An Analysis of Effective Teams in IBM: Organisational Behaviour

This report provides an analysis of team effectiveness within IBM, a global technology company. It begins by differentiating between teams and groups, and explores the impact of technology on team functioning. The report then examines the characteristics of effective and ineffective teams, followed by an in-depth look at Tuckman's team development model, outlining the forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning stages. The study further delves into the concepts and philosophies of organisational behaviour in IBM, specifically focusing on the Path-Goal theory and its various leadership styles. The report evaluates the positive and negative influences of these concepts on employee behaviour and concludes with a critical analysis of team development theories within the context of organisational behaviour, emphasizing how the Tuckman model and Path-Goal theory interconnect to enhance team performance and goal achievement within IBM. The report highlights the importance of a healthy work environment and effective leadership in fostering successful teams.

ORGANISATIONAL
BEHAVIOUR

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
1. Explain what makes an effective team as opposed to an ineffective team in an organisation
like IBM.......................................................................................................................................1
2. Concepts and philosophies of organisational behaviour in IBM.............................................4
3. Evaluation of how concepts and philosophy of OB influence behaviour in positive and
negative way................................................................................................................................6
4. Critical analysis of team development theories in the context of OB concepts and
philosophies.................................................................................................................................6
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
Organisational behaviour refers to an understanding of behaviour and attitude of all the
people that contribute their efforts for benefits of organisation. It also can define by the
characteristics and nature of employees in the company. The aim of study is to evaluate
effectiveness of team in IBM that is a global technology company provides hardware, cloud
based services and software. The study will evaluate what are the elements that make a team
effective and ineffective in the organisation.
MAIN BODY
1. Explain what makes an effective team as opposed to an ineffective team in an organisation
like IBM.
Team and group
When two or more individual are get together either by the organisation or out of social
needs, it is known as a group (Gelfand and et. al., 2017). On the other hand, team is refer to the
collection of people, who are linked together to achieve a common goal. Employees need to
have an understanding of how to behave and cooperate effectively with other members in the
team. Team is a group of members who are combined in the organisation for achieving a
common goal. All the members in a team have mutual understanding with other members. There
are many kinds of team in any company that helps them in achieving success.
 Functional team- In the organisation, there are different kinds of team that perform
various functions within the company. This type of team is categorised in three parts;
cross functional team, working team and functional working team. Mainly the functional
team is responsible for handling their specific unit such as; finance or human resource
(Van Knippenberg and Hogg, 2018).
 Problem solving team- This type of team is generally temporary that is created when
any problem arises and they develop with the aim to resolve the issue. They come from
various departments within the company and perform different roles and responsibility.
 Virtual team- This is the most essential team in the company. Virtual team plays an
important role in the success of any organisation. The virtual team basically communicate
through digital medium rather than personally such as; social media platforms, emails,
etc.
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Impact of technology on the organisational teams
Technology is the most crucial part in IBM that improves team functioning. With the
help of technology, IBM are able to achieve desired objectives and also can improve the
cooperation among the team mates. The organisation adopts innovation instruments at the
workplace thus worker will not face any conflicts and problems in working as a team.
Technology improve communication process in IBM that enable employees in team about the
clear goal and aware about the recent trends. Technology also allows manager in the company to
facilitate between communication among the team members and reduces the expenses and time
associated with group work.
Difference between effective and ineffective team
Effective team Ineffective team
Leadership and participation is distributed in
emphasising goals and internal maintenance
In effective team leadership is delegated and
participation is unequal whereas goals alone
are emphasised.
Team members are informal, comfortable and
relaxed.
Team members are indifferent, bored and stiff.
The objective of the organisation are well
understood and accepted
The objectives of the company are unclear and
many of the members have their focus on their
personal agendas.
Tuckman Team development model
Tuckman identified four team development stages in 1965 that was based on team
dynamic research and the fifth stage was introduced in the 1970s named as Adjourning
(McShane and Glinow, 2017). His model explains that as the team develops maturity and ability
and accordingly relationship builds and leaders change their leadership style. The model focuses
on the changing behaviour of team with every stage. Following are the stages of team
development model;
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 Forming- This is the very first stage of the team development that takes place when the
members of the team meet for the very first time. According to this model, on the basis of
competencies and skills of the employees, teams are formed for the particular task or
operation for a period of time in IBM. This is the initial stage where team leader of IBM
is responsible for providing direction towards the common goal and for building a
healthy relationship through effective communication. The members are highly
dependent on the guidance of the leader (5 Stages of Team Development Every Leader
Should Know, 2019).
 Storming- This is the second stage, where team begins to work together. Members of the
team may get unhappy with other member in the team at any certain point of time while
working together that can be due to different working pattern, tough process, culture and
beliefs that are responsible for creating conflicts and other unexpected issues within the
team. Leader of the IBM need to ensure that every member in the team listen each other
and respect different ideas and culture.
 Norming- this is the third stage of the team development where team moves into
norming and they work effectively as a team (Van Knippenberg and Hogg, 2018). The
members are no longer focus on their individual goals but rather than they are concern
with developing a better and effective way of working together. In this stage leader of
IBM may not much involved in decision making since members in the team are now
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Illustration 1: Team development Model
(Source: 5 Stages of Team Development Every Leader Should Know, 2019)

