Organizational Behavior Analysis: Primark's Culture and Motivation

This report provides an in-depth analysis of Primark's organizational behavior. It examines the company's culture, including Handy's Typology and its implications. The report explores the various types of power used within the organization, such as legitimate, reward, and coercive power. Furthermore, it delves into theories of motivation, focusing on intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, and the application of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs within Primark. The report also touches upon Chantal's characteristics of political behavior within the context of Primark. Finally, the report offers a discussion of concepts and theories of organization.

ORGANISATION AND
BEHAVIOUR

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
LO 1.................................................................................................................................................3
P 1 Culture, politics and power used in Primark.........................................................................3
LO 2 ................................................................................................................................................6
P 2 Theories of Motivation.........................................................................................................6
LO 3.................................................................................................................................................9
LO 4...............................................................................................................................................12
P 4 Concepts and Theories of Organisation- ............................................................................12
CONCLUSION-............................................................................................................................13
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................14

INTRODUCTION
Organizational behavior is the study of human behaviorin organisational settings, the interface
between human behavior and the organization, and the organization itself. Primark is a British-
owned Irish fast fashionretailer with headquarters in Dublin, Ireland, which is a subsidiary
of food processingand retail company Associated British Foods. The company is
named Penney’s in Republic of Ireland, where it started; this name is not used internationally, as
it is owned elsewhere by American retailer J. C. Penney. The company has operations in Europe
and the United States. This report covers issues such as culture, politics and power of the
company, theories of motivation, theories and philosophies of the company and team roles and
team development of the company.
LO 1
P 1 Culture, politics and power used in Primark
Culture of the company is the personality of the company. It includes some major elements such
as mission, ethics, value and goals of the company.
Handy’s Typology Model-
Power Culture-
Power is only with some of the people in the organisation and they are the ones who
influence the people with a positive approach. There are some rules in this culture that a
company must keep in mind. This culture is one of the strongest cultures and many organisation
such as Primark uses it. There is a drawback to this culture and that it takes decisions for the
company quickly and the employees of the company are judged since their achievement rather
than how they act in a situation. (Kang and Lee, 2017) Primark uses this culture as they believe it
is the most effective among all.
Role Culture-
Companies who follow this culture have some strict rules. Level of the control is high in
these types of organization and everyone in the company knows about their roles and
responsibilities. Power in this culture is determined the role that person play in the organization.
The structure of this culture includes a long chain of command. These types of cultures are very
bureaucratic. One drawback of this culture is that it takes a lot of time to take decisions.

Task Culture-
Any company forms this type of culture so that they can fulfill a specific role. Power is
assigned to people based on their area of expertise and who can complete the task. Effectiveness
of this culture totally depends on the dynamic of the team and based on skills they possess and
the qualities they have so that they can complete the task in a creative manner.
Person Culture-
Companies who follow this culture have employees who feel superior and unique.
Company just expects a decent amount of work from them, but they feel that because of them the
company can enhance their operations. (KHAN, RASHID and VYTIALINGAM, 2016)
French and Raven-
Legitimate Power-
This type of power is considered as very unstable and cannot be predictable. If the person
who has the highest power in the company will lose his position, then with that he or she will
also lose their power. The reason behind this is they were attracted to the position rather than the
person. (Pereira, 2017.)
Reward Power-
This type of power states that if the people are rewarded for their work with things such
as raise bonus or incentive then there is a chance and high level of probability that they will do
the work. The drawback of this power is that it is not strong that it looks like. Supervisors of the
company don’t have the control over this factor. (Kearney and Kruger, 2016.)
Coercive Power-
Threats and punishments are the tools that this power uses. Companies use them to
threaten their team by saying that they will be fired or demoted from their position if they do not
work up to their potential. Sometimes it is required to make them understand the importance of
the work but if it is used on a continuous basis then they will leave the company.

