Impact of Organisational Culture, Politics and Power on Team and Individual Behaviour

This article discusses the impact of organisational culture, politics and power on team and individual behaviour. It explores the significance of motivation for individuals and teams to achieve business objectives. The article also evaluates the role of cooperation for effective teamwork and business processes.

UNIT 12
Organisational Behaviour
TABLE OF CONTENT
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
LO1..................................................................................................................................................3
Impact of organisational culture, politics and power on team and individual behaviour............3
LO 2.................................................................................................................................................5
Motivational theories and techniques used by A. David & Co limited.......................................5
LO 3.................................................................................................................................................9
Cooperation and difference between effective and ineffective teams.........................................9
LO 4...............................................................................................................................................11
Concepts and philosophies of organisational behaviour...........................................................11

CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................13
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................14

INTRODUCTION
Organisational behaviour is known as the study of approaches or methods in which
people interact with each other in groups specifically in organizations. The study holds great
importance because the behavioral analysis of company helps business to improve its
performance. Organisational behaviour theory also enhances the job satisfaction among
employees and promotes innovations and leadership in business activities. It is directly
associated with the production, understanding and controlling of human behaviour (Block and
Block, 2014).
The report will analyses the impact of culture, politics and power on behavioral
characteristics of organisational human resources. It will also discuss the significance of
motivation for individuals and teams to achieve business objectives. The evidence explores the
concepts of organisational behaviour by using the case study of A David & Co Limited. It
belongs to food and beverage sector and operates in UK. The turnover of firm in 10-20 million
Euros. The organisation deals with distribution and production of fresh fruits and vegetables,
bakery products, exotic and instant foods to different hotels, restaurants, caterers and nursing
homes. The report will evaluate the role of cooperation for effective team work and business
processes.
LO1
Impact of organisational culture, politics and power on team and individual behaviour
Organisational culture reflects the characteristic features of an organisation and can be
considered as the sum of its traditions, beliefs and attitudes. It also describes the mechanism of
organisational procedures and how team interacts with each other. Thus, organisational
behaviour has significant impact on the performance of its employees. It drives the skilled
human resources and manages employee satisfaction. The attributes like culture, politics as well
as power level affects the performance at both individual level as well as team level (The
Significance of Organizational Culture, 2018).
Handy model contains four type of culture

Power – it refers to power culture where only certain people in organization is having power to
take decisions. This affects highly on organizational culture as well as employee’s
Task- in this culture is based on task. It is based on functions. Task are allotted by determining
skills, abilities, etc. of employees.
Role – in this organizational culture is based on roles. They are highly controlled as it is assigned
in according to skills and abilities. In this everyone knows what are their roles and
responsibilities and perform task accordingly.
Person – An organization with a person culture is really just a collection of individuals who
happen to be working for the same organization.
Impact on individual performance and behaviour:
For achieving the business goals appropriate interaction and coordination is an essential
aspect. The decisions can be made effectively by communicating with each other and by
analyzing the future consequences of the decisions. When A. David & Co limited will have
coordinative culture then all employees will focus on their individual performance, but they will
keep their personal development goals in alignment with the business goals. On the other hand, if
A. David & Co limited will have competitive or creative organisational culture then all
individual resources of company will aim to give their best performance so that they can lead
ahead of other competitive employees.
If company’s culture will not appreciate innovations and hard work then employees may
not feel encouraged to perform their job roles with dedication because they will not be able to
connect with company emotionally (Miner, 2015). For example, if company’s culture will
neglect the choices of its employees then employees of A. David & Co limited will also think
that they are not required to bring extra effort for improving customer services because it is not
their organisation. Along with the culture the power and politics also have influence on the
performance of individuals. The individuals with higher power and authority are more focused
and motivated for achieving business goals. The responsibilities which are given to them with
power serve as the motivation or driving forces.

