Influence of Culture, Politics, and Power on Organizational Behavior

This document discusses the influence of culture, politics, and power on the behavior of businesses. It explores the importance of a strong internal environment and the role of culture in achieving competitive advantage. It also covers motivational strategies, effective team building, and different philosophies of organizational behavior.

UNIT 12:
ORGANISATIONAL
BEHAVIOUR

TABLE OF CONTENT
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
LO 1.................................................................................................................................................3
P 1 Influence of culture, politics and power on behaviour of businesses....................................3
LO 2.................................................................................................................................................6
P 2 Motivate Individuals..............................................................................................................6
LO 3.................................................................................................................................................8
P 3 Effective team as opposed to an ineffective team.................................................................8
LO 4...............................................................................................................................................11
P 4 Philosophies of organizations behaviour.............................................................................11
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................13
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................14

INTRODUCTION
To have better performance in the organization there has to be a detail study on the
individuals and groups of the business. In present it is very important for the companies to have a
strong performance level because the demands of the customers are increasing and so is the
competition in the market for which there have to be right measures which will have to be
picked.
Marks and Spencer have been in the market from 1884 which is almost 136 years and
that makes the company gather a lot of experience in the market which is very useful for a long
run. There are 80,000 employees working in the organization and the organization is having its
headquarters in London, United Kingdom. This is a private company and the founders of this
organization are Michael Marks and Thomas Spencer. There is total 1463 location worldwide
where the company has been able to expand themselves successfully.
The report consists of the cultural, power and politics on the performance and behaviour
of the organization in the market so that the profit margins can increase. It is very important for
the employees to be motivated and have the objectives and goals in front of them so that there is
a better functioning and operations in the business.
LO 1
P 1 Influence of culture, politics and power on behaviour of businesses
To have an effective team in the organization the performance has to be good and for that
to take place there has to be a good internal environment. The employees have to have the right
skills and knowledge to be able to meet the expectation and standards of the organization so that
there are going to be higher profitability (Chinomona and Dhurup, 2016).
Culture
There are different customs, values, beliefs all individuals have they have to be respected
equally so that there is a balance in the working which is going to be very helpful for a long run
and that makes the company get a competitive advantage.
Handy’s Culture Model
 Task

There has to be a good distribution of work in the organization so that there would be faster
and effective functioning in the organization. The tasks must be allotted according to the
capabilities of the employees which M&S are experienced in doing. This factor also helps the
team to work as one unit which makes the business achieve their objectives and goals on time
which is a very good factor for the long run and compete with the competitors.
 Person
The employees are the backbones of Marks & Spencer’s which makes the company have a
great productivity for a long run in the market. The cultures of the employees have to be
respected and valued in the operations of the services and products which are being given to the
customers so that there is a good balance (Mousa, Massoud and Ayoubi, 2020). Anyone feeling
superior in the team is going to reduce the efficiency in the organization and that is not a good
factor for the company.
 Power
It is very important that the right people have the power in the company and have the right to
make the decisions when and where required. A bad decision in a well reputed company is going
to make the company have de-motivation in the company which is not a good factor for a long
run. There has to be monitoring of the powerful people in the company as well which can make
the decisions be improved and the employee’s satisfaction in the company increased.
 Role
It is very important for all the organizations in the market to be able to achieve the objectives
and goals so that there would be better functioning. The employees of Marks & Spencer are well
trained and have the right skill which is a very good factor for a long run. There is a clarity of
direction which is present in the organization and that is going to make the company have a
higher reputation in the market.
Cultural difference awareness
The customers have a different cultural and beliefs from one place to another which has
to be well maintained by Marks & Spencer so that there is going to be better operations and
higher performance level. Example, the culture of customers vary from eastern to western culture
which the business will have to handle and the employees also have to be taken care of
accordingly which is going to make the reputation of the organization increase.

Power
There is an influence on the behaviour in the organization regarding their objectives and
goals which the company has to achieve. The competition in the market is also increasing which
is why it is very essential for the company to be able to have a better operations.
French & Raven Theory
 Reward
There is an increase in salary; incentives, promotions, etc are the kind of rewards which
Marks & Spencer’s is providing to their employees (Mostafa and Shen, 2019). This is a very
important factor because this is going to make the employees get motivated and the demands of
the customers are going to be fulfilled faster and effectively.
 Expert
There are going to be more experienced employees working in the organization who must
make sure that they are sharing their knowledge and skills with everyone. This is going to be
good for team working and for the organization to be able to achieve their goals successfully in
the market.
 Coercive
There is an expectation which the organization will have from the employees which are
working in the company and if the employees are not being able to match those standards then
the organization has a right to take the right actions accordingly. The employees are first trained
and developed so that they are aware of these factors which are going to help the organization
further. The employees can get promoted and also be asked to leave according to their
performance in the organization.
 Referent
There are going to be charming, good looking and with attitude behaviour in an organization
which are going to be more attractive and are going to get promoted and a way out of troubles.
This is going to make a lot of conflicts and de-motivation come in the employees which is being
controlled by Marks & Spencer so that they can have better productivity.
 Legitimate

