Organisational Behaviour Report: McDonald's Case Study Analysis

This report delves into the multifaceted realm of organisational behaviour, employing McDonald's as a case study to dissect critical elements such as culture, politics, power dynamics, and their influence on both individual and organisational conduct. It meticulously evaluates Hofstede's cultural dimensions, exploring how these factors shape employee behaviour within the company. Furthermore, the report scrutinizes motivational theories, particularly Maslow's hierarchy of needs and Vroom's expectancy theory, to determine effective strategies for fostering employee engagement and goal attainment. The analysis extends to the examination of team dynamics, contrasting effective and ineffective team structures, and incorporating Tuckman and Jensen's model to elucidate team development stages. Through this comprehensive analysis, the report aims to provide insights into leadership management practices and strategies that can be implemented to enhance organisational efficiency and employee performance within McDonald's.

Organisational
Behaviour

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
P1 The influence of culture, politics and power on behaviour of others in an organisation.......1
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................3
P2 Motivating individuals and teams to achieve a goal..............................................................3
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................4
P3 Effective team as opposed to an ineffective team..................................................................4
TASK 4............................................................................................................................................6
P4 Concepts and philosophies of organisational behaviour........................................................6
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................8
REFRENCES...................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
Organizational behaviour is an interaction within employees of a company and applied
to create more efficient business organizations. It is known as scientific concept which is applied
to implemented to management of employees. There are various organizational behaviour
approaches which can be applied to human resource with a purpose to increase the output from
individual team members (Adeniji, 2011). In this report, these organisational theories will be
thoroughly analysed in context to McDonald's, which is an American fast food company,
founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in United States.
However this project will focus to analyse the influence of culture, politics and power on
individual and organisational behaviour as well as determine different ways to motivate
individual and team in performances and behaviour in McDonald's with a purpose to achieve its
goals and objectives.
TASK 1
P1 The influence of culture, politics and power on behaviour of others in an organisation
Organizational culture carries different values and behaviours present in an
organisation to make its environment unique socially and psychologically which includes
company's expectation, experience, belief and values together by showcasing individual
performances and interactions happened outside organisation.
Hofstede's Theory: It is a work that present cross-cultural communication which
analyses impact of society's culture on values of their members and their behaviour. According
to Hofstede's theory, there are following major factors which influences culture of McDonald's:
Power Distance: This refers to the degree of inequality that exists and is accepted
between people with and without power. A high power distance at McDonald's shows that a
society accepts unequal, hierarchical distribution of power as well as people understanding their
value and place there. Whereas low power distance at McDonald's is when power is shared and
widely dispersed that society members do not accept situations where power is unequally
distributed (Butler and Rose, 2011).
Masculinity v/s Femininity: It is considered as the number of male and female employee
working in McDonald's and has been distinguish to highlight the strength, capability and
1

dedication within both genders. At McDonald's they assign tough and hard work to boys rather
than girls (Coccia and Cadario, 2014).
Individualism v/s Collectivism: Every individual of a firm have a unique style to solve
problems however this cultural belief that concerns of the individual or concerns of the group
take precedence. This dimension in McDonald's focuses that whether people have a preference
for being left alone to look after themselves or want to remain in a closely knitted network.
Uncertainty Avoidance Index: The degree to which a culture is comfortable with
ambiguity. At McDonald's it is a dimension that describes an extent to which people in society
accept or avoid uncertainty.
Long-term v/s Short-term Orientation: It is a culturally based tendency to value either
perseverance, preparation and saving or traditions, present obligations, etc. Long-term
orientation describes tendency of society toward searching for merits whereas short-term
orientation concerned with those societies that are strongly inclined toward establishment of
absolute truth (del Mar Alonso-Almeida and Rodríguez-Antón, 2011).
Power in an Organisation refers to capability that impact action of subordinate with
control of resources. As organizations are made up of individuals that exercise greater or lesser
degrees of power. Some company uses power of a person's title in organization or by their
specialized knowledge and expertise. Other organisations may exercise power through
interpersonal relationships or by force of their personality. The five forms of power concept
which is often used in McDonald's are as following:
Coercive Power: This power is derived from a person's ability to influence others via
threats or punishments. Coercive power is a person's ability to punish, fire or criticise employees
for their performance in McDonald's. Coercive power help to control behaviour of employees by
ensuring that they are stick to company's policies and norms.
Reward Power: This power arises from the ability of a person to influence the employees
by allocating attractive incentives within an organization. These incentives at McDonald's
include salary increments, recognition and appraisals as well as promotions (Dobrow, 2013).
Legitimate Power: Legitimate or positional power derived from a person's position in an
organization’s hierarchy. For positional power to be exercised effectively in McDonald's, the
person wielding the post, must be deemed to earned it legitimately such as legitimate power held
by a company's CEO.
2

