Organisational Behaviour Report: M&S, Power, Culture & Motivation

This report provides an in-depth analysis of organisational behaviour within the context of Marks & Spencer (M&S). It begins by defining organisational behaviour and its impact on employee performance, then evaluates the effects of power, culture, and politics on individual and team behaviour within M&S. The report then delves into motivational theories, including Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs and Herzberg's Two-Factor Theory, and their application in achieving organisational targets. Furthermore, it contrasts the characteristics of effective and ineffective teams. Finally, the report applies organisational behaviour concepts and philosophies to M&S, offering insights into how these principles influence the company's operations and employee dynamics, and concludes with a summary of the key findings and implications for the organisation.

ORGANISATIONAL
BEHAVIOUR

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................2
P1 Evaluate the effect of power, culture and politics on behaviour and performance of an
employee as a team or individual...........................................................................................2
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................5
P2 Analyse how different theories of motivation along with motivational techniques allow
effective achievement of targets.............................................................................................5
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................9
P3 Demonstrate the differences in an effective team in comparison with an ineffective team9
TASK 4 .........................................................................................................................................11
P4 Apply philosophies and concepts of organisational behaviour in relation with selected
organisation..........................................................................................................................11
CONCLUSION .............................................................................................................................13
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................14

INTRODUCTION
Organisation behaviour is defined as a part of management process that helps in
identifying and acknowledging the behaviour of employers and employees in a business firm. In
general terms, it is depicted as the attitude of a person or a team that works in a firm to perform
business operations and activities (Arvey and Wang, 2016). Appropriate behaviour at a
workplace allows the employees to work in a coordinated and motivated manner due to which
attainment of organisational goals became easy. This assignment is prepared for M&S which is a
Britain based manufacturer and retailer of clothing, food and Household commodities. Main
office of this company is presented in Westminster, London and they provide services to
different nations in global context. This report is going to mention about effect of culture,
politics and power on performance of a firm along with analysis of different process & content
theories. Also, differences in an effective and ineffective team will be discussed and at last
various concepts and philosophies of organisational behaviour will be discussed in context with
the specific organisation.
TASK 1
P1 Evaluate the effect of power, culture and politics on behaviour and performance of an
employee as a team or individual
Organisational culture
Organisational culture is referred as important understanding that employees in a
business firm shares so that work activities can be performed by firm in a systematic manner.
M&S is facing the issue of reduced employee performance. One reason for this issue can be
inappropriate organisational culture. In order to analyse the organisational culture in M&S,
Handy's cultural dimension is mentioned here. Handy's typology model is given by Charles
Handy and states that there are mainly four kinds of culture which are prevailed in an
organisation. These culture are also prevailed in M&S and influences the working capabilities of
employees in a considerable manner. Elements of different organisational culture in relation to
M&S is stated below:
 Role culture (hierarchy – temple): In this kind of culture, employees are given roles
and responsibilities as per their position and educational qualification. This culture is
present in M&S due to this, employees in M&S are able to perform their work with
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greater efficiency. This culture will allow the workers to choose challenging tasks as per
their specialisation due to which high outcomes can be gained. This culture will impact
team performance and individual performance of workers in positive manner.
 Power culture (web) : In some situation, power is concentrated in few hands due to
which only few employees of M&S are allowed to take decisions. In this culture,
employees feel inferior and their morale to do work also reduces as their opinions are not
considered in a sincere manner (Bissell and Dolan, 2012). This culture impact individual
and team behaviour & performance of employees in M&S in a negative manner as they
are be bound to do work as per the orders of their superiors.
 Task culture (net/matrix): In context to this culture, special teams are formed in M&S
to perform special tasks. These teams consists of different people which have expertise in
varied fields. For example, some employees at M&S prefers to work individually due to
which during team work their efficiency is less. In respect with an organisation, team
behaviour and performance of employee will be good as entire team will work in a
coordinated manner. For individual team and performance of employees, this culture is
not suitable in M&S as it is not possible for a single person to perform challenging work
as single entity.
 Person culture (individuals): In this culture, people of a company treats themselves as a
separate entity and they have no relation with organisational goals and targets. Their main
aim is to satisfy their personal objectives. In this culture, business firms exist so that
employees can work at a single place (Burrell and Morgan, 2017). This culture is not
suitable for M&S, as it will reduce the motivation of employees to work in a coordinated
manner.
Organisational power
Power is defined as an ability of employers to impact the workforce so that organisational
goals and targets can be attained efficiently. There are different kind of power prevailed in a
company. In context with M&S, these powers are mentioned below:
 Reward power: This power is associated with offering best reward systems and
incentives to the employees in M&S so that they feel motivated and give their best efforts
to organisation. This power will enhances both individual and team performance of
employees in an organisation (Effelsberg and Solga, 2015).
