Analysing Culture, Motivation, and Teams within BBC Organisation

This report provides an in-depth analysis of organisational behaviour within the BBC, focusing on the influence of culture, politics, and power on employee behaviour. Using Handy's cultural typology and other motivational theories, the report examines the BBC's earlier organisational culture, the impact of power dynamics, and strategies for improving team effectiveness and motivation. It identifies different types of teams within the BBC, discusses the elements of an effective team, and suggests ways to enhance team performance and productivity, while also addressing barriers to effective performance. The report concludes by highlighting the importance of motivation in achieving organisational goals and fostering employee commitment and satisfaction. This analysis offers valuable insights into the complexities of managing organisational behaviour in a dynamic media environment. Desklib provides past papers and solved assignments for students.

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Table of Contents
Introduction...........................................................................................................................................3
Task 1....................................................................................................................................................4
LO1: Analyse the influence of culture, politics, and power on the behaviour of others in an
organisational context........................................................................................................................4
1(a): Using Handy’s cultural typology (1986) or an alternative academic cultural model, identify
and discuss the earlier organisational culture within the BBC, as observed by Smith review.......4
1(b): How has culture, power and politics affected the behaviour within the BBC in the recent
past and today...............................................................................................................................6
Task 2....................................................................................................................................................7
LO2: Evaluate how to motivate individuals and teams to achieve a goal..........................................7
2 (a): Provide examples of how content and process theories of motivation, along with other
motivational techniques may have helped to improve the effectiveness in the teams within the
BBC................................................................................................................................................7
2(b): How will improved levels of motivation within the BBC help to achieve its organization’s
goals?.............................................................................................................................................9
Task 3..................................................................................................................................................10
LO3: Demonstrate an understanding of how to cooperate effectively with others...........................10
3(a): Identify and explain the different types of teams within the BBC and why having different
types of teams is important.........................................................................................................10
3(b): Explain what makes an effective team in the BBC...............................................................12
Task 4..................................................................................................................................................14
LO4: Apply concepts and philosophies of organisational behaviour to a given business situation..14
4(a): Using an appropriate organisational concept/theory (such as path-goal theory) suggest
how team performance and productivity could be improved within BBC...................................14
4(b): What have been the main barriers to effective performance within the BBC?...................15
Conclusion...........................................................................................................................................16
References...........................................................................................................................................17
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Introduction
The following assignment is based on the understanding of the various principles of the
organisational behaviour. The aim of this assignment is to develop the understanding of the
influence that culture, politics and power has on the behaviour of others within an
organization. For this, we have taken a case study of BBC. In this assignment, various
principles of organisational behaviour have been applied to the various situations at BBC. In
addition to this, we have also focussed on what makes an effective team at BBC and what is
the importance of having different types of team within BBC. The effective performance has
also been discussed and their barriers have also been discussed in this assignment.
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Task 1
LO1: Analyse the influence of culture, politics, and power on the behaviour of others in
an organisational context.
1(a): Using Handy’s cultural typology (1986) or an alternative academic cultural model,
identify and discuss the earlier organisational culture within the BBC, as observed by
Smith review.
Every organization possesses some values of its own and works by following certain policies
and guidelines. The beliefs and principles of the organization makes its culture. The
behaviour of the employees depends on the organisational culture and it also defines the way
things are done in the organization. According to Charles Handy, mainly there are four types
of organizational culture as explained below:
Power Culture: The organizations having power culture have the power in the hands of few
people and those few people take all the important decisions in the organization. The special
privilege in the form of power is given to few people in organization who make all the major
decisions at organization. The subordinates have no role in the decision making and they are
made to follow the strict guidelines made by the superiors. They are not allowed to express
their views or share their ideas (MSG, 2018).
Task Culture: Task culture is followed in the organizations where the teams are being made
in order to achieve some task. Therefore, in these organizations, the team is made comprising
of all the members having the same specialization and common interest and they work
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together towards the achievement of organisational goals. Each member of the team
contributes equally in the task in his/her own innovative way (Malmir, et. al., 2013).
Role Culture: The organizations following role culture delegates the roles and
responsibilities to each employee depending on the specializations of the employee as well as
his educational qualifications in order to effectively utilize his skills. It follows the culture of
inviting employees to do what best they can do. Each employee enjoys his work and is
responsible for his work.
