Organizational Behavior at M&S: Leadership and Motivation Analysis

This report provides an analysis of Marks and Spencer's organizational behavior, with a focus on leadership and motivation. Through a literature review, the report highlights the importance of both leadership and motivation for organizational success. It applies situational leadership theory to suggest...Read More

MG414 Organizational
Behavior

Executive Summary
The study is based upon M&S and topic used for the study is motivation and leadership.
Through the literature review, it has been identified that both of these plays an important role for
the success of a company. Also, by applying theory of situational leadership it has been
identified that leaders should adopt the style in accordance with the situation whereas motivation
theory analysed that employees should be motivated and this in turn create a positive impact over
the organisation culture. The study has been also summarizing that the managers of M&S
company uses autocratic as well as democratic leadership styles based on the situation. Further, it
is also summarized from the primary research that all participants such as manager of M&S
believes that conducting one to one session with employee will not leads to solving employee
problems and motivating. For this manager should provide employee with the solutions and its
proper application to keep employee motivated.

Table of Contents
Executive Summary.........................................................................................................................2
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................4
Leadership....................................................................................................................................4
Motivation....................................................................................................................................5
Primary Research Findings and Discussion................................................................................6
Theme 1: Concept of leadership and motivation.........................................................................6
Theme 2: Leadership style adopt by managers while dealing with the employees from lower
level..............................................................................................................................................7
Theme 3: Managers should train well in order to hold the leadership position in M&S
company.......................................................................................................................................7
Theme 4: Motivation strategies applies by M&S manager to keep their employee motivated
despite of obstacle and conflicts..................................................................................................8
Theme 5: Conducting one to one session helps in solving employee concern and motivate
them.............................................................................................................................................8
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................9
RECOMMENDATIONS.................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................11
Books and Journals....................................................................................................................11
APPENDIX....................................................................................................................................13

INTRODUCTION
Organisational behaviour is the academic study that determine how people interact within
a group that helps to make business run effectively. The current study will also shed a light upon
different term used in Organisational behaviour which in turn assist to improve learning
pertaining to the same. The study is based upon the Marks and Spencer which is one of the top
organisation deal in retail industry and also provide range of products and services to their
customers. Also, there are two topic chosen for the report which helps to make the findings more
clear and conduct study in more accurate manner which include leadership and motivation. The
report will also uses primary research in order to determine actual condition of Marks and
Spencer related to these two topics.
Leadership
According to Daniëls, Hondeghem and Dochy (2019) leadership is an ability of an
individual that influence groups within an organisation. In an organisation, leaders play an
important role to maintain the culture and also sets a clear vision by communicating effectively
with the subordinates. Further, it has been identified that there is a direct relationship between
leadership and organisational culture. There are various theories of leadership which include
transformational leadership that help to cause change in individual and social systems. Also, the
leaders follows the participative leadership style in which each member can share their views in
the decision making process so that effective outcome can be generated (Gardner and et.al.,
2020). This in turn clearly reflected that leaders of the company need to ensure that each team
member is happy and encourage them to work in an inclusive manner.
In addition to this, it can be stated that with the help of effective leadership within a
business, company develop deeper and trusting relationship with clients so that brand image of a
firm can be generated. The leader mainly focus to keep their team motivating and help business
to grow or expand at further level of success. This is possible only when the company implement
vision and values so that effective outcome can be generated. Further, it has been identified by
Eva and et.al., (2019) that, there is a need to provide effective resources to their employees so
that they can work accordingly and also attain the goals. Also, it can be stated that skilled
leadership also leads to a good business culture and it also raise revenue for the business
performance. That is why, it can be stated that a good leadership skill always helps a business to