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 Legitimate power: This power gives authority to only few people to make modifications
and change in the organisational structure of company. This power in M&S create
conflicts and confusion in the minds of workers due to which their performance as an
individual and team is reduced considerably (Dobrow, 2013).
 Coercive power: Under this power, M&S employees are forced to do work even if they
are not willing to work. This kind of power is toxic in nature and reduces the working
potential of employees as a team and individual in a considerable manner.
 Expert power: Due to this organisational power, manager of M&S are treated as an
expert in their work and manage organisational work as per their wish. Due to their
greater understanding, employees obey them and prefer to take their suggestion.
Adoption of this power will enhance the working potential of employees in a company
as a team and individual as they will be guided by their manager in a proper manner.
Organisational politics
Political behaviour of a firm consists elements of equality, freedom, liberty etc. It include
different strategies that can impact the attitude and behaviour of staff of a firm in either positive
or negative manner (Gabriel and et. al., 2015). Political behaviour in a company can either be
structural, personal and decisional. For example, at present, interdepartmental competition in
M&S is high due to which employees of a particular department are coordinating with workforce
of other department. This has led to disruption in organisational work. Manager in M&S has the
duty to avoid conflicts among employees and between employers-employees within firm
otherwise negative politics can results in grievances among employees. This can reduce the
working potential of workers due to which attainment of organisational goals will be difficult.
Critically show how politics, power and culture in organisation impacts the team and
individual behaviour
There exist different kind of power at workplace like coercive power, reward power,
legitimate power, expert and personal power. These power allows a workplace to work in a
systematic manner but these powers have some disadvantages. In case of Coercive and legitimate
power, these power are somewhat forcing and abusive in nature due to which it restricts the
employees in M&S to work in a satisfactory manner but these powers help in taking fast
decisions. In case of expert power and reward power, these powers are centred across workers
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and allow the employees to work in hope of gaining high benefits. Organisational politics is
positive in M&S due to which workforce is capable to work in a comfortable manner and their
overall working productivity is enhanced. In some situations, politics of M&S is negative due to
which issues like harassment, back bitching, jealousy takes place that can leads to issues among
employees. This can hinder them to work in a coordinated manner so that goals of M&S can be
acquired. For example, culture of a M&S is proper, then employees and employers of company
are able to perform work in a desired manner. Power culture is autocratic in nature but it helps in
performing organisational work in a systematic and timely manner whereas role culture is best
suitable for M&S as it will allow the workers of M&S to work as per their capability but this
culture can leads to reduced working productivity as employees will not take challenging task to
make their work life simple (Graham, Ziegert and Capitano, 2015).
TASK 2
P2 Analyse how different theories of motivation along with motivational techniques allow
effective achievement of targets
Motivation is the energy that pushes an individual towards accomplishing their goals and
organisational goals. Motivation is the only force that leads to performance. In both the
organisation whether public or private, motivation plays a vital role in providing job satisfaction
to employees. In case of reduced employee performance in M&S, manager of firm can motivate
them so that they can boost up their morale to perform work. There are many process and
content theories which explains how workers are motivated and provide suggestions for how to
increase motivation in workplace (Ibrahim and Aslinda, 2013). Major content theories are
Maslow's needs hierarchy, Aldefer's ERG theory and Herzberg's two factor theory whereas
process theories are Adam equity and vroom expectancy. These theories in context with M&S
are mentioned below:
Content theories of motivation
Maslow's needs hierarchy theory
This theory generally talks about meeting the basic needs of employees Which includes
Psychological needs, safety needs, social needs, self-esteem and self -actualization. In context of
M&S, manager of company uses this theory to satisfy each needs substantially but the next needs
become dominant which leads to some problems.
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 Psychological needs: Psychological needs are the basic needs of human for their
survival and maintenance of life. These includes food, shelter,clothes which are necessary
for there survival. Employees in M&S are not given consideration to psychological needs
due to which their efficiency to work decreases and lowers the level of productivity.
Manager in M&S, should firstly consider the basic needs of their employees and should
provide them wages accordingly so that they can full fill there basics needs of foods,
shelter etc.
 Safety needs: After satisfying the psychological needs, the next need felt are called
safety needs or security needs. M&S provides the security of formal contract of
employment as well as pension and sickness schemes and a option to join union to give a
sense of belongingness. It ensure health and safety in the workplace (Kazemipour and
Mohd Amin, 2012).
 Social needs : Human being is a social animal. They always seek to be socially recognise
in the society or among their co- workers. For example, M&S promotes team and groups
working at different levels and ensure that it establishes a healthy relationship among the
employees. It organises activities for the employees to participate and whosoever does
well is rewarded due to which the employee feel motivated.
