Organizational Behavior Report: ASDA Case Study Analysis

This report analyzes organizational behavior within the context of a case study of ASDA, a UK supermarket retailer. It explores various organizational structures, including functional, divisional, and matrix structures, and recommends a divisional structure for ASDA to promote employee autonomy and flexibility. The report examines the impact of organizational culture, such as power, role, task, and person cultures, on employee effectiveness, suggesting that ASDA should adopt a role culture. It also assesses the importance of employee learning and training, teamwork, and different leadership styles (autocratic, democratic, and free rein) on organizational performance. Furthermore, the report discusses the process and outcomes of change management, particularly the 'Unfreeze-Change-Refreeze' model, and evaluates various leadership behavior theories, including trait theory. The report provides insights into motivation techniques and the benefits of employee involvement in decision-making processes within an organizational setting.

ORGANISATIONAL
BEHAVIOUR

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
Task 1...............................................................................................................................................1
Analysis of characteristics of different organization structure - ...............................................1
The culture of organization can impact the effectiveness of the organization -..........................2
Assessment of impact of learning on effectiveness of the employees .......................................2
Evaluating employee effectiveness while working in teams .....................................................2
Impact of different leadership behavior in organizations ...........................................................3
Process and outcomes of change on the effectiveness of employees .........................................4
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................4
Different leadership behavior theories.......................................................................................4
Theories related to work relationships and interactions .............................................................5
Relevance of organizational culture theory in developing effectiveness in organization...........6
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................7
Benefits and issues with involving employees in organizational decision making....................7
Evaluate different leadership behavior theories -........................................................................9
Motivation technique of employees in McDonald's....................................................................9
CONCLUSION .............................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES ..............................................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION
Organizational behavior refers to the study for both individual and group performance in
the administration (Osland, Devine and Turner, 2015). In this area working environment as well
as identifies the impact on communication, job performance and structure of the organization.
ASDA is the supermarket retailer company of UK and was established on the year 1949. The
company is headquartered in Leeds, West Yorkshire. The study will include features of different
organizational structure. It will also explain the culture, leadership and it effectiveness on its
employees as well as different leadership theories will be applied to the organization in order to
improve the overall organizational behavior effectively and efficiently
TASK 1
Analysis of characteristics of different organizational structure -
An organization structure is a system outlining how certain activity are directed resulting
achievement of organizational goals. The activity involves roles, responsibility and rules. The
organizational structure have four types namely functional, divisional, matrix and flat (Osland,
Devine, and Turner, 2015).
 Functional - It is based on organization division into small group with specific tasks and
roles. Each department has a director monitoring executive level in hierarchy. It establish
definite relationship amongst the divided units established to attain common objective.
 Divisional - The structure promotes autonomy among groups in the organization. Under
this every department operates as its own company, control its resources as well as have
individual spending budget for certain project. Those results in lower degree of control or
centralization , the structure proved to be competitive in dynamic environment asking
flexibility and responsiveness.
 Matrix - It is basically functional and projected organization structure. In this the
employees may report more than one boss depending on the situation and project. The
functional manager has authority on technical aspect of the project, thus the subordinates
receive orders from two boss and it is also suitable for multi-project organization. Each
project is managed by project manager supported by functional managers and employees
of the company.
The Asda must establish divisional organizational structure to provide autonomy to its
employees as the structure promotes flexibility among divisions, allowing every individual to

operate the firm as its own along with a single person reporting to it's upper management
(Borkowski, 2016).
The culture of organization can impact the effectiveness of the organization -
Organization cultures have varying impacts on the performance and motivation level of the
employees. The employees at time work harder in order to achieve organizational goals
considering themselves to be a part of organizational culture. (Vasu, Stewart, and Garson, 2017).
Organizational Culture and Organizational effectiveness –
The Handy's Culture proposed four types of organization culture namely power culture,
role culture, task culture and personal/ support culture. The effectiveness of employees is majorly
affected by the implementation of these factors (Miner, 2015).
 Power culture: it is the type of culture where company gives power to few of the
members those who are part of top management. They give instruction to individuals and
all people have to follow their given guidelines. It is highly bureaucratic in nature. This
type of culture impact negative on individual behavior as people do not like to work
under huge pressure, they feel demotivated which affect their team performance as well.
 Task culture: This is the type of culture where company form a team, of people who can
solve particular problem. All team members are given separate role and they perform
their given task. This positively impact on employee’s behavior as they become more
productive because company gives them right to complete task by taking their own
decisions. Team working becomes more creative and productivity of team members get
increased.
 Person culture: Individual thinks that individual is the important person in business hence
do not give much attention on other managerial persons. In this type of culture people fail
to work in a team well which affect team performance badly and sometimes increases
negativity at workplace. (Kinicki and Fugate, 2017).
 Role culture: people are given separate role, people are derived from their particular
position. It motivates them and employees work better in the firm. ASDA follows Role
Culture to bring efficiency of the employees so that every individual can master his or her
own skills in the specific department and bring efficiency in the entire process by
performing in their specialized area.