Referent Power: It is derived from interpersonal relationships that a person cultivates
with other people in an organization. People possess reference power by having connections with
those who already have exists in McDonald's at a respectable position or designation.
Expert Power: It is derived from possessing knowledge or expertise in a particular area
of business operations. Such people are highly valued by McDonald's for their problem solving
skills (Foy and et. al., 2011).
Politics in an Organisation refers to a variety of activities that are used as influencing
tactics to improve personal or organizational interests. It is obtainer that individuals with political
skills tend to do better in gaining more personal power as well as managing stress and job
demands in McDonald's and have greater impact on company's outcomes.
TASK 2
P2 Motivating individuals and teams to achieve a goal
Motivational theories are concerned with discovering those factors which drives
individuals to work towards a specific goal or outcome. Motivational theories plays crucial in
McDonald's because motivated individuals are more productive and lead to more economic use
of resources. On the basis of employee's need of motivation, two types of theories are there in
motivation which is explained as following:
Content Theory: Content theories or needs theories are those which try to identify what
needs are necessary for a person and relate motivation by fulfilling these needs. It focuses on
“what” makes an individual feel motivated at McDonald's.
Maslow's hierarchy of needs: It is a theory in psychology proposed by Abraham Maslow
in his paper “A Theory of Human Motivation” in Psychological Review in 1943. Here needs of
Individuals are generally shown in a pyramid where basic needs are lies at bottom and
considered as most important need of every employee and complex needs comes at the top,
which include needs as physiological needs, safety and security, belongingness, self-esteem and
self-actualization (Frølich, Kalpazidou Schmidt and Rosa, 2010).
In context to McDonald's, employees joins company to fulfil their basic needs. When the
basic needs are completed by the company, employees feel need of safety and security of them
as well as their family which motivates them to work harder in company and improve their
performances. They become able to take insurance from banks and other financial structures.
3

After feeling secured, employee's need take a jump on love and belongingness, where he work to
make good relations in society (Hyde, Harris and Boaden, 2013). These social needs of an
individual then leads to self-esteem needs which mean they want to make some social image by
achieving recognitions and appraisals or rewards from McDonald's. After getting social as well
as self-esteem needs fulfilled, employees are motivated to have their potential goals achieved and
this stage is called as self-actualization. These needs help an employee to stay motivated towards
their job and perform better in McDonald's.
Process theories: They are concerned with “how” motivation occurs, and determine
different processes in McDonald's that can influence motivation of employees.
Vroom's expectancy theory: Victor Vroom's expectancy theory was found in 1964 and
aims to explain how people choose from the available actions. According to this theory,
motivation is a process that governs choices an individual among various types of behaviour
(Llewellyn and Hindmarsh, 2010). The motivation to engage employees in different business
activities is determined by appraising three factors at McDonald's which are as following:
Expectancy * Instrumentality * Valence = Motivation
Expectancy: It is a belief that more effort will result in success for which if an employee
will work harder, it will result in better performance.
Instrumentality: It is an employee's belief that there must be a connection between
activity and goal as well as if employees will perform well they will get reward.
Valence: It is the degree to which an individual values their reward and their results of
success.
An employee at McDonald's who cant not see connection between effort and
performance will have zero expectancy and an employee who can’t perceive the link between
performance and reward will have zero instrumentality. Whereas a person who doesn’t value
expected outcome of performance, reward will have zero valence (Mester and et. al., 2018).
TASK 3
P3 Effective team as opposed to an ineffective team
Team is a group of talented people working together to achieve an objective. It is a
process which enables to accomplish tasks faster and accurately than handling projects
4