 Self-esteem needs: These needs refers to self esteem and self respect. Company like
M&S values self respect and respect their employees for their hard work in the
organisation and celebrate there achievements.
 Self-actualization: This is the final step where all the needs of the persons are full-filled.
M&S offers their employee with personal development plans, recognition of skills and
talents, opportunity for promotion and career progression programmes and provides route
to capable employee to reach at higher level.
There is another content theory which is used by the manager in M&S to guide and
encourage their workforce which is stated below:
Herzberg's two factor theory
This theory tries to get the roots of motivation in the workplace. This theory explains that
there are some factors which are the reason for employees positive and negative feelings about
their work. It is also adopted by M&S to lower down the level of dissatisfaction of employees by
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paying reasonable wages, providing job security to employee, and create positive work culture in
the workplace. Major factors are motivator factors and hygiene factors (Klotz, Neubaum, 2016).
 Motivators factor : These factors have positive effect on employees which are working
in the organisation. Manager in M&S motivates their employees by various activities like
recognition, achievement, responsibilities, advancement and many others. By applying
these factors many companies can motivate their employees.
 Hygiene factors: These factors are the reasons for the dissatisfaction of employees in the
workplace. M&S needs to resolves all these factors as this can cause a drastic decrease in
the production level of both employees and company. Productivity can be decreased by
some factors which includes inequivalent pay of wages, working condition, conflicts
among the workers, etc. For example, in recent time, employees of M&S were not given
appropriate recognition for their hard work due to which they stop working productively.
When manager accepts their mistakes and provide incentive to employees, their working
productivity improves.
Aldefer's ERG theory
This theory states that all the needs of employees can be full filled simultaneously, rather
than from the bottom to top. This theory explains the needs of motivation to each and every
individuals. It focuses on three factors that are existence, relatedness and growth. In context of
M&S company, the managers recognise that the employee have multiple needs that are to be
satisfied because if these three categories are not satisfied by the company an individual may
feel frustrated about the work and his efficiency to perform is decreased (Mangi, Kanasro and
Burdi, 2015).
Process theories of motivation
VROOM expectancy theory
This theory states that behaviour depends on the conscious choices of an individual that
are chosen with the aim of maximising pleasure and minimising pain. As per this theory,
performance of workers depends upon their knowledge, skills, experience, abilities and
personality. This theory has three elements which are stated below:
 Expectancy: This factor states that enhanced efforts will results in increased
performance. For example, To earn more revenues and benefits as per their expectations,
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employees in M&S deliver their best performance. This help them in satisfying their
personal and professional goals.
 Valence: It is referred as the emotional orientation of workers in context with incentives
and bonus. Some employees in M&S needs appreciation where other employees needs
monitory benefits. This factor states that employee in M&S only work hard if they are
receive the type of appreciation they want.
 Instrumentality: This is linked to the opinion of workers about their needs and actual
outcomes which they get. For example, manager in M&S provide expected offerings to
their workforce, due to this they are able to work in more productive manner due to
which company can earn high profits & revenue (Mclaggan, Botha and Bezuidenhout,
2013).
Adam's Equity theory
In accordance to this theory, employer of a firm us needed to create a balance in input of
workers which is their skill, ability, acceptance, enthusiasm etc. and their output such as
recognitions, salary and benefits that they received. If there will be a balance in input and output
of workers, this will motivate them to give their best efforts so that organisational goals and their
personal desires can be fulfilled in a proper manner. To ensure a balance in input and output of
workers, manager in M&S provide job security, recognition and benefits to their staff members.
By this, overall productivity of firm is increased without any compromise.
Motivational techniques to encourage workforce
There are different techniques which can be adopted by the manager of M&S to
encourage and motivate their workforce so that organisational work can be performed with
greater efficiency. Some of these techniques are depicted below:
 Offering rewards and incentives: This is the best technique by which motivation in
employees can be raised in a considerable manner. For instance, workers in M&S are
given incentives and rewards in accordance with their working performance, due to
which they feel encourages to deliver their best efforts. This allows the company to
experience high overall productivity due to which profits of company increase
considerably. Without any bonus or reward, employees will not feel reluctant to work
harder. This canreduce the competitive advantage of M&S against rivals (Miner, 2015).
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 Cultivate enthusiasm among employees: Creating enthusiasm in the minds of
employees towards work and organisational goals will allow a business firm to gain wide
advantages. For example, leader in M&S tell about the benefits received by firm due to
their hard work and best efforts. This is the reason they have the urge to do more as more
profits of company will mean more incentives for employees. Without enthusiasm,
employees of M&S will not consider organisational work as their priority.
