Sports Direct: Structure, Culture, and Influencing Performance

This report examines the influence of organizational structure and culture on organizational performance, focusing on Sports Direct as a case study. It details how organizational structure, particularly hierarchical structures, can improve productivity, revenue, and brand image while reducing conflicts. The report also explores how organizational culture, including team building, communication, and a positive work atmosphere, enhances employee satisfaction and performance. Furthermore, it discusses the behavioral approach, emphasizing individual behavior, informal leadership, participation, and self-development, and introduces the OCEAN model for personality assessment to improve individual behavior at the workplace. Desklib provides access to similar solved assignments and resources for students.

Organizational Structure
& Culture

Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Main Body.......................................................................................................................................3
1. How organisational Structure & cultures can influence the organisational performances..........3
2. Based on behavioural approach, how different factors can influence individual behaviour at
work place........................................................................................................................................6
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................8
References........................................................................................................................................9

Introduction
In order to enhance the business productivity level, it is necessary for the companies to pay
more attention on organizational structure & culture so that company can effectively evolve
organizational performance. Organizational structure mainly explains about the rules & policies
that are helpful to improve the culture of the company. To obtain the long term success, structure
& culture both are play a prominent part so that all the staff members can work properly to
improve the performance of the firm. This assessment is based on the Sport Direct Company
which is most famous retail organization of United Kingdom. Sport Direct founded in 1982 &
headquartered in Shirebrook , England. This company selling variety of products related with
sports, leisure clothing, accessories, footwear & equipments. The prime aim of this project is to
explain about the impact of organizational structure & culture on organizational performance.
This project will determine the behavior approach & how it's factors affect the individual
behavior at the workplace.
Main Body
1. How organisational Structure & cultures can influence the organisational
performances
Organisational structure & culture both are appropriate for the development of the
organizational effectiveness. Organizational structure is the strategically framework which are
helpful to maintain proper system & discipline so that all the employees can properly manage
their day to day activities in a systematic manner. Organizational structure is helpful to circulate
the flow of communication in an effective way so that all the staff members can communicate
with their superiors & discuss their issues & take appropriate solutions (Chernikova and
Zvyagintseva, 2017). In context of organizational culture, it can useful to evolve the value,
belief, attitude & behavior of the employees so that they can work collectively & create the
positive working environment. Both organizational structure & culture both are playing integral
part in the growth of organization & enhance its performance level. The description about
influence of organizational structure & culture on organizational performance are given below -

Influence of organisational Structure on organisational performance
There are various types of organizational structure like functional structure, hierarchical
structure, matrix structure, flat structure, Divisional structure & many more considered by the
companies. All these structure are helpful to manage all the business operations so that company
can appropriately accomplish more profitability. In case of Sports Direct Company, it is analysed
that company is mainly follow hierarchical organizational structure which contain specific layers
& command & control on the top authority’s hand. In this structure, the flow of information
regulate from top to bottom. Organizational structure is influence performance of company in a
positive manner (Driskill, 2018). The influence of structure on Sports Direct performance are
discussed below - Improvement in organisational productivity - Proper application of the organizational
structure can helpful to improve the productivity of the firm. HR manager of the
company is responsible to maintain each & every business operations of the company &
also regulate the working task of the employees as per the specific departments. Sports
Direct is a large corporation which is operating their business in various locations. HR
manager of the company can prepare strategic planning about the structure so that all the
staff members can clearly accomplished their tasks & provide their contribution to
improve the overall performance of the company.
 High revenue - Organizational structure is beneficial to regulate all the activities in a
systematic manner so that it is make more possible to gain long term success at the old
market place. With the help of effective organizational structure, Sports Direct Company
can effectively obtain high revenue which can aid to improve the performance level of
the organization in an appropriate way (Johari and Yahya, 2019).
 Enhancement in brand image - Organizational structure is liable to to improve the
brand image of the company so that company can appropriately improve their
performance level. Through effective organizational structure, Sports Direct regulate all
their business operations in various areas and cover large number of people which can
help full to make strong customer base. Organizational structure is also helpful to
improve the effectiveness of the employees so that they can become more capable to deal
with the customers positively which can help full to maintain strong and healthy

