Organizational Behavior Analysis: Ryanair's Strategies and Culture

This report provides an in-depth analysis of Ryanair's organizational behavior, examining the impact of culture, politics, and power on individual behavior and performance. It explores Charles Handy's typology model, the influence of power dynamics based on French and Raven's model, and the effects of political barriers on productivity and employee focus. The report further delves into process theories of motivation, including Maslow's hierarchy of needs, and motivational techniques employed by Ryanair to enhance employee efficiency and retention. Additionally, it covers team development models such as Belbin and Tuckman, highlighting their roles in forming effective and efficient teams within the airline. The analysis provides insights into how Ryanair has adapted its strategies to improve its image, motivate employees, and optimize its operational efficiency.

ORGANISATIO
NAL
BEHAVIOR

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................4
Activity 1.........................................................................................................................................4
Impact of different culture on RyanAir.......................................................................................4
Activity 2.........................................................................................................................................8
process theories of motivation and motivational techniques enable effective achievement of
goals............................................................................................................................................8
Activity 3 ......................................................................................................................................10
P 3 effective team as opposed to an ineffective team-..............................................................10
Tuckman's Team development model:......................................................................................12
Activity 4.......................................................................................................................................13
P 4 concepts and philosophies of organizational behaviour....................................................13
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................17

INTRODUCTION
Organizational behaviour is the study of both group and individual performance and activity
within an organization. It is the systematic study and application of knowledge about how
individuals and groups act within the organizations where they work. OB draws from other
disciplines to create a unique field. The behaviour of organization must be such that in that
employees can be settled down easily. Present study will lay emphasis on Ryanair. The airline
was being founded in 1984. It is an Irish budget airline. Company has been headquartered in
Dublin, Ireland. Present report will lay emphasis on the impact of culture, politics and power on
individual behaviour and performance. It will also lay focus on the content and process theory of
motivation which can help employees in increasing their efficiency. It Will also provide theories
like Belbin and Tuckman which help them in forming effective and efficient team.
Activity 1
Impact of different culture on RyanAir
Every organization follow different culture and strategies which gives them a different
advantage. Work culture is decided by the behavior of employees in an organization. Different
theories and models have been analyzed by RyanAir and which are suitable for them. So that
they can improve the image in the eyes of public and increase their efficiency.
Impact of Culture- Culture is the soul of an organization they are the values, beliefs which
organization implies in their culture. Charles Handy has divided this model into four categories
Impact of Culture-
Handy's Typology Model-
Role Culture-
Following the rules and regulations is the means of this theory. Roles and
designations are assigned to people as everyone have a high controlling power in them.
Assigning designations to people gives them clarity of the role that they have to play in the
organization. With role comes responsibilities and power to employees. Employees feel
prestigious when they have a role in the organization. RyanAir has adopted this culture so that
people have responsibilities and are clear with their role. They must know their own way of
completing the work with walking through their own path which is visible by them for as long as

they are working in the company. In this culture there is a big chain of command which needs to
be followed with a structure that makes the path clear for employees. After facing many issues
which affect their image RyanAir adopted this culture to improve it as they have understood the
importance of assigning the roles to their employees and clarify the path for them.
Power Culture-
People who are eligible for the position only that people is selected by the
company for the higher designation. The person who is assigned by the company has to
understood those powers so that employees don't misuse it as it will affect other people in the
company which will result in leading to negative image of the company. By power employees
can involve themselves in the matter which concerns decision making, other employees are
evaluated on the basis of their performance and achievement and then the roles are assigned by
the company according to that. (Van Knippenberg and Hogg, 2018)
RyanAir has started using this approach as they are distributing the authority and
power to their team because earlier their workforce had no idea how to operate and perform the
task according to their power. RyanAir has taken months to understand it and before making a
decision they understood their operations. Same goes for the employees of RyanAir they have to
analyze the situation before taking a action. This study needs to be done by the individual as well
as other groups so that company can run its operations successfully. (Klotz and Neubaum, 2016)
Person Culture-
The people are the employees in the organization without them and their skills
company won't survive in the market and without it company is useless and when the people
working in the organization feels above and superior from others it is known as person culture.
Employees who are working in RyanAir has very bad communication skills. RyanAir has people
who are loyal to them but they are not up to the mark in handling the operations and maintaining
the standard of the organization. Company is looking for those people who can do good for them,
know their authority and assign the staff with details of the task and check that the work being
done is efficient or not. (Lăzăroiu, 2015)
Task Culture-
Authorities among employees change very often because of the nature of the
project as the company needs expertise on a specific project. Everyone is better in their
respective fields that is why shift in authority happens and the task is assigned to them. If the

