Organisational Behaviour: Motivation, Teams, and Performance at BBC

This report provides a detailed analysis of organisational behaviour at the BBC, examining its earlier power culture and the subsequent shift towards a people-oriented management style. It evaluates the impact of culture, power, and politics on employee behaviour and explores the application of content and process theories of motivation to improve team effectiveness. The report identifies different types of teams within the BBC, such as problem-solving and functional teams, and discusses strategies to enhance productivity and overcome barriers to effective performance. The transformation led by the new HR director, focusing on employee motivation and engagement, is highlighted as a key factor in achieving organisational goals and improving the BBC's overall reputation. The analysis draws upon various organisational theories and motivational techniques, including Maslow's hierarchy of needs, Herzberg's two-factor theory, and Vroom's expectancy theory, to provide a comprehensive understanding of the factors influencing employee behaviour and organisational success at the BBC.

Organisational Behaviour

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
PART 1............................................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
P1 a) Earlier organisational culture at BBC................................................................................1
P1 b) Culture, power and politics at BBC...................................................................................2
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................3
P2 a) Content and process theories of motivation.......................................................................3
P2 b) Evaluation of motivational techniques that can improve the effectiveness in the teams
within BBC..................................................................................................................................3
P2 c) Improved level of motivation within BBC helps in accomplishing organisational goals..4
PART 2............................................................................................................................................5
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................5
P3 a) Identification of different types of team within BBC.........................................................5
P3 b) Effectiveness in teams within BBC....................................................................................6
TASK 4............................................................................................................................................7
P4 a) Ways to improve productivity and team performance of BBC..........................................7
P4 b) Main barriers to effective performance of employees within BBC...................................8
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
Organizational behaviour (OB) is the study of the way people interact within groups. In
accordance with this context, the organisational culture of BBC will be examined in this
assignment (Russo, Linares and Santos, 2013). By using various cultural assessment tools and
typologies, the earlier organisational culture at BBC will be assessed in this report. The culture,
power and politics that impacts and influences the organisational behaviour of the company will
be evaluated in this report. The effectiveness in teams at the organisation will be assessed with
the help of content and motivational theories and the improved level of motivation within BBC
helps in achieving its targets and goals will investigated in this report. Different types of teams
and effectiveness of team work will be highlighted in this assignment with the help of various
theories and models. Eventually, appropriate organisational theory will be identify that help in
improving the productivity and profitability of BBC and main barriers to effective performance
will be discovered in this assignment.
PART 1
TASK 1
P1 a) Earlier organisational culture at BBC
An organization is a setup where individuals (employees) come together to work for a
common goal. It is essential for the employees to work in close coordination, deliver their level
bests and achieve the targets within the stipulated time frame for the smooth functioning of the
organization. From the analysis of BBC, it was identified that the early organisation culture at
the organisation was power culture. This can be explained with the help of Charles Handy Mode
of organisation culture (Russo, Linhares and Santos, 2013).
Handy describe the power culture as spider’s web. In this context, he stated that in spider
web, all the important and vital spiders reside in the middle of the web. In organisational context,
all the important person and authorities are at the middle of the organisation and is surrounded by
the ever widening circles of intimates and influence. In case of BBC, the early organisational
culture focuses more on power. Most powerful and influential people and authorities were
surrounded by that employee who wants some power in the organisation.
Size is a problem for power cultures. They find it difficult to link too many activities and retain
control; they tend to succeed when they create new organisations with a lot of independence,
although they usually retain central financial control (McAdam, Miller and McSorley, 2016). In
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early BBC, power remains in the hands of certain and limited people and they were accountable
to take important and vital decisions. These people were the ones who enjoy special preferences
in the organisation. This leads to increase in conflicts and disputes. Many employees suffered
from harassments and torture given by the previous authorities of the company. It was
considered as dictatorship in the organisation and many employees left the company due to
power culture of the organisation (McAdam, Miller and McSorley, 2016). This not only impacts
on the reputation of BBC, but also leads to degradation of growth and development of the
organisation. Thus, the power culture at BBC was disgraceful, that influences the employees of
the organisation and degrades the reputation and goodwill of BBC. Many employees felt unsafe
in the company and they leave the organisation without giving another thought.