Person Culture: The organizations where the employees work with the feeling of being
more important than the organization itself, follows person culture. In such organizations, the
employees focus more on personal goals rather than organizational goals. Therefore, the
organization suffers under this culture as the employees rarely thinks about the organization
(MSG 2018).
BBC Earlier Culture- as Found by Smith: According to Smith’s Review, there was a
culture of fear and not complaining or raising concerns in BBC. The employees work under a
continuous fear of losing job and were being told that pursuing a complaint will not be in
their interest. Employees do not felt like sharing their concerns under the culture of fear in
BBC.
In addition to this, the BBC had a hierarchical structure which was deferential in nature. The
employees were not allowed to share their concerns with the senior staff members. There was
a culture of hostility and separation in BBC which prevented the employees from raising any
concerns as it will go unnoticed and unheard.
Besides, macho culture was also practised in BBC radio and Entertainment. Only few of the
women were at the management positions in BBC at that time and felt it difficult to raise
voice regarding any kind of sexual abuse or harassment at workplace (The Dame Janet Smith
Review, 2016).
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(Source: https://www.bbc.co.uk/arts)
1(b): How has culture, power and politics affected the behaviour within the BBC in the
recent past and today.
Culture, power and politics combined together, greatly influences the behaviour within the
organizations. In today’s business environment, the employees of the organizations have
much to worry about other than just completing their tasks. The culture of the organization,
power and politics at the workplace influence the behaviour as well as the daily operations of
the business organizations. The atmosphere at the workplace within an organization is
governed by the organizational culture, power and politics. The impact of the power and
politics at the workplace is reflected in the culture of the organization which defines the way
things are being done in the organization (Javed, 2016).
Based on the findings of the Smith’s review, we can conclude that the culture, power and
politics have affected the behaviour within the BBC in the past and today in the following
ways:
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 The culture at BBC and the freedom of power at BBC allowed the powerful persons to
seriously damage the young lives of many innocent girls by taking advantage of their
powerful positions and not even thinking of the consequences (Easton, 2012).
 Similarly, sexual politics was observed at BBC. Many career women above 50 have
reported about the sexual abuse or harassment at workplace once in a lifetime and the fear
of losing job in case of reporting the same.
 The power of the celebrities working with BBC made the employees feel that no one
would believe on their complaints made against those celebrities because of the powerful
reputation and image of those celebrities (Easton, 2012).
 The culture of not complaining at BBC made it difficult for the employees to complain or
even to say something to the senior management (The Dame Janet Smith, 2016).
 The No Complaints Culture at BBC aroused the feeling of insecurity among the workers
as the employee who would complain had the fear of losing job.
 The culture and atmosphere of “Fear” still exists in today’s times at BBC. According to
the recent reports, the reason behind not making complaints at BBC is the fear of being
known as the troublemaker and fear of not being promoted.
 The culture of the BBC has also encouraged loyalty in the employees. The strong sense of
pride and desire to succeed in their programmes make the employees of the BBC loyal
towards their organization. (The Dame Janet Smith, 2016).
Task 2
LO2: Evaluate how to motivate individuals and teams to achieve a goal.
2 (a): Provide examples of how content and process theories of motivation, along with
other motivational techniques may have helped to improve the effectiveness in the
teams within the BBC.
The main focus of content theories is on “What”, while the main focus of process theories is
“How”. Among the earliest theories of motivation are the content theories which greatly
influences the policies and practices of management with in the work environment. They
mainly focus on the needs as they are also known as needs theories. They motivate
individuals by identifying and fulfilling their basic needs. On the other hand, process theories
focuses on the how to motivate the human behaviour. It is mainly concerned with the kind of
processes that can influence the motivation of an individual (Contact Zilla, 2014).
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The main content theories are Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and Alderfer’s ERG theory.
According to Maslow’s theory, the basic needs of human must be satisfied in order to
motivate him to perform better. These basic needs include physiological, safety, self-esteem,
social and self- actualisation needs.
The Equity Theory also influences the motivation of the individuals. According to this
theory, the intensity of work increases by providing proper recognition and awards for the
work done. It focuses mainly on money and believes that lack of it can create dissatisfaction
among the workers at workplace (Mind Tools, 2018).
