Improving Team Performance and Productivity at the BBC: A Case Study

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Organisational Behaviour
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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
How have the following affected the behaviour of staff within the BBC in the recent past
and today?...............................................................................................................................4
Task 2.........................................................................................................................................8
LO2: Evaluate how to motivate individuals and teams to achieve a goal..............................8
a) It is important for the BBC to get the best out of its employees, both in an individual
and a team capacity. Explain how content and process theories of motivation can help to
achieve this.............................................................................................................................8
b) How will improved levels of motivation within the BBC help to achieve its
organisational goals?............................................................................................................10
Task 3.......................................................................................................................................11
LO3: Demonstrate an understanding of how to cooperative effectively with others...........11
a) Identify and explain the different types of teams within the BBC and why having
different types of teams is important....................................................................................11
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
a) Using an appropriate organisational concept/theory, suggest how team performance
and productivity could be improved within the BBC...........................................................14
b) What have been the main barriers to effective performance within the BBC?.........16
Conclusion................................................................................................................................17
References................................................................................................................................18
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Introduction
Organisational behaviour can be referred to the study of the behaviour of the humans or the
workforce within the organisation. It is that field of business study that involves the
understanding of the various factors responsible for the individual behaviour within an
organisation. As human behaviour is unpredictable and at the same time it is an important
factor behind the organisational success. Therefore, based on individual behaviour, the
organisational culture also undergoes several changes over time. BBC is a perfect example of
such an organisation whose working culture has undergone numerous changes in the last few
years. The following assignment is based on the given scenario where various aspects of the
organisational culture of BBC have been discussed with the help of the various motivational
theories as well as models.
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Task 1
LO1
How have the following affected the behaviour of staff within the BBC in the recent past
and today?
a) Organisation Culture
The organisational culture is made up of beliefs as well as principles and values of an
organisation. The organisational culture that used to be practised in the interiors of the BBC
became clear by the Smith Review. However, according to the latest reports, it has been said
that the organisational culture practised in BBC today has changed a lot from how it used to
be years ago. The organisational culture of any business organisation can be understood
clearly by following Handy’s Typology as it has been considered as the most effective.
According to Charles Handy, the four different cultures that are usually practised are as
follows:
Power Culture: The power culture is the one where the positional power within the
organisation is enjoyed only by a limited number of people and they are the only one who
takes all the major decisions. This type of culture within the organisation does not allow their
employees to express their views or opinions and the authority of delegating jobs and
responsibilities lies with the power persons (Christiansen, 2012).
Task Culture: The organisation culture is said to be the task culture if it based on the mutual
and combined performance of the whole team. In this type of organisational culture, teams
are formed in order to achieve the goals and every employee is given the opportunity to
participate and contribute equally to tasks (MSG, 2018).
Person Culture: The person culture is the organisational culture where the employees
consider themselves more important than the organisation and therefore focuses more on the
personal goals and individual profit rather than focussing on the organisational profit and
organisational goals (Christiansen, 2012).
Role Culture: This type of organisational culture is based on the delegation of the roles and
responsibilities according to the individual specialisation and qualification. Therefore, in this
type of organisational culture, the employees are being given the opportunity to choose a task
according to their will and proficiency (MSG, 2018).
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Before Dyke took the charge of the BBC organisation, the organisation used to follow the
bureaucratic model which closely resembles power culture. However, this model proved to be
unsuitable for the BBC as it was based on strict organisational rules and regulations.
Therefore, the employees were not able to put their opinions and point of views freely and
this prevented their creativity and innovative ideas as well.
After the charge of the organisation went in the hands of Dyke, new policies and
organisational culture were implemented by the BBC organisation. In order to increase the
profit of the organisation, the organisation implemented a Rational Goal model and
Mckinsey’s 7s model. Also, the clan control policies were formulated by the organisation
which proved to be really useful in achieving the organisational goals efficiently and in
regulating the employees of the organisation (The Dame Janet Smith Review, 2016).
The BBC also started to follow the managerial process model which has resulted in the
increased managerial productivity of the organisation.