P1 b) Culture, power and politics at BBC
Power and politics play a huge role in business, from governing how decisions are made to how
employees interact with one another (Shafritz, Ott and Jang, 2015). The power, politics and
culture affected early BBC greatly. The power culture of BBC refers that only certain and
specific people have power and authority in their hand and they have particular rights to make
decisions. This was also known as dictatorship at BBC. In this, many employees was bullying,
harassed and abused. This affects negatively as these employees left the organisation and market
reputation of the corporation started to diminish adequately. Further, politics in the organisation
was normal. Those who possess power in the organisation, plays politics and influence the
employees negatively. These authorities motivate employees to perform by coercion them with
job loss and punishments.
In 2014, the management of BBC appoints new Human resource Director, Valerie Hughes-
D’Aeth. The aim of new director general was to eliminate the power culture from the
organisation and convert it into people management. By implementing certain strategies and
transforming human resource policies and practices, the organisation now become people
oriented organisation (Dörrenbächer and Geppert, 2014). Employees feel safe and they desire to
work with the organisation with full determination and motivation. Their behaviour towards the
organisation converts from negative to positive effectively and efficiently. The priority of the
corporation breaks down in three key areas which redefine the BBC structure. The key priorities
are to provide fantastic programming and content, revamp the organisational culture to attract
and retain employees and frequent transformation in human resource polices of the
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organisations. The human resource director removes 40% of the senior managers so that the
power culture in the organisation can be eliminated. They divide the structure of the organisation
into two parts which are nations and regions and channels and commissioning. Delayering
management was an important element of Hughes-D’Aeth’s efforts to make the BBC “an even
better place to work for our people”.
TASK 2
P2 a) Content and process theories of motivation
Content theories deal with “what” motivates people and it is concerned with individual needs and
goals. Maslow, Alderfer, Herzberg and McClelland studied motivation from a “content”
perspective (Mangi, Kanasro and Bu1 qrdi, 2015). Process theories deal with the
“process” of motivation and are concerned with “how” motivation occurs. Content theory of motivation: Content theory of motivation mainly concentrates on
internal factors that energise human behaviour. The Maslow Need Hierarchy theory state
that the human behaviour is influenced by five factors or needs which must be fulfilled to
be highly motivated. The five needs are physiological needs, safety needs, social needs,
self-esteem and self-actualisation (Wery and Thomson, 2013). In this context, motivation
hygiene theory has been proposed by Frederick Herzberg, where he stated that human
motivation and behaviour can be influenced by two factors which are motivational and
hygienic factors. Motivational factors include, job recognition, status, growth,
responsibility, etc. Hygenic factors include compensation, bonus, supervision, etc.
 Process theory of motivation: Process theories of motivation concentrates on the reasons
and rationales for occurrence of motivation in human behaviour. Theorists and
philosophers like Vroom, Porter & Lawler proposed theories which describe the process
of motivation (Sabater-Mir, Palma-Zurita and Cuadros-Oller, 2016). They stated that an
individual always perform better and efficient if some kind of element influence him or
her to perform better. In organisational context, hat element is consider as rewards and
benefits. Vroom's expectancy theory assumes that behavior results from conscious
choices among alternatives whose purpose it is to maximize pleasure and to minimize
pain. Vroom realized that an employee's performance is based on individual factors such
as personality, skills, knowledge, experience and abilities.
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P2 b) Evaluation of motivational techniques that can improve the effectiveness in the teams
within BBC
Motivational techniques and theories developed by the researchers and philosophers aid in
comprehending the human behaviour effectively and efficiently. In the present context, the
organisational culture at BBC has shifted from authoritarian to democratic culture. Now
employees have rights and freedom through which they can safeguard their duties effectively and
efficiently (Brown and Capozza, 2016). Motivational techniques implemented by the human
resource director at BBC not only aid in growth and development of the organisation but also
leads to overall improvement of profitability and productivity of employees. The reinforcement
and expectance theories of motivation help the management of the corporation to investigate and
analyse the behaviour of employees. On the basis of these theories, human resource management
at BBC incorporated and implemented various policies that aid in increasing the effectiveness in
team work efficiently.
The process and content theories of motivation implemented at BBC led to growth and
development of the organisation. Now employees and employers work collaboratively and
collectively so that the desired goals and targets of the organisation can be accomplished
efficiently and adequately (Lasagabaster, Doiz and Sierra, 2014). Thus, it implies that process
and content theories of motivation with other motivational techniques aid in growth and
development of organisation and also assist in promulgating the goodwill and reputation of BBC.
Other motivational theories and techniques that can help to improve the effectiveness of teams
are provided below:
Hawthorne Effect: Hawthorne suggests that the performance and effectiveness in employees
will increase, if they’re being observed by their superiors . Thus, the superiors at BBC need to
monitor and appreciate the employees so that their motivation and morale increases effectively
and efficiently. Thus, it will help in increasing the team work at company effectively (Boyle,
2017).
