Organisational Behaviour Report: Marks and Spencer Analysis Report

This report provides an in-depth analysis of organizational behavior within Marks & Spencer (M&S). It begins with an introduction to organizational behavior and its relevance, followed by an examination of M&S's organizational culture using Handy's model, and its power dynamics through French and Raven's model. The report then explores how organizational politics influence the company. The second part delves into motivational theories, including Maslow's hierarchy of needs and Vroom's expectancy theory, and their application within M&S. The report further investigates effective team dynamics and development, contrasting effective and ineffective teams and discussing relevant theories. Finally, the report concludes with a synthesis of organizational behavior concepts and philosophies within the M&S context and their impact on employee behavior and performance.

Organisation and Behaviour

Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
Organisation’s culture, politics and power influencing individual and team behaviour and
performance.................................................................................................................................1
Critically analysing how organisation’s culture, politics and power influence organisation......4
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................4
Influence of motivational theories and techniques on effective achievement of goals...............4
Ways influence the behaviour of others through the effective application of behavioural
motivational theories, concepts and models................................................................................8
Recommendations........................................................................................................................8
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................8
Effective team as opposed to an ineffective team.......................................................................8
Team and group development theories to support the development of dynamic cooperation. .10
TASK 4..........................................................................................................................................10
Concepts and philosophies of organisational behaviour within an organisational context.......10
Ways by which concepts and philosophies of OB inform and influence behaviour in M&S...11
Relevancy of team development theories..................................................................................12
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................12
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................13

INTRODUCTION
Organisational behaviour is the set of beliefs, cultures and perceptions which are followed
by an organisation. It is a study of analysing the performance of organisation as a whole and
performance of its employees (Balmer and Burghausen, 2015). This concept examines work
determination of personnel of an organisation in variety of culture of workplace. The main aim
of this report is to develop an understanding regarding the concepts of organisational cultures
and structures so that it can assist the application of intern analyst for a permanent position. This
report is developed against a large organisation which is Marks and Spencer. This company
operates in retail industry and was established in 1884. This company has headquarters in
London, United Kingdom and is traded publically. This company produces and sells quality
clothing, home and food products.
In this report, various models and approaches are analysing in order to evaluate culture,
power and politics of selected organisation. Various motivational theories and techniques are
along analysed along with their influence. A comparison among effective and non effective team
is also conducted along with discussion on concepts and philosophies of organisational
behaviour.
TASK 1
Organisation’s culture, politics and power influencing individual and team behaviour and
performance
Organisational culture
Organisational culture is a set of shared beliefs, assumptions and values by which
employees of an organisation are governed. Every organisation has a set of cultures which every
employee follows by which a decorum is managed in a company. This culture can include code
of dress of employees, way of greeting colleagues and superiors etc. These cultures can highly
impact performance and behaviour of employees; individually and in team. Organisational
culture can be of many types (Bester, Stander and Van Zyl, 2015). In order to analyse different
cultures which are followed by organisation Handy's model is used and analysed below:
Handy’s model of organisational culture is an approach given by Charles Handy which
states there are four classes of culture which are followed by every organisation. These classes
are broad and include various assumptions. These classes are –
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Power culture – This culture states that the power of controlling and operating a company
must be in the hands of few individuals. According to this culture, only few people must have
authority to take the decisions which can influence organisational operations. If marks and
Spencer follows this type of culture, then it will enhance their authority – responsibility
framework. By this, responsibilities will be effectively delegated and performance of individuals
as well as of teams will be enhanced. Due to this culture, behaviour of employees of M&S can be
negatively impacted as they will build a pre assumption that there is low scope of growth as the
power lies in the hands of few superiors only.
Task culture – This culture states employees of an organisation will be divided into teams
according to their interest and activities which are required to be done by them. In such culture,
power is equally distributed among the teams. If Marks and Spencer will follow this type of
culture, performance as well behaviour of team and individuals will be enhanced as this culture
promotes to enhance creativity in employees. By this, employees will be able to express
themselves and will contribute towards productivity.
