Organisational Culture and Workforce Motivation at Tesco PLC

This report assesses the influence of organisational culture, politics, and power on individual and team behaviour and performance within Tesco PLC, a leading UK supermarket. It examines how content and process theories of motivation, such as Maslow's hierarchy of needs and Vroom's expectancy theory, enable effective goal achievement. The report also explains the characteristics of effective versus ineffective teams and applies organisational behaviour concepts and philosophies within Tesco's business context. Hofstede's cultural dimensions are used to analyse Tesco's culture, and different types of organisational power are discussed. The report concludes by highlighting the importance of ethical practices in organisational politics and the role of motivation in fostering a goal-driven culture.

Organisational
Cultures and
Workforce Motivation

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
Task 1...............................................................................................................................................1
P1 Assess influence of organization's culture, politics and power on individual and team
behavior and performance......................................................................................................1
Task 2...............................................................................................................................................4
P2 Assess how content and process theories of motivation and motivational techniques enable
effective achievement of goals in an organization.................................................................4
Task 3...............................................................................................................................................5
P3 Explain what makes an effective team as opposed to an ineffective team.......................5
Task 4...............................................................................................................................................7
P4. Apply concepts and philosophies of organizational behavior within an organizational
context and given business situation......................................................................................7
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................9
References......................................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
Business enterprise embraces vast manpower with different culture background to
incorporate the diversity in organisation (Wood and et. al., 2019). The diversity in workforce
creates a major impact on the organisational culture and behaviour. In order to leverage the
workforce diversity motivating employee is essential. The organisational behaviour refers to the
behaviour and interaction of the employees of the organisation within the workplace setting. A
positive organisational behaviour is one in which employees and management of the organisation
have effective communication and build and healthy and friendly environment. The present is in
context of the Tesco plc- a British multinational supermarket that operates under the retail
industry of UK. Tesco plc is the UK largest and leading grocery retailer. The Tesco is highly
reputable and leading supermarket that has diversified workforce. The report will cover the
influence of organisation's culture, politics and power over the individual and team behaviour
and performance. Further motivational theories are discussed and team development is
highlighted to achieve organisational goals. At last the philosophies of organisational behaviour
within Tesco are discussed.
Task 1
P1 Assess influence of organization's culture, politics and power on individual and team
behavior and performance
Organisational Culture
It is defined as the way in which the employees behave within the organisation, the
culture of organisations consists of values and beliefs that are established by the leaders and later
shared among the employees (Cross and Carbery, 2018). A successful organisation always needs
a culture which is strongly supported by strategies and structure. Employers and the managers
play a very important role in perpetuating a good culture as they recruit and select people in the
organisation. In context of Tesco PLC, they have a very strong organisation culture as the
employees in the organisation have a very good communication and relation with each other. To
further understand the influence of organisational culture in Tesco PLC, Hofstede's cultural
dimension model is applied. This helps in understanding the dimensions in which the cultures
vary; these six dimensions are discussed below:
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 Power distance index- This index is used in the organisation to determine the extent to
which power and inequality among the employees will be tolerated. This dimension is
viewed from the perspective of the follower that is the lower level (Kitchin, 2017). A
high of this index indicates the organisational culture is accepting inequality and believes
in the concept of bureaucracy. Where as a low of this index shows that the organisation
believes in the concept of decentralisation and participative pattern in the management. In
context of Tesco PLC, they follow a low power index which suggests that the managers
in the company emphasize on the participative management style.
 Collectivism vs. individualism- This dimension considers the level at which integration
of grouping is there in the employees. This aspect revolves around the dependence of an
individual on a group or himself. The concept of individualism states that the person
gives greater importance to the attainment of personal goals. Whereas the collectivism
enforces the idea of working together and achieving the group goals for the organisation.
In context of Tesco PLC, their employees exhibit a behaviour of collectivism, this
increases the ethics of team working and helps the organisation in attaining the objectives
(Pereira, Malik and Froese, 2017).
 Uncertainty avoidance index- This index is related with the consideration of extent to
which ambiguity and uncertainty are tolerated in the organisation. This dimension deals
with the unexpected set of events and situations. A high index indicates that the
organisation is unable to handle and tolerate the unexpected situations. Where as a low
index tells that the organisation is prepared to deal with the uncertainty and ambiguity. In
context of Tesco PLC, their uncertainty avoidance index is low which means company
has enough preparation of dealing with the future uncertain events.
 Masculinity vs. Femininity- This refers to the behaviour in the organisation towards the
sexual equality. This dimensions are concerned about the aspects on 'tough vs. tender'.