The politics within culture of A. David & Co limited can also affect the psychological
status and the concentration ability of individuals. For example, if company allows the bullying
of new joined employees and is extremely strict towards employees for its policies then it will
surely create a fear and discomfort among individuals. They will always be afraid, and this will
affect their work efficiency. Such type of organisational culture at A. David & Co limited will
lead employees to directly quit from the job or deliver poor quality of services. If experienced
authorities of A. David & Co limited will suppress and ignore the interests of other individuals
and does not implement policies for the benefits of employees, then they will never consider the
organisation as their priority.
Impact on performance efficiency and behaviour of team:
Organisational functions of A. David & Co limited such as strategy formulations,
decision making, and monitoring are not possible without effective team work. The company
culture and power affect the effectiveness of these team efforts (Luthans, Luthans and Luthans,
2015). For bringing desired outputs the team leader must ensure the controlled culture within
organisation. If company culture will not be strict and controlled, then it is possible that teams
may lack accountability and responsibility. Thus, it will not only reduce the team efficiency but
will also prohibit the organisation to achieve its long-term goals.
The team leaders have more power and authority as compare to other team members. It
helps them to explore new opportunities which can be beneficial for the performance of
company. On the other hand, if team leaders of A. David & Co limited are not supportive and are
dominating then other team members may not cooperate with the leader and it will become
difficult for the company to achieve its goals. The team work can deliver effective outputs only if
all members have unity and work for the common objectives (Argyris, 2017). If the policies of
A. David & Co limited do not give preference to the interest and opinions of other team members
then it is possible that they may feel neglected and company may lose talented and skilled human
resources.
The appreciation and rewards from the leaders can inspire the other team members to
deliver more qualitative services. It will be beneficial for welfare of company as well as for the
personal growth and development of teams. A. David & Co limited must make attempts to

establish communication between team members so that members can know each other as well
as the needs of company. The interaction is useful because it will make easy for the team
members to execute their operational tasks with more efficiency and accuracy. It will also
increase the problem solving skills among team members. The healthy communication culture in
company will allow team members to discuss and debate with each other so that more innovative
ideas and risks can be analyzed (Pinder, 2014).
Thus, effective organisational culture is important for A. David & Co limited to retain
talented skills for long term and to outperform its other competitors financially.
LO 2
Motivational theories and techniques used by A. David & Co limited
Maslow’s hierarchy and motivational theory:
According to Maslow the needs of human resources can be represented as a hierarchy of
five levels. The lowest level must be satisfied at first so that further levels or needs can be
satisfied. A. David & Co limited follows the below mentioned needs of Maslow’s hierarchy to
motivate their stakeholders.
Physiological needs: The basis survival needs such as stable employment, salary and recognition
are the key needs which must be fulfilled. The company ensures that all its employees are given
suitable financial benefits so that they can be retained and performs well.
Security needs: The organisational culture of A. David & Co limited provides emotional and
physical support to its employees. The company ensures that all necessary services are present
within company so that employees do not face any difficulty in achieving their business tasks
(Pettigrew, 2014). The strict policies against discrimination, equal growth opportunities to all
and fair work practices motivate employees to perform their job roles with honesty and
efficiency.
Belongingness needs: The emotional relations and factors also motivate employees to provide
their best support to organisation. For example, A. David & Co limited organizes corporate
events so that its employees can know each other. The emotional attachment with fellow workers

can reduce absentees from the organisation. It will also increase the problem-solving skills and
innovations in the work practices (Wagner III and Hollenbeck, 2014). The higher brand value
and good social image of company also motivates customers and employees to retain their long-
term professional relations with A. David & Co limited.
Figure 1: Maslow's hierarchy of motivation
(Maslow’s Amazing Hierarchy of Needs, 2017)
Esteem needs: Recognition is one of the factors which create dissatisfaction among employees.
When working in a team it is one of the common issues that individuals may feel that their
efforts are not recognized and appreciated. This creates dissatisfaction and their performance is
adversely affected. A. David & Co limited ensures that each team member can appraisal for his
or her job role. The company tries to involve individuals into prestigious job tasks by fair means
and equal opportunities so that individuals always maintain high level of performance in their
practices.