company neglects this focus on expertise of project the quality of the work assigned to them will
not be up to the mark. RyanAir have faced this issue because they don't assign the task to them in
a proper way and there are issues related to power that is why all the factors such as
miscommunication, delegation of power according to work lead to uncertainties in work.
Impact of Power-
French and Raven- This model is divided into five categories-
Reward Power- RyanAir has now made it compulsory to reward their employees on the basis of
their performance. Earlier company did not assign them with this much authority and now when
they have started doing it their work has become more efficient. Employees are motivated now
then they were before as company is fulfilling the needs of their extra benefits so that they
remain satisfied and the quality of the work also remain steady which will maintain the standard
of the company. (Lee and et.al., 2019)
Coercive Power- This power helps in increasing the turnover of labor in the company as
employees are forced to do the work against their own will by those who have authority in the
company. Earlier the company did not used to distribute power among employees and because of
that non delegation of authority the whole team was working together on one single project
which reduced the efficiency but now with changes in time RyanAir has made different
departments for specific projects so that skillful employees can complete it in a better and
efficient way. RyanAir has already dealt with issues such as employee turnover in the past
because company never provided any source of motivation even when they used to work up to
their potential they used to get nothing in return.
Designated Power- Earlier RyanAir had no power in their organizational culture but now
because of the need to improve their services for the customers they have made the change. Now
they can complete multiple tasks at one time as the company is adopting new methods and they
are trying to get the grasp of this idea get familiar with it. They are distributing the work
according to their expertise in nature and their designation. Soon the airlines is gonna taste the
medicine of success and will make their name with the top airlines company.
Expert Power- This power states that one employee has the skill and knowledge of work and the
other one doesn't. Employees who have the knowledge to complete the task and make decisions

appropriately can guide other employees and give them a detailed information. Now RyanAir is
taking this power seriously because now they don't want to commit to any more mistakes similar
to they have made in past. Now they are focusing on improving the quality of work.
Legitimate Power- This power is only in the hands of top level management and leaders of the
company who set up the ethics and morale of the company. They are the ones who have both
powers coercive and legitimate powers. RyanAir has make sure that no one in the company has
misuse the power till today because they cannot loose their employees at a time like this but
employees left them because they never focused on anything except work. Employees think of
other factors too they also other needs which the company needs to fulfill. It was possible for
people to misuse their power as they had no idea, no knowledge of their work. (Pentland and
Hærem, 2015)
Impact of Politics-
Chantal's Characteristics of Political Behavior-
This model was introduced by Chantal Mouffe. RyanAir faces many Political barriers so they
need to analyze this model. It will help them to make employees work more productively and
more efficiently. They have made sure that they are going to imply this theory. This model of
theory is divided into two categories-
Productivity- Sometimes due to several political barriers company observes a downfall in the
productivity sector and that will also lead to reduction in the efficiency of employees. For
example if government comes up and impose a new law which is related to pay scale due to
some economical factors and stating that this year no increment will be there in salaries and that
policy will demotivate every employee as everyone expects a bonus or increment every year.
Employees will start to loose the motivation and that will also result in loss of efficiency.
Concentration- These type of political barriers make employees loose their focus and think every
thing out of work which results in loss of speed and effectiveness in employees which also result
in losses for the company and delay in achieving the goals and objectives of the organization.
RyanAir tries to ignore it but employees are exposed to outer world where they get affected.
(Koning and Van Kleef, 2015)

