Influence of Culture, Politics, and Power on Individual and Team Behaviour in ALDI

This report explores the influence of culture, politics, and power on individual and team behaviour in ALDI. It discusses the different types of organizational culture, the impact of politics on behaviour, and the effects of power on individuals and teams. The report also examines the theories of motivation for effective achievement and the characteristics of effective and ineffective teams. Additionally, it explores the philosophies and concepts of organizational behaviour in ALDI.

Organisational Behaviour

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
LO1..................................................................................................................................................4
Influence of culture, politics and power on individual and team behaviour in ALDI.................4
LO2..................................................................................................................................................6
P2 Theories of motivation for effective achievement..................................................................6
LO3..................................................................................................................................................8
Effective and Ineffective Teams..................................................................................................8
LO4................................................................................................................................................10
Philosophies and concepts of Organisational Behaviour in ALDI............................................10
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................13

INTRODUCTION
Organisational behaviour refers to analysis of hoe employees behave and perform their
responsibilities at workplace, what factors increase their motivational level and how management
can strike strong relationship within employees. Aldi is one of the biggest retailer company of
UK, offering large varieties of products and services in all stores with large customer loyalty
constricted over years. This report explains how organizational culture, politics and power
influence individuals and team behaviour performances. It explains how content theories and
process theories of motivation enable effective achievement of company goals and how effective
team differentiates from inefficient teams. It analyses importance of building dynamic team with
strong interpersonal skills in employees along with how emotional intelligence impacts their
performance levels. This report also elaborately explains how concepts and philosophies of
organisational behaviour influence positively and negatively within dynamic business scenario.
LO1
Influence of culture, politics and power on individual and team behaviour in ALDI
Influence of culture on individual or team behaviour in a company like ALDI can be
better understood by analysing Handy's Model of Organisational Culture, which states that there
are four types of distinct cultures within an organisation which can influence its productivity and
efficiency as follows:
Power Culture: Organisations where power resides with a few select individuals who have all
the decision-making authority, work on power culture model (Elsmore, 2017). These people
create and implement rules and regulations without consulting employees and enjoy special
privileges. Employee's ideas and suggestions are largely considered insignificant and ignored,
which decreases job satisfaction levels and motivation in employees, affecting their performance.
Role Culture: In this model, an individual's role within organisation's chain of command
determines his power and privileges. In such organisations, decision-making becomes a slow
process as every chain in command is consulted for advice, encouraging bureaucracy. This raises
employee's motivation and job satisfaction metrics but can decrease businesses productivity as
time is wasted during bureaucracy.
Task Culture: In this model, the task to be achieved by team is given paramount importance and
power is in the hands of team members and shifts dynamically between them. This encourages

teamwork, cooperation amongst employee's and increases their creativity but individual
members productivity depends upon entire team's performance.
Person Culture: In this model, organisation exist simply to aid the job of employees, who end up
feeling needed, vital and superior (Maher, C., 2020). Employees work autonomously, giving
them creative freedom with respect to achieving objectives. This model becomes unsuccessful
for businesses requiring collaboration and teamwork amongst employees.
ALDI should implement role culture model increasing workforce involvement in decision
making process which raises their motivation and job satisfaction levels.
Influence of politics on individual or team behaviour in a company like ALDI can be
understood by using Chantel's model which categorises political influences into 2 subdivisions.
Individual Politics: Organisations try and develop a competitive spirit amongst employee's for
them to outperform each other, which can lead to dirty politics in the workplace due to inherent
differences in their culture, race, religion, language etc. It is the role of management to give
employees equal opportunities to succeed providing same targets and deadlines to entire
workforce. These result in reducing employee job satisfaction and motivation metrics.
Organisational Politics: These arise due to corruption in organisation, such as when managers
abuse office rules, policies to promote favourable candidates instead of deserving ones and
results in working environment full of sycophancy and flattery with workforce often feeling
scammed, undervalued and ignored (Brenyah and Tetteh, 2016). These reduce employee's
productivity, motivation and job satisfaction levels and it is the role of management to ensure
unbiased promotions, incentives and rewards to employees.
ALDI's management and leadership must take effective steps to ensure neither Individual
nor Organisational politics take place in their operations as these both result in reducing
workforce efficiency, motivation and job satisfaction levels.
Influence of Power on individual or team behaviour in a company like ALDI can be
understood by using French and Raven's Five Forms of power model which determines five
distinct bases of power as follows:
Reward Power: Under this approach, management provides special additional incentives and
rewards to workforce for maintaining optimum productivity. This method encourages employees
to maximise their productivity and efficiency in hopes of collecting said rewards.

