Organisational Behaviour Report: Analysing Sainsbury's Behaviour

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of organizational behaviour within Sainsbury, a retail FMCG company. It delves into various organizational theories impacting behaviour, including Handy's Topology and the Hofstede model, examining their influence on power dynamics, roles, and team structures. The report explores political behaviour, motivation theories such as process and content theories, and their impact on individuals and teams. It highlights the significance of motivation, organizational culture, and leadership styles in fostering a positive and productive work environment. The analysis also discusses the differences between effective and ineffective teams, and the application of organizational behaviour concepts in the context of Sainsbury's operations. The report emphasizes Sainsbury's employee-friendly environment, its approach to motivation, and its efforts to create a supportive and engaging workplace, ultimately contributing to employee satisfaction and business success.

ORGANISATION
BEHAVIOUR

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
PART 1............................................................................................................................................3
Organisational theories affecting organisational behaviour........................................................3
Handy's Topology........................................................................................................................3
Hofstede model............................................................................................................................4
Political Behaviour (Chantal)......................................................................................................6
Impact of motivation on team and individuals............................................................................7
Part 2................................................................................................................................................9
Difference between effective team and ineffective team.............................................................9
Application of concept and philosophies of organisation behaviour in given situation............13
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................14
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................15

INTRODUCTION
The report is about organisational behaviour in context of an organisation taken. Organisational
behaviour refers to how employees react to particular situation or challenges being faced and the
factors affecting them. Sainsbury, a retail FMCG company has been taken in the case study for
reference. It discusses various points which influence an organisation like its culture, power and
politics. It talks about motivation and its effect on employees of an organisation. The team
cooperation efforts have been highlighted with theories on team development. The concepts and
policies of organisational behaviour have been discussed.
PART 1
Organisational theories affecting organisational behaviour
Handy's Topology
Charles Handy outlined four aspects that influence a company's performance: power, role, task,
and person.
Task
Team is given task of achieving a target which is certain or completion of a work project. The
experienced and dynamic people in team shall decide on how efficient the task gets executed.
Team work can work wonders with right approach, experience and knowledge (Balwant, 2018).
Team at Sainsbury apply the principle where both seniors and juniors are working for
achieving a goal which is common. Employees are motivated to work in a team which is
blended.
Power
When it comes to authority, it's clear that it's centralised, with management in charge of making
key choices. The power is subsequently delegated to a small group of people. Every time, an
employee's performance is evaluated based on how one executes the task and what action one

takes. Employees at Sainsbury have a decentralised system, and management has redistributed
power to their workers by involving them as stakeholders.
Role
Employees carry out their duties in accordance with the authority's instructions. Decisions are
made in a hierarchical fashion, which slows down the process and allows for bureaucracy and
risk avoidance. Sainsbury' teams operate in an employee-friendly environment, with
management avoiding zero-hour contracts and only accepting them on the request of employees,
avoiding a bureaucratic approach. This allows employees to make quick decisions, which helps
them perform better.
Person
Employees can think themselves as superior to organisation which is just a place of work for
them. It can happen where there is a background similar or same education skills set and
experience where people are working together (Balwant, 2018).
Hofstede model
It evaluates five approaches to be followed in organisational culture:
Power distance
Organisation follow a pattern hierarchical and non-hierarchical in which first one shows a
company which delegates powers in few hands, where privileges are being enjoyed by those
people only. The second pattern occurs when an employee has no superior to whom one is
accountable, but is solely responsible for own performance. Sainsbury has a structure, but not too
much of it; employees work more independently, and employee contributions are appreciated,
resulting in employees feeling empowered (Van den Broeck, Carpini and Diefendorff, 2019).
Femininity vs. Masculinity
According to Hofstede's theory, a corporation with more males than females in management may
make different decisions than one with more females. At Sainsbury, there is no gender divide