 Promote transparency: This is another method by which workforce in M&S can be
motivated to perform their best efforts. For example, in M&S manager and employers of
company treat staff in a transparent manner, their is no differences among employees. By
this, they are able to perform work at company in comfortable manner and their increased
working potential allow the firm to earn high revenues and sales. If employees will not
have treated fairly, they will give less input to firm that will hinders high profits &
revenues.
Critical analyse of relation in power, culture, politics and motivation to gain success along
with justifications
Organisational power helps a company in attaining a positive work environment and
culture so that organisational task can be performed systematically. Motivation of staff allow the
manager of M&S to overcome negative influences and politics. But if power in a company will
be used to abuse the employees they will not feel motivated to gain organisational targets. It will
influence the performance of employees as a team and individual along with culture &
productivity of company in a negative manner (Ormiston and Wong, 2013). Positive working
atmosphere allow M&S to implement right power and politics at workplace so that
organisational success and targets can be gained desirably. Manager in M&S is recommended to
choose role culture because this allow the employees to work as per their position. This allow the
company to maintain organisational productivity. Out of all existing powers, manager mainly
uses reward power so that encouragement of employees towards work can be increased. In
accordance with the above discussed theories of motivation, manager in M&S is recommended
to adopt Maslow's hierarchy needs to fulfil the requirements of their employees. This allows the
company to consider the basic and special needs of their employees due to which appropriate
working environment is prevailed in company. By this, attaining of goals and targets will became
easy for company.
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TASK 3
P3 Demonstrate the differences in an effective team in comparison with an ineffective team
Team is defined as a group of people which works together so that desired target and aim
can be attained in a proper manner. There are two kind of teams i.e. ineffective and effective
team. Characteristics of these teams in context with M&S is mentioned below:
Effective team: People of this team are able to work efficiently in challenging situations
due to which organisation is able to attain success. Characteristic of effective team in M&S is
mentioned below:
 This team has a clear purpose due to which attainment of organisational goals became
easy. In M&S, purpose of employees is to earn maximum profit. This is possible due to
the clear communication of leader. Without clear purpose, employees will feel confused
and their working capability will reduce (Robbins and et. al., 2013).
 Efficient team of a company is able to acquire goals and targets in timely manner. This is
because they perform each organisational work in a systematic and prioritised way. This
team will benefit M&S in achieving high advantage over rivals. For instance, projects of
M&S are accomplished in time due to coordination among employees and workers.
Ineffective team: People in these kind of teams lack motivation, courage, coordination
and communication skills due to which they are not able to perform work of company in a
proper manner. There characteristics are mentioned beneath:
 Members of these team have negativity in their mind due to which their coordination
level is zero.
 These teams have unequal work distribution due to which each employee do not get same
work and conflicts take place among them.
Differences in effective and ineffective team
Effective team Ineffective team
 They are able to identify organisational
targets and goals easily.
 Not able to identify the targets of their
organisation
 Active participation in team tasks  Passive participation in working
activities
 Decision making is based on mutual  Premature decision are taken
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consent.
Group and team development theories to support dynamic cooperation at workplace
There are different theories related with team and group development. These theories will
help in defining about the characteristics of Effective team. To maintain efficiency within firms ,
manager of M&S has adopted Tuckman and Jensen’s model of team development. This is
acknowledge by the situations which are faced by employees of different department while
working as a single unit. At starting they work according to person culture but later own they
shift towards team culture. Stages of this model in relation to M&S are stated below:
Tuckman’s and Jensen model
There exist various kind of situations and stages that are faced by each team that works
together to attain a common goals. M&S is a global organisation which operates in a successful
manner. But newly hired workforce of company is not able to identify and acknowledge the
targets of company while working as a team. This leads to inefficiency among teams due to
which organisational productivity of firm reduces. Elements of model are stated below:
 Forming stage: At this stage, uncertainties faced by member of team is high and each
employee wishes to gain leadership and authority to power. In this stage, employees of
M&S are not guided properly due to which they are not able to work as a team. Here,
manager of M&S direct employees in right working direction. This help them in
identifying each areas where an employee is needed to carry out change.
 Storming stage: This is a difficult stage where conflicts and issues are faced by team
members due to differences in opinions (Simon, 2013). In this stage, due to
disagreements, completion of expected task became will became very difficult. For
example, new hired employees which works as a team faces frequent conflict and issues.
Hence, manager in M&S acts as a link between different employees so that they can
understand their ideologies in a proper manner.
 Performing stage: At this stage, employees in M&S act mature and start understating the
opinions of each other. Here at this level, team has a clear focus and each employee work
hard to acquire team goals and targets by eliminating their inefficiencies in organisational
work.
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