The following are the example how the content theories and process theories can improve the
efficiency and effectiveness in the teams within BBC:
 By providing job security.
 By recognizing the hard work of the employees.
 Giving ample opportunities to all the employees in order to grow internally through
promotions.
 By providing training and development so that employees can enhance their skills in
order to develop their careers.
 By providing effective and friendly supervision to the employees.
 By providing competitive salary to all the employees.
 By creating meaningful work for all the positions at workplace.
 By fixing the obstructive policies at the workplace (Furnham, 2013).
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2(b): How will improved levels of motivation within the BBC help to achieve its
organization’s goals?
The importance of motivation is very crucial for each and every organization. The increased
and improved levels of motivation at organizations allow the management of the organization
to meet the objectives of the company. In the absence of motivation, no organization can
achieve success and met its goals. Motivation in employees leads to increased productivity
which in turn helps the organization to achieve maximum output. The absence of motivation
leads to ineffective usage and wastage of useful resources of organization (Burnes, 2013).
The improved levels of motivation will benefit the BBC as it will lead to the attainment of
objectives in more effective manner. Following are the benefits of improved levels of
motivation for BBC:
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Increased Employee Commitment: The improved level of motivation in employees makes
them complete their tasks by putting in their best efforts.
Improved Employee Satisfaction: Motivation provides job satisfaction by satisfying various
needs of the employees. This in turn leads to the growth of the BBC which is every
organization’s objective.
Employee Development: Motivation helps the employee in achieving his personal goals
which leads to the personal development of the employee. This in turn encourages the
employee to work harder and achieve higher goals which meets the objectives of the BBC as
well as its employees.
Improved employee efficiency: Motivation leads to the increase in the willingness of an
employee to perform task. This in turn leads to the balance between the capabilities of
employee to perform task and his willingness to do that which in turn increases the
productivity and efficiency of employees of BBC (Burnes, 2013).
Task 3
LO3: Demonstrate an understanding of how to cooperate effectively with others.
3(a): Identify and explain the different types of teams within the BBC and why having
different types of teams is important.
Having different types of team at workplace has become an essence of time. Today, most of
the leaders feel that the organizational problems are so complex that in order to provide
effective solution, there should be effective teams. The various different types of team at
BBC enables the organization to bring positive outcomes through the collaboration of
creative thinking of different individuals of teams. The main purpose behind different types
of teams at workplace within BBC is to bring together different groups of employees having
common interests and skills to work together towards the same organizational goals. The
employees of BBC are more productive working in teams than what they do when alone.
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Therefore, BBC benefits from having different types of teams at workplace. The various
different types of teams at BBC are:
Department or Project teams: In the project teams, the employee focuses on his
specialisation in order to work with others towards the achievement of organizational goals.
These types of teams are permanent and mainly focus on the ongoing projects in BBC
(Capsim, 2015).
Problem Solving Teams: Problem solving teams are temporary and are required in order to
provide solution to a critical issue at workplace. They help the BBC to come out of a
difficult situation by instantly providing effective solution after carefully analysing the whole
situation.
Virtual Teams: The BBC makes use of the virtual teams in order to allow its employees to
participate in the activities of the organization without worrying about their physical
locations. These teams makes use of the technological innovations like online conferencing,
collaboration etc. in order to be in touch with other team members and contribute equally in
the projects. The team members of the virtual teams need to be effective in communicating
with each other.
Cross-Functional Teams: During certain situations at workplace, the departmental teams
need to work with other teams of the company in order to have the control of each and every
activity. In order to achieve the goals of a certain project, communication between internal
departments is necessary which is carried out through cross-functional teams (Capsim, 2015).
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3(b): Explain what makes an effective team in the BBC.
Team may be defined as the group of individuals who work together in order to achieve the
same organizational goals. In order to increase the productivity of the organization, it is
essential that the teams are effective. BBC follows the Tuckman’s model in order to have
different types of effective teams at its workplace. The Tuckman’s model defines the path
that should be followed by the teams in order to achieve high performance. The path consists
of five stages i.e. Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing and Adjourning.
Forming Stage: The team members at this stage are usually positive and look ahead to
perform the various tasks effectively. The main role at this stage is performed by the leader as
the roles and responsibilities of the team members are not defined yet.