Informational Power-
This power is based on the information that an individual possesses as it is wanted by
many people in the company. This type of power comes who have the power to access the
information not by just possessing it. They can access to files of the company which are meant to
be confidential. Information such as financial reports of the company and how much dues are left
can be accessed by the information.
Expert Power-
People who are expert in their area of work their knowledge and advice will be
considered as valuable because other people will listen to you, trust you have faith in you. The
reason behind this is that people see them as a leader, and they see their judgment as a solution to
their problems. Primark has implemented this type of power in their culture so that whenever the
leaders of the company won't be able to reach they can leave the decisions to the people who are
most experienced and have most knowledge among all.
Referent Power-
This power comes from the liking and respecting of a person so it can be easily abused
because people don’t have to put a lot of effort into putting it. People such as celebrities have this
kind of power and they can influence many people with it. That is why it is also considered to be
as a responsibility. Some people also use it for their own advantage which is a negative influence
for others and can jeopardize others.
Chantal's characteristics of political behavior
Primark has done the research of many aspects which are related to political aspects and
can help the company to expand their operations. That is the reason why company has taken help
of the model which was given by Chantal Mouffe. The model helps the company to grow their
operations and increase their revenues. (Jaswal and Chand, 2019.)
Productivity-
The aspects which are related to the political issues affect the productivity of the
organisation as it affects directly on the morale of the employees. For instance, government of
the country has imposed a new rule that is to cut down the growth in their salaries due to some
economic factors and that in reason affects the morale of the employees to work for the company
in an efficient manner.

Concentration-
Political environment affects the focus and concentration power of the employees
as any political issue steals their focus and that affects the performance of them so that they can
achieve the goals for the organisation. This also increases the conflict between the employees
and managers of the company.
Demotivation-
Many bosses in the company promote those employees who work in their favour instead
of those who do the hard work and really deserve it and that de motivates them which results in
fluctuation in rate of employee turnover.
Increase anger and stress-
Political issues create stress in the minds of employees which will create the factor of
health issues in their mind which will result in efficiency of the work and it takes more time to
complete the goal. Company will need to provide them the external support in order to reduce
the stress.
LO 2
P 2 Theories of Motivation
There are types of theories of motivation such as intrinsic and extrinsic. Intrinsic motivation is
the type of motivation that the company fulfils for their own benefits and on the other hand
extrinsic motivation is the one which state that punishment must be avoided in order to earn a
reward. Primark implies extrinsic innovation in their culture as they want to expand their
operations into different countries.
Content Theory-
This theory states that why the needs of human beings’ changes with time and why do
they keep on increasing. Apart from this it also highlights some of the factors that can help to
motivate the people. Theories which are given by Abram Maslow, Mcgregors, Herzberg’s and
other people come under this theory. There is one drawback to this theory and that is it only
focuses on how needs of people change but it does not cover at any point that how they change.
All the theories that are given by different psychologists are not considered as valid, but they
have helped to form up a framework which states that how to deal with the people. (Gomez-
Marin, Stephens and Brown, 2016.)

Maslow’s Theory of Motivation-
Physiological Needs-
This aspect of the model states those needs which are required or needed by the people in
order to survive because of this it is also considered as universal needs. This is the first step in
the model of needs of Maslow and it comes under the needs of intrinsic motivation. The reason
behind this is that it deals with satisfying those needs which are personal to people. Primark
provides their employees with resources who are underprivileged and work as a low-level
worker in the company. They provide them with decent facilities so some of their needs can be
fulfilled and they can be able to focus on their work. Company knows that if they don’t put it
under as their issue then they won’t be able to get any kind of work completed from them and
that will be a huge loss for them. For instance, health, food, water, se, clothes are the type of
those needs which comes under this aspect. At this level demand of the needs tends to be static
for a long time in a person.
Safety Needs-
Human beings develop this need or reach to this need when their physiological needs are
done to deal with. People starts to feel under the pressure at times like the crisis of economy or at
times of war or natural calamities which can affect the work. Even in those conditions the
company provides them with many opportunities so that they can feel secure. Primark considers
all these factors which can affect their working. For the workers who have been in the company
for a long period of time they provide them with all the security they can deal with. These needs
include emotional, financial, family. (King, 2017.)
Social Belonging-
After safety needs these needs take place in humans. People wants someone with whom
they can share their feelings and deal with their stress. They don’t want to be alone. These needs
are concerned with having a family, group of friends and a need of belongingness. That is why
Primark complies team for the people who are new in the company so that they can work and
have someone to talk which will keep the level of stress under it. This will help them to not go
through any kind of stress and have any kind of anxiety.
Self Esteem Needs-

