Organisational Behaviour: An Analysis of 2M Holdings Ltd.

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Organisational Behaviour
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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
“Analyse how an organisation’s culture, politics and power influence individual and team
behaviour and performance.”.........................................................................................................4
“Evaluate how content and process theories of motivation and motivational techniques enable
effective achievement of goals in an organisational context.”........................................................6
“Explain what makes an effective team as opposed to an ineffective team.”...............................10
“Apply concepts and philosophies of organisational behaviour within an organisational context
and a given business situation.”....................................................................................................14
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................16
References......................................................................................................................................17
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Introduction
Organisational behaviour is considered as the study of the behaviour of individuals in an
organisational setting and the relation of the human behaviour with the organisation itself. The
primary goal of organisational behaviour is to research and analyse the individuals’ behaviour in
order to make the business operations more effective in all aspects. The study of organisational
behaviour includes the areas like improvement of job performance, job satisfaction, promoting
innovation in business operations and encouraging efficient leadership qualities. The present
study describes the concept of organisational behaviour and its effect on an organisation. The
Company that has been selected for this study is 2M Holdings Ltd., which is a UK based
company that was established in 2002. The company is majorly engaged in the business of
chemical distribution. In addition, this study also highlights the methods or techniques by which
organisational behaviour within an enterprise can be improved.
.
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“Analyse how an organisation’s culture, politics and power influence individual and team
behaviour and performance.”
Organisational behaviour can help the organisations like 2M Holdings Ltd to enhance its
productivity and performance. The main motive of any business organisation is to keep
improving in its production and performance in order to sustain in a competitive market.
Organisational behaviour can have a deep impact on these areas of an enterprise. The influence
of culture, power and politics is vital in the context of daily operations of an organisation.
The culture of an organisation also known as “corporate culture” is the ambience that is provided
by a company to its employees, which can help them to work together as a unit and coordinate in
the operations that can help the organisation to improve its productivity. In order to improve the
production 2M Holdings Ltd may need to develop a work culture in the organisation centring the
employees that may help them improve their efficiency and team work. A well built culture can
have a significant impact on the productivity of the employees. On the other hand, if the work
culture does not help the employees to engage in their operation it may have negative impact on
the workforce of 2M Holdings Ltd. The employees need to be motivated and recognized
properly as it can help to enhance a positive culture in the company (Müller, 2015.). The
operations need to be properly delegated within the employees such that the employees with
proper skill set can get the appropriate jobs. This may help 2M Holdings Ltd to enhance the
loyalty of the employees. Developing a positive culture is not a very easy task to achieve.
Power within an organization refers to the ability of an employee or the management to exert
their will over each other. While following the influence of power, the employees and the
management of 2M Holdings Limited possesses certain forms based on the situations faced by
the business. Power within the individuals or team can be bestowed or earned. On one hand,
bestowed power originates from the top level of the hierarchy of the company and follows down,
and is implemented by the manager on the employees. The stance of the manager is supported by
the other decision makers within 2M Holdings Limited. On the other hand, earned power
originates from the employees end based on the educational background and qualification of the
employee. This form of power of the employees of 2M Holdings Limited allows them to
showcase their knowledge whenever the company is in desperate need. The financial manager of
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the company also uses this form of power while assessing the risks associated with the financials
of the company.
Losing of bestowed power accounts for the decentralization of management and the employees
operate with complete authority and independence. It also influences the workforce negatively,
as the former subordinates have to work with cooperation.
Organizational politics focuses on the various activities that are associated with the usage of
strategies to improve organizational as well as personal development. Politics within 2M
Holdings Limited grows with the growth of informal networks within the organization, and has
the potential to threat the authority of the management. Management of the company however
mitigates such situations by involving the influencers within the business hierarchy.
Certain political issues like negative endeavour of the co-authority of the business also affect the
business adversely. In case of 2M Holdings Limited, the management identifies such loopholes,
and organizes meetings and board discussions with the concerned personality to mitigate the
shortcoming.
High ground can be regarded as the functional process within organizational politics, which deals
with various control systems, sanctions and rewards and provides compliance to the organization
(Sanjeev and Surya, 2016).
In case of M Holdings Limited, the management often prefers to take a high ground to avoid
increased bureaucracy within the organization, and risk averting methods, which are essential for
the organization to sustain in the volatile market scenario. The organization has also designed an
effective system of rewards and appraisals for the employees to tackle such a situation and
motivate them to innovate as well as to perform well.
Politics and power acts as influencers for any organizational structure. On one hand, they assign
values to the performance of the employees. On the other hand, they create havoc by disturbing
the structure of the authority entirely. Therefore, effective control over the power and politics
within an organization is essential to be implemented. As in the case of 2M Holdings Limited, it
follows a bestowed as well as earned power within the organization, and only focuses on
following high ground politics within the organizational culture.