improve the chances of minimising the negative organisation culture. That is why, it has been
identified that leaders promote the communication through their teams and this encourage people
to share information effectually.
Overall, it has been identified that leadership increase efficiency and productivity within
a firm that somehow assist business to create a better outcome by engaging employee to deliver
the better results. Further, the situation theory of leadership also support that that leadership style
need to be chosen according to the situation because each individual need to analyse which style
is suitable for the situation in order to solve the problem (Oc, 2018). Therefore, it is clearly
analysed that a strong leadership always helps the business to move towards a particular goal and
sustain the brand image at global level.
Motivation
Murnieks, Klotz and Shepherd (2020) shared their views to define motivation that the
needs, desire and wants within an individual. It is a process of stimulating people that helps to
convert into an action that helps to accomplish the goals. Organisation always in a support to
offer different motivational tools that keeps employees motivated and attain the defined goal of a
company as well. Maslow hierarchy theory is one of the most common theory of motivation that
is highly used by the organization in order to identify the basic need of employees. However,
Marks and Spencer uses Adam’s equity theory in order to make a fair balance to be struck
between the employee’s input. Such that the theory keep leaders realise that whatever efforts and
hard work made by the employee in order to attain the company’s goal, company should also
return them in the form of better outcome either in a non-monetary or monetary form (Goetz and
Schork, 2018). This in turn reflected that there should be a balance between input and output so
that employees will be remain motivated and they keep attaining the company’s goals.
In addition to this, a motivated employee always increase innovation and engage within a
firm for a longer time. This in turn shows that company should always focused upon motivation
and implement strategies that assist to motivate the employees so that they can work for the
welfare of a business. This also contribute to positive organization culture because it increases
the retention rate, if the company have a strong retention rate then the chances of engaging them
for the longer term will be high. Therefore, it can be stated that motivation plays an important
role for the company’s welfare and lower down the level of absenteeism that help to improve the

customer service. That is why, it has analysed that leader or manager of quoted firm actually uses
effective ways that assist to stay them motivated and create a better outcome as well (Puspitarini
and Hanif, 2019). Also, it can be stated that due to effective motivational strategies company can
improve the business performance because employees are able to generate a better outcome and
accomplish the goals as well.
Overall, it can be stated that to stay motivated, an employee should always work for the
betterment of a company and that is why, the financial performance of the company can be
decreases. Further, it has been also identified that quality of the work can be improved and raise
customer service as well. This in turn shows that there is a need to create a better outcome by
using different motivational strategies which include monetary and non-monetary form so that
effective outcome can be generated. Hence, Marks and Spencer can also uses this method in
order to make their employees to be motivated and create a better outcome as well.
Primary Research Findings and Discussion
The interview has been conducted in the primary research in which two managers of
Mark & Spenser company has been selected. The findings and discussion of the interview
conducted are as follows:
Theme 1: Concept of leadership and motivation
After interviewing first manager, it is found out that for them leadership and motivation
are the two ways through which the company can achieve success. Both leadership and
motivation plays vital role in employee engagement, retention, productivity and performance of
workforce as well as company as a whole. It is also found out that for M&S company employees
are the assets of the organization which is improved and retained within the organization with the
help of different leadership style and motivational strategies adoption (Razak, Sarpan and
Ramlan, 2018).
On the other hand, it is also found out from the primary research that second interviewee
that is manager of M&S has supported the first one and state that leadership means the ability to
influence a team of individuals. Motivation is the concept to guide and provide initiative to the
employees for their best work and performance. On this basis, it is identified and analyzed that

for the manager of M&S, employee motivation is the primary goal and for this they will adopt
various leadership styles. For managers, the leadership and motivation are linked with each other
as they both work simultaneously for organization success.
Theme 2: Leadership style adopt by managers while dealing with the employees from lower
level
It is found out from interview that manager one adopt democratic leadership style while
dealing with the lower level employees of M&S. It is because democratic leadership is one of the
effective and best style in which managers can involve each employee or team member in the
decision making process (Fries, Kammerlander and Leitterstorf, 2021). The manager should take
each team member opinion with the aim of boosting the morale, engagement as well as job
satisfaction level of the employee. For manager one adoption of democratic leadership style
helps the company in achieving the success with alignment of company goal with the individual
goal.
However, on the other hand, it is further analyzed from the primary research that second
manager of M&S company believes that involving each employee in the decision making
process leads to wastage of time as well as money. That’s managers should adopt autocratic
leadership style while dealing with the M&S employee of lower level. In this leadership style,
managers need not to involve employee in decision while the manager itself make decision
without consulting any employee or group members (Khramova and et.al., 2018). This is best for
the situation when manager of M&S is need to make quick decision without wastage of time.
Basically, it is identified that the manager of M&S adopts the leadership style as per the
situation.
Theme 3: Managers should train well in order to hold the leadership position in M&S
company
Managers plays vital role towards the guidance and motivation of the employee thus it is
important for the company that they should trained well by the experts. This is basically found
out from the primary research where both managers of M&S company have stated that managers
should trained well for holding leadership position (Cote, 2019). The managers can work as a
leader as well in the organizations. The interviewee has also stated that M&S organization