Role culture – Role refers to the work and responsibility which an individual has to carry
in an organisation (Burrell and Morgan, 2017). Role culture refers to an organisation’s structure
where every employee has been delegated with some responsibility according to which that
employee holds power in organisation. This culture can highly impact the motivation of
employees of Marks and Spencer by which performance of overall organisation and of
individuals will be enhanced but the behaviour due to these delegated authorities can be
negatively impacted.
Person culture – This culture is the most non suitable culture for multinational companies
such as Marks and Spencer in which individuals think that their personal interest and agenda is
more important than organisation’s agenda. This culture negatively influences both employees
and team’s behaviour and performance as eventually company has to suffer due to personal
objectives of employees.
Marks and Spencer is a retail organisation which has role culture in their company’
structure in which each employee has been given a certain role and power in accordance of that
role.
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Organisational Power
Power refers to the authorisation to control operations and decisions of an organisation.
Various types of power are identified and analysed below with the help of French and Raven's
Power model:
Legitimate – This type of power is based on an assumption that power has is the key to
authorize and dominate employees which can negative impact performance and behaviour of
team and individuals of Marks and Spencer as level of motivation of employees will decrease
while facing practice of legitimate power in this company.
Expert – According to this type, all the power is in the hands of individual who has
highest skills and expertise (Chumg and et.al., 2016). By this power, employees of M&S will be
positively influenced as their motivation to learn skills will increase in greed of power which will
ultimately benefit performance and behaviour of all employees.
Referent – This kind of power is gained by experience and perceived attractiveness. This
power in M&S can influence employees to gain other’s respect and ultimately be benefitted by
power which can enhance their performance.
Coercive – This is the most non suitable power type for Marks and Spencer as it is based
on a belief that person with power holds authority to punish. This power in M&S can negatively
influence performance and behaviour of employees as their morale will be decreased.
Reward – In accordance of this power type, employee will be benefitted by delegated
power as a reward for their work which will motivate workforce of M&S to work effectively by
which their performance as well as behaviour will be heightened.
Marks and Spencer has a diverse workforce due to which they follow Referent power by
which power by employees is gained by their work and behaviour against other employees.
Organisational Politics
Organisational politics is the set of strategies and tactics which personnel of the
organisation adopts to fulfil their personal and professional agenda to acquire power for the
benefit of both organisation and employees (Cherry, 2017). In case of Marks and Spencer,
employer practice positive politics in which they increase employee stress by which the best can
be brought out of them. This politics temporarily hampers work of employees but in the long run
positively influences behaviour and performance of individual as well as teams.
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Critically analysing how organisation’s culture, politics and power influence organisation
Organisational culture, politics and power influences Marks and Spencer both positively and
negatively. Role culture is followed in M&S, according to which every employee is given
authority to make decisions according to their role in organisation. This culture helps M&S to
enhance performance of individuals and teams as they get motivated to work effectively. But this
also influences behaviour of those employees negatively as unequal power will encourage them
to let down others. Positive politics is practiced in M&S in which workload and stress is
increased in organisation which helps to enhance performance of personnel. But it negatively
influences behaviour of individual and teams as the high workload without rewards degrades
their motivation level. To motivate employee’s appropriate rewards must be provided to
employees against the work done by them.
Referent power is used by M&S to allocate power in organisation which helps individuals to
be motivated by which their performance and behaviour is enhanced. But due to this unequal
power delegation, team work is negatively impacted.
TASK 2
Influence of motivational theories and techniques on effective achievement of goals
Motivation is a term which refers to a process of encouraging people to do effective work
and give their best performance to achieve organisational goals. Motivation is the core of
management which helps in effective teamwork (Jacobs and Goodman, 2018).
There are various motivational theories and techniques which are used by organisations
such as Marks and Spencer. Motivational theories provide a framework which helps in
motivating the employees of an organisation. There are two categories motivational theories
which are discussed below:
Content motivational theories: These theories focus on answering what employees wants
and what are their needs which required to be fulfilled. Content theories are early traditional
concepts which includes theories like Maslow’s need hierarchy, Herzberg’s two factor theory
etc. One of these theories are explained in context of M&S below:
Maslow’s need hierarchy theory
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Maslow is a theory of human behaviour which determines basic and desirable needs of
employees and how these needs encourages personnel to contribute towards productivity of the
organisation. These needs are divided into five levels which are discussed as follows –
Figure 1: Maslow's need Hierarchy Theory
(Source: Maslow's need Hierarchy Theory, 2019)
Physiological needs – These are most basic needs which plays a major role in motivating
behaviour. These are the needs which are highly demanded by personnel as they are essential for
survival. These needs include food, water, shelter and other basic amenities. These are the
motivational factors which encourages every human being to work and contribute towards the
organisational goals.