separately. Working together on various tasks decrease workloads for all the employees by
allowing them to share liabilities.
Basis of
Comparison
Effective team Ineffective team
Goals
The task objective of the group
is well understood and
recognized by the members
(Nyberg and et. al., 2011).
Things being puzzled which is
asked to be done, this is why
members didn't recognised the
task.
Listening
The each member listen to each
other. All ideas are appreciated.
People do not appreciate each
others thought and ideas as they
ignored and over – ridden
Self evaluation This group is concerned about
their operations.
This group avoids any discussion.
Division of labour
When actions were taken, clear
assignments made and accepted.
Action and determination were
unclear. Every one is confused
with their task.
There are various skills and qualities which involve in effective team that are described as in-
Mutual cooperation: It is being seen that where there is lack of communication creates
problem during work. This is why it is very important to have a regular conversation between
their team mates so that they can rectify and make understand each other wherever one is
lacking. In the context of McDonald's the team mates work in group where they support each
other in the need. They had distributed their task according to their capabilities (Robbins and et.
al., 2013).
Balanced roles: A group has been formed after evaluating each others task. Every
members in the team has a unique capacity to involve in task. This is the reason a leader of the
team distribute each others task after examining each one .In respect of McDonald's company
distribute each others task after knowing that who one can do which task. It is not possible for
any individuals to do other's task (Sailer, 2010).
5

Effective leadership: It is considered as the ability to motivate and influence others in an
impressive and efficient manner. As it has been seen in McDonald's organization that leader of
their team convenience their team mates in very innovative way, this is why all members
perform their best in the while.
Tuckman and Jensen's model of team:
The Tuckman and Jensen's model of team provides in depth knowledge of a team. Here
McDonald's has taken into thought which is using this model to understand the whole process of
team building from first phase till the project complete keeping in mind to increase the mutual
trust between the employees and the coordination between them (Shah and Ghulam Sarwar Shah,
2010).
Following are the four stages of model:
Forming: This is the first step which involves the building of the team. It includes
allotment of work and having interaction between the team leader and team members. McDonald
team leader also motivate their members as to encourage them for the best output. As it has
been seen during initial days members of team felt difficulties in work.
Storming: In this second step the team leaders start motivating their members for the best
performance. They push them over the limits which usually lead them to roles related confusion
in them.
Norming: In this third phase the team started to know each other work and started admit
each other's ideas. From this stage McDonald's come in the friendly and peaceful working
environment.
Performing: In the last stage of this model, the members within the team started
recognising and accepting each other so to performing well. Also it helps to improve them in
professional and personal level. And started supporting each other.
TASK 4
P4 Concepts and philosophies of organisational behaviour
Path goal theory: This model was projected by Robert House in 1974. This is dependent
upon the rule and behaviour of leader importantly and get influenced with the perception of staff
members between their performance level and attempt. The role of McDonald's leaders help their
members in accomplishing their task by removing all hurdles and giving different rewards
6

(Suppiah and Singh Sandhu, 2011). All efforts they put to receive maximum contribution and so
profit as well. While receiving for this they guide their members by giving them adequate
guidance, resources etc. that will help in the wind-up of assigned work in more economic way.
This model is assigned into three parts :
 Identification of characteristics of employee and environment.
 Select a leader style.
 Stress on motivational factors that assist employees to maximise its performance level.
Employee's characteristics: A leader's action can be described on the basis of needs and
requirements of the staff such as detected level of affiliation, level of structure and so forth. The
main liabilities of the leader is to assigned the roles and responsibilities to employees based on
their skills and occurrence so to received maximum output and acquired desired goals in a well
arranged and profitable manner (Thomson and Van Niekerk, 2012).
Task and Environmental Characteristic:
By using this theory, McDonald's can able to focus on get rid of deterrent. If in case of
any obstacles is too high which creates difficulty then it is the responsibility of the leaders to
short out the hurdles. Some of the common difficulties came during task are listed below :
Design of task: This involves allotment of roles and responsibilities to employees on the
basis of their skills and cognition. In the while the exact guidance and direction will be given in
order to achieve highest possible outcomes.
Formal authority system: Leader are authorised to set target and assign employees on
the basis of their task dominance which assist firm's to compete under contingent situations in
proper manner.
Work group: Leaders or managers of an organization should take an initiative step in
order to bring employees of same skills and knowledge together and influence them to form an
effective team in the process to achieve assigned objective within given time frame. Working in
team increases the performance level of employees as well as build better relations with one
another (Wood and et. al., 2012).
Leadership style: Leader set their style as per their behaviour of workers and attribute
so they can extract best out of them. House and Mitchell found four primary initiative style
which are explained below:
7