provides frequent and continuous training session to its manager so that they can hold leadership
position within the company as well as provide proper direction to its employees.
The proper training session to manager should be provided by every organization in order
guide them how they can further guide and keep motivated the employees. The managers of
M&S company set clear goals, convey company goals and vision with the employees, guide
employee through the work processes with the help of training provided to them by the expert.
M&S organization hire experts and highly experience people to provide training to managers of
the organization (Khramova and et.al., 2018). The impact of which managers of M&S are able to
provide motivation to its employee in order to boost their morale, productivity and performance.
Theme 4: Motivation strategies applies by M&S manager to keep their employee motivated
despite of obstacle and conflicts
There are basically various motivational strategies applies and adopt by the managers of
M&S company in order to keep their employee motivated as per primary research analysis. It is
found out that one manager said that they use 360-degree feedback, proper training and
development session strategy. It is because this helps the manager of M&S to guide and motivate
their employee. The manager of the company should make sure that their employee is highly
engaged in the training and learning from it properly (Mendoza, 2019). For this the manager of
M&S provide reward and recognition to its employees.
It is further analyzed from the secondary research that other manager of M&S also has
supported that they will also adopt the same strategies such as 360-degree feedback and training
in order to keep their employees motivated (Mendoza, 2019). But there are various conflicts and
obstacles during this which also have to consider by the managers of the organization. For this,
the second manager of M&S company applies the open communication session within the
organization in order to identify the concern face by the employee which affecting their
motivational and morale level. This is one of the best motivational strategy as per the second
interviewee.

Theme 5: Conducting one to one session helps in solving employee concern and motivate
them
As per the analysis of response of two interviewees, it is found out that both manager of
M&S does not believe that conducting one to one session helps in solving employee concern. It
is because conducting sessions became irrelevant when the manager unable to provide proper
solutions to its employees. The impact of which it affects the employee in negative way and
reduces the morale of employee (Lee, Mazzei and Kim, 2018). This action of manager builds the
feeling among the employee that their manager has not solved their issue even after knowing
their concerns. On this basis, it is indicating that it is important for the manager of M&S
company that they should provide solutions to its employee after identifying it in order to keep
them motivated.
While on the other hand, the second manager of M&S organization said that conducting
one to one session is one of the best way to not only understand and solve employees issues but
also to keep them motivated within the organization. It is because as per the second interviewee,
the manager will not able to provide solutions before known the exact issues face by their
employee (STEFAN, Dana and GORDAN, 2022).
CONCLUSION
After summing up the above information, it has been concluded that both motivation and
leadership plays crucial role towards the success of the organization. It is further concluded from
the secondary research that adopting leadership styles according to different situation and
providing training to employee helps the managers of the company to keep their employee
motivated. Further, from the primary research, it is also concluded that the managers of M&S
company also adopt the leadership styles such as democratic, autocratic etc. based on the
situation they are facing. It is also concluded from the report that the majority of majority of
managers of M&S company believes that consulting one to one session will not benefit in
solving the employee concern and motivating them until they are unable to provide proper
solutions to them. It is also identified that managers of M&S adopt training, reward &
recognition, 360-degree feedback to keep their employee motivated.

