Organizational Behaviour: Leadership and Structure at Syngenta

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of organizational behaviour within Syngenta, a global plant science business. It begins by comparing and contrasting Syngenta's organizational structure and culture with those of its competitors, such as Microsoft and FedEx, highlighting the use of a matrix structure and role culture. The report then delves into the relationship between structure and culture, emphasizing their impact on organizational performance. It examines factors influencing individual behaviour, including personality, perception, conflict, stress, and change, and suggests strategies to mitigate negative impacts. The report further investigates the effectiveness of different leadership styles, comparing Syngenta's laissez-faire approach with Monsanto's democratic leadership. It explores the influence of leadership styles on employee motivation during periods of change, comparing various motivational theories and offering recommendations for managers. Finally, the report analyzes the nature of groups and teamwork within Syngenta, addressing factors that promote or inhibit effective teamwork and the impact of technology on team functioning. The report concludes with insights into the implications of these organizational dynamics for Syngenta's overall success.

Organizational Behaviour
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................3
1.1 Compare and contrast two other organisational structures and culture with Syngenta.........3
1.2 Relationship between structure and culture can impact on the performance of Syngenta....5
1.3 Factors influencing individual behaviour at Syngenta..........................................................5
D1.................................................................................................................................................7
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................7
2.1 Effectiveness of different leadership styles in Syngenta and one of its competitors.............7
2.2 Organizational theory underpinning the practice of management at Syngenta.....................8
2.3 Different approaches to management used by Syngenta and its competitors........................9
M1 and M3.................................................................................................................................10
TASK 3..........................................................................................................................................10
3.1 Impact that different leadership styles may have on motivation in Syngenta during periods
of change....................................................................................................................................10
3.2 Comparison of the application of different motivational theories within Syngenta............11
3.3 Motivation theory for managers in Syngenta......................................................................13
M2..............................................................................................................................................13
D2...............................................................................................................................................13
TASK 4..........................................................................................................................................14
4.1 Nature of groups and group behaviour within Syngenta.....................................................14
4.2 Factors that may promote or inhibit the development of effective teamwork at Syngenta. 15
4.3 Impact of technology on team functioning within Syngenta...............................................16
D3...............................................................................................................................................17
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................18
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................19
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INTRODUCTION
Organizational behaviour includes the study of individual and group performance as well
as their interaction. This unit of management focuses on investigation regarding the way in
which people behave at the workplace including both group and individual (Aquinas, 2006)
However, it also concerned towards examining the way in which behaviour of individuals is
influenced by culture. This study is focused towards a world-leading plant science business
named as Syngenta which employs more than 24,000 people around 90 countries. The mentioned
entity is committed to promote sustainable agriculture through innovative as well as research and
development practices. Farmers and government are the major customers of business with which
company works in both national and international markets.
This report aims to compare the different organizational structures and culture existing at
Syngenta. Furthermore, relationship between structure and culture is going to be studied along
with explaining the factors which influence individual behaviour at Syngenta. The next section
of report explains the effectiveness of different leadership styles in Syngenta in comparison with
its competitors. Different leadership styles and their impact on motivation in Syngenta during
periods of change will be studied. In addition, this unit is going to represent the application of
different motivational theories and their application within Syngenta while explaining motivation
theory for managers at this firm. The report further explains the nature of groups and group
behaviour within Syngenta as well as the factors that may promote or inhibit the development of
effective teamwork. However, the impact technology on team functioning within cited firm will
be explained.
TASK 1
1.1 Compare and contrast two other organisational structures and culture with Syngenta
Flat Hierarchical Matrix structure
This kind organizational
structure generally reduces the
between management and
staff.
FedEx uses such kind of
organizational culture wherein
responsibilities of all workforces
is defined in advance.
All teams consist of
members from several
departments.
Such kind of structure is used Employees tend to force their Team or group of
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in organizations like
Microsoft.
work related areas in order to
bring perfection.
employees possesses
different skills in order to
complete all tasks related to
project.
Workforce is motivated with
their participation in decision
making process.
Decision making authority
remains with upper level
management and accordingly
lower management work
(Aquinas, 2006).
All workforce plays active
role in taking decision
related to completion of
allotted task.
It is the most suitable structure
for large, small as well as new
corporation.
Such kind of culture is effective
for large organization.
This kind of structure is
appropriate for large
organizations like
Syngenta.
Changes can be implemented
in less time as there remain
less resistance (Writing, 2016).
Personnel may resist changes in
some circumstances.
Project team handle
changes in appropriate
manner so-as-to have
collective success.
Organizational culture
Power Culture Task Culture Role Culture
Power culture shows that
less number of workforces
have powers to take
decisions.
