge.
Knights, D. and Willmott, H. eds., 2016. Labour process theory. Springer.
McCann, P., 2016. Location theory. In Theories of Local Economic Development (pp. 149-166).
Routledge.
Panda, B. and Leepsa, N. M., 2017. Agency theory: Review of theory and evidence on problems
and perspectives. Indian Journal of Corporate Governance. 10(1). pp.74-95.
Sahito, Z. and Vaisanen, P., 2017. The Diagonal Model of Job Satisfaction and Motivation:
Extracted from the Logical Comparison of Content and Process Theories. International
Journal of Higher Education. 6(3). pp.209-230.
Salas-Vallina, A., Alegre, J. and Fernandez, R., 2017. Happiness at work and organisational
citizenship behaviour: is organisational learning a missing link?. International Journal
of Manpower. 38(3). pp.470-488.
Salt, J., 2018. Organisational labour migration: theory and practice in the United Kingdom.
In Labour migration (pp. 53-69). Routledge.
Stewart, D. and Klein, S., 2016. The use of theory in research. International journal of clinical
pharmacy. 38(3). pp.615-619.
Tomlinson, M. and Holmes, L. eds., 2016. Graduate Employability in Context: Theory, Research
and Debate. Springer.
Waterson, P. ed., 2018. Patient safety culture: theory, methods and application. CRC Press.

Yuen, K. F. and et. al., 2017. Antecedents and outcomes of sustainable shipping practices: The
integration of stakeholder and behavioural theories. Transportation Research Part E:
Logistics and Transportation Review. 108. pp.18-35.