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“Evaluate how content and process theories of motivation and motivational techniques enable
effective achievement of goals in an organisational context.”
The most vital role and responsibility of the leaders and managers of an organisation is to
motivate employees to enhance the functionality of the business operations. There can be several
methods and techniques by which an organisation can motivate their employees so that the
productivity of the employees can be raised. It can help the 2M Holdings Ltd to improve the
employee engagement and develop a quality in work culture. This can be better explained with
the help of some theories that are discussed further.
Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory- Fredrick Herzberg in 1959 had proposed a theory with the
help of two factors that can help the 2M Holdings Ltd to prevent any sort of dissatisfaction
among the employees. These factors can help to enhance the company to reach its goals. The two
job factors are as follows-
 Hygiene factors- These factors are very important to provide motivation to employees in the
workplace. This factor do not have a long term effect on the satisfaction of the employees but
if this factor is absent then it can lead to dissatisfaction and can have a negative impact on the
productivity (Hur, 2018). 2M Holdings Ltd can implement these factors with the help of
appropriate salary structure for employees and by providing flexibility in the company
policies for the employees. Also non-monetary rewards like plans related to health care can
also benefit 2M Holdings Ltd to motivate the work force. This factor can also help the
company to build a strong interpersonal relation between different departments.
 Motivational factors- The hygiene factors are not regarded as motivators. The motivation
factors must help the company to yield satisfaction for a longer period of time (Matei and
Abrudan, 2016). This can be achieved by 2M Holdings Ltd with the help of recognition they
provide to their employees. 2M Holdings Ltd needs to provide the employees with proper
and equal opportunity to grow in their professional careers. The motivation can also be
enhanced by taking their inputs in decision making of the company. Proper communication
with leaders and managers can also help 2M Holdings Ltd to motivate the employees.
Limitations- The two factor theory can be very helpful in some instances for several
organisations but it has certain limitations too. The satisfaction and dissatisfaction in a job is a
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very relative concept. Some employees may consider the motivation techniques to helpful some
may not. This may lead the management to be biased on this basis. Despite the limitations the
theory is widely accepted in different organisation.
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs- Maslow introduced the theory in 1943 that may help 2M
Holdings Ltd to achieve the goals of the company by providing the employees with basic
requirements such as safety, self-esteem, food and others. The five different levels of the theory
are discussed further in the study.
 Physiological- This includes the most basic needs of the employees like proper nutrition,
shelter and clothing. It can help the employees to survive in the work environment and
perform the jobs to meet the organisational objectives. In this context, 2M Holdings Ltd can
help the vulnerable employees with the basic requirements so that the company can maintain
the productivity.
 Security and safety- This demands are bit complex but 2M Holdings Ltd needs to provide
the employees with security and safety. It is a company that distributes chemical products so
the safety of the employees is a prime target that is to be achieved. This requirement includes
financial security to the employees along with the safety in regards of any accidents and
injuries (Bouzenita and Boulanouar, 2016.).
 Social requirements- Employees in order to sustain in the organisation and meet the
objectives of the company need to socialize with other employees. Lack of socializing may
give rise to anxiety or even depression (Fisher and Royster, 2016). Also the work life and
personal life must be balanced to motivate the employees. 2M Holdings Ltd can expand the
company if the employees can socialize as it will allow the employees to build strong and
healthy relation with customers. This can enhance the company’s expansion in different areas
of the country.
 Esteem requirements- In the views of Kiatkawsin and Han, (2017), it includes requirements
such as self-esteem and personal worth. In order to meet this requirement 2M Holdings Ltd
needs to let their employees to feel valued and appreciated. Employees who can satisfy the
esteem needs are more confident than the others. They can be valuable asset for 2M Holdings
Ltd and help the organisation to reach their goals
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 Self Actualization- Employees can be self aware in the context of personal growth and
interested in fulfilment of their individual potential. In order to motivate the employees 2M
Holdings Ltd may help them to realize their self worth and in order to achieve the full
potential of the work force.
Limitations- The limitation of the theory is that it is a difficult theory to test. In order to help the
employees to realize their self actualization is the most difficult factor to test. The needs of the
theory are very difficult to substantiate (Flake et al., 2015).