Group of people who are
expert in different fields
are selected to complete a
particular project.
Workforce allots tasks in
accordance with their
specialization.
It is applicable in small
organizations so-as-to
manage the work without
any kind of interference.
It is more preferable in
well established
organization or new ones
as well.
Role culture is helpful in
large organizations.
Generally, less time is
consumed in taking
decision.
Employees or group of
people take active
participation in taking
decision.
Workforce is motivated by
inviting people to express
their views in decision
making process.
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It is flexible and informal
for dedicated and trusted
employees of company.
It lacks cohesiveness
(Blomme and Lintelo,
2012).
Rigid structure and
procedures make it difficult
to implement change.
It is shows that Microsoft uses flat organizational structure where power culture proves to
be effective. It assists employees to work with integrity as there is less number of management
levels. Furthermore, FedEx uses hierarchical structure and accordantly task culture is applied.
This in turn makes the employees specialized in their respective field to perform their job in an
effectual manner. In addition to this, Matrix culture is used in Syngenta where employees from
different fields work in a team.
1.2 Relationship between structure and culture can impact on the performance of Syngenta
The above mentioned scenario depicts that role culture is used in Syngenta because of
Matrix structure. Here, employees of different fields work in team so-as-to complete the task
related to project efficiently. It proves to be effective to improve organizational performance. It
is because; employees work in a team where they remain ready to accept change. It aids to cope
up with the changing scenario and deliver good quality of services to large number of buyers.
Furthermore, role culture shows that individual in team has specialization in particular field so
they get task accordingly. It reflects that corporation uses role culture for completing the project
in an appropriate manner. Apart from this, organizational structure is the only way through
which management identify the kind of culture which is effective to maintain good team
performance of Syngenta. Therefore, structure and culture are related to each other which lead to
determine the organizational success in the marketplace (Saame, Reino and Vadi, 2011)
1.3 Factors influencing individual behaviour at Syngenta
The employees working at Syngenta are committed towards higher performance to
contribute in the success of the organization. The management of company is also dedicated to
empower staff in both national and international markets; therefore, Syngenta has adopted a
matrix structure (Perkins and Muondo, 2013). The individual's behaviour is affected by various
factors such as Personality, Perception, Attitude, Conflict, Stress and Change as well as ability
and aptitude.
Conflict at the workplace:
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The performance of individual is affected by the conflicts among the management and
the workers. There is possibility of arising conflicts between the employees that will defiantly
influence their working behaviour and the way to deals with other people. Management of
Syngenta always tries to reduce the chances of conflicts among the people as well as try to keep
a healthy environment. However, variance between the members is a major factor that influences
their behaviours towards other workers and management (Murphy, Athanasou and King, 2002).
Stress and Change held in the workplace: Due to stress and workload, the behaviours
of individual are influenced. Mental health condition of individual is significantly influenced by
the workload that might cause conflicts among people. Change is the process of making
continuous improvements in working systems and employee performances. Thus, it can be said
that stress and change held in the workplace are the major factors that influences the behaviour
of workers at Syngenta.
Perception and Personality of individuals: They have their own perception regarding
work environment which influences their behaviour the most. The employees perceive the things
in different manner that might be different from other's perception (Holloway, 2012). At the
workplace, the perception of individuals affects their behaviour as well as ways to do things and
perceive other’s behaviours.
Personality of individuals is a major factor that affects their behaviour at the workplace.
The workers have their own personality such as optimism, pessimism which affects their
behaviour and way to judge things at the workplace. According to their personality, the
employees put efforts at that workplace (Blomme and Lintelo, 2012). However, it changes their
behaviour towards work and people. Management of Syngenta is committed to hire people with
positive personality.
Abilities and Skills- The skills and attitude possessed by individuals working at
Syngenta are the crucial factors that can easily influence their behaviors. High qualified workers
perform well as compared to other workers. All the employees working at Syngenta are highly
qualified and have positive work attitude.
D1
Conflict among people has become a major aspect at the workplace that influences the
performance of individual. Management of Syngenta always want to minimise the impact of
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conflicts held at the workplace as well as minimise the stress at work. The most suitable way to
minimise the stress from workplace is to allocate work as per the capabilities of individuals. In
addition to that, responsibility of work can be shared between the employees so that they can
work effectively. However, conflicts can be resolved by providing trainings for communication
skills, conflict resolution, etc (Daft, 2010). Along with this, management has to work to clarify
the priorities. Furthermore, team building activities are required to be implemented at the
workplace. The mentioned entity can work for developing environment that encourages
participation. These are some of the ways to reduce conflicts and stress.