working better together. Trust on each other is enhancing, good relationship and bond is
developing within the employees this results in higher working performance and
productivity in the team and in the whole organisation.
 Performing- The fourth stage of team development is performing where the team
function as a unit and the synergy will benefit the task (Raes and et. al., 2015). Now team
is become more aware about the objectives and knows clearly what they are doing and
why they are functioning. In this stage, team are functioning at very high level and they
somewhere rely or depend on each other. Now the members take decisions on their own
and solve the problem immediately and effectively. The role of leader in the stage is
being limited to encouraging them and celebrate and reward achievements.
 Adjourning- This is the last stage of the team development model. In this stage,
Tuckman state that when task or project have been completed, the team can be dissolved
(Natvig and Stark, 2016). This is the end of the team that has been created for a specific
project in IBM and it involves the disengagement of the relationship between team
members. In the adjourning stage team leader of IBM is responsible for evaluate on the
strength and good decisions that bring them to the end of the success. Adjourning look at
the team from the perspective of the well-being of the team rather than from the view
point of managing a team.
2. Concepts and philosophies of organisational behaviour in IBM
Concept and philosophies of OB is based on the two key elements; Nature of people and
Nature of the organisation. The company adopts Path-goal theory as this is the best suited with
the nature of people and organisation as well.
Path goal theory depends on the behaviour and style of leader in the company (McShane
and Glinow, 2017). The main purpose of this theory is to improve the performance of members
in a team through motivation. Leader is responsible to provide a path to the employee that state
the goal clearly and direct them towards the goal with effective team work and to enhance their
performance by motivating them. This theory state that leader is responsible for determining the
characteristics of the working environment of the organisation and of employees. Leader should
focus on overcoming the issues faced by the team in any task or activity (Lăzăroiu, 2015). The
path goal theory is based on various kind on leader style; directive, supportive, participative, etc.
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 Participative- In this leadership style, leaders are of participative nature and include the
followers in the decision making and take any suggestions and ideas of the employees.
This is very effective style that make employees feel an integrated part of the
organisation that encourage their performance (Path Goal Theory of Leadership, 2004).
 Directive- This is one of the common leadership style that used by the leaders in IBM.
This type of leaders tell their subordinate what must be done and how tasks must be
performed within a specific deadline. In this style team members have clear guidelines
and gets close supervision by the leader.
 Supportive- In this style, leader of the company pay attention on the well being and need
of the employees. The leaders in supportive style are friendly and empathetic. Employees
are treated by the leader with respect and support them when required.
 Achievement oriented- This kind of leaders set goal for the employees in the company
and motivate and encourage them to reach the goal. The main aim of the leader to put
challenges in front of the team members and focuses on the outcome.
Barriers in effective team performance
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Illustration 2: Leadership style
(Source: Path Goal Theory of Leadership, 2004)

In the organisation there are many things that come as a barrier in front of effective team
performance. One of the major barrier is communication gap that limits the interaction and level
of trust by the members on each other in a team. It is the primary issue that usually found in
organisations. Other than that, less involvement of manager also appears as a barrier in the
effective team work (Miner, 2015). If manager is not able to being involve and create a good
environment that is full of enthusiasm and motivation can lower down the morale of members
and they are not concentrate on the team goal and not trust each other.
3. Evaluation of how concepts and philosophy of OB influence behaviour in positive and
negative way
The company adopts path goal theory as the concept and philosophy in the company that
help the leader to develop an effective team and employees are also able to understand the path
and the objective to achieve. The positive impact of the concept is that it enhance the
performance and productivity of the employees but on the other hand it has negative impact on
IBM as well. The path goal theory is limited and it not allows employees to get out of their
comfort zone and implement their creativity. The team is limited as the path has been showed
them by the leader.
4. Critical analysis of team development theories in the context of OB concepts and philosophies
The Tuckman's team development theory and path goal theory are internally relates from
each other in IBM. When both combined together, it saves a lot of time in of the leader to
develop and direct a path to them. The team development theory, required to give motivation to
the members in a team in IBM for that purpose the concepts will effectively help. The theories
and concepts influence the behaviour of IBM in positive manner and enable them to effectively
develop a team that is motivated and have support of their leader to achieve the goals.
CONCLUSION
From the present study it has been summarised that to accomplish various projects
effectively, IBM adopted group or team concept at the workplace. Both the terms are differed
from each other. A model was developed by Tuckman that helped IBM to effectively develop
team by go through four major stages. It was summarised that for organisational success,
industry required to develop a healthy workplace environment that promotes the efforts of team
work and leaders style also plays a major role in developing supportive environment.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Gelfand, M. J. and et.al., 2017. Cross-cultural industrial organizational psychology and
organizational behavior: A hundred-year journey. Journal of Applied Psychology. 102(3).
p.514.
Lăzăroiu, G., 2015. Work motivation and organizational behavior. Contemporary Readings in
Law and Social Justice. 7(2). pp.66-75.
McShane, S. and Glinow, M. A. V., 2017. Organizational behavior. McGraw-Hill Education.
Miner, J. B., 2015. Organizational behavior 1: Essential theories of motivation and leadership.
Routledge.
Miner, J. B., 2015. Organizational behavior 4: From theory to practice. Routledge.
Natvig, D. and Stark, N. L., 2016. A project team analysis using Tuckman's model of small-
group development. Journal of Nursing Education. 55(12). pp.675-681.
Raes, E. and et.al., 2015. An exploratory study of group development and team learning. Human
Resource Development Quarterly. 26(1). pp.5-30.
Van Knippenberg, D. and Hogg, M. A., 2018. Social identifications in organizational
behavior. The self at work: Fundamental theory and research. pp.72-90.
Online
5 Stages of Team Development Every Leader Should Know. 2019. [Online]. Available
Through<https://medium.com/swlh/team-development-stages-51df5606c0a2>.
Path Goal Theory of Leadership. 2004. [Online]. Available
Through:<http://www.dailymirror.lk/69959/path-goal-theory-of-leadership>.
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