Safety – These are the elementary security needs of employees which are allows them to
control their lives. This factor largely impacts behaviour of an employee and these needs include
financial security, job stability etc. which motivates workforce of M&S to perform better to
attain security in their job.
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Belonging needs – These are social needs which heavily impacts mental health of an
employee. M&S make sure to create an environment at their workplace so that needs of
belongingness and friendships can be attained by their employees.
Esteem needs – At this level, employees start to demand a reputation and prestige which
can only be fulfilled when above three needs are satisfied. M&S is a large-scale organisation by
which employees working at superior level has a respect in organisation and society which is a
great motivation for them to contribute more towards the organisational objectives.
Self actualisation needs – These are the self fulfilment desires in which employees are
aware about the chances of their personal growth. In this, M&S makes sure that employees
provide their best performance in organisation which develop full stature of their employees.
The above needs pinned by Maslow are considered by Marks and Spencer by which they
attain benefit of encouraged people. Management of M&S make sure that every employee must
get a chance to fulfil their needs mentioned above and for that personnel contribute their best
potential in the fulfilment of organisational goals.
Process theories of motivation: These needs theories focus on how human behaviour can
be motivated. Process theories are considered as modern approaches which are suitable for
cotemporary businesses. These theories include Adam’s equity theory, Vroom’s expectancy
theory etc. One of these theories are discussed below for M&S:
Vroom’s expectancy theory
This theory is based on a belief that employee’s performance is related to their personality
and skills due to which personality of employees requires to be altered and their abilities needs to
be linked with their motivation. This theory involves three variables which are described and
applied in context of M&S as follows –
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Figure 2: Vroom's Expectancy Theory
(Source: Vroom's Expectancy Theory, 2019)
Expectancy – This variable is based on the belief that if an employee will make harder
efforts then it will lead to enhanced performance. For which M&S can provide their employee
required resources, training for required skills and support from superiors by which employees
can effectively do their work and contribute towards the common goal of company which is to
increase sales revenue and productivity.
Instrumentality – This variable is centred on a concept that if an employee will perform
well then a valued outcome will be rewarded to them. For this, M&S can establish reward system
in which employees will get relevant reward according to their contribution towards the
operations of the company.
Valence – This variable state that employees must be motivated by those factors which are
important for them. For this, M&S can first ascertain motivational forces for all their employees
and their offer them required rewards.
All the variables discussed above can be used by M&S which will help them in motivating
their employees by the forces which are suitable for them which will ultimately fulfil
organisational objectives.
Along with above motivational theories, motivational techniques such as incentives, short
term goals and creating a positive work environment can also help Marks and Spencer to
encourage employees to work effectively and give their maximum potential towards the
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operations of company by which goals of enhancing productivity and increasing profitability of
M&S will be achieved.
Ways influence the behaviour of others through the effective application of behavioural
motivational theories, concepts and models
According to Kitchin (2017), behaviour of employees can be effectively influenced by
organisations by using variables of valence, expectancy and instrumentality. This variable can be
used by companies such as M&S to influence the personnel by providing them reward against
their contribution towards goals of the company. These variables can influence the behaviour as
by this only those needs will be fulfilled which are demanded by the employees. Maslow
motivation theory is an old school theory as nowadays basic needs of people changes every day
due to which Marks and Spencer should use Vroom’s theory by which valence, expectancy and
instrumentality variables can be used appropriate rewards must be given for the work which is
done by employees which will enhance their motivation.
Recommendations
According to Elsmore (2017), culture, politics, power and motivation of an organisation are
connected to each other as positive politics, power and culture can result in motivated workforce.