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b) Power and political behaviour of managers
The external powers, as well as the political conditions of UK, have greatly influenced the
corporate culture that exists inside the BBC organisation. The political situations prevailing
in the country have greatly impacted the norms and policies as well as the organisational
culture practised by the organisation. The organisational culture of BBC has also got
influenced by the decision of Brexit (The Dame Janet Smith Review, 2016).
The management team within the BBC keeps on changing with the changing political
situations of UK. A whole new theme was included in the organisational culture of BBC by
Helen Broaden so as to encourage creativity and innovation. Similarly, many new policies
were introduced by the different controllers of BBC like Jane Root, who introduced the
policy of directly getting engaged with the audience and Jerry Timmings, who gave ideas for
improving management-employees relations within the organisation. However, the most
transformational change was the introduction of the clan control policy system that replaces
the power culture or the bureaucratic approach within the organisation (Javed, 2016).
The behaviour of the organisation BBC and its employees have been greatly influenced by
the culture, power and politics. The decision making within BBC has also got influenced by
this. The behaviour of the employees as well as their interaction with the organisation’s
clients also get influenced by this. The organisational behaviour of BBC and its
organisational culture gets affected by the cultural changes, power and political influence.
The overall productivity of BBC has also been influenced by the power as the employees
have got the better conditions to work in. The influence of power is both positive as well as
negative on the organisational culture of BBC (Easton, 2012). The positive impact can be
seen in the form of an appraisal system followed by the BBC influenced by power and
politics which rewards the employees of the organisation on the basis of their performance.
However, some employees misuse the power and the authorities given to them and therefore
power also negatively impacts the organisational culture of BBC. The political interference in
the organisational culture of BBC has improved the productivity of the organisation on one
hand while also makes some people make unethical use of it (Easton, 2012).
The change in the organisational culture is seen in the form of present working culture as
compared to the power culture that was in practice during previous years in the organisation.
There have been many changes in the organisational culture as well as the structure of the
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organisational from bureaucratic in the starting to divisional and then functional (Cummings
& Worley, 2014).
Task 2
LO2
a) It is important for the BBC to get the best out of its employees, both in an individual
and a team capacity. Explain how content and process theories of motivation can
help to achieve this.
Motivation can be defined as the act of influencing the employees of the organisation in
order to increase their efficiency as well as the overall productivity of the organisation so as
to achieve organisational goals more effectively. Theorists have divided the motivational
theories into mainly two groups i.e. Content theories and Process Theories (Contact Zilla,
2014).
The main focus of the content theories is on the individual needs of the employees and by
focusing on these needs the theory aims to find the areas where motivation is required. They
provide motivation to individuals by identifying their needs and fulfilling them. In an
organisation, the motivation can be provided to employees by appreciating their
performances and providing them rewards accordingly.
Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs is one of the content theories of motivation. According to this
theory of Maslow, there are some basic needs of every individual that needs to be fulfilled so
as to improve his/her productivity and efficiency by providing motivation. The needs here
refer to the security, safety, social, physiological as well as the self-actualisation needs of the
individual (Contact Zilla, 2014).
The main focus of the process theories is on the detailed analysis of the various processes that
can be followed so as to motivate the individuals. It focuses on ‘how’ rather than ‘what’.
Equity theory is also the kind of motivational theory applied so as to motivate individuals to
enhance their performance. According to the Equity theory, the performance, as well as the
desire of the individual to perform better, can be increased by providing him/her appropriate
rewards and recognition for their work (Mind Tools, 2018).
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The productivity of the employees of the BBC can be increased by making use of both the
content and process theories of motivation. The enhancement of the individual productivity
will ultimately lead to the growth and success of the BBC organisation. The application of
these theories by BBC will improve the trust, communication as well as the coordination
among the employees within the organisation. The use of content theories which focuses on
individual needs can provide motivation to employees by showing concern towards their
personal needs of security and safety. Another method that can be applied by BBC in order to
motivate employees is by providing them with monetary rewards so that they perform even
better.
Various other theories of motivation such as Equity theory, two-factor theory etc. are also
used by the BBC which influences the employee behaviour and makes them perform better.
The use of the various motivational theories by BBC has influenced the effectiveness of the
teams positively. The employees in the BBC feel free to express their views and allow them
to perform extraordinarily and achieve organisational goals effectively (Furnham, 2013).