Self-actualization needs: The challenging tasks or workplace autonomy can also affect the
decisions and performance of the employees and team work.
The inexperienced employees usually focus on their security and psychological needs and will be
motivated to work with productivity only if these needs are fulfilled (Greenberg, 2014). Once the
low-level needs are satisfied the team members may seek that their higher level needs must be
followed. A. David & Co limited uses approaches like cross training, special assignment and job
enrichments to satisfy the higher-level needs of its employees.
Motivation can be defined as the driving force to persuade people to perform certain
actions. The motivation can either be in the form of willingness, choices or it can be in the form
of physical evidences like rewards or benefits. Highly skilled human resources are vital assets for
the company. A. David & Co limited makes every attempt to retain such high skilled employees
by the means of motivational techniques. The motivation from the recognized authorities also
encourages individuals to continuously improve their performance. It also inspires others to
explore innovative and more efficient approaches for improving their skills and work-related
efficiencies (Wilson, 2018). A. David & Co limited use different motivational techniques to
provide motivation to its employees as well as other stakeholders.
The appreciation of employees in front of other members of company is one of the best
ways to motivate them and to give a token of thanks to them for their valuable efforts in success
of company. The appraisal in front of fellow team members gives confidence and inspiration to
achieve more efficiency levels in future. This is also beneficial for the growth of company. It
gives another advantage to company by retaining skilled employees for long term and thus it can
overcome its competitors with the help of skilled resources. The motivation and growth
opportunities will also attract new investments and talented pool. A. David & Co limited also use
financial benefits like salary increments or promotion to motivate their employees.
When employees observe the high perks and salary advantages to a certain designation,
they always try to perform well so that they can be promoted to higher designation. Along with
the employee’s customers and investors are also key stakeholders of the company which needs to
be motivated for sustaining growth of company. The organisation use various discount offers,
attractive websites and brand value to attract the customers (Bolman and Deal, 2017). The

attractive prices and offers regularly motivate the consumers to retain long term relation with A.
David & Co limited. The higher brand value and market share also serve as the key motivational
factor which can increase the profits and sales of organisation. When investors and customers
receive great appraisals and performance levels of company then they are highly inspired to
connect with the company. The motivational model of A. David & Co limited is based on the
need theory of Maslow’s Hierarchy.
LO 3
Cooperation and difference between effective and ineffective teams
Being a food and beverage industry, it is very essential for A. David & Co limited that its
various teams are in coordination with each other so that no functional discrepancies occur.
Team work can bring effective results only if its members work together as a single unit and
keep their common goals prior to their personal differences or interests. The company can bring
team effectiveness by establishing high standards of collaboration and cooperation between its
team members. The company ensures that all team members have same goals and objectives so
that each of the participants is focused on the shared goals instead of engaging in their own
diverse goals (Carlton and Perloff, 2015).
The team leaders in A. David & Co limited ensures that regular meeting and training
sessions are conducted so that team members can share their experiences and issues with the
team leaders. It will also help them to have clear guidelines regarding their roles and
responsibilities within teamwork. The communication with the team members will enhance the
transparency and team conflicts will be reduced. The tendency of team members to keep their
personal development goals above organisational objectives is the key reason which results in
ineffective teams. In order to enhance the team effectiveness A. David & Co limited makes team
work as the part of its organisational culture. The team leaders must share a emotional
connectivity with the other team members so that they can put their ideas and issues clearly.
The teams with ineffective leaderships usually do not include a transparency between
sharing and communication which is the main cause for the failure of their strategies. The
company also ensures that all necessary resources are available to team members so that they can