employer and employee relationship which can help to improve be brand image of the
organization. Sports Direct Company mainly adopt hierarchical organizational structure
so that company can effectively execute all the tasks & use specific strategy which can
helpful in the development of the performances of the company (Kasemsap, 2017).
 Reduce conflicts, disputes & grievances - Effective applicability of the organizational
structure is useful to reduce the conflicts, disputes, & grievances among the employees so
that they can perform effectively in order to improve the performance level of the
organization. Sports Direct is a huge organization in which all of the employees perform
their day to day operations collectively so there is a more chances of conflicts ,
grievances and dispute. With the help of organizational structure, HR manager can
appropriately address all the need and requirement of the employees and also enhance the
proper communication among the employees which can help full to reduce dispute and
conflicts among them & eventually grievances and complaint level also decrease. So in
this way organisation structure can help full to improve the performance of the company.
Influence of organisational culture on organisational performance
Organisational culture is useful to regulate the specific beliefs & values of the organization
in order to improve the healthy working environment. Managers and leaders of the firm are
responsible to maintain proper communication with their staff members & also provide them
proper direction so that all the employees can behave properly and respect every employees
value, belief systems. Sports Direct leaders and managers consider a specific planning in which
they can provide proper guidance to their team member which can helpful to improve the
behavior of the employees towards their job role so that all the employees can improve their
productivity e which can help to improve the overall performance of the firm (Mao, Li, Ye and
Cai, 2017). Organizational culture influence the performance of the company in a positive way
which are as follows - Improve team building activities - Effective culture within an organization is helpful to
improve the working environment so that all the staff members can work collectively in a
team without any pressure. Sports Direct company use all kind of organizational culture
like clan, adhocracy, hierarchy & market culture. Organizational culture is useful to

improve the belief system of the employees so that all the employees can respect thoughts
and ideas of the other employees which can help full to make a good team. All these
cultures are beneficial to enhance the performance level of the company in an appropriate
way. Enhance communication channel - With the help of specific culture, HR manager can
effectively enhance the communication channel among the employees and the leaders so
that they can communicate properly and support each other. Sports Direct manager take
care of all the activities so that all the staff members can circulate adequate information
with each other so that they can work properly and improve the overall performance of
the firm (Newton, Wait and Angus, 2019). Positive working atmosphere - Organization culture and its components are helpful to
create positive working atmosphere which can aid to improve the working efficiency of
the staff member so that they can improve their productivity level in order to get
promotion and improve their job security level . Sports Direct is more concerned about
their employees because company considered that employees are the key of success so
their satisfaction is matter for the company. Highly motivated employees who are
satisfied with their job can provide their best contribution in the development of the
organizational performance.
 Evolve the core value of the organization - Cultural effectiveness is beneficial to create
healthy relationship among employees so that company can effectively improve the
employee relation within their organization. Sports Direct more concerned about their
culture so that IT company can create more value in the mind of the customer which can
improve the performance level of the organization.
2. Based on behavioural approach, how different factors can influence
individual behaviour at work place
Behavioural approach mainly concerned about the psychological and social aspects & related
to the human behavior within an organization. It is a fact that behavior of the employees is
clearly provide direct impact on the structure and functioning of the organization. Human
element are considered as the key factors of the success of the organization so it is necessary for
the HR manager to pay more attention on the behavior of the employees and work constantly in