among employees, and the wage structure likewise equates females. Employees here have a
sense of environmental safety.
Individualism
Organizations may contain members that prefer to work alone or in groups, as the name implies.
Any organisation will always benefit from teamwork. Employees at Sainsbury operate as a team,
caring for one another both personally and professionally. Employees do not feel singled out as a
result (Adams, 2018).
Uncertainty avoidance index
Employees may experience stress as a result of uncertain and ambiguous situations, making it
difficult for them to perform and meet their goals. Employers must ensure that their employees
are not exposed to such situations. The Sainsbury team is opposed to zero-hour contracts and
other practises that cause problems for employees. Employees are aware of such metrics, and as
a result, they strive to provide the highest possible output.
Long term Orientation
Employees who see that their interests are being taken care of and that the company is investing
in a long-term relationship with them will feel the same way about the company; on the other
hand, a company that sees its employees as a means of achieving short-term goals and does not
invest in a long-term relationship will see employee fallout after a short period of time (Badubi,
2017). Employees are treated as precious possession at Sainsbury, and time is spent on them on a
long-term basis, resulting in employee satisfaction and a successful business.
Five sources of power for French and Raven
Two divisions of power were established:
Positional Power: There are three sections to it:

Reward power: Employees are rewarded if they follow the leader's instructions. Appraisals,
promotions, and compliments are just a few examples of rewards. Many of these incentives
increase employee morale at Sainsbury.
Leader's coercive power: If orders are not followed, the leader punishes. It can take the shape of
a demotion, expulsion from a team, or other forms of punishment. Sainsbury employees are
lucky in that they are not exposed to such scenarios.
Legitimate power: The leader's power is derived from a company-created structure. Employees
obey a leader's orders based on the power he or she possesses. This is not a long-term strategy
for influencing employees. Sainsbury has to avoid it.
Personal power: There are two sections to it:
Expert power: A leader with experience in a field would follow directions correctly. Employees
at Sainsbury have benefited from their leader's approach to guiding the company through
decades of ups and downs. This strategy has helped the leader teach them about avoiding
mistakes while also giving employees an edge in the market (Adams, 2018).
Referent Power: A leader with executive presence and charisma will make judgments in
accordance with own manner. This can be advantageous at times, but it can also be detrimental
to employees. Under this leadership, employees who are not technically proficient may be forced
to leave their jobs.
Political Behaviour (Chantal)
Three characteristics characterise the organization's political behaviour:
Personal: It may begin with the hiring of one's friends or acquaintances.
Decisional: It can be used by managers to keep their personnel on their side.
Structural: Generally, senior authority has the final say, but it can be delegated to subordinate
managers.
Sainsbury' team has taken a decentralised approach, with no single set of management holding
all of the control. For instance, hiring is based on a skill set judgement. Rather than pushing
judgments, employees' input is respected. However, old employees may take the side of politics
to influence power, which has to be stopped by taking frequent sessions of team by managers
relying on equal opportunity (Sahito and Vaisanen, 2017).

Impact of motivation on team and individuals
Motivation
Motivation is the power that propels a person or a group to complete a job or reach a goal. It is
made up of biological, social, and emotional factors. Management uses a variety of methods to
motivate people, either individually or as a group, to complete duties. It is critical for a company
to keep its personnel motivated on a regular basis, as everyone has personal issues to deal with,
and professional success may not be their primary goal. Their work will be limited to completing
the task and nothing more. Only if they are motivated will they make additional attempts. To
keep the strata continuing, it is necessary to address an employee on both a personal and a
professional level (Gagné, Deci and Ryan, 2018). Every employee's motivation is different; it
could be a promotion, an assessment, or an increase in pay, or it could just be a picnic.
Process theories of motivation
The Process theory explains how an employee's needs inspire him to complete a work from a
behavioural standpoint. It is concerned with the psychological and behavioural aspects of how a
person can be motivated, with a focus on the motivation process.
Operant theory: Employees will do things that reward them and avoid doing things that punish
them, according to this statement. However, it encompasses a far broader range of life lessons
and past failures. An employee who works on an assignment completes it in a specific manner,
however this may result in errors that are not noticed. After that, the employee will recall the
consequence and make change in the work style. Stimuli, Respond, and Consequence are three
steps covered in the theory. Stimulus is the assignment given, Respond is the employee's effort,
and Consequence is the learning gained from the fault. Sainsbury' team managers take a
humanistic perspective to how employees' failures might be used as a source of future
development (Sahito and Vaisanen, 2017).
Equity Theory: When an employee who is doing a good job for a company, attracting
management's attention, and performing a set of tasks notices that he is being paid less than