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b) How will improved levels of motivation within the BBC help to achieve its
organisational goals?
In order to achieve organisational growth and success, improved levels of motivation among
employees can prove to be really helpful. For BBC to get organisational success, it is
important that the motivation to its employees is provided in the right direction. This will
ensure the increased productivity of the BBC on whole as the employee who is motivated can
perform much better. Motivated employees are mostly satisfied employees and employee
satisfaction can ultimately lead to goal achievement (Burnes, 2013).
Employee Engagement can also be considered an an important factor for achieving
organisational goals. It shows that the employees of the organisation are committed towards
the organisation and organisational goals are more important for them rather than their
personal goals. After the work culture at BBC got changed, the employees began to feel more
engaged and therefore free to express their views and opinions. This makes them feel
important. Therefore, the present working culture at BBC which involves better management
and performance appraisals, as well as recognition and supportive management, have
positively influenced the behaviour of the BBC employees. Engaging them in organisational
goals has made them more dedicated to their roles and tasks (Furnham, 2013).
The various motivational theories discussed above also helps the BBC in achieving its
organisational goals. One of such goal is to bring together the employees belonging to
different cultures together at one place. This is achieved by BBC by applying Maslow’s
hierarchy of needs. By applying these motivational theories, the teamwork and better
coordination among employees can be initiated (Burnes, 2013).
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Task 3
LO3
a) Identify and explain the different types of teams within the BBC and why having
different types of teams is important
Various different types of teams exist within BBC which includes functional teams, problem-
solving teams, project teams and virtual teams. Their importance in the organisation can be
understood from the following:
Functional Teams: Functional team refers to the group of employees within the organisation
who works with the same functional expertise. The employees in the functional teams within
the BBC works towards common organisational goals, that are mutually shared by the
employees, as well as the organisation (Capsim, 2015).
Problem Solving Teams: The problem working teams within BBC consists of employees
who work towards providing the solutions to the various issues that exist within the
operations of the organisation. The different tasks to resolve issues have been allotted to
different employees in problem-solving teams within BBC (Capsim, 2015).
Project Teams: Project teams within the BBC are made up of employees from various
different groups and having different functionalities in order to work on a particular project.
The teams and the sub-teams work on the needs of the given project and once the project is
over or is achieved, these teams are dismissed.
Virtual Teams: A virtual team that exists within BBC consists of employees who work
towards the same organisational goal and towards the achievement of the same project but are
located at different locations within the company. The communication between the members
of the team takes place through emails, faxes, video calls etc (Capsim, 2015).
All the above-mentioned teams exist within BBC so that the organisation is capable of getting
better and improved ideas and the functioning of the organisation can be improved under
difficult circumstances. All these teams are important for BBC as they help the organisation
in growing and gaining better productivity as well as profitability.
b) Explain what makes an effective team in the BBC.
The effectiveness of the various different teams that exist within BBC can be described by
making use of the Tuckman’s theory which is one of the most effective team theories. The
Tuckman’s theory of teams consists of various different stages as described below:
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Forming: The initial stage of the team development in the BBC and also according to the
Tuckman’s theory is forming. During this stage, the employees at BBC works within the
organisation so as to find their exact place or position as the roles and responsibilities are not
clear to them and there is a high dependency on the leader (Malmir, et. al., 2013).
Storming: During the second stage of the theory which is storming, the various members of
the team within BBC work together as a team and challenges one another as well as a leader
towards the accomplishment of their tasks.
Norming: During the norming stage of the Tuckman’s theory, the various members of the
team within BBC works together towards gathering the information related to all the
necessary processes and the roles and responsibilities are clear and accepted by each team
member.
Performing: During this stage, the various members of the team in BBC starts actually
working towards their goals and there is no interference of the leader at this stage as the
employees focus on goal accomplishment and work together towards its achievement.
Adjourning: This stage signifies the accomplishment of the task and therefore the dismissal
of the teams formed to achieve those tasks (Northouse, 2013).
The use of the Tuckman’s theory can prove to be really helpful for the BBC for developing
teams that are effective as it will provide proper guidance to the team members. The company
can benefit as the employees will be performing better by analysing the various situations and
working accordingly and the leaders will be leading the team in the most efficient manner.
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