The characteristics of masculinity are assertive, wealth building and material
achievement where as the characteristics of femininity are modest and nurturing (Collins
and et. al., 2020). In context of Tesco PLC, they have a high score of masculinity index
as they provide their employees material reward in case of achievement of goals.
 Long term orientation vs. short term orientation- This dimension is related with the
time horizon. A long term orientation focuses on the large time frame and delays the
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involvement in short term success. A short-term orientation emphasizes on the near
future, involves accomplishing short term goals and delivering quick results. In context of
Tesco PLC, their organisation culture aims to achieve long term growth and sustainability
in the environment.
 Indulgence vs Restraint- The dimension focuses on the extent to which the individuals
in the society can go to fulfil the desires. Indulgent behaviour suggest that the employees
are more lean towards enjoying and having fun (Gillam and Cosford, 2021). Restraint
indicates that the society is regulated under the social norms. In context of Tesco PLC,
they follow an indulgent manner as their employees and manager have good
communication among themselves.
Organisational Power
It refers to the power that an individual has to influence the behaviour of stakeholder of
the organisation. The higher dependency states that the influence power is high where as low
dependency suggests that the influence power is low. Types of organisation power in Tesco PLC
are discussed below:
 Reward power: The ability to reward something from organisation resources to an
employee on completion of some task is known as reward power. These rewards can be
tangible or intangible such as monetary bonus or recognition and appreciation. In Tesco
PLC, this power of reward is limited to the managers. They reward the employees on the
basis of their performances (Majumdar, 2018).
 Legitimate power: This power is associated with high positions in the organisation. The
sales manager is responsible for managing the sales team and the targets. In context with
Tesco PLC, the functional power is distributed among the top level of management.
 Coercive power: This refers to the power of punishing and demoting employees in case
of a bad conduct in the organisation. In context of Tesco PLC, this power is authorised in
the hand of top and medium level management. They deal with the issues related to the
unacceptable performance of employees.
Organisational politics
Politics at workplace is a common thing which has been fostering in the organisation for
a long time. Here the higher authorities use their power to give personal benefits to the people
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with whom they have social connection. This practice is generally considered unethical as the
deserving employees lack behind due to this. In context of Tesco PLC, their organisational
politics is minimal as every manager is entitled to report to the owner about the skills and efforts
that the promoted employee has. They follow a set approach of promotion and rewarding the
employees which ensures that the process is ethical and equal for every employee (Đuretić and
Krasulja, 2020).
Task 2
P2 Assess how content and process theories of motivation and motivational techniques enable
effective achievement of goals in an organization.
Motivation is crucial for an organization as it fosters the organizational culture that is goal
driven and encouraged to achieve the organizational goals and objectives. In order to empower
the performance and productivity in the employees’ motivation is highly essential because it
supply them job satisfaction. Motivational theories are categories into two types: content theory
and process theory.
Content theory: the content theory focus on WHAT strands are crucial for motivating an
employee of an organization. This theory is the need theory by this Tesco as it aims to identify
the needs and wants of the employees and relates them with their motivational strands in order to
fulfill them effectively. The different content theories are: McClelland's achievement
motivation, Maslow's hierarchy of needs, Alderfer's ERG theory etc. Maslow's hierarchy of
needs is the common and very famous motivational theory used by several organizations to
motivate their employees (Rakna, 2018).
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
In 1948, Abraham Maslow derived the Maslow's hierarchy of needs. In this theory of
needs there are the 5 stages of needs in the form of pyramid and they are required to be satisfied
in the lower to upper order. When the employees of the Tesco reaches top of the pyramid they
are completely motivated. The five different needs are discussed below:
 Physiological needs: in this stage the basic needs of the employees are satisfied such as
sir, water, food, shelter etc. To satisfy these needs, Tesco provide their employees a well
furnished store to work, healthy food and water facilities, also the aroma of the stores is
fresh and clean to breath this satisfies the employees basic needs.
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 Security needs: Tesco plc effectively takes care of the security and safety of their
employees as the stores are highly protected with best guards, cameras and safety
measures. Also the company has effective policies for the protection of the employee’s
income, job etc.
 Belongingness and love: every employees wants comfort, friendship and a person to talk
and share its emotions. In Tesco plc the company has unions of the employees to share
their belongingness. Also in Tesco there are weekly fun activities to foster the
employee’s relations (VARLAMI, 2021).