RECOMMENDATIONS
It is to be suggested to the company that there is a need to be focus upon different areas
in order to run a business at effective manner. Some of them are as mentioned below:
 It is to be suggested to the company that they should introduce effective training and
development sessions that helps to improve their learning and also create a better
outcome by focusing upon the interpersonal skills. This shows that employees will be
stay motivated and also create a better outcome for the business by meeting the defined
goals within a specific tenure.
 It is also recommended to the company to offer monetary benefits to their employees
which include salary, bonus, incentives that encourage them to improve their working.
Also, it can be stated that if company offer non-monetary benefit to their employees then
it will be beneficial for them which include rewards, recognition and appreciation etc.
 In addition to this, it can be stated that the leadership skill need to increases and there
should be a two-way communication between the employees that helps to improve the
business performance. In addition to this, it has also realized that a strongly leadership
skills also assist to improve the culture and this in turn causes positive impact over the
business performance. That is why, there is a need to focus upon the leadership skills and
for that training session can be developed to sustain brand image.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Cote, R., 2019. Motivating Multigenerational Employees: Is There a Difference?. Journal of
Leadership, Accountability & Ethics. 16(2).
Daniëls, E., Hondeghem, A. and Dochy, F., 2019. A review on leadership and leadership
development in educational settings. Educational research review. 27. pp.110-125.
Eva, N. and et.al., 2019. Servant leadership: A systematic review and call for future
research. The leadership quarterly. 30(1). pp.111-132.
Fries, A., Kammerlander, N. and Leitterstorf, M., 2021. Leadership styles and leadership
behaviors in family firms: A systematic literature review. Journal of Family Business
Strategy. 12(1). p.100374.
Gardner, W. L. and et.al., 2020. The leadership trilogy: A review of the third decade of the
leadership quarterly. The Leadership Quarterly. 31(1). p.101379.
Goetz, L. H. and Schork, N .J., 2018. Personalized medicine: motivation, challenges, and
progress. Fertility and sterility. 109(6). pp.952-963.
Khramova, L. N. and et.al., 2018. Modern managers training in the context of competence
approach. The Journal of Social Sciences Research, 2018(Special Issue 5), pp.194-199.
Lee, Y., Mazzei, A. and Kim, J. N., 2018. Looking for motivational routes for employee-
generated innovation: Employees' scouting behavior. Journal of Business Research. 91.
pp.286-294.
Mendoza, R., 2019. The Motivational Strategies on the Work Performance of the Employees of
Baguio Central University. Ascendens Asia Journal of Multidisciplinary Research
Abstracts. 3(2N).
Murnieks, C. Y., Klotz, A. C. and Shepherd, D. A., 2020. Entrepreneurial motivation: A review
of the literature and an agenda for future research. Journal of Organizational
Behavior. 41(2). pp.115-143.
Oc, B., 2018. Contextual leadership: A systematic review of how contextual factors shape
leadership and its outcomes. The Leadership Quarterly. 29(1). pp.218-235.
Puspitarini, Y. D. and Hanif, M., 2019. Using Learning Media to Increase Learning Motivation
in Elementary School. Anatolian Journal of Education. 4(2). pp.53-60.

Razak, A., Sarpan, S. and Ramlan, R., 2018. Effect of leadership style, motivation and work
discipline on employee performance in PT. ABC Makassar. International Review of
Management and Marketing. 8(6). p.67.
STEFAN, L. I., Dana, R. A. D. and GORDAN, A., 2022. EMPLOYEES MOTIVATIONAL
ENHANCEMENT TECHNIQUES IN COVID-19 PANDEMIC-AN INTERNET
BASED BLOG POSTS SYSTEMATIC REVIEW. Agora Psycho-Pragmatica. 15(1).

APPENDIX
Two members perform this work in order to meet the defined aim. The allocation for the
work is as per the capability and this in turn helps to complete the work. Such that one of them
have strong research skill and that is why, he provides content that is related to the study and
other have strong writing skill so he started writing the same in order to meet the defined aim.
This in turn reflected that the contribution of each employee is good and they put their best effort
to meet the defined aim.
Interview Questions
Q.1 What do you understand by leadership and motivation?
Q.2 What leadership style do you adopt when you deal with the employees from lower level?
Q.3 Do you think that Leaders should trained well in order to hold the leadership position in
your company?
Q.4 What motivational strategies do you apply to keep your employees motivated despite of
conflicts and obstacles?
Q.5 Do you believe that conducting one to one session in your organization helps to solve
employees concern and motivated them?