Status and ego of the people comes under this aspect of the need. People who are
working in the company wants to make their name. They want other people to know them and
they want a reputation of their own. For this reason Primark has taken some necessary steps and
that every person working in the company irrespective of their designation and the years that
they have worked in the company they have to treat everyone with respect be it junior or a
worker of lower level it is mandatory. (Flodgren, Gonçalves‐Bradley and Summerbell, 2017)
Self-Actualisation Needs-
This aspect states that people want to achieve things in life according to their potential
and that means to have it all. This level of need arises in humans when they believe that they
have achieved all other things and mastered them. Desire of the people are different according to
their mindset and thought process. Primark opens and conduct a session with their members who
are on the committee of board they add people who works the most for the company and add
them into the committee or make them a CEO or COO of the company.
Process Theory-
Behaviour and psychology that helps the person to remain motivate is known as process
theory of motivation.
Expectancy Theory-
It is the belief of people that their effort will help them to reach or lead them to the
outcome they expected.
Self Efficacy-
Primark keeps on motivating their employees so that the employees don’t lose their
confidence and complete the operation in an efficient manner.
Goal Difficulty-
There are times when company faces issues to achieve the goal which they set as their
target as they have not been able to overcome the issues. This is because Primark set it on a
higher level according to their potential so that the employees of the company take a chance and
put all their efforts into achieving it. (Chumg and et.al., 2016.)
Perceived Control-

Thinking with positive approach is necessary as they must control the impact on the
outcome.
Instrumentality-
It states that people will be rewarded if they meet their expectations. Reward can be in
the form of getting a promotion or getting a raise so that they can have the sense of
accomplishment. This appreciation is done for everyone by the company. If the employees of the
company achieve a goal above their potential, then they will be given this kind of reward.
Valence-
It is the value of the outcome in the mind of an employee. It is based on the needs, goals,
values and other kind of sources from where they can achieve motivation. It helps in
strengthening the value of the outcome which will increase their level of motivation. (Rahim and
et.al., 2018.)
Primark is using the theory of motivation by Maslow as it is a content theory and it helps the
company to know that at what level employee will need motivation and in what way he or she
will need it.
LO 3
P 3 Team development theories of Primark
Developing a team is necessary in every company because combining the employees
according to their area of specialisation and expertise is difficult for the company as it creates
conflict and affect the performance of the employees which disrupts the expected outcome of the
company. That is why Primark has adapted the theories of this nature in order to develop their
team so that they can increase their performance and make it more effective so that outcome can
be more realistic and practical as expected by the company. (Christy et al, 2019.)
Model of Bruce Tuckman-
Forming-
This is the first stage in this theory which is given by Tuckman. Primark use it to form
the team and introduce them with the aspects of the organization. This stage of Tuckman helps
the employees of the company to know each other and their skills which are intellectual and
conceptual. It will help the company to know that which employee has the most potential to lead
the team and on which the company can rely on. Members who are in the team has one benefit to