 Self Esteem: for the motivation and encouragement off the employee to work effectively
and to show more efforts in the company. The Tesco has best rewards, appraisals,
promotions for their employees to feel motivated and self esteemed. Every year Tesco
offers their employees a creditability and bonus for their best performance in the
company.
 Self actualization: the self reflection of the potential and capabilities of an employee is
always the part of motivation. For the accomplishment of this stage of the motivation the
employee wants to achieve their self goals for which the Tesco provide the training and
development programs by which employees receive new opportunities to raise their skills
and abilities.
Fulfilment of the above needs help the Tesco in motivating the employees at their highest
level due to which employees feel recognised and work with more energy and potential to meet
organisational goals (Barbaranelli and et. al., 2019). Therefore, the motivational techniques of a
Tesco and help them in enhancing the level of meeting organisational objectives.
Advantages Disadvantages
The benefit of this theory is that it leads to
comprehend the suitable factors that impact the
overall human behaviour and motivation level.
For this, Tesco will profitable from the
adoption of idea by having the self-actualised
workforce to their overall ability that helps in
increasing the needs of achievement.
Its drawback depict that it is impossible to
quantify needs as they are organised in a
particular hierarchy and somehow it is difficult
to comprehend the human behaviour in terms
of identifying the stage of hierarchy of needs in
which the employees of Tesco relies.
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 Process theory: this theory aims on HOW humans can be motivated. This theory is the
procedural theory in order to understand what kind of process can influence motivation.
There are many types process theory such as Adam's equity theory, Skinner's
reinforcement theory etc. Victor Vroom's expectancy theory is the famous process theory.
Vroom’s expectancy theory: This theory suggested that the motivation is impacted by future
expectations. For this, victor divided this theory into three parts which are discussed as:
 Valence: It refers to that how an individual value the rewards which are connected with
the assigned work. For this, higher the value of reward then the suitable motivation the
person gets to perform their task.
 Expectancy: It depict that the expectations that the person has as a result which are going
to be achieved if they do the particular work.
 Instrumentality: It represent that how much an individual believes that generating
proper result will help in accomplishing the reward.
Advantages Disadvantages
This theory is founded regarding the concept of
overall satisfaction which is linked with the
motivation and expectation that influences
people to work hard with their full potential.
As offering Tesco a competitive advantage in
regarding their effective benefits and
productivity like salary increment and bonuses.
The demerit of this theory is that it leads to
demotivate the workforce like if the
expectations are not met by the overall reward
or incentives which are provided to employees
then the theory is not suitable for Tesco in
terms of investing more capital in other
incentives or rewards.
Task 3
P3 Explain what makes an effective team as opposed to an ineffective team.
Effective Team Ineffective Team
The effective team is the strong team with
engaged and open atmosphere for the
individuals to communicate openly and
honestly with clarity of objectives and conflict
free environment.
The ineffective team is the one which has
unduly formal and disengaged atmosphere
where team members dominate each other and
have selective communication. Also In such
team there is unclear objectives and destructive
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environment.
In the effective team of the Tesco there is free
flow of communication due to which they have
decision making by consensus and also there
are healthy discussions between team members
for the fair decision making (Attree, Kumar
and Singh, 2020).
In the ineffective team of the Tesco there is
selective listening and mixed message passing
due which there dominant discussions and
dictated decision are made.
Tuckman theory of team development
Thus, therefore developing an effective team is highly essential for Tesco in order to have
productivity and conflict free decision making. Also with the effective team the company is able
to increase the efficiency of its work and customer service as the team will have leadership by
which the team efforts will be fully aligned with goals of the organisation (Mousa, Massoud and
Ayoubi, 2020). In order to develop an effective team of the Tesco plc the Tuckman team
development theory is used and discussed below:
 Forming: the first stage of effective team development in which Tesco will compare the
employees through their skills and develop team. In this stage the team members are over
polite and excited to work with each other. During these stage team goals, individual
roles, interest are discussed to develop the relationship for productive work. In this stage
the company more focus on people.
 Storming: the second stage in which team members become aware of each other
behaviours and people segment their groups in team on the basis of their liking and
ignore or annoy those whose flaws are recognised. In this stage there is start of clash of
personalities and people disagree with each other and this causes the conflict. Therefore,
at this stage the leaders of Tesco try to mitigate conflict by investing in it.
 Norming: the third stage in which people start to get normal and try to appreciate each
other’s strengths. At this stage the team starts to settle into a groove by collaboratively
working with each and also work as team. At this stage, Tesco is one step ahead in
developing effective team.