Activity 2
process theories of motivation and motivational techniques enable effective achievement of
goals
1.CONTENT THEORY OF MOTIVATION
Content theory of motivation is specially organized to focus on the human needs which motivate
employees to retain in company or organization. There are various theories of motivation to give
beneficial impact on management practices and policy within workplace. it's also known as
'needs theories'. Through whole theories of motivation there is one of the most effective theory is
Maslows theory. Ryanair follows this Maslows theory to motivate employees so that they retain
in company for long time. (Osland, Devine and Turner, 2015)
Maslows theory:
This theory is basically dependent on hierarchy of needs. Main motivation of this theory is to
motivate employee's by accomplish basic needs. this theory consists five level of needs where it's
initiate from at the lower level to higher level. Basic needs is categorized in two parts-
Deficiency Needs: There are basic needs which crucial for survival and safety.
Accommodation, shelter, comfortable workplace, air conditioning room, breaks, flexible
working hours etc. are known as physiological needs. These needs are basic but more effective
for employees. Ryanair provides accommodation facilities like transportation and flat to
employees it will make them easy to do work fore long time. company provides flexible working
hours to employees where they can do work to home during emergency, it will encourage them
to retain in company. Employee wants where do they work that should be sophisticated so that
they do work intently without interruption. Ryanair provides air conditioning and lunch break
facilities in work place to employees it will encourage them. Safety needs refers health
insurance policies, financial security, personnel security, protection from accident and harm and
their side effect etc. are crucial for employees. Ryanair provides personnel security in workplace
it will boom-up employees to do work safely. company provides secure compensation (as
salary), job security to employees it will encourage 4 employees to retain in company. Thus,
there is third level of satisfaction needs are social needs. It's plays vital role in workplace and to
retain employees in workplace for long time. Ryanair provides friendly atmosphere in workplace
to employees, it will motivate employee's to do wok with efficiency by sharing, caring, enabling

and daring. Thus, friendly atmosphere leads satisfaction in employees to retain in workplace.
(Vasu, Stewart and Garson, 2017)
Growth Needs: These needs refers personnel development and accomplish personal strength.
Confidence, achievement, respect of others and respect by others all refers Esteem needs, that's
fourth step of hierarchy which motivates employees to retain in company. Ryanair company
gives appreciation to employees for their work then it will encourage employees to give the best
performance in company. Company can enhance employees self-esteem by offering incentives
on their good performance that will dedicate employees to work efficiency so that company will
able to achieve goals of company. Fifth level of hierarchy is Self-actulization, after accomplish
above four level, it leads satisfaction in employees regarding company. employees will satisfy
from above needs then it will create profitability plans in company so that company achieves
their goals. Thus, company acclimatization assist employees to retain in company. Company also
invites them to participate in decision-making, it booms up respect regarding company. Thus,
Ryanair motivate their employees to fulfil whole basic needs.
2.PROCESS THEORY OF MOTIVATION
Process theory refers behavioural and psychological process that motivate employees to work in
specific way. This theory basically dependent on to motivate employee's to achieve goal through
changes their works needs. Proce3ss theory consist three motivational theories but Ryanair
follows Equality theory for motivate employees in working place.
Equality theory: Equality theory refers balance between employee's input and output in
workplace. This theory also known as Adam's equity theory. This theory assist employees to
balance in their works and needs which builds relationship with the management and leads more
productivity in company. equity theory focuses on individual employee satisfaction in workplace
that directly links to the efforts which employees put and as result what gets out. Ryanair
follows equity theory for motivating employees and dedicate them to achieve company's goals.
Ryanair influences motivation significantly by offering rewards as incentives that motivates
employees as result company gets loyalty in workplace and it leads commitment of employees
for company success. it provides flexible working hours facilities to employees as result
company gets hard-work of employee's in workplace and that leads discipline within workplace
and it booms up to retain in company for long time. It gives appreciation to employees on good
performance as result company gets task completed through employees and leads loyalty for

Ryanair. Manager of company gives transparency in decision-making that influence employees
trust for management ans leads senses of achievement in employees for company. it provides
accommodation facilities to employees as result employees try to achieve goals of company
through complete task in less time. It provides bonus and commission to employees during
festivals as result company gets more productivity in workplace. On the basis of eligibility and
capacity company offers promotion to employees that encourage employees to give the best
presentation in company. It prompts other to do work-hard, so they also promote in higher
position. Ryanair often organizes skill development programmes for employees as result
company gets more skilled employees in company who can beneficial for complex task and leads
sharpness in workplace which is beneficial for company to gain goals through employees efforts.
It also provides annual holidays which keeps happy employees and promote them to retain in
company. it also offers insurance policies to employees as result employees agree to work on
their terms and condition and it leads personnel sacrifices of employee for company. It provides
job security and compensation security to employees as result it leads responsibilities and
duties regrading job. It provides accommodation facilities like car and flat as result it leads
enthusiasm regarding their job and motivate them to complete company task in minimum time.
Thus, Ryanair offers output to employees as result company gets inputs through employees.
Company uses this strategy to motivate employees and change psychology regarding their needs
and gets company's profitability through behavioural changes regarding work profession. It also
successful to retain employees in company through carry out employee's needs.
Activity 3
P 3 effective team as opposed to an ineffective team-
Belbin's Team Roles
There are Nine roles which Belbin has given:
Resource Investigator – Resource investigators are those who are very much active and they are
generally extroverts. They are very much good in communication either they have to
communicate within company or outside the company. For example as Ryanair should hire those