Figure 2: Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
(Source- Lee and Hanna, 2015)
Expectancy Theory- The expectancy theory was proposed by Victor Vroom in 1964. The theory
states that the motivation of the employees depends on three factors that are valence, expectancy
and instrumentality. Valence is the importance that is associated by an employee in the context
of expected outcome. As opined by Hajro et al., (2017), expectancy is the belief of the
employees that can help the employees to put better efforts in order to achieve the goals. The
term expectancy is influenced by some factors such as the required skills to perform a job and
the availability of proper resources in order to complete the task that is given. Instrumentality is
the belief that if an employee performs well then it can achieve the required outcomes. In order
to achieve the better performance level of the employees 2M Holdings Ltd may need to
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understand the expectations of the employees and the kind of appraisal that can be provided in
order to motivate them properly. It can help the organisation to recognize the potential of the
employees by understanding the satisfaction level of different individuals. It can also allow the
company to develop techniques according to which the employees must be motivated to help
them reach their full potential. This can be implemented by the management team of 2M
Holdings Ltd by correlating the outcomes with the aimed levels of performance.
Limitations- The expectancy theory is limited in its implementation as the performance levels
are not only correlated with the reward policies of the organisation. The performance level of the
employees can be affected by several other factors such as position, education, responsibility and
others.
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“Explain what makes an effective team as opposed to an ineffective team.”
Effective teams are the efficient group of people who have the ability to appreciate healthy
conflicts in order to enhance the creativity and change in the approach towards the business
operations. These types of teams are characterised by factors such as open discussion and
situational leadership (Raley et al., 2017). Members of this type of team participate and
contribute to the group. Effective team by implementing situational leadership allows different
individuals to lead the team in different circumstances.
Ineffective teams are the one where the delegation of the work is not proper and the change in
the group is not very efficient. The decision making of these teams is not very effective and
inputs of the team members in the decision making are not considered by the leaders. This type
of team can lead to destructive conflicts and clashes of the personalities (Srikanth et al., 2016).
Under laid are the factors that can influence effective and ineffective teams:
Basis of Distinction Effective Team Ineffective team
Underlying goals The objective of the team is well
understood by the members
The objectives are difficult to
be understood by the team
members.
Contributions of the
members
Discussions are appreciated and
every member is allowed to have an
input in the team.
The discussions are limited to
some particular individuals
and input by every member is
not allowed
Listening The ideas are well exchanged within
the group
The ideas are ignored and
sometimes are over-ridden
Conflict resolution The conflicts in ideas are tackled
properly and the team is very
comfortable with their members.
The conflicts are not handled
effectively and are usually
suppressed by the leaders.
Decision making Most decisions are achieved by the
consent of the team members so that
The decisions are taken
prematurely leaving behind
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the decisions have a positive impact
on the society.
the real issues without
examining or resolving the
issues.
Table 1: Distinction between effective and ineffective team
(Source-created by learner)
Being a small company 2M Holdings Ltd can have many opportunities to grow further in the
market. 2M Holdings Ltd might consider the factors that are provided in the table in order to
develop an effective team so that the organisation may improve with respect to its operational
functions. As effective teams can improve the organisational behaviour and provide the company
with opportunities to develop in the future.
The theories that can help the 2M Holdings Ltd to achieve an efficient group development are
discussed further in the study.
“Tuckman’s Five Stage Team Development Model”
This model was developed by B. Tuckerman in 1965. The five major stages to develop a team
are as follows:
 Forming: According to Natvig and Stark, (2016), the initial stage in order to develop a team
is forming the team. The members try to create an understanding so that they can coordinate
with the other team members. In order to improve the coordination the team members must
have an understanding of expectations of their team members
 Storming: This stage includes the understanding of roles of the individuals and the
behaviour of the team members. This can give rise to conflicts and the issues are resolved
that are related to operations of the team (Zhen, 2017).
 Norming: The members after resolving the issues try to coordinate with each other by
understanding the difference in ideas. The trust of the members develops for each other and
they cooperate in order to meet the objectives of the group.
 Performing: In the later stages the team tries to perform with their full potential and
accomplish the goals of the team. The relationship between the members improves as well
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as with the coordination of the team. The team performs with full cooperation and work as a
unit.
 Adjourning: After fulfilling the purpose, the team is dissolved. This breaking of teams after
meeting the goals is a called adjourning the team (Devaraj and Jiang, 2018).
Figure 2: Tuckman’s Five Stage Team Development Model
(Source- Betts and Healy, 2015)
“Kormanski & Mozenter (1987) stages of team development”
This model was developed in 1987 in order to achieve efficient team development. The model
consists of following stages for team development:
 Awareness: This stage of team development the team members try to know and understand
each other. The members try to understand the other members and try to work towards the
goal with the help of knowledge they have gained (Muyoti and Opio, 2017).
 Conflict: As opined by Burnes et al., (2018), the second stage consists of the conflicts that
arise in order to understand the working methods of the team members. The team try to
resolve the issues to improve their operations
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