others who are doing the same job and have recently joined, the employee becomes unsatisfied.
It asserts that an employee's time and efforts determine how much production is generated when
compared to other employees doing the same set of work. At Sainsbury, there is no gender
discrimination. Employees, on the other hand, have a similar sense of power.
Goal Theory: Management should set goals that are acceptable to employees; only then will
they work diligently to accomplish them. For example, if management sets unrealistic goals,
employees may be unable to meet them. They can be organisational goals, but they will never be
employee goals. Being able to relate to a goal that motivates individuals to strive toward it will
almost certainly be a success, and extra effort can be made (Gagné, Deci and Ryan, 2018). The
goal theory form of motivation may be found in the Sainsbury team, where employees are in
sync with the company's goals and strive hard to attain them.
Expectancy Theory: When people achieve a high level, they believe they will have to work
more to keep it. It also goes over the options available to an individual when it comes to
choosing a job, whether to work from an office or from home, which path to take, and how much
effort to put in to complete the goal. The allure of a job offer that meets his expectations will
drive him to go all out and have an impact on his efforts at the same time. Sainsbury employees
benefit from a competitive compensation structure based on live wages and a pleasant working
environment. Employees' expectations have thus been met, and they have no desire to switch
companies at this time (Kitchin, 2017).
Content theory
The demands of an individual that motivate him to complete a task are referred to as content
theory. It concentrates on people's motivations. According to Hedonism, human needs determine
the motivational path. Human needs, such as basic human requirements, motivate people to
accomplish them. Motivation fades when they achieve their goals. Here are some of the social
demands that people have as a result of living in society, such as obtaining social standing and
gaining success through work or business. Instinctive and learnt wants are the two primary types
of wants. Instinctive wants, such as food and water, are inborn; learned wants, such as being
social, achievement, or success, are acquired via society.

Sainsbury uses Hersey and Blanchard's contingency leadership theory, which states that there
is no one-size-fits-all approach to leadership at work, but that the leadership style must be
adaptable to the people being led, taking into account their skill sets, emotional quotient, and
working style (Kitchin, 2017).
Impact of organisational culture, power, politics and motivation
Environment at Sainsbury is very employee-friendly. Organisation is having a culture which is
one supporting employees in payment, medical and health benefits and also a pay structure is
followed which addresses the woman employees issues. When employee’s overall care is taken
care of, it eliminates politics and motivation is infused to be faithful as well as productive
towards the company.
Equal opportunity with live salaries promotes a power element for employees because those who
have contributed valuable time to the organisation are being compensated. However, as politics
occur in every organisation, Sainsbury also needs to take measures to curb it.
Part 2
Difference between effective team and ineffective team
Point of difference Effective team Ineffective team
Definition Effective team is defined as a
team that could able to
achieve the objectives that
causes behind the formation
of the respective team.
This team achieve all its
objective and aims behind
the development of the
respective team.
Ineffective team is a team
that is not able to achieve the
overall objectives worked
behind the formation of the
team.
This is a team that do not
deliver the objectives behind
the formation process.