Storming Stage: During this stage, most of the roles and responsibilities have been assigned
to the team members and they may resist working in other styles as directed by the leaders.
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Therefore, it becomes important for the leaders to define the way team should work at this
stage (Minor, 2015).
Norming Stage: During this stage, relationships are built with the colleagues and mutual
understanding starts working. They respect each other and start working with the authority.
During norming stage, each team member has a better understanding of each other and
openly discusses with each other their problems as well as feedback.
Performing Stage: During the performing stage, the hard work of each team member gets
implemented to finally achieve the goal of the task assigned to them. The leaders need to
focus on developing of teams by delegating much of the work on the teams.
Adjourning Stage: This is the final stage where the task has been accomplished and the team
now needs to be disbanded. It becomes difficult for few to face this stage as they develop
serious relations with other team members (Miner, 2015).
In addition to this, the employees at BBC understand their roles and responsibilities in teams
which help them in gaining the knowledge of their strengths and weaknesses. By managing
this, they easily improve their contribution in the working of their teams. This model was
suggested by Belbin.
(Source: https://in.pinterest.com/pin/488640628300555920/)
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Task 4
LO4: Apply concepts and philosophies of organisational behaviour to a given business
situation.
4(a): Using an appropriate organisational concept/theory (such as path-goal theory)
suggest how team performance and productivity could be improved within BBC.
In order to increase the productivity and team performance, the leaders of the organization
need to understand their employees well so as to motivate them. The path-goal theory best
describes the way through which leaders at BBC should encourage the team members to
achieve the organizational goals in much easier and effective manner. According to the path-
goal theory, the leaders should focus on:
 Goal Achievement through proper guidance
 Overcoming Challenges through various tools and resources to achieve success
 Offering Incentives to employees
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According to the path-goal theory, the leadership style should be based on the needs of the
employees and the situation. The different leadership styles according to this theory are:
 Directive: It includes giving specific directions for the achievement of the task with in
defined time frame and providing guidance for the same. It increases the confidence level
of the follower.
 Achievement Oriented: It includes setting of goals for the employee and then the setting
of high standards which must be met by them. This encourages the employee as leaders
show their faith in the capabilities of the employees. The employees also get praise for
their hard work (Benincasa, 2015).
 Participative: It includes leaders working in close relation with employees in order to
identify the goals. It includes the feedback and suggestions of employees as well in order
to identify their personal goals in addition to organizational goals.
 Supportive: It includes giving preference to the employees and their personal needs first
so as to increase the overall productivity. It motivates the employees by showing concern
and respect towards them.
Thus, it can be said that path-goal theory not only improves the effectiveness of the teams
but it benefits each and every single member of the team. This is made possible by
supporting and directing employees in the right direction at each step (Northouse, 2013).
4(b): What have been the main barriers to effective performance within the BBC?
There might be many problems that could affect the performance within the BBC. Some of
the barriers to effective performance within the BBC could be:
 Lack of Clear Goals: There are situations when team members do not even know how to
begin and what to do next. Therefore, first of all goals must be made clear to every team
member so that their roles are clear to them.
 Dominating Team Members: The dominating nature of few of the team members may
decrease the morale of the other team members. Therefore, equal participation of all team
members must be encouraged.
 Poor Performance of Team Members: The poor performance of one team members
affects the performance of the other team members as well. Therefore proper training
needs to be given in order to enhance the capabilities of the employees.
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 Team Conflicts: Different team members have different views and this creates issues and
conflicts within teams. Sometimes, these disagreements give rise to personal issues that
affect the overall performance of the team. The team leaders should provide solution to
these conflicts or the issues should be discussed in private so as to not harm the
productivity (Storey, 2016).
Conclusion
The above assignment is based on the various aspects of the organisational behaviour. The
various principles of organisational behaviour have been focussed on with reference to BBC
organisation. We have discussed the influence of power and politics on the culture as well as
on the behaviour of others in an organization. In addition to this, various motivational
theories and importance of motivation for bringing effectiveness in teams has also been
discussed in the above assignment. The assignment also focuses on the path goal theory for
improving effectiveness of teams and various barriers to effective performance.
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References
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