Coercive Power: Under this approach, management penalises or punishes members of workforce
who don't perform up to base standards required (Jain and Ansari, 2018). This method promotes
workplace discipline and tries to increase employee productivity, Although may cause
productivity to actually decrease as some employees become stressed because of fear of
punishment and humiliation.
Legitimate Power: This approach gives power over employees to managers based upon their job
position within the organisation's hierarchy. This promotes higher productivity and efficiency
amongst employees as they too wish to get promoted and have some power.
Expert Power: Through this approach, power is given to those in possession of superior
knowledge, skills and experience, which encourages workforce to study new technologies and
gain experience.
Referent Power: This is the power coming straight from a manager's personal image, traits,
presence, charisma etc. (Raven, 2017). To an extent, this can be advantageous to an employees
growth, but used excessively can decrease their productivity.
ALDI can implement Reward base of power as it increases employee efficiency and
productivity.
LO2
P2 Theories of motivation for effective achievement
Motivation can be understood as factors which impact positively individuals and team
members in an organization for reaching business goals effectively, by enhancing their
performance levels with efficiency. There are 2 types of motivation Intrinsic and Extrinsic which
influence employees in company to drive their working levels effectively for reaching high profit
margins. Intrinsic motivation enables employees to derive satisfaction levels from within
themselves by effectively completing their responsibilities and retaining long term stability.
Whereas extrinsic motivation are factors as money, pay increase, awards and recognition which
employees expect from top management in company. Aldi is multinational retailer company
where motivational levels of employees are given high importance to build dynamic working
culture and keep them retained for long term (Black, Gardner, Pierce and Steers, 2019).Content
theories essentially focuses on factors which motivate people in an organization by determining

their drives and how they can be prioritized to attain long term success in dynamic business
world.
Maslow hierarchy needs theory can be understood as an individual posses 4 levels which
drive their motivational levels in company for performance enhancement. Each set of needs has
to be fulfilled before person moves onto next level which are physiological, safety,
love/belongings, safety and self actualization which includes morality, creativity, decision-
making abilities and acceptance of facts. Alderfer ERG theory categorizes motivation among
employees at workplace in 3 levels which are existence, relatedness and growth. It explains how
employees drive motivation to feel physically comfortable in their existence, develop
interpersonal relationships at workplace and derive satisfaction with growth needs which enable
him to contribute effectively in company stricture. Fredrick Herzberg two factor theory model is
composed of motivation factors and hygiene factors at company which causes satisfaction or
dissatisfaction among employees, highly impacting their motivational needs. Job satisfaction is
affected by factors such as company policies, supervision and administration along with salary
advancement factors and recognition by top management (Bower,2019).
Process theory of motivation explains how behaviours are initiated by employees in
company, Adam theory explains individuals desire for fair compensation according to the inputs
and contribution they put into work. It explains persons believes regard to fair and unfair
treatments can largely affect their motivation levels, attitudes and behaviour pattens. Employees
should be given proper salary, rewards, recognitions on their achievements for enhancing
loyalty, handwork and commitment towards work (Klein, M., 2019).Vroom expectancy theory
assumes that behaviour of employees results from conscious choices to enhance maximum
pleasure and satisfaction at work and minimize pain. It is based on 3 elements Valence,
Expectancy and Instrumentality the interaction of which drives motivational force for employees
to bring high quality performance levels and avoid dissatisfaction among them. Lockes goal
setting theory is modern workplace motivational theory which explains direct relationship
between company goals, productivity and employee engagement. There are 5 principles of
effective goal setting which drive high motivation in employees for effective engagement at
workplace clarity, challenge, commitment, feedback and task complexity. It emphasis focus on
two main characteristics content and intensity where content is outcome of task and intensity is
resource requited to achieve the final business goals. Theory highlights importance on involving