Whereas, if an organisation negatively practices all these elements then it can demotivate
personnel and will encourage employees to focus only on their personal agenda. For Marks and
Spencer, it is recommended that they must follow reward power by which they will be
encouraged to work effectively and will be motivated by the reward. It is also recommended to
this organisation to continue practice positive politics but makes sure to benefit employees with
reward for their contribution in the productivity of the company. For example, if Marks and
Spencer, provides power to only few people and practice negative politics in which all
employees are not treated equally than it will demotivate the employees of thus company which
will ultimately decrease the productivity of M&S.
TASK 3
Effective team as opposed to an ineffective team
The basic factor which makes a team, effective and ineffective is the fulfilment of desired
goals. If a team and its members are able to fulfil its goal, then it is effective otherwise
ineffective (Lee, Tui and Sharif, 2016). There are various other basis and factor which makes a
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team effective. This concept can be better understood by the comparison between these two
teams.
Basis Effective team Ineffective team
Focus This type of team has a precise focus
towards attainment of the team goal.
Every member of such team is
focused and is able to differentiate
between priorities of personal and
team objectives.
On the contrary, members of
ineffective team are always
confused about in which direction,
they need to focus. This lack of
focus is the result of prioritising
personal goal over team goal.
Contribution In case of effective team, contribution
of each member is equal due to which
trust and integrity develops between
members of the team.
On the other hand, members of
ineffective team contribute
unequally towards the team
operations due to which workload
on few members’ increases which
results into arguments and anger.
Cohesion There is enhanced cohesion in
effective teams as the members of
this team has complementary skills
by which all the members mix well.
Lack of Cohesion is the case in
ineffective teams. Skills of
members of this team overlap due
to which these members do not
mix well.
The above comparison clears the difference between an ineffective and effective team.
The factors which acts a basis of difference among these two teams also helps to develop an
effective team. In case of Marks and Spencer, the management must ensure that they create
effective teams in their organisation which can contribute towards effectiveness. By using
Tuckman’s theory, M&S can effectively develop their teams. The application of this theory in
context of M&S is conducted below:
Tuckman’s theory of team development
This theory is a sequence by which an effective team can be developed. This sequence
involves elements which are discussed below which can help M&S in developing effective team-
Forming – At this stage, M&S must form a team and tasks suitable to skills of team
members should allotted.
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Storming – Team members must make efforts to come up with ideas by brain storming in
order to fulfil tasks assigned to them. Marks and Spencer is a retail organisation and team
members of this company must storm new strategies to enhance sales revenue of this company.
Norming – Under this stage, team members of M&S team must build a trust between each
other so that proper implementation of plans can be done.
Performing – At this stage, work is actually being conducted by team members.
Management of M&S can make efforts and so that leader of the team will be able to attain high
degree of control over team’s activities.
Adjourning – At this stage, aim of the team is achieved and it is the time to adjourn the
team (Lee and Woo, 2017). M&S must make sure to celebrate the victory of the team so that
members can positively start focusing on new goals.
The above theory can effectively help M&S to develop a cooperated team.
Team and group development theories to support the development of dynamic cooperation
Cooperation is important in the case of a team. Marks and Spencer is a large scale
organisation which operates in multiple countries. It is important for this organisation to develop
such kind of teams which has cooperation so that a sense of trust can be build and all the stores
can be managed from its headquarters. The above discussed theory which is Tuckman’s theory
can be most effective for this organisation as several teams at different stores located at varied
nations can be controlled effectively (Majumdar, 2018). This theory is in sequential form and has
its element of norming can help in building cooperation between the team members. In case of
M&S, theory of Tuckman’s is appropriate as it will help in developing an effective team. But in
case, M&S decides to change their organisation structure then it can also consider Belbin’s
theory as it assist in developing teams in complex structure development as well.
TASK 4
Concepts and philosophies of organisational behaviour within an organisational context
Organisational behaviour is the study of employee’s needs, motivation and perspective of
an organisation. There are endless concepts and philosophies of organisational behaviour which
helps in resolving the issue of companies. Marks and Spencer is a retail organisation which
offers high quality clothing products to its consumers. This company is currently facing the issue
(situation) of low employee motivation and numerous conflicts among employees. The solution
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