There are owners, CEO and executives who are going to have the maximum power in the
decisions making which is taking place in the company. It is very essential for the management
to be able to make the right decisions for them so that there would be a better functioning and the
employees are going to be satisfied as well for a long run (Jain and D'lima, 2017). There has to
be monitoring and controlling of the employees so that there is a better understanding and the
decisions in the company can be taken accordingly.
Politics
Politics comes with power which will have to be controlled so that there is going to be a
better advantage and functioning of the organization in the market which is having a lot of
competition for Marks & Spencer.
Chantel’s
There has to be a good understanding of characteristic and roles of the politics which is
present in the organization. There are a lot of disturbances which are present in the market
because of politics and they have to be controlled.
 Individual Factors
There is no incomplete working done by the employees of Marks & Spencer which is a great
advantage and good internal environment for them to work in (Memon and et.al., 2017). There is
lesser politics which is present in the company and that is a great factor for attracting more
customers and the effectiveness of the organization is going to be good and standards are going
to be maintained.
 Organizational Factors
There have to be rewards which have to be given to the right employees of the company so
that the motivation level in the employees is going to increase and the performance level of the
organization in the market is going to be higher. It is due to politics that the de-motivation and
unfair treatment is present which will have to be controlled so that there is going to be a target
which can be achieved by the organization for a long run.

LO 2
P 2 Motivate Individuals
It is very important for the employees to be well motivated from time to time so that the
targets or objectives of the organization can be achieved. There are a lot of methods which can
be used by the management for making the employees get motivated on time which is going to
be discussed in the further report. Marks & Spencer has a lot of experience in the market which
is why they are aware of the changes and the theories which has to be used in which situation to
be able to motivate the employees on time (Connolly and et.al., 2017).
Extrinsic motivation
There are rewards or incentives which are given to the employees for the activities they
have done so that there is going to be better functioning and performance. There are a lot of
benefits which can organization can have for themselves which are going to be good for
competitive advantage.
Intrinsic motivation
There has to be a good internal satisfaction of the employees in the organization in what
is intrinsic motivation. There are going to be employees who would challenge themselves with
not easy tasks to be completed and the objectives and goals of the organization are going to be
met faster.
Content Theory
There is a need and want of human beings which has to be understood by the
organization in order to be able to give them what they need. There is an expectation which the
employees are giving and living up to but in return the employees would also want something in
return for the efforts they are doing to make the reputation of the company be maintained. For
this theory Herzberg’s model is the most apt and has been used by Marks & Spencer for a long
run which is a two factor theory which is as follows (Nguyen and Malik, 2020).
Herzberg’s two factor theory
It is very important that the organizations focus on the satisfaction of the employees so
that they can make the employees stay in the organization for a long run. The two motivational
factors are motivators and hygiene factors which is being well maintained in M&S. Motivators

There have to be right employees whom have to be hired in the company so that there is a
better functioning and the level of de-motivation is going to be lower in the organization. For
Marks & Spencer it is very important for the company to be able to maintain the quality of the
services and products so that there is a better functioning which can make the organization is
able to grow effectively, responsibilities, achievements, etc are going to be present. Hygiene Factors
The environment for the employees has to be healthy so that they can function effectively
and efficiently in the organization. The employees will be able to function effectively in the
organization because they can remain focused and the negativity while working is not going to
be present which is going to make the organization have higher profitability in the market
(O'Grady, 2018). There are motivations which are being provided by the organization to the
customers which are security, relationship, salary; etc which is a great factor for the company to
have and the satisfaction level of the employees is going to be higher.
Process Theory
The needs and satisfaction level of the employees has to be understood so that there is
going to be a better theory which can be implemented for the employees and that is going to help
the organization to have better operations. Marks & Spencer are having a strong motivating
theory which the company has been using from a long run so that there is going to be a better
reputation for the organization.
Reinforcement Theory
There are consequences for all the actions which are taking place and they can be negative or
positive according to the actions which are taking place. BF Skinner has given this theory called
reinforcement which is a very famous theory which is based on this law and would be discussed
in the further report.
 Negative Reinforcement
All the employees which are hired by M&S are trained and developed so that they can match
the expectations and standards of the organization so that there is a better functioning (Singh,
2016). But there are a lot of employees who are not able to reach the expectations of the
organization because they are either in politics or are not motivated enough to give their best.
Human resource and management of M&S have the right to take actions against this factor and