 Performing: the stage at which the team of the Tesco starts bonding with each other
again and come in good terms with each other. Therefore, they are highly confident,
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motivated and familiar enough to work with each other comfortably for the success of the
team. At this stage the team is operated without any leader or supervision and all struggle
to accomplish organisational goal of the Tesco.
 Adjourning: the mourning stage where the team members are disbanding and feel
highly sad and emotional for the separation from each other. In this stage the team
detangles from each other and experience a sense of separation as at this stage with the
time the members became friends and started developing a close bond.
Task 4
P4. Apply concepts and philosophies of organizational behavior within an organizational context
and given business situation
The leaders of the organizations have a responsibility of leading, guiding and motivating
the employees to achieve organizational goals and objectives with the help of different
leadership styles (Barzoki and Rezaei, 2017). The path goal theory is used to identify and specify
the different leadership styles and behavior for the leaders of the company. In Tesco, this theory
is helpful in recognizing the suitable leadership style and behavior that fits the working
environment, culture of the Tesco and its employee's. As per the organisational situation of the
Tesco the company has been facing increase in employee turnover over the past two years. In
order to stop this company has change its higher management and through which the new CEO
of the Tesco has taken a decision of enhancing the culture, structure and performance
management of the company.
The path goal theory is an effective process that helps leaders of the organization to select
particular behavior with the leadership style that can engage the employees of the organization
create an environment and culture that is highly effective in accomplishing the organizational
goals and also ensure that individuals have able to relate their personal goals with it. The four
styles of path goal theory are discussed and the needs in context of Tesco.
The directive path goal clarifies leader behaviour: This is the kind of the leader’s
behaviour is appropriate for the organisational situation in which the leaders of the Tesco address
their employees what are their expectations from them and also guide and direct them regarding
the method of performing the different task (Vázquez-Rodríguez, Romero-Castro and Pérez-
Pico, 2021). In the organisational situation where the Tesco want their employees to attain
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certain tasks then the leaders use this behaviour to guide them properly for the best outcomes in
order to make the employees feel more ambiguous and satisfied with their achievements.
The achievement oriented leader behaviour: This kind of leadership behaviour is useful
during the times when there is sudden emergency or deadline for the task and company is
required to extract the best performance of their employees. for this the leaders of the Tesco set
some benchmarks and hurdles for the employees to cross in order to understand what company
expects from them and they should work with their highest potential. This motivates the
employees as the leaders of the company show confidence and trust in their employees.
The participative leader behaviour: In this kind of the leadership behaviour the leaders act as a
team player, mentor and consultant on in the work. As the leader participate with the employees
and similarly the employees are also the part of the decision making and discussions. This is the
most common leadership style used by the leaders of the Tesco at the different stages f the
training of the employee. This is also useful in boosting the employee’s morale and encourages
them to understand their work in more prominent way.
The supportive leader behaviour: The leadership behaviour is highly focused towards the
employees’ satisfaction. During the organisational situation where there is high turnover ratio of
employees in the Tesco from floor to stores. The leader of the company through supportive
leader’s behaviour try to comfort their employees and try to fulfil the needs and preferences of
the employees in order to serve them with the employees’ satisfaction. This behaviour of the
leader of the Tesco is highly effective in retaining the employees (Vázquez-Rodríguez, Romero-
Castro and Pérez-Pico, 2021).
Hence, after analysing the benefits of all the four styles of the path goal theory it is analysed
that for the Tesco and its organisational situation as discussed above the most prominent and
suitable leadership behaviour is supportive leadership style. This leader’s behaviour has a huge
potential in retaining the employees, decreasing the level of employees turnover and also this
will help the company to fulfil the employee’s expectations. This leader’s behaviour is also
impactful in increasing employee’s motivation and trust and loyalty for their leaders.
CONCLUSION
It is concluded from the above report that for an organisation power, culture and politics
has great influence on the behaviour and performance of the employees. A diversified and
friendly culture of the company increases productivity. For the organisation motivating its
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employees and satisfying the needs of employees is priority as this helps in enhancing the
employee’s performance and dedication towards organisational goals. For the positive
organisational behaviour in the company there is the development of effective team. In order to
enhance the dynamics of the organisational behaviour as per the organisational situations the
company must opt for the participative path goal theory so that the influence of unnecessary
power can be reduced.
References
Books and Journals
Attree, A.K., Kumar, V. and Singh, A.K., 2020. Developing and validating the individual and
organisational consciousness scale. International Journal of Work Organisation and
Emotion. 11(2). pp.154-177.
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