employees which are good in communication, as they are not having good reviews either from
customer or from their employees.
Team-worker – These type of employees are generally most supportive team members. They are
very soft hearted and generally cares for others. Team-workers are very flexible as they easily
mixed up with team and do their work with full coordination. So Ryanair must change and get
new talent which are good in Team-work and all other activities of organization.
Co-ordinator – The important things about Coordinators as they make others work towards one
goal, as they are mature, trust worthy and confident. Coordinators are good in making employees
motivated to go in one direction. If these type of employees will work in Ryanair then it will able
to attract customer and they will be satisfied with the service of it.
Plant – They are the most valuable assets of any company, as they are creators and highly
innovative. They provide so many things to company like ideas, plans, and also help in solving
conflicts things . For development Ryanair must acquire such type of talent to improve their
value in market as it is not having good reputation in market so to improve reputation it must
need such type of employees.
Monitor Evaluator – They are those person who are very serious minded and do their work with
full energy. They are slow decision taker as they think more. Generally the do less mistake as
they works very effectively and always want that mistake should be less. So Ryanair must find
out such type of employees which are monitor evaluator like they take care all the activities in
very effective manner and also they are quietly good in critical thinking ability.
Specialist – They are those who are experts in their work, as they know each and everything
about the work they do. They are generally focused with their own work and do not have interest
in others work. Specialist always provide a accurate and right answer as they do not believe in
assumptions. So Ryanair must need specialist in its company as they will provide them best
answer to the questions.
Shaper – They are highly motivated people as they are highly in need of achievement. They are
very aggressive in nature and also like challenges given to them. Thus, challenges makes them

energetic and motivated to achieve any goal. These type of employees is need of every
organization. Ryanair is also in want if such type of team members.
Implementer – These type of employees are generally practical toward their work, as they
believe in implementing not in assumptions. And they generally have good self control and
works with full dedication. Ryanair has loose its reputation due to not having good implementers
with them. So such type of employees will be very beneficial to them.
Completer finisher – They are having very good follow through capacity as they are very
constant at their work and do all their work with full commitment. They are the one who always
finishes their work on time as they are good at time management. Ryanair must keep this type of
employees as to beat other competitors and to give best service to their customers.
Tuckman's Team development model:
Forming – In this there is high relies on leader as they are the one who provides direction to all
their employees, as in forming employees roles are unclear and it is the responsibility of leader to
give all the answer to the question as he is the one who is handling all the responsibility. Leaders
of Ryanair must be very effective as they are the one who decides how company will run.
Storming – In storming which is second stage of Tuckman's model as in this stage team members
starts to make relationship with each other. This stage is also considered as relationship stage.
These stage is quite hectic for leaders as in this stage many conflicts arises between employees
and this conflicts has to be solved by leaders only. Ryanair has to keep this stage good for
employees so that they can make good relationship with each other.
Norming – It is that stage which belongs to clarification of duties and also good relationship
which has been formed till now. In this stage all the work is done with a team effort and all the
members of team now do work with good speed, as now they are familiar to each other and also
know about their strength and weakness. Ryanair is doing lot of work in this stage,if
coordination and working environment will be goo then all will work effectively.
Performing – At this stage all are very much known to each other and at this stage they all do
work with their maximum speed and also promote talents of each other. This is the last stage of