communicate with each other without any obstacles (Miner, 2015). For example, A. David & Co
limited can assure effective teams only if they will cooperate with each other otherwise they will
not meet their functional goals. The different teams at organisation works different tasks for
stakeholders like customers or distributors. If there will be no proper communication tools like
mails or video conferences, then teams will not be able to communicate with others and thus it
will cause delay in task execution or decision making.
Similarly, with advance technologies various online platforms are available which allows
organisation to communicate with various teams. A. David & Co limited also organizes training
sessions to increase the effectiveness of teams. The teams can cooperate with each other only if
they are able to communicate or to share their opinions. The company uses training sessions
which teaches employees to develop communication, confidence and team work skills. The
company also encouraged the events which develops the personal or emotional attachment
between team members (Block and Block, 2014). The social and cultural events sponsored by
organisation provide an opportunity to team members to understand the personal likes and
dislikes of other members. The teams can be known as effective only if each of the team
members has clear goals and guidelines of each one’s responsibility.
The key attribute used by A. David & Co limited to distinguish its team performance
from ineffective teams is that its team leaders review the performance and talent of individuals as
well. Though common goals are necessary for the success of organisation but if individual team
members are not appreciated for their effort then they may find it useless to work as a team and
soon teams can be turned into ineffective teams. For dealing with such situation A. David & Co
limited evaluate the performance of each team member. It encourages e every member to play
their best part in the team.
Conflicts are the integral component of team work approach and must be resolved at
initial levels only so that they do not affect the overall performance of business. Ineffective team
leaders are always engaged in evaluating the final output without considering the internal team
conflicts or personal evaluation of team members (Greenberg, 2014). It always creates barriers in
achieving long term goals and is harmful for the organisational culture. The organisational
culture of A. David & Co limited also ensures that all team members have equal participation in
decision making and discussions.

The team results can be effective only if all members actively take part in the discussions
and planning. If leaders will not communicate properly and will inform only final strategy to
members without explaining the rationale or future impact, then it will not make team members
to efficiently deliver their job roles. Feedbacks can be considered as the effective measure to
evaluate the team performance. A. David & Co limited receives regular feedbacks from team
members so that teams can be made more effective and more productive results can be delivered.
Tuckman theory –
Forming – in this first stage team members met for first time. some know about project while
others are not aware. Also, roles and responsibilities assigned are not clear.
Storming – here, team members starts to introduce with each other. The roles and
responsibilities are assigned to them and task are done. Sometimes, in this stage conflicts occur
that impact on their performance
Norming – in this conflict occurred above are resolved. The leader takes initiative to resolve
their queries. Moreover, members start respecting each other and help them to complete their
task.
Performing – it is a stage where members put more efforts to attain team goals. they follow
either structure or work in creative way to achieve target. The people who join or leave team
does not affect performance of team.
Adjourning – This is last stage in which team formed splits. This is because some team only
exist for fixed time period. The members who are having strong relations with other find it
difficult to work with others.
LO 4
Concepts and philosophies of organisational behaviour
A. David & Co limited d implements following concepts of organisational behaviour.
Nature of human resources:

 There are number of factors which can affect the behaviour of individuals within
organisation. Every individual has its own set of skills and personality. The managers
must not be biased towards them. The biasing can cause extreme changes in behaviour of
an individual in both positive and negative manner.
 Each team members have own perspective and ideology. The team members must respect
and accept these diversities. It will help them to work together as a team despite of
cultural and behaviour differences (Miner, 2015).
 Everyone has pros and cons. Thus when A. David & Co limited recruits any individual
the person is recruited. Along with the skills the emotional attributes are also carried by
the person. Thus, it is important for the company to satisfy those emotional needs as well.
The people will be comfortable and can provide quality services only if they are
comfortable and satisfied within organisation.
 The motivation is also one of the most influencing factors which regulate the behaviour
and culture within organisation. The motivation though financial benefits and other
motivational techniques used by A. David & Co limited as discussed above can change
the behavioural aspects of the individuals. The motivation can also take negative
infrastructure. For example, when company gives disciplinary warnings to any team
members then it gives motivation to all other members of team as well so that they can
change their behaviour according to organisational culture.
 It is important for employees that their skills are appreciated by company. This gives
them inspiration to discover new opportunities which leads to the development of both
individual and organisation (Thompson, 2017).
Nature of organisation:
The key objective of A. David & Co limited is to establish itself as leading food supplier and to
increase its turnover and market share. However, there are various factors which can affect the
organisation nature. The concepts of organisational behaviour analyses these factors.
 David & Co limited has its interaction with different social groups. The company
interacts with its customers from diverse groups such as restaurants, schools, nursing
clinics and hotels. The company also has social system with its employees. The
interaction with these social systems is affected by various components like formal and