Assessment of impact of learning on effectiveness of the employees
The learning of an employee plays a vital role in performance of his day to day activities.
The Asda promote regular training program such as training orientation, on board training,
technical skills development training to bring effectiveness to its employees, eliminate chances
of mistakes and error, help in development of personality for working conditions.
The ASDA must perform training orientation in future to the new employees
including basic information that must be used to ensure that the they posses basic knowledge
required in their specific platform for job satisfaction of the employees in ASDA.
Learning is always beneficial for employees because it improves their existing
capabilities and make them capable to work on complex task effectively. ASDA organizes off the
job training programs for its workers to make them learn. By this way they know more about
their role and become able to perform it well. This gives them more promotional opportunities
and they get more career development opportunities at workplace (Kinicki, and Fugate, 2017).
Furthermore, learning makes them able to earn more incentives and promotions at workaplce.
Evaluating employee effectiveness while working in teams
The Asda must promote team working performances as they result in overall
development of individual in following process -
Team Members ability effect on Employee's performance -
Team performance depends on knowledge, abilities and skills of individual member. The Asda
establishes team with different set of abilities like they need a technical expertise, people with
problem solving and decision making skills to identify problem, develop alternative plans and
take a necessary decision thus promoting individual to participate and contribute skills for
problem solving. The practice produces a sense of belonging creating an atmosphere of mutual
trust resulting in creating mutual understanding help to attain final objective, the team members
at various time plays a role of motivator, leader. The team members enforce internal competition
to generate maximum output and efficiency amongst all the employees and help each other
attaining final objectives and goals (Lăzăroiu, 2015). The efficiency of team members can be
optimized by the use of Tuckman method that includes four steps that is forming, storming,
norming and performing. The ASDA in order to promote employee effectiveness need to set the
dependency on leader for the guidance and direction. The ASDA focuses on the command
accepted by the leader, the leader must be in this case is accountable to answer a lot of questions.

The trust among the team members help increase efficiency of the subordinate
employees. As the employees in ASDA develop trust amongst each other and the chances of
conflict and mismanagement eliminates and thus develop efficiency in the employees
effectiveness. The employees must develop trust within the organization to generate maximum
outputs from their efficiency. Cooperation of team members supports in creating health
environment, all the members support each other in completing their work.This develops
bonding between them which creates friendly workplace atmosphere where they can discuss
their mistakes in a positive manner, express a bit of criticism amongst each other and express
their views freely to lead synergy in the team (Miner, 2015).
Impact of different leadership behaviours in organizations
There are mainly three type of leadership styles in management namely Autocratic
leadership, Democratic leadership and Free Rein leadership. The difference in leadership style
will withdraw different behavior from the employees in context of organizational practices. If
Asda uses autocratic leadership then the employees are forced to respond and follow the
instructions' management decides which result in eliminate autonomy and the employees may
lose interest in their work as they have little or no control on the activities of the business. The
practice of promotion of democratic leadership in Asda lead in participation of the employees in
various business activities leading to develop the interest of employees in several practices, the
employee participation increases in decision making will lead to involvement of innovative and
creative solution if any pitfall occur or at the time of developing a plan but if the organization opt
for free rein leadership all the group members are involved in the decision making process, the
managers in ASDA will set the objectives and the employees are based on their needs and
requirement are free to make decisions and help the organization create employee satisfaction
environment. (Lăzăroiu, 2015).
Process and outcomes of change on the effectiveness of employees
The change management process is step by step process of activities that the change
management team apply to drive transitions and make certain that the project meets it's desired
outcomes. Lewis Change management theory describes three process step to express the process
of change namely Unfreeze - Change - Freeze. If ASDA wants to make changes in its
technologies, then firm may have to face resistance of staff and it may also affect productivity at
workplace. In order to manage such changes entity can implement the described process:

Unfreeze stage
It is the phase in which workers those who will work on such changing situations feel
impatient and have doubts about such modifications. In such condition ASDA has to ensure
developing communication with all employees to make them understand such changes and its
requirements. Firm has to involve workers so that they accept changes otherwise their resistance
will not give positive result to business unit. Such communications makes employee feel little bit
comfortable and they start working in this changing condition.
Change stage
It is the second phase of change implementation process in which company implements
changes quickly because if it takes longer duration then it might create problem of acceptance
among workers. ASDA has to implement such technological changes quickly and employees
must be aware with its effects on them. This makes them able to understand importance of
changes and they work on such situations effectively.
Refreeze stage
It is the phase in which changes are being solidifying, managers of ASDA monitor
working of employees and have to keep close eyes on them. this would be better in handling
situation properly and getting advantage with such changes (Osland, Devine, and Turner, 2015).
It minimizes resistance of employees and they perform well on new technologies.
TASK 2
Different leadership behaviour theories
There are many theories of leadership in order to find that how it helps to make the
leader effective. In this part mainly two theories will be discussed that are:-
Trait theory
This theory helps to identify individual characteristics in order make the leader
successful. To become a flourishing leader following traits must be present: good personality,
flexibility, sincerity, intellectual skills, reliability, initiative, courage. (Borkowski, 2016) leaders
behave like driver, they drive employees towards their higher performance. It makes them able
to reach to the specified target. This motivates workers and enhance their working performance.
If leaders of ASDA become driver then employees productivity can be raised which would give
best result to business unit. Self-confidence is another trait of leader, followers follow their

leaders, if Leader of ASDA show confidence then it will boost energy of staff members and they
will perform well in business unit.
Behavioral theory
This theory focuses on potential behavior of a leader rather than concentrating on the
traits. This approach says that effective role of a leader will result to strong leadership. This
approach also explains that leader applies three skills in order to lead the employees. The skills
are first technical ability which refers to individuals knowledge, secondly the human skills which
means the skills of the person to act with various people and lastly conceptual which refers to the
ideas of the manager which helps to design plan and set models. This theory helps the leader of
the ASDA in order to give greater satisfaction for the people (Brickley, Smith and Zimmerman,
2015)
Theories related to work relationships and interactions
strong and healthy interpersonal relationships among the workers gives effective results
and at the same time positive environment in the administration. Employee relation theory states
that company has to build bonding with staff to make them positive, it helps ASDA company to
sustain the relationships among the management and employees for the long time to achieve the
objectives of the organization effectively and efficiently. The theories of employees relation
includes three things:-
Unitarism
This theory states that Workplace conflicts cannot be avoided. It is very important to
have strong employment relationship for the success and sustainability of the administration. In
order to reduce the conflicts as well as for the peaceful functioning of ASDA the administration
team of the company concentrates on taking off the source of problem like ensuring about the
recruitment, promotions, employees interest and to solve personal conflicts etc. ASDA always
promotes team work, it ensures that level of staff members perform with each other which
develops healthy relationship between employees (Kinicki and Fugate, 2017)
Pluralism
This theory says that the workplace problems is unavoidable. The difference among the
Unitarism as well as pluralist theories is the assumption. It states that business administration
have different interest of people and with complex structure. In this theory manager and staff are
two different things and conflicts are said to be a healthy activity. Because employees interact

and shares the grievances to the managers. The responsible managers of ASDA company
establishes rules to remove the problems to promote fair and effective results and healthy
interaction.. (Tasselli, Kilduff and Landis, 2018). Different group members have different
interest. For example if ASDA do not give much attention on worker’s needs then they will feel
demotivated and they will not support the firm. ADDA has to ensure that it fulfill needs of staff
members so that people share their views ad company can grow well.
Relevance of organizational culture theory in developing effectiveness in organisation
Organizational culture defines different culture, norms, beliefs and values of the
administration unique from others in order to create the brand image for the company. Work
culture defines the recognition of the administration. Every organization follows different
guidelines and rules for the staffs. The culture is refereed as the predefined policies that lead the
staffs by providing them correct direction. ASDA is following the role culture in the organization
and in which every employees are given power and responsibilities that is highly controlled. in
this power is defined according to the position and with the help of this culture every employees
are delegated with the authorities as per the skills, knowledge and capabilities that helps the
employees to complete the task on time and helped ASDA to avoid confusion regarding the work
that has resulted to increased productivity.
TASK 3
Benefits and issues with involving employees in organizational decision making
Involving employees in making judgment is very important for every organization which
authorize and motivates employees which not only makes the company success but also reduce
time as well as money which results to increased productivity. Advantages of employee
involvement in decision making will benefit ASDA in following ways:-
BENEFITS
Improves morale:-Active engagement of employees in respect to decision making will help
ASDA in increasing morale in overall organization and reduce the gap among the management
and employees regarding the power separation and opens the communication lines. Involvement
will make the employees understand their contribution towards company and influence results
which will result to job satisfaction(Maduenyi. and et.al., 2015)