plan and manage the team so that they can adapt new measures which are required in the task.
This will encourage the team to work on the strategies which are more effective and will help the
company lead towards the goal. Members of the team also must keep this thing in mind that
work assigned must be according to the potential of the employee.
Storming-
This stage is also known as the stage of reality. It states that employees will learn their
weakness with time which will make them realise why they were not chosen for the task.
Members of the team of the company will have to form the plan keeping the weakness of the
employees in mind. The team needs to open their thoughts so that they can come to a mutual
agreement instead of getting into a conflict and disrupting the performance for achieving the
goals.
Norming-
This stage states that company such as Primark needs to respect the positive things about
their employees so that they remain motivated and complete the task in very less time in an
efficient manner.
Performing-
This is the fourth stage in this model, and it states that team members of the company
must get comfortable with each other till this stage and must know the strength and weakness of
each other so that they can coordinate with each other and divide the work between them easily.
Adjourning-
This is the last stage of this model it states that after they have completed the task the
company changes the team or suspend them which affect them as they started getting
comfortable with the way of working of each other by the abilities of each other.
Theory of Belbin
This theory has helped Primark to understand the role that every employee play in the
organisation and how they are important to the organisation. Company evaluate the potential,
their strength and weakness of the company so that they can increase their aspect of quality in
work. In this model there are nine roles which the company needs to adapt so that they can cope
up with the changes. (Pluháček and et.al., 2019.)

Resource Investors-
In order to get innovative ideas this role is essential for the company. These types of
people possess the quality of good communication skills and work with energy while completing
the task. They skills they have help them to know the aspects of the internal and external
environment and work towards improving it. They help the company to select the members in
the team by evaluating their qualities according to their knowledge and their insight so that they
can help achieve the expected results. (Buchanan and Huczynski, 2019.)
Monitor Evaluators-
These members in the company has information and knowledge about the decisions they
must take as they are over thinker in nature and takes risky decisions for the company. Their
skills also include power of observation which helps them to share the opinion about anyone in
the company.
Coordinators-
These type of people helps the company to delegate the work so that employees of the
company can show their strength, boldness and how they deal with the situation which are
sophisticated in nature.
Shapers-
These types of people are sort of motivators which encourage other people to push them
forward so that they can work up with full dedication and achieve the goals. These types of
people also have some qualities and abilities of leadership. Primark understood that why it is
important for the company to keep these types of people in their company. (Pradhan and Jena,
2015) These type of people motivate the employees of Primark so that they can work more
efficiently and help to achieve the goals of the company easily.
Implementer-
These types of people possess self-control in dealing and have a sense of practicality.
Primark rely on these types because they are efficient in completing the work and they have the
capacity to take on for big jobs. They help the company to convert the plans into making them
manageable for the work. (Bester, Stander and Van Zyl, 2015.)

Team Workers-
These people support others and are concerned about the abilities of other people. They
prevent the problems between the tam so that the members of the team can make the contribution
effectively.
Complete Finishers-
They take that kind of work which they can finish on their own for the company. They
are introvert in nature and to keep them motivated company needs to give them bonuses,
incentives. They are invaluable for the company when the nature of the task requires focus and
accuracy.
Specialists-
The company hires them for the work which is technical in nature and it require the skills
to complete the task. They maintain the professionalism in the work. The skills they possess are
rare and difficult to find in other people. That is why it is useful for the company to have them in
the team.
LO 4
P 4 Concepts and Theories of Organisation-
Path Goal Theory-
This theory is based on the pattern of behaviour of the leader or his style of working
which will fit in a best way so that employees in the company’s such ass Primark can work
conveniently. This theory is based on the ideology of theory of Vroom which helped to
understand that any employee and his pattern of behaviour will change based on the outcome of
the operation. This theory can also be understood as a way in which leaders of the company
select the best way according to their preference and their suitability that can fulfil and cope up
with the needs of employees, the company and the environment. It will help the employees as
they can seek the guidance from the leaders of the company and learn their daily pattern of work.
There are some steps in this theory. (Standish, 2019.)
The company will use this theory when their strategy of leadership is not working and they need
to make changes in their structure.