Directive: This leader adjust their style as per the behaviour of their employees and
attributes so they can extract best out of them.
Participative: This is a type of leader who focuses on assembling suggestions and views
of employees before taking any decision for the betterment of the organization.
CONCLUSION
From the above report, it is been concluded that an effective organisational behaviour
plays crucial in influencing individual and team behaviour as well as performances in an
organisation. By a thorough study of organisational behaviour is has been analysed that an
organisation's culture, power and politics highly influence its employee's performance and
motivation. In addition to this, report carries various motivational theories that help in employee
engagement and building commitment towards their job. However, report has highlighted
efficiencies of effective team over ineffective team and shown different methods which help in
making effective team. Although, various concept and philosophies of organisation behaviour in
different business situation successfully.
8

REFRENCES
Adeniji, A.A., 2011. Organizational climate as a predictor of employee job satisfaction:
Evidence from Covenant University. Business intelligence journal. 4(1). pp.151-166.
Butler, M. and Rose, E. eds., 2011. Introduction to organisational behaviour. Kogan Page
Publishers.
Coccia, M. and Cadario, E., 2014. Organisational (un) learning of public research labs in
turbulent context. International Journal of Innovation and Learning. 15(2). pp.115-129.
del Mar Alonso-Almeida, M. and Rodríguez-Antón, J.M., 2011. Organisational behaviour and
strategies in the adoption of certified management systems: an analysis of the Spanish
hotel industry. Journal of Cleaner Production. 19(13). pp.1455-1463.
Dobrow, S.R., 2013. Dynamics of calling: A longitudinal study of musicians. Journal of
organizational behavior. 34(4). pp.431-452.
Foy, R. and et. al., 2011. The role of theory in research to develop and evaluate the
implementation of patient safety practices. BMJ quality & safety. 20(5). pp.453-459.
Frølich, N., Kalpazidou Schmidt, E. and Rosa, M.J., 2010. Funding systems for higher education
and their impacts on institutional strategies and academia: A comparative perspective.
International Journal of Educational Management. 24(1). pp.7-21.
Hyde, P., Harris, C. and Boaden, R., 2013. Pro-social organisational behaviour of health care
workers. The International Journal of Human Resource Management. 24(16). pp.3115-
3130.
Llewellyn, N. and Hindmarsh, J. eds., 2010. Organisation, interaction and practice: Studies of
ethnomethodology and conversation analysis. Cambridge University Press.
Mester, B. and et. al., 2018. Performance management.
Nyberg, A. and et. al., 2011. Destructive managerial leadership and psychological well-being
among employees in Swedish, Polish, and Italian hotels. Work. 39(3). pp.267-281.
Robbins, S. and et. al., 2013. Organisational behaviour. Pearson Higher Education AU.
Sailer, K., 2010. The space-organisation relationship. On the shape of the relationship between
spatial configuration and collective organisational behaviours (Doctoral dissertation,
TU Dresden, Germany).
Shah, N. and Ghulam Sarwar Shah, S., 2010. Relationships between employee readiness for
organisational change, supervisor and peer relations and demography. Journal of
Enterprise Information Management. 23(5). pp.640-652.
Suppiah, V. and Singh Sandhu, M., 2011. Organisational culture's influence on tacit knowledge-
sharing behaviour. Journal of knowledge management. 15(3). pp.462-477.
Thomson, K. and Van Niekerk, J., 2012. Combating information security apathy by encouraging
prosocial organisational behaviour. Information Management & Computer Security.
20(1). pp.39-46.
Wood, J. and et. al., 2012. Organisational behaviour: Core concepts and applications. John
Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd..
9