However, its impacts can be minimised through an effective communication system and
equal treatment for all. Changes at the workplace lead to positive or negative impacts in the
organization. However, the workers can resist for change that affects their performance and
productivity. The mentioned entity is committed to do a lot of research and development so–as-
to make innovations at the workplace. Therefore, business entity has to communicate to its
employees for the positive aspect of change and its benefits. Applications of better time
management strategies will be helpful for Syngenta’s employees to improve their work
administration. The importance of minimising the impact of conflict, stress and change is for
improving employee’s performance and productivity. Innovation in business will take place if
the employees take changes in a positive manner. In addition to that, a healthy working
environment can be created at the workplace.
TASK 2
2.1 Effectiveness of different leadership styles in Syngenta and one of its competitors
Leadership is an important functional activity for all organizations because it assists in
guiding and motivating human resources in an effective manner in order to achieve aims and
objectives (Aytemiz, 2006). By considering this aspect, it is essential for management to select
suitable leadership style in order to create better work culture.
Syngenta is making use of matrix management structure; thus they have adopted laissez-
faire leadership style. In this leadership approach, members are allowed to make their own
decisions with a little interference and guidance of leaders. There is complete freedom to
subordinates to make their own work processes as per their convenience. However, leaders are
responsible to provide resources in a timely manner (Chiboiwa, Chipunza and Samuel, 2011).
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Group members are expected to solve their problems at their own level. For this purpose,
authorities are provided to them by leader; however they are still responsible to make group
decisions.
On the other hand, management of Monsanto is making use of democratic leadership
style. Their corporate leadership strategy provides support to their employees by involving them
in the process of decision making (Mouritsen, Hansen and Hansen, 2001). In this leadership
style, collective decisions are taken in order to restrain criticism. In addition to this, leaders of
the company act in accordance with the recommendations and feedback of the subordinates.
In comparison to democratic leadership style, laissez-faire is better approach because it
provides opportunity to the group members to explore their skills and capabilities in order to
offer better work performance. In laissez-faire, decisions are taken by group members while in
democratic leadership, group members are only involved for same as they are not provided with
decision making authority (Niknam and et.al., 2011). However, laissez faire leadership style is
not suitable at work environment where members required direction, monitoring or feedback.
This style is suitable for Syngenta because teams are prepared by involving experts on different
projects. They operate as per their skills and planning. Further, final submission of project is
reviewed by senior management. Monsanto is engaged in production activities and in their past
operating years they were involved in various controversies too. Due to this aspect, employees of
the company require monitoring and guidance to prevent such situations in the future period.
Henceforth, they are making use of democratic leadership style.
2.2 Organizational theory underpinning the practice of management at Syngenta
Performance of an organization is mainly influenced by work environment and employee
values. On the basis of this fact, it can be said that there is a strong connection between
organizational theories and management practices. It is because; management practices are
developed as per the organizational framework which is oriented towards attainment of goals and
objectives by collaboration of team efforts (Wood and Rentschler, 2003). There are different
approaches to the management such as scientific management, contingency approach, human
relationship approach etc. Description of some of these approaches is enumerated below:
Human relations approach
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Human relations approach had influenced transitions from classical approach besides
several loopholes. In accordance with this approach, human resource is crucial to the success of
business; thus it is a responsibility of management to take care of their needs and requirements.
Due to this aspect, this approach is focused on developing people (Zhuge and et.al., 2002).
Management of the entity is responsible for motivating teams to provide the best of their efforts
by influencing them. For this aspect, proper training and induction program is held for new
employees and for existing employees meetings are held in order to assess their performance.
Contingency approach
This approach is also known as situational approach. In this approach, there is no
universal rule applicable for the management policies in order to manager daily operational
activities. It is because; all organizations are different and require different strategies for
management (Burke, 2013). Objective of this approach is to provide empowerment to managerial
person so that they can give integrated solutions for the workplace issues and to satisfy needs of
clients. In this approach, employees are assigned with relevant skills to develop situational
strategies.
2.3 Different approaches to management used by Syngenta and its competitors
Management of Syngenta is making use of human relations approach for effective
management. It is a neoclassical theory of management in which organization considers social
needs of an employee.
This approach incorporates behavioural science into management practices in order to
resolve issues caused by classical theory practices. Instead of considering production, techniques
and structure neoclassical theory is concerned with employees (Clegg, Hardy and Nord, 2006).
This theory makes an attempt to motivate and support employees in order to develop better work
environment. Management of Syngenta transfer authorities by delegating responsibilities to the
employees so that they can make their own decisions. Further, different team is allocated for
different projects but all team are integrated in nature. Due to this aspect, it is an effective
approach for Syngenta to enhance productivity and profitability.