this model. Performing stage also tells about employees involvement in team. All upper stages
makes the last stage as there is no short-cut to start performing stage directly, it shows results of
all earlier stages.
Ryanair is an airline company founded in 1984 having its operational bases at Dublin and
London Stansted airport. Ryanair routes serve around 38 countries Europe, North America, and
Middle East.
Activity 4
P 4 concepts and philosophies of organizational behaviour
PATH GOAL THEORY-
Path goal theory is a leadership style model that fits the employee and their work environment
which motivates the employees to achieve their goal.
While path goal theory is not detailed it generally focuses on 3 basic steps
DETERMINING THE EMPLOYEE AND ENVIRONMENTAL CHARACTERISTICS -
The leader of Ryanair should see their employees requirement and what drives them to achieve
the organisation goal. The employee will work more efficiently if they see their interest while
achieving the organisations goal. So a leader need to understand their employees to know how to
influence and motivate them to complete the organisations work. Leaders at Ryanair must
support their employees in complex task and at times of crisis, the leader can provide the
employees with clear goals and if the team is not supportive the leaders needs to build team spirit
LEADERSHIP BEHAVIOUR AND STYLES -
The leaders must adjust their styles of leading according to the needs and requirement of the
situations. While following Path goal theory Ryanair must follow leadership styles by House
and Mitchell who defines styles in 4 categories :
Directive – Ryanair leader should follow this when the employees are unsure of what they are
doing and there is a lot of uncertainty or the company needs urgent results as the following
directives styles the employees must do what the leader tells them to. (Ellis and et.al., 2017)

Supportive – This type of leadership styles should be followed when there are challenging
situations , as the leader makes the work environment pleasant by motivating the employees by
showing concern about them and being friendly and approachable. The leader supports their
employees in challenging situations so that their morale does not decreases. (Miner, 2015)
Participative – This type of leadership styles is followed when the staff is highly trained to make
decisions, as in this styles of leadership the leader involves the staff members in the decision
making process and consults all the staff members how to proceed. In this style of leadership the
final decision is made on majority basis, therefore with an untrained or unskilled staff this style
of leadership wont work. (Gagné, 2018)
Achievement – This type of leadership is most effective when the task requires expertise and
professional judgement . When the leader follows achievement style they sets challenging task
for their taskforce and motivates them to achieve those targets, they expects their staff to perform
to their best possible level. (Hart, Gilstrap and Bolino, 2016)
The leaders follow these leadership style according to the work situations and the task force.
FOCUS ON MOTIVATIONAL FACTORS
This step focuses on what are the employees motivational factors which will drive them to
achieve the organisational goals. The leaders help their subordinates with any problems and set
initiative based goals which are linked directly to the organisational goals. (Dipboye, 2016)
The contingency theories states that there is no one ideal style of leading people it all depends
upon the situations the leader is facing as different situations requires different judgements to be
made. This theory suggest that the leader's success is not only dependent upon his skills and
there are many other factors too which rate the success of the leaders.

Ryanair leader should understand that there is no one particular way of leading and they should
adopt contingency theories of leadership. This model will help leaders of Ryanair to face new
situational problems. This model has a metric to measure leadership style called as least
preferred co workers, on this metrics a high score indicates the test taker is relational in style
which means that they are more into interpersonal relationships and a low score indicates the test
taker is more of a task oriented in style which means task accomplishments is their main focus.
The situational favourableness is described as follows :
Leader member relationship : Ryanair can follow this type of leadership if the leaders are highly
accepted and respected by all the taskforce
 Degree of task structure : Ryanair can follow this if the taskforce is highly structured
 Leader position power : This is generally followed practise in Ryanair as there is a great
deal of power and authority are assigned to the leaders of the company, the leaders of
Ryanair are aggressive and unapologetic, though it have been proven good for them as
this approach did'nt affected the results of the airline company.
These factors determines the favourableness of different situations the organisations are facing.
Though the aggressive approach has worked for Ryanair it still dose not conclude that aggressive
approach will work for every airline company, there are failures too with the same approach in
the same business lines. So it all depends upon the situations the company is working in and the
judgement of the leaders and their decision making skills. (Devece, Palacios-Marqués and
Alguacil, 2016)
CONCLUSION-
From the above study, it has been summarised that company has made use of various
motivational theories which has supported them in motivating and enhancing the performance
level of employees. This has also helped them in retaining workers in organization and creating
loyalty of workers. They have also made use of Team development theory like Belbin and
Tuckman. This has made the work of team more effective and efficient. By this Team has been

able to perform better. It has also enhanced the organizational efficiency of company. They have
been able to motivate and retain employees because of the motivation.

REFERENCES
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