when there is a negative measure which has been taken for the employees then that becomes a
motivation for the other employees to be able to function effectively. Positive Reinforcement
All the employees are giving their best but the management and human resource of M&S makes
sure that they are appreciating the efforts which are extra and going good for the organization.
There are rewards, incentives, etc which are being given to the employees because of the good
they have done and the employees in future also get motivated to get that extra importance in the
organization. The competition in the market is higher now which is why these are effective
measures which can be taken by the organization.
Influence the behaviour of others
There have to be good leaders and managers which have to be hired by Marks & Spencer
so that the employees are going to be guided better and the objectives are going to be achieved
and brand image in the market is going to be better. There has to be good direction which has to
be provided to the employees only then the standards of the company are going to be met which
is good for the organization (Subba and Rao, 2017). There are rewards and incentives which are
being provided to the employees from time to time so that there is going to be higher
productivity in the company.
LO 3
P 3 Effective team as opposed to an ineffective team
Effective Team
There is going to be good working in the organization when there is effective working in
the market so that there is good functioning. There are a lot of ideas and innovations which come
up in the organization when there is a good working of the team (MacKie, 2017). There are a lot
of improvements which can be done and there are going to be conflicts but they can easily be
resolved which is going to make the team become even stronger.
Ineffective Team
This is not a good factor for a large organization because there is a reputation which the
company gains over years and this is going to make the productivity and operations slower.
There are a lot of conflicts which is going to be present and since of the ineffectiveness in the

team there is no common understanding in the team. The decisions are not going to be fair and
there is going to be a down fall of the reputation of the organization which is not a good factor.
Tuckman’s Theory
There are various stages which are given by Tuckman so that there is going to be an
effective team in market. There is going to be a clarity as to which direction the organization
must function within so that there is going to be a better operations. There are targets and
objectives which have to be completed in the market which is going to market the factors have
an influence of this for a long run (Jena and Pradhan, 2018). Team work can help the targets of a
business is achieved which is going to be very good for a long run. Forming stage
The tasks are discussed and analysed so that the task can be competed with the standards of
the organization be matched which is good for the reputation of Marks & Spencer. There is a
timeline which is provided to the employees with the tasks so that the objectives can be achieved
on time and that is going to make the customer’s demands also be fulfilled for a long run. Storming Stage
Discussion also has different inputs and outputs of the tasks are going to be moulded
accordingly which is a good factor. There are a lot of conflicts which rise and can make the
operations reduce in the organization so that there would be a better functioning. The issues and
conflicts are resolved very quickly in Marks & Spencer because they want to increase the sales
further and the clarity is also going to be better with the employees which are the backbone of
the organization. Norming Stage
The employees have to get time to know each other and understand each other so that there is
going to be a good team which comes up. There is an exchange of a lot of knowledge and skills
in a team so that the company will be able to maintain their reputation and the company will also
be able to get the loyalty of the customers in business as well. Performing Stage
This is the last stage in which the employees accept each other and there is going to be lesser
conflicts and the organization will be able to come to conclusion very quickly which is a great

factor. There are going to be new ideas and improvement which can easily take place because the
employees are motivated to function effectively.
Belbin’s team role theory
There are nine stages which are present in Belbin which are shaper, coordinator, team
worker, plant, monitor evaluator, completer finisher, resource investigator, implementer and
specialist. Shaper is for improving the challenges and make the team be able to operate,
implementer are the ideas which are gotten into actions. Completer finishers are the people who
make sure that the work is being completed on time; coordinator has to make sure that there is a
bridge between the employees and the management so that the decision can be taken correctly
(Saoula, Johari and Fareed, 2018). Plant is getting in new ideas in the organization and
monitoring evaluator is makes those ideas be monitored before they are implemented and after
they are implemented so that there is going to be a better functioning. There is a standard of the
company which has to match which is going to make the company have a higher reputation and
standards for themselves for a long run.
Factors Affecting Effective Team Leadership
It is very important that there is a good experience and knowledge which is going to be
present in the leaders of the organization so that they can take decisions according to the
situation in front of them at the right time because the issues gets bigger. Leaders help the
employees to have the right information and the task in their hands which has to be completed on
time. There are training and monitoring which is also being done by the leaders of the company.
There is clarity of functioning when the leaders are effective in the organization because they
provide a path for the employees to follow which is a great factor. Team size
The size of the team has to be good which is that the larger the group of employees working
together is going to make the organization have a lot of conflicts (Fuentealba, Liu and Li, 2016).
Therefore it is very important for the company to be able to get in the right employees in the
organization who understand the importance of monitoring and controlling the employees so that
there are new ideas and innovations which can take place in Marks & Spencer. Smaller the group
the better leaders will be able to take care of the employees in the organization.