Role clarity The effective team involve
the leader that always
clarifies the role of each
individual team members
even at the initial stage of the
team formation.
This is the reason behind the
overall success of the team
that each team members
already aware about the
individual role in the team
(Irwin, 2020).
Ineffective team contain a
disadvantage that in many
cases the team leaders do not
get clarify the role of the
each team members or even
if the role get clarified the
doubt in the end of team
member always remain about
the individual role n the team
that make the team
ineffective.
Issue solving The team leaders in the
effective team always
focused towards solving al
different problems and issues
the teams are facing at any
point in time.
This is an obvious fact that
every team face issues and
problems but the team
leaders of the effective team
always emphasis over
solving the respective issue
of the team.
In case of the ineffective
team there are many
instances have been noted
where the issues of the team
remain unsolved.
This is a key reason behind
the deficiency of the team in
case of the ineffective team
as the impact of the unsolved
issues also over the team
operations and team
members.
Leadership In case of the effective team
leadership always remain
progressive.
This is the key reason behind
the overall success of the
effective team that the
Ineffective has a demerit that
the leadership of the team is
not strong.
The leader create a huge
impact in every team as it
become the backbone of the

leadership of the team is very
strong and capable to address
all different challenges
associated with the team.
team that always inspire team
members to work an achieve
the best level of work
efficiency (Bick and et.al.,
2017).
The ineffective leadership of
the team also create
disadvantage over the
performance of the team in
organisation.
Decision making power Team leader in the effective
tem like to segregate the total
power in between the overall
team members.
This makes the process
stronger and fast to complete.
The segregation of the power
is done on the basis of the
position or the designation of
the individual team members
in the team (Daemen and
et.al., 2020).
This is an important factor
that always influences the
team performance in the
market.
In case of ineffective team
the team leaders in most of
the cases do not segregate the
power that further creates an
unusual delay in the team
operations.
The delay in the team
operations further creates a
negative impact over the
efficiency of the whole team.
Team meetings In case of the effective team
the leaders regularly
conducted the team meeting
so that proper controlling
over the operations and
In case of ineffective team
the leaders take irregular
meetings that do not allow
the leader to achieve the full
control over the operations of

functions of the team
members could have been
established by the team
leaders.
team.
Tuckman’s Team Development Theory
With the support of Tuckman theory, Sainsbury’s HR management can establish an effective
team. Various stages of this theory include forming, then storming, norming and lastly
performing (Siregar, Pane and Ruman, 2018). By efficiently completing all steps, an
organization can build an effective team that supports the achievement of all goals and objectives
set forth in the team formation.
 Forming: It's the first stage of team formation, when everyone in the group gets to know
one other. At this stage, team leaders play a critical role by sharing the team's founding
motto. Furthermore, the team leader outlines all tasks and obligations that members must
fulfil in order to work as a team. This is a more difficult stage for forming a successful
team at Sainsbury since it causes a lot of misunderstanding among team leaders and
members, making it necessary for the leader to deal with all of the misunderstanding so
that the team can function well. Team leaders segregate members' roles and
responsibilities in this stage, allowing the team to be more productive within the
corporation.
 Storming: This is the second stage of team creation, in which each team member
maintains their point of view based on their knowledge and expertise when making
successful decisions (Sun, Loeb and Grissom, 2017). Conflicts, disputes, and other issues
are typical at this stage, but they must be resolved properly because they impair the
welfare of members in a team, resulting in unsuccessful team development. As a result,
team leaders at Sainsbury must attempt to address all disputes amongst team members as
well as team leaders, resulting in teammates unity inside the workplace.
 Norming: It is the third stage of team formation, in which all members of the team
become integral part and interconnect. During this phase, the team leader effectively
communicates with all team members to determine any concerns that may develop while
working together. Leaders of Sainsbury are responsible for resolving all issues that
emerge among team members and for fostering good relationships. In addition, with the