informal. For example, when any project of A. David & Co limited is succeed then
company and participating organizations can have an informal get together. Similarly the
birthday parties or festival celebrations within company can also increase the social
connectivity among employees.
 Organisation and employees must have mutual understanding with each other. The
success of company depends upon the hard work and skills of its human resources (De
Board, 2014). The company can meet its objectives only if it will have highly talented
human resources. On the other hand, the skilled employees will join A. David & Co
limited only if company will provide an attractive organisational culture for work along
with their expected financial and growth benefits. Thus, organisation must communicate
with its employees so that they both can understand the expectations and needs of each
other.
 The ethical behavioral practices are not only essential for success of company but also for
ensuring that business goals and procedures of company are fulfilled with maximum
efficiency. For example, the discrimination or bullying can affect the organisational
culture adversely thus company can conduct training sessions or can make strict laws to
avoid such situations.
Philosophy of A. David & Co limited: The philosophy concept in the organisational behavior of
company is the attributes which reflects the character of company. It describes the working
approach and distinctive source of organisation. It ensures that company can achieve its
objectives by sustaining and defining a suitable structure for working mechanism (Armstrong,
2018). The behaviour of leaders and team members strictly affect the growth of the organization
and its performance evaluation in comparison to its other competitive organizations.
Path goal theory – there are four styles in this which is as follows :-
Directive path – here, leader knows what is expected from employee. They direct them to
perform task. It is most effective theory applied by leader.
Achievement – in this leader sets challenging goals for employees. They motivate them to
complete task. Also, leader help in meeting their expectation.

Participative- as name suggest leader allows employees to participate in decision making
process. In this way they develop strong relation with them.
Supportive – the leader is highly concerned towards employee expectation. They support
employees in critical situations.
In present case, A. David & Co limited is facing problem in their culture. They are
having power culture that is creating poor impact on employee performance. Hence, productivity
is reduced resulting in conflicts. Thus, for this Maslow theory can be followed. It will help in
encouraging employees to put more efforts to fulfil their needs. Also, it will enable in improving
culture within organization. The company can evaluate performance of employees and then fulfil
their esteem needs.
CONCLUSION
From the report it can be concluded that organisational culture significantly affects the
performance of individuals. The leadership and motivational theories also influence the
productivity of business outputs. It is difficult for the organizations to achieve their business
goals without cooperation between team members. The report has explained the role of culture
and power on the performance and efficiency criteria of human resources. It has also explained
various motivational theories and techniques which are used by the business groups to encourage
their team members for providing quality services.
The study has also described the importance of coordination in team work and
organizations can improve it. The nature of organisational culture can cause organisation to new
levels of success or it can completely damage the brand value of performance of company if not
managed and maintained properly. The document has also discussed various philosophies of
organisational behaviour so that organisational and individual development goals can be
achieved.

REFERENCES
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EvidenceBased Approach. IAP.
Argyris, C., 2017. Integrating the Individual and the Organization. Routledge.
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university press.
Bolman, L.G. and Deal, T.E., 2017. Reframing organizations: Artistry, choice, and leadership.
John Wiley & Sons.
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advantage. Routledge.
Greenberg, J., 2014. Behavior in Organizations: Global Edition. Pearson Higher Ed.
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Armstrong, D., 2018. Organization in the mind: Psychoanalysis, group relations and
organizational consultancy. Routledge.
De Board, R., 2014. The psychoanalysis of organizations: A psychoanalytic approach to
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Thompson, J.D., 2017. Organizations in action: Social science bases of administrative theory.
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Online
Maslow’s Amazing Hierarchy of Needs, 2017 Online] Accessed through <
https://www.unicaf.org/maslows-amazing-hierarchy-of-needs/>
The Significance of Organizational Culture, 2018 [Online] Accessed through <
https://www.knowledge-management-tools.net/organizational-culture.php>