Management of company can also make use of contingency approach along with human
relationship approach. It is also known as situational approach. By making use of this approach,
they can modify their organizational policy as per the situation. Management perception in this
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theory is affected by leader-member relationship, task structure and position power. This
approach is used by their competitive firm Monsanto to deal with situations in a better way
(Coghlan and Brannick, 2014). Further, they are able to solve conflicts and reduce risk by
satisfying the demand of present circumstances. This approach enables the employees to change
their roles for the completion of project in an effective manner. In addition to this, tailored nature
of project increases possibility of company to get right individual for the completion of job to
enhance the satisfaction level of client (Furnham, 2005). However, this model is reactive which
shows that management is not planning for mitigation of risk. This factor can create severe
blunders.
M1 and M3
Covered in presentation
TASK 3
3.1 Impact that different leadership styles may have on motivation in Syngenta during periods of
change
Leaders have responsibility to motivate subordinates to provide better performance for
the attainment of goals in an effective manner. Due to this aspect, there is a direct impact of
leadership style on motivational level of employee (Types of leadership styles, 2016).
Description of impact of different leadership styles that may have on motivation in Syngenta
during periods of change is as follows:
Autocratic leadership style
In situation when management adopt autocratic leadership style for implementation of
changes in organization leads to develop various issues for managers (Analoui, Doloriert, and
Sambrook, 2013). It is because; employees will resist changing as they are not involved in the
process of decision making. In addition to this, there will be work conflicts by which
productivity and work efficiency will be adversely affected. However, this leadership style is
suitable where management is required to attain quick targets but for change, this style is not
appropriate.
Laissez-faire leadership style
In laissez-faire leadership style, employees will be motivated for the implementation of
changes as they have made decision regarding change by their own. Further, they are aware of
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the fact that changes are beneficial for them and along with this; it will also support them in their
future growth. In this leadership style, initial guidelines will be provided by leader to the team
for the completion of project and after that entire decisions will be taken by team (Leadership
Thories, 2015).
By making comparison of impact of both the leadership styles, it can be said that
management of Syngenta Ltd should make use of existing approaches i.e. laissez-faire leadership
style. With the continuation of this leadership style, decision will be taken by them and
consequently they will abide to follow it (The Impact of Leadership Style on Organizational
Performance, 2013). In addition to this, there will be less possibility of conflicts and
contradiction in situation of change.
3.2 Comparison of the application of different motivational theories within Syngenta
Motivated employees are the core reason of the success of the entity. Thus, management
of the company are required to develop effective strategy for the enhancement of motivation
level of employees. For this purpose, management of Syngenta can make use of following
motivational theories:
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
Motivation can be defined as psychological process that stimulates actions of individuals
for the attainment of goals and objectives. In this aspect, Maslow had stated that satisfaction of
needs creates internal influence to behaviour of a person. Further, he had described five basic
needs of employee that are required to be satisfied for their effective motivation (Clarke, 2009).
These needs are in hierarchical order and progression principal in this theory recommends that
lower need should be satisfied on the priority basis.
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Illustration 1: Maslow’s hierarchy of needs

In accordance with this approach, physiological needs cover necessities for human
survival such as food, water, shelter and sleep. These needs can be satisfied by providing proper
work environment and policies. Further, safety needs cover requirements that provide feeling of
security and well being. These needs can be fulfilled by fair payment and safe working
arrangements. Social and esteem needs are associated with the sense of acceptance and
belongings. This need is satisfied by reducing rigidity in work environment and by respecting
fundamental human rights of employees (Furnham, 2005). The last need is the situation where an
individual reach at their highest potential. Management can satisfy these needs for motivating
their employees in a better way.
Vroom and expectancy theories
In accordance with the Vroom expectancy theory, behaviour is result of conscious
choices which aims to maximize the pleasure and minimize the pain. Further, he had stated that
motivation of employee is directly linked with its performance (Burke, 2013). By considering
this aspect, he had used following variables in their motivational theory: Expectancy: It can be defined as belief that enhances efforts of individual to provide
better performance. Expectancy is affected by availability of resources, skills and support
by management and work environment. Instrumentality: This variable depicts that outcome of employee is affected by their
performance. It means; employee will get better outcome, if they provide effective
performance. For this aspect, there should be clear understanding of relationship between
performance and outcomes. In addition to this, instrumentality must be supported by trust
and transparency.
 Valence: Last variable of this theory depicts that outcome should be in accordance with
the expectation of employee for better motivation.
These factors depict that Vroom's theory is based on perception of employees instead of
expectations. In this theory, management should make more efforts to attain better job
performance. For this purpose, they can provide rewards such as incentives or other benefits.
3.3 Motivation theory for managers in Syngenta
Managers of Syngenta are recommended to make use of Maslow theory for motivation of
employees. It is because, different individual have different needs as per their status and position.
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