Improves relationships at workplace:- Participation of employees will give them a chance to
give their opinions and share knowledge which will help ASDA company to improve and
maintain relationships among the employees as well as managers that will result to strong team.
Reduces outsourcing :- Employees involvement will help to reduce the time as well as money
for outsourcing and offers reliability for the long term to the company from those employees
who collaborate well. This will help ASDA in reducing expenses and time for hiring consultants
from outside that will result to understanding the policies and needs of the company
effectively(Ewing and Grande, 2018)
ISSUES
The issues that the company faces regarding the employee engagement in decision
making are following:-
Communication complexity:- When the ability regarding decision making is more in
employees then there is a need of more communication in order to make the decisions consistent.
It will be very difficult for the managers to make the decisions and at the same time time it takes
more time for monitoring the decisions as all the decisions can't be taken by the managers that
will create conflict among employees(Osland, Devine and Turner, 2015)
Security risk:- If the employment involvement is more this will lead to more risk because the
information is shared to large number of employees. The information which is sensitive in nature
need not to pass that will lead to threat at the workplace.
Different ways to motivate employees
There are different ways that will help ASDA company to encourage the employees:-
1. Communication is very important in the organization that should be overlooked by the leaders
. Interacting with employees frequently and appreciating personally for their hard work will
motivate the employees(Wamsler and Pauleit, 2016)
2. Empower the employees by asking their advice and giving the authority to make decisions
own their own as well as giving them suggestions for improving their work that will help
company to enhance the employee.
3.Motivating employees by offering them training which helps the employee to know the ability
to achieve the success. So ASDA company need to provide the better opportunities in order to
groom employees that will result to effective working environment as well as increase in
reputation of the company(Borkowski, 2016)

4. Incentives are very important motivation enhancer for the employee. The company must
provide the employees incentives like extra pay, cash rewards etc that will result to enhancement
as well as retention of the employees for the long term.
Evaluate different Motivational theories
Motivation is most important part of organization behavior, it influence the actual
behavior of employees at workplace. The motivation of employees in The Asda can be
maintained by Herzberg Theory of Motivation (Two factor theory) stating that there are two
factors organization can fluctuate to maintain motivation in the workplace namely motivating
factors and hygiene factors.
Motivation factors
Achievements, recognition, growth opportunities always motivate workers in
organization. ASDA gives recognition to its workers which encourage them and make them
positive towards the brand. This retain skilled workers and make them positive towards the
brand. By getting that recognition that put more efforts that raises productivity of ASDA. This
motivation factor always helps firm in achieving its goal significantly.
Hygiene factors
Close supervision, high salaries, job securities motivate workers. ASDA gives good
wages to all its staff members and also provide them healthy working atmosphere so that people
feel secure and they share their feeling with managers. This type of environment motivates
workers and they become more productive in the firm. This helps the firm in gaining competitive
advantage and accomplishing objective successfully
The factor will highlight the motivating factors i.e. factors of satisfaction and hygiene i.e.
factors of dis satisfaction. The employee motivation in The Asda can be maintained by providing
them achievement and recognition. The level of work satisfaction also motivates the employees
on regular intervals, the employees is Asda need to feel the level of advancement in their
mentality and working conditions to sense the growth level. The company must develop several
regulatory policies to maintain hygiene factor in the organization so that worker's morale never
go down for working environment. The following can be achieved by establishing disciplinary
policies, effective supervision, relationship among each other, effective working conditions and
satisfying salary, securing their mind set for future betterment(Herzberg's Motivation theory-Two
factor theory,2018)

Motivation technique of employees in McDonald's
McDonald's is the fastest growing organization employing 2,10,000 employees in 37,855
outlets worldwide (McDonald’s Restaurants built on motivation, 2019). The employees are
working in the organization with effective teamwork and collaboration to ensure their restaurant
work effectively. The company uses several motivating schemes on its employees time to time
namely service rewards, champion of the month, restaurant bonus schemes where one of the
employee and one manager receive appreciation based on their individual performance platform.
They follow recognition scheme by rewarding them with employee of the month rewards. In
2011, 100 regional skills assessments were held to identify top 2500 employees who were given
the opportunity to work at Olympic Park restaurants during the Games (McDonald’s Restaurants
built on motivation, 2019).
CONCLUSION
From the above study it is concluded with features of different organizational structure
like functional, divisional and matrix. It also explained how organization culture can impact
organizational effectiveness by applying Handy's culture model and stated different leadership
behaviors by using the leadership theories like behavioral and trait theory. Further it analyzed the
work relationships by applying the employee relation theories and also applied Geert Hofstede
theory of organizational culture in order to develop the effectiveness in the ASDA company.
Furthermore it has explained the benefit and issues related to the employment in the organization
as well as different ways to encourage employee. With the help of two factor theory it analyzed
the employee motivation in order to make the organizational behavior effective.

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