Three dimensional theory of attribution: Weiner’s Three-Dimensional theory of attribution has
implications for employee feedback. It is the responsibility of the managers and supervisors of
BBC, to give feedbacks on the performance of team effectively and efficiently. This will boost
up their morale and motivation and they can perform better and efficient.
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P2 c) Improved level of motivation within BBC helps in accomplishing organisational goals
The transformation at BBC led by the director of human resource management led to
increase in motivation and commitment level of employees. Earlier employees faced torture and
harassment in the organisation which degrades the reputation and brand image adequately. In
order to protect the brand image the director general Tony Hall along with the human resource
director Valerie Hughes-D’Aeth formulated certain policies and practices and implemented in
the organization. The end result observed them was increased motivation and determination of
employees (Sevincer, Kluge and Oettingen, 2014). Now the organizational culture of BBC
transforms to people oriented management where employees have right to participate in
managerial decision making process and free to review any misconduct occurred in the
organisation.
The rewards and incentives schemes also improved which increases the motivation in the
employees. Now employees and employers work collaboratively and collectively so that desired
organisational goals and objectives can be accomplished effectively and efficiently. Further,
employees are provided with special privileges which are basically based on their performance
level. This increases the determination in employees and they strive to perform better and better
to enjoy those special privileges (Mangi, Kanasro and Burdi, 2015). Thus, it implies that
employees together with management work abreast efficiently so that the desired goals and
targets set by the organisation can be accomplish effectively.
PART 2
TASK 3
P3 a) Identification of different types of team within BBC
Team are group of two or more individuals which are formed in order to accomplish certain
organisational goals and objective effectively and efficiently. In accordance with this context, the
different types of teams within BBC are provided below: Problem solving teams: Problem Solving Teams is a programme that brings key line
managers together to solve real-time project problems with the help of a facilitator. It is
the missing link between learning and doing (Fiore and Georganta, 2017). These teams
are incorporated at BBC in order to work on complex problems and come up with
effective solutions.
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 Functional teams: A Functional Team is a group of people with a common functional
expertise working toward shared objectives. Functional teams are traditional corporate
teams often coinciding with a whole department, or with a part of it. These teams are
incorporated at BBC so that different departments in the organisation can work
collectively and collaboratively. Project team: A project team is a team whose members usually belong to different
groups, functions and are assigned to activities for the same project. The project teams at
BBC handles different projects collectively and efficiently (Eubanks, Joinson and Dove,
2016). This helps the organisation to accomplish common goals and objective adequately
and effectively. Virtual team: Virtual teams are also known as geographically dispersed team or remote
teams. These are groups of individual who work together in different geographical
location and rely on communication technologies. There are different virtual teams
incorporated at BBC media, so that news coverage can be acquired from each and every
part of the world effectively and efficiently.
Importance of different types of teams at BBC
Team work in organisation is very essential and important. It not only aid in accomplishment of
organisational goals and objectives effectively, but also assists in generating efficient corporate
culture in the organisation. At BBC, there are different types of team formulated by the
management (Dörrenbächer and Geppert, 2014). Each and every team has some functions which
they have to perform efficiently. Team work also aid in generating new and better ideas that can
increase the productivity of the organisation. Further, it increases the mutual trust and bond
between individual and they work with full determination and motivation to achieve desired
targets of the corporation.
P3 b) Effectiveness in teams within BBC
There are certain elements that aid in increasing effectiveness in teams in organisations.
From the analysis it was identified that there are particular things that aid in improving
effectiveness in teams which are human resource management policies and practices, corporate
culture, employees behaviour and leadership styles (Katzenbach and Smith, 2015). In accordance
with this context, effectiveness in teams can be explained by comprehending the Tuckman group
formation theory.
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Bruce W Tuckman is an educational psychologist who first described the stages of group
development in 1965. The five stage of group formations are as follows:
Figure 1: Tuckman group formation model
(Source: Group Formation Model, 2017) Forming: This is the first stage of group formation. Here individuals have no idea about
behaviours of others and there are always conflicts between the groups regarding
leadership. The team remain unstructured and goals are not decided effectively (Russo,
Linhares and Santos, 2013). Group members interact with each other so that behaviour of
team members can be acquired. In this step the management of BBC can gather members
and form the team effectively. Storming: This is the second stage of group formation. Here the members of the group
accept the existence of members but they are still resisting the constraints the group poses
on them (McAdam, Miller and McSorley, 2016). The conflict regarding leadership and
control remain the same. The second stage will aid the management to comprehend the
team work in the BBC efficiently. Norming: This is the third stage in which Tuckman describes that members of groups
generate close relationship with each other and formulate objective and work
collaboratively so that goals can be accomplished (Colbert, Barrick and Bradley, 2014).