 Communication
It is very important for the employees to have the right information about what is going
around in the organization and the decisions which are being taken by the management. There is
a better sense of direction which this communication is going to get in because there is going to
be a strong trust and bond which would be present and that is going to make the company have
higher demands and customers will be able to have higher satisfaction level which is a great
factor for the company to have advantages for a competitive run.
LO 4
P 4 Philosophies of organizations behaviour
The path goal leadership theory can be used to illustrate the different philosophies that
are related to the overall organisational behaviour and helps in the selection of one best theory
that is appropriate for the organisation (Miner, 2015). The selection of the best leadership styles
amongst the different myriad of leadership styles that M&S can adopt according to their work
culture are:
 Supportive leadership: Under this style of leadership, the leaders along with their
employees collectively distribute the overall work load and share goals so that the
objectives that have been set can be achieved together. The aim of the leader is to create a
stress free situation that can support the employees and also give the proper support and
guidance wherever required. This helps in the accomplishment of goals in a more
productive and effective manner. In M&S as well, the implementation of this style can
increase the loyalty of the employees towards the work ethics and practices which will
ultimately reduce the employee turnover and also increase the profits collectively.
 Participative leadership: This style of leadership encourages and builds up on the team
work and focuses more on people management and satisfaction. Here the leaders
encourage the employees to participate and contribute their own ideas and thoughts so
that the innovation aspect increases and the overall efficiency towards achievement of
goals improve. In M&S, the implementation of this type of leadership style can increase
the communication between the employees and the leaders and managers and the
increased involvement of the employees can make them feel more motivated and satisfied

as well (Wood and et.al., 2016). However, overall the decision making can become
comparatively more complex and hence cause unnecessary losses as well due to the delay
in timely decisions.
 Directive Leadership: The directive leadership style indicates that the leaders just give
directions to the employee which indicates the manner in which they are to achieve the
goals that have been set for them. Here the communication is usually one way and the
scope for incorporating innovation and creativity gets limited since employees do not
have to indulge in self thinking and analysis. Although this leadership style may be
portrayed as stricter and restrained but yet, the M&S leaders can incorporate discipline
and a systematic work structure in the company that has such diversified operations. This
will increase the flexibility in managing the huge workforce of M&S.
 Achievement Oriented leadership: Here, the leaders develop different targets and goals
that are usually short term and through this, they motivate the employees to achieve them
which increase the productivity of the organisation collectively (Tang, 2019). This
technique can be used by M&S to collectively improve the skills and performance
abilities of the employees where they can become well trained and expertise in their field
of operation. This can also ultimately improve their productivity and performance making
them more experienced.
The analysis of the different leadership styles helps in concluding that the best leadership
style for M&S would be to adopt the achievement oriented leadership style as it will increase the
productivity of the employees and also increase the revenue generation of the company
collectively.
Custodial organizational behaviour model
The employees have to be a security and safety in the environment in which they are
working is going to make the employees gain the trust and faith in the organization. This
increases the operations and productivity of the company. There are retirement plans and savings
which the organization is doing from the salary of the employees so that they can have a stable
lifestyle after retirement as well (Hosseini, Barzoki and Isfahani, 2018). The demands of the
customers are also increasing and for that there is a requirement of a strong workforce in the
organization. There have to be a lot of creative ideas and innovations which have to be made so
that there is going to be a competitive advantage with the company. There is a modification of

the salary of the employees which are putting in their best so that they are going to have a stable
functioning. There are well skilled and knowledgeable employees who are working in the
company which is making the company be able to compete in this market which is a great factor.
CONCLUSION
It can be concluded that there are a lot of measures which the company has to take so that
there is going to be a better functioning. There is supposed to be a balance in the external and
internal factors of the company so that there is a good analyses and the decision making of
strategies and methods can be taken out. There are a lot of objectives which have to be achieved
by the company so that there is going to be a good operations in the market. Measures are going
to reduce the risk factors for the company as well and they will be able to compete in the market
with the competition which is increasing rapidly.

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