order to enhance their behavior towards their job role and other activities of the organization. It
is analysed that people like to consult instead of receive specific information and order. Sports
Direct company is pay more attention on behavioral approach so that company can effectively
improving employees behavior. Some specific element are involved in behavioral approach
which are considered by the company are as follows - Individual behavior - Basically individual behavior is deeply connected with behavior of
the team in which the individual belong. It is necessary for the leader to communicate
properly with each and every individual in the team and also try to enhance their
behavior. Informal leadership - To influence the individual behavior in a positive manner it is
important to enhance the informal leadership so that all the leader can informally connect
with their team member & maintain proper coordination and also support them (Valaei,
2017). Participation - A positive behavior is helpful to improve the participation of the
individual in each and every working task in a positive manner. Sports Direct company
conduct various activities so that all the individuals can participate effectively & make
good connection. Self control & self development - Proper behavior consideration is beneficial to enhance
the self control level so that individual can improve their self development. Sports Direct
HR manager arrange advance level of training session for their employees and also hire
an expert who can solve specific issues of the employee so that all the employees can
learn various competencies and skills which can useful to improve their behavior towards
their performance level. A good behavior can useful to improve the self control and self
development in an effective manner (Winnubst, 2018).
In order to improve the behavior of the individuals at the workplace, company can adopt
OCEAN model which can useful to improve the personality of the individuals as for the specific
traits. To improve the behavior of the employees, it is necessary to focus on the personality of
the individual and also provide them specific opportunities so that they can identify the entire
personality trait and adopt a specific trait in order to improve their behavior within an
organization. Personality is considered as the combination of specific qualities which can

improve the nature and attitude of the candidate and enhance the positive behavior of the people.
There are 5 personality traits are are includes in OCEAN model which are discussed below - Openness - This personality trait determine the intellectual and imagination of the
individual which can help full to learn the new think so that they can effectively enhance
their experience level and adopt a specific innovativeness and creativity in their behavior. Conscientiousness - This personality trait mainly include vigilant, focused and organized
traits which can help full to improve the reliability of the individuals it is necessary to
have this personality trait in order to maintain a specific behavior. Extraversion - In context of this trait, talkativeness, enthusiastic, energetic are include
which can help to improve the overall personality and behavior of the individuals so that
they can work properly and maintain good relations with the other coworkers.
 Agreeableness - This personality trait improve the co-operative and friendly behavior
which can improve the trustworthiness of the individuals.
 Neuroticism - This trait demonstrate the anxiety, sadness, irritation, frustration and
mood swing trait which can provide negative impact on the behavior of the individual it
is necessary for the individual to avoid this personality trait.
Conclusion
On the basis of this project, it can be concluded that organization structure & culture both
are important for the growth of the firm. This project identified that both organizational structure
& culture are influenced positively working environment of the company so that company can
appropriately evolve their performance level. This project also discusses about behavior
approach and also determines various factors which influence the individual behavior within
organization.

References
Books and Journals
Chernikova, L. and Zvyagintseva, O., 2017. The role of organizational culture in personnel
management. Экономические исследования и разработки, (4), pp.143-148.
Driskill, G.W., 2018. Organizational culture in action: A cultural analysis workbook. Routledge.
Johari, J. and Yahya, K.K., 2019. Organizational structure, work involvement, and job
performance of public servants. International Journal of Public Administration, 42(8),
pp.654-663.
Kasemsap, K., 2017. Unifying a framework of organizational culture, organizational climate,
knowledge management, and job performance. In ORGANIZATIONAL Culture and
Behavior: concepts, methodologies, tools, and applications (pp. 327-355). IGI Global.
Mao, P., Li, S., Ye, K. and Cai, H., 2017. A field theory based model for identifying the effect of
organizational structure on the formation of organizational culture in construction
projects. KSCE journal of civil engineering, 21(1), pp.45-53.
Newton, J., Wait, A. and Angus, S.D., 2019. Watercooler chat, organizational structure and
corporate culture. Games and Economic Behavior, 118, pp.354-365.
Valaei, N., 2017. Organizational structure, sense making activities and SMEs’ competitiveness:
An application of confirmatory tetrad analysis-partial least squares (CTA-PLS). VINE
Journal of Information and Knowledge Management Systems.
Winnubst, J., 2018. Organizational structure, social support, and burnout. In Professional
burnout: Recent developments in theory and research (pp. 151-162). CRC Press.