help of this stage, the team leader determines the team's shortcomings and strengths.
Team leaders collect continuous feedback to make people feel valuable to the firm and to
affect the team's productivity.
 Performing: It is the final step in Tuckman's theory, in which team leaders devise
methods and objectives for team members to attain the team's aim efficiently (Kitchin,
2017). At this point, team leaders of Sainsbury train individuals to work successfully with
their team members and encourage them to negotiate with team members who are having
difficulty completing their tasks. Here basically focus is on giving maximum input in the
achievement of the common team objectives i.e. the purpose behind which team was
formulated.
Therefore, in this manner, through different stages of team development theory, employees
at Sainsbury are able to collectively work with each other and overcome the initial differences to
look at a broader purview of achieving the ultimate goals of the organisation.
Application of concept and philosophies of organisation behaviour in given situation
The implication of the different concepts of the organization behaviour is very essential.
This is important that Sainsbury Company adopt the concepts and philosophies of the
organisation behaviour in the different situations that can be projected in the following points.
Solving issues
The team development theories or the culture model guide the management of the
Sainsbury Company to address all different problems or issues associated with the company.
This is important that the company has solved ay such issues like many issues with the
employees has been arouse that could solve wit support of the cultural model; by establishing a
proper culture at the organisation (Ishihara and Zolkiewski, 2017). Motivation theories also
supported the company to deal with the salary and incentive related issues.
Motivating employees
Motivating employees at the organisation is every essential for the company.
Management of the Sainsbury Company take support of the motivation theories like content and
process theory of motivation which could guide the company to adopt the practices like bonus,
performance based incentives and many such practices that can favour the company to achieve
the best level of control over employee performance in the market. Employee motivation

becomes one of the major reasons behind the overall success of the Sainsbury Company in the
respective retail sector at a global level.
Dealing with performance related issues
Concepts and philosophies of organisation behaviour support the company to deal with
the performance related issues face by the company. This is one of the key area where the
organisation behaviour concepts and philosophies has supported to the Sainsbury Company to
take initiative and solve all different issues (Passias and et.al., 2018). This is an important area
where the concepts and philosophies of the organisation behaviour have supported to the
Sainsbury Company for undertaking different issues and challenges.
The above projected areas and issues where the concepts and philosophies of the
organisation behaviour have supported the Sainsbury Company to undertake different issues and
challenges. This is essential that the company follow the practices of organisation behaviour in
the best way possible. It is important for the company to deal with the all different issues and
challenges that can restrict the company to achieve all its business objectives. The concept and
philosophies of the organisation behaviour always support the company to take important
business decisions.
Path goal theory
This theory is more like building up the leadership ability in the leader. This is about the
leader to acheive and guides the employees of company in the best way possible. This theory
supports the leaders to develop an effective team that can cope up with all different operational
and functional requirements of the organisation. The theory is more like empowering the
individual and employee’s part of the company to maximises the overall operational and
functional aspect of the business entity. The use of this theory is into establishing a long term
relationship with the employees of company and also all different stakeholder grop part of
business entity. This theory supports the following leadership styles.
Directive: this is a leadership style that is all about directing the human resources of company to
achieve the individual objective. Leaders has a responsibility to direct the employees of company
to operate various responsibilities in such way that company get to achieve its business
objectives.

Participative: is another element that is about the leaders should participate in each functional
activity at company. This theory supports the organisation and leaders to participate in every
single functional area of company.
Achievement oriented: is another key element of this theory. This is about the leaders should
promote the individual achievement of the employees.
Supportive: leader should support its human resources of company so they can grow and
develop at an individual level. This is an important part of the theory.
CONCLUSION
It can be summarised that organisational theories reflect the factors which were discussed
affecting employee behaviour. This helps to gauge the needs of employees and aligning of goals
of employees to the organisation. Various theories relating to organisation taken was discussed
with its impact being told. Motivational theories were highlighted in the study. Focus on team
development theories was given how individuals in a team react in a group. The importance of
cooperation was emphasised in team work. Traits of effective team were also discussed.
Importance of cooperation and team work in business framework was also highlighted.

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