The structure of group becomes solid and there is mutual understanding between the
members of groups. This leads to growth and development of BBC. Performing: This is the fourth stage of group formation. The group members understand
each other and started performing their roles and responsibilities. They effectively
perform their duties so that the common goal of organisation can be accomplished and
task can be completed efficiently. Here, team formed at BBC performed efficiently in
order to accomplish common goals and objectives (Shipp, 2015).
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 Adjourning: This is fifth and last stage of group formation. After completing the task, the
group started to dissolve and adjourn. The responses of members vary in this stage. Some
are upbeat, basking in the groups’ accomplishment. Some are depressed over the loss of
colleagues and friends made during the course.
The above model can be applied in the organisation as the management employed diversified
workforce in the organisation. In order to increase teamwork effectively the Tuckman model of
group dynamics can be applied in the BBC. According to the Dame Janet Smith Review report, it
was identified that the working culture of the organisation was not efficient and no one prefer to
work in teams (Aust and Holdsworth, 2016). Thus, the group formation model can aid in
improving the effectiveness in teams and group formed in BBC effectively and efficiently.
TASK 4
P4 a) Ways to improve productivity and team performance of BBC
After the appointment of new director general and new human resource director, the
productivity of BBC tremendously improved. In order to improve the productivity and team
performance, the management of BBC must implements concepts of path goal theory of
leadership (Shafritz, Ott and Jang, 2015). The theory was developed by Robert House in 1971.
The theory states that a leader's behaviour is contingent to the satisfaction, motivation and
performance of his or her subordinates (Phillips and Phillips, 2016). This implies that by
understanding the behaviour of team members and employees in the organisation, leader can
formulate specific strategies that can aid in improvement the team performance and productivity
of organisation.
In context of BBC, it is the responsibility of Tony Hall and Valerie Hughes-D’Aeth to
understand the needs and expectation of employees so that the motivational and satisfaction of
employees can be increased effectively and efficiently (Goswami, Li and Goffnett, 2014). The
leader must set the path for employees so that they walk in the right direction and in right way so
that the growth and development of organisation can be made effectively and efficiently. Further,
path goal theory recommends that a leader must understand the behaviour of employees and his
team so that conflicts and disputes can be minimised and productivity and team efficiency can be
increased and promulgate.
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P4 b) Main barriers to effective performance of employees within BBC
From the analysis of case study of BBC, it was identified that employees were not happy and
enthusiastic about the corporate culture of the organisation. Many employees faced physical and
mental assault and abuse in the organisation (Burke, 2017). This leads to degradation of
organisation reputation. In this context, several barriers have been identified and which are
provided below: Power and politics in BBC: From the analysis of case study, it was identified that the
culture and organisation behaviour of BBC was of power and politics (Goswami, Li and
Goffnett, 2014). Certain people have special rights and they misuse their powers to gain
attention and attraction. Many employees faced harassment and their complaints have not
been listened. This creates a barrier in their performance. Stubbornness and resistance to change: The senior managers working at BBC resist to
change and eschewed the needs and expectations of employees (Upadhaya, Munir and
Blount, 2014). This again creates conflicts and dispute in the organisation and employees
were forced to leave the corporation. Lack of leadership: From the analysis of case study, it was identified that due to lack of
leadership and direction employees’ motivation diminished constantly. The management
of BBC was not focusing on the employee needs and not creating effective path for them
(Phillips and Phillips, 2016). This leads to degradation of employee’s motivation and
commitment level and employees left the organisation.
 Lack of teamwork: There was no team work at BBC and employees and employers were
not cooperating with each other. This leads to the barrier in effective performance in the
organisation. Further, this leads to degradation of organisation growth and development.
CONCLUSION
From the entire report, it can be understood that organisation behaviour and culture at BBC
was not effective earlier. Employees faced certain consequences that lead to degradation of the
organisation. In this context, this report consists of the early culture at BBC and the role of
power and politics that decline employee’s performance and effectiveness in teamwork. Further,
the content and process theories of motivation have been assessed in this assignment. The
relationship with these theories with other motivational technique to increase the performance of
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employee has been discovered. The methods by which team work in the organisation can be
improved have been assessed in this report.
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Shipp, S.P., 2015. Crisis Communication in an International Organization: An Investigation of
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