employees and encouraging them by giving equal opportunities to showcase their ideas and
develop construct steps to implement them (Lee, 2019).
Implications of motivation theories on management and leadership in Aldi can be
understood as company lays high focus on building motivation levels in employees through
analysing theories. Emotional intelligence is the ability to understand and manage
communication effectively and to overcome challenges with high motivation and strong
interpersonal skills. Leaders aim to increase the emotional intelligence of all employees working
in company for reaching high work efficiency levels. There is high importance of soft skills in
team leaders and managers to motivate employees working in teams as Aldi aims to build
dynamic workforce with high motivational levels to keep them retained. Aldi lays high
importance on application of behavioural psychology where employees behaviour pattens are
highly attributed to drive their motivational levels for reaching high profit margins and business
goals (Ryan and Deci, 2019).
LO3
Effective and Ineffective Teams
A team is created because of the multiple interactions and influences of individual
members who strive to achieve a common objective or goal together. Team Development Theory
emphasises the formation of a team with the objectives of improving the organisation's
operational effectiveness and efficiency. ALDI's management utilises Tuckman's model of team
development in order to develop a an effective, skilled and mature team that can solve complex
problems. Tuckman's model is useful tool to create an effective team suited for all operational
needs like skills, achievement, experience, talent, academics etc. in order to optimise
productivity and efficiency (Zhen, 2017). This model includes four primary process as part of
team development: forming, storming, norming and performing with Tuckman later adding a
fifth and final process called adjourning.
Forming: In this initial phase, the team is created and the objectives and goals are relayed. The
team is highly dependence on the leader for experience and guidance. There is little to no
agreement on the team responsibilities apart from ones delegated by the leadership. Team
members are unclear about their roles and leadership has to be prepared to clearly relay all

information required. Team members are generally polite during this phase and try to mingle into
the team.
Storming: This is the second stage of team development during which members begin competing
against each other for status, control or leadership responsibilities. Team member's efficiency
and productivity has increased with them contributing ideas and strategies based on their
experience and skills (Jones, 2019). This is an important phase in team development as
leadership get to know first hand the strengths and weaknesses of team members with respect to
their skills, technical expertise, knowledge, experience and efficiency and how best they can be
utilised for the benefit of the team.
Norming: This is the third stage of team development during which team members start to gain
consensus and find agreement on their collective roles and responsibilities in order to respond
effectively to duties assigned by the management or leaders. Individual member's strengths and
weaknesses are known to all members of team and management with the team starting to
perform in a productive, cohesive way. All major decisions are undertaken by the team members
together and minor decisions are assigned to individual members or groups. The team members
have gelled together amicably and team unity and cooperation has increased within its members.
Performing: By this stage the team begins to perform efficiently and productively in relation to
their end goals and objectives. The team members become strategically aware of their individual
responsibilities and objectives and know how to achieve previously set goals in a productive,
timely fashion (Guttenberg, 2020). Team members can begin to operate autonomously with the
leader merely tracking their progress, trusting in the talent and skills of team members to
achieve goals. Individual team members become friends and look after each other in times of
need.
Adjourning: Tuckman ended up adding a final phase in which team must be adjourned after
achieving their set objectives and goals. The work performed by the team members is recognised
by the leaders and management, with team members becoming satisfied with each other's
progress.
There are various attributes which decide the ineffectiveness or effectiveness of any
given team, such as:

Goals: In ineffective teams, the end goals and objectives to be achieved are not clearly relayed to
the members resulting in confusion. Whereas effective teams members clearly understand their
goals and objectives.
Conflict Resolution: Team members are bound to disagree on multiple issues. Ineffective teams
ignore and suppress these disagreements instead of resolving them, resulting in decreased
productivity and teamwork, while effective teams try to resolve emerging conflicts before it
affects their productivity (Couturier, 2018).
Leadership: In ineffective teams, leadership tends to dominate team members, imposing their
views on others, while effective team leaders ask members to contribute their ideas and views in
order to achieve goals effectively.
Delegating: Ineffective teams do not assign duties based on the strengths and weaknesses of their
individual team members decreasing team's efficiency and productivity while efficient teams
delegate duties based on the strengths of its members.
Member Contribution: Ineffective team members tend to have unequal contributions whereas
effective teams tend to discuss issues internally and encourage all member's contribution.
LO4
Philosophies and concepts of Organisational Behaviour in ALDI
Organisational Behaviour is the process through which an individuals or group's
performance, activities and behaviour can be analysed, understood and predicted. There are
multiple organisational behaviour philosophies present, but ALDI operates upon the Autocratic
model which states that the final decision-making power rests with an organisation's owners and
management. Although this model provides many benefits, it has a high human cost associated to
it, with employees feeling dependent upon their managers and leaders, decreasing motivation and
job satisfaction levels.
These drawbacks can be avoided by ALDI by implementing Path-Goal Theory, which
stipulates that in order for a business to be productive in achieving its goals and objectives, the
leadership has to be flexible in its approach based on their working environment (Wood and
et.al,. 2016). Implementing Path-Goal Theory at ALDI will help give its management a defined
leadership style to maximise employee's motivational and productivity levels. There are four
primary leadership styles in path goal theory:

Directive Leadership: In this leadership style, the management instructs employees about their
individual roles and responsibilities, supervises their work and progress alike, while keeping
deadlines in mind. This approach is used when employees are unsure about their duties and are
not very skilled. This style is also suited to jobs which require specific procedures to be followed
or where room for errors is less. ALDI implementing this style will result in managers sharing
their expertise and experience amongst the workforce, guiding them towards increased
productivity and effectiveness. Contrastingly, this can decrease motivation and job satisfaction
levels amongst employees as they become reliant on leaders.
Supportive Leadership: In this leadership style, the management tries to create a pleasing
working environment and takes an interest in the well being of its employees lives. This
approach is best suited to work environments which place a significant psychological, physical
or emotional stress upon the employees. Implementing this style at ALDI will result in better
relationships between its employees and management, with employees feeling valued and
respected, increasing their motivation and job satisfaction metrics (McShane and et.al., 2018).
On the contrary, this can also have a negative impact on a business's productivity as employees
no longer fear the management and consider them to be friends who will ignore lapses in
productivity.
Achievement Oriented Leadership: In this style, management sets difficult end goals for their
employees to achieve and trusts their talent and skills to provide optimum efficiency and
productivity without needing guidance or help. All relevant information needed by the
employees is provided at the beginning. This approach is best for jobs where achievement itself
is the end objective of employees such as entrepreneurship, scientific research, sales etc.
Applying this style at ALDI will decrease problems that arise due to ineffective communication
between members and management but also does result in higher employee turnover rates,
reduced innovation and creativity.
Participative Leadership: In this style, the leadership discusses and consults with the workforce
continuously, asking for their ideas and suggestions, evaluating and implementing them if
necessary. The employees have a say in the final decision-making process. This style is better
suited to employees who posses some unique skill or knowledge, are highly trained or skilled or
are experienced enough to improve the productivity and efficiency of the entire operations.
Implementing this approach at ALDI will improve relationships and teamwork between

employees and management, increase their job satisfaction and motivation levels and thus
improving their productivity and efficiency (James, 2017). In contrast, this style of leadership is
not suited to businesses which have to work within a prescribed deadline.
ALDI can implement Directive Leadership style to its operations in order to provide a
defined structure to employee's disorganised tasks and duties. This approach also enables and
encourages leaders to share their experience and knowledge amongst the workforce with regard
to their roles and responsibilities, leaders also have to guide and evaluate their employees
progress in order to achieve optimum efficiency and productivity for the business.
CONCLUSION
This report concludes with explanation that organizational behaviour depends on various
factors which are culture of workplace, management politics and interpersonal differences along
with power controls of positions. Building dynamic business culture in organisation is highly
important for companies to gain strong position among competitors in highly competitive
business world.Individual and team behaviours are highly influenced by motivation factors
which drive them to enhance their performance levels. Motivational theories and content theories
evaluates explanation regarding how company can enhance employee morale levels. It concludes
effective team differentiates from ineffective teams on various factors which are strong
interpersonal skills and high trained skills allow them to enhance their performance levels to
large extent and enable Aldi to reach set business goals. This report concludes with situations
where leaders effectively eliminate barriers regarding behaviours among employees, situational
resistance and how contingency theory of leadership can be applied to enhance their Woking
standards in Aldi.

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