An Analysis of Organizational Theory and Practice at Boohoo

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of organizational theory and practice, using Boohoo as a case study. It begins with an introduction to organizational theory and explores Henry Mintzberg's managerial roles within the context of Boohoo's CEO. The report then examines the steps taken by the CEO to bring about organizational change, including structural adjustments and cultural shifts. Different leadership styles, with a focus on democratic leadership, are discussed, highlighting their impact on employee motivation and organizational effectiveness. The effects of power, influence, and conflicts within the organization are also analyzed, followed by an exploration of various motivation strategies employed by Boohoo. The report concludes with recommendations based on the findings and a literature review supporting the analysis. The report covers various aspects of organizational behavior like interpersonal roles, informational roles, and decisional roles.

Organizational
Theory and Practice

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
Task A : Henry Mintzberg’s managerial roles.......................................................................3
Task B : Steps taken by CEO for a change............................................................................4
Task C : Leadership style.......................................................................................................5
Task D : Effects of power, influence and conflicts................................................................6
Task E : Motivation strategies................................................................................................7
Task F : Example and literature..............................................................................................8
Task G : Recommendations....................................................................................................8
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION
Organisational theory is defined as the collection of interconnected principles and meanings
that describe the action of person organisation or subgroups which are collaborate with each
other for achieving a goals and objectives. Organisational practises are considered as the
behaviour and action of the employees in the organisation and these practices are of two types
such as internal practices and external practices. In internal practices it includes the
organisational structure, work culture, recruitment and selection of the employees and many
more whereas external practices are those practices in which the organisation is interacting with
the outsiders and it includes customers, product and services offered suppliers and so on. Boohoo
is taken as the base company. Boohoo is a online fashion retailer which was established by
Mahmud Kamani and Caraol Kane in 2006 in UK.. In this report, it covers the Henry Mintzberg
managerial roles, steps taken to bring a change in organisation structure in the organisation. It
also includes the different leadership styles to enhance the organisational effectiveness as well as
the effects of power, influence and conflicts.
Task A : Henry Mintzberg’s managerial roles
Henry Mintzberg’s managerial roles was developed by Dr. Henry Mintzberg in which he
define the roles and responsibilities of a manager in an organisation (Anderson-Gough, 2018).In
this, he identifies ten roles of a manager in which these are categorized into three criteria such
as interpersonal roles, in formational roles and decisional roles. In context to the selected
organisation, the different managerial role that is played by CEO is mentioned below:
Interpersonal roles: In context to Boohoo, interpersonal roles include figurehead role,
leader role and liaison role. These roles are related to the behaviour of manager that focuses on
the interpersonal contact and it involves people such as subordinates and persons that are outside
the organisation. The figurehead has the role of performing legal and social duties where the
manager can be seen as a symbol of status and authority whereas leader is a person who is
responsible for building a relationship with the employees and helps them in encouraging and
motivating them and liaison has the responsibility of maintaining all the networks outside the
organization for gathering information (Antonsen, 2017).
Informational roles: In context to Boohoo, it includes three types of roles such as
monitor, disseminator and spokesperson. The informational roles are revolves around processing

and distributing information so that manager can function as the control centre of the
organisation. The monitoring in informational roles help the organisation in finding out the
internal and external information about the issues and situation that can affect the organisation
and it also includes accessing the operations inside the organisation, problems and opportunities
that may arise in the future. While disseminator provides information internally this is gathered
from internal and external sources (Armstrong, 2018). It helps in presenting the factual and value
based perspectives to all the employees and the organisation and the person who provide the
information about the firm to the outsider is known as spokesperson where it operates in PR and
update stakeholders about the function and activities of the firm.
Decisional roles: Decisional roles include entrepreneur, disturbance handler, resource
allocator and negotiator. The interpersonal role of the CEO of the selected organisation leads the
decisional roles in which he makes different decision and choices for the organisation. The
entrepreneur encourages CEO to motivate and supervise the team where is disturbance handler
taking certain actions when the organisation faces some difficulties. The resource allocator has a
role of allocating all the resources suggest funds human resource and many more and the
negotiator has the responsibility of specific task in which includes spokesman, figurehead and
resource allocator roles.
Task B : Steps taken by CEO for a change
Organisation structure is defined as how position, control, authority and duties are
delegated and regulated in an organisation as well as the knowledge spread through various
layers of hierarchy. There are various types of organisation structures that a company can use
such as functional organisation structure, hierarchical organisation structure, divisional
organisation structure and many more. In context to Boohoo, the CEO is recently changes their
structure to improve the efficiency. Boohoo was following hierarchal organisation structure in
which the position and responsibilities are divided into many parts that make sure that every
function and operation of the organisation can be executed effectively and efficiently (Hosking
and Anderson, 2018). Boohoo was facing problem with the poor working conditions and low pay
of the suppliers. And as per the changes, they are encouraging new layers of internal compliance
for the suppliers and removed its 64 sub-par suppliers. The organisation has utilised its fast
fashion supply network which leads in keeping the prices low of the products that assists in
increased sales and margins. It also provide group firework to acquisition to propel the growth.

Along with this, they also expand the number of independent non- executive directors. These
changes will create an impact on providing experience for all the employees and customers
which will be helpful for them and it also enhances the performance of the organisation by
remaining competitive in the market and along with this, it also makes sure about the future
strategies.
In context to the selected organisation, the CEO brought culture which influences the
employees for achieving the goals. The organisation culture is considered as the shared values
and beliefs that help in guarding the action of all the employees (Brunsson and Olsen, 2018). It is
determined by the number of considerations such as the word of the leader, structure, CEO
behaviour and many more. It is defined as the performance or the organisation which can lead
both to success and failure. And the organisation modifies their culture depending upon the
immediate needs and future needs. Boohoo has been undergone through various culture changes.
They are catering their customers across the globe. Their success has been greatly enhanced by
emphasis on growth management and company which is essentially its brand reputation and
valuation services through the service quality. Furthermore, they have also shown abroad
capacity to enter global market with an environment which is uncertain culture (Bryson, 2018).
It is therefore crucial to understand that internal environment has a great contribution to the
competencies as well as their supply chain integration and IT integration.
Task C : Leadership style
Leadership style is defined as the method which is used by the manager or the leader in
giving the right path, executing of plans and motivating of the employees of the organisation.
These leadership styles can be classified on the basis of two approaches such as behavioural
approach and situational approach which consist in total of seven theories and models. In context
to Boohoo, they are using behavioural approach. This approach evaluates the action that CEO
makes in an organisation. The success of the leader is based upon the behaviour which is
representing in the firm and also believes that leaders are made, not born. In this approach, the
power orientation refers to a leaders level of control in managing the action of the subordinate.
The CEO John Lyttle of Boohoo is implementing democratic leadership which is classified in
power orientation of behavioural approach (Del Giudice, Carayannis and Maggioni, 2017).
Democratic leadership is one of the leadership styles that allow all the members of an
organisation to participate in the decision-making process. In this leadership style, both

employees and leader are involved in every decision-making process as well as the leader
provides brainstorming sessions to each members of the team for giving the solutions. This
helps in encouraging morale of employees and their performance which leads to employee
engagement with the organisation along with this, this provides employees a chance for giving
their ideas and creativity (Dugan, 2017). The leadership of Boohoo helps in motivating the
employees so that they could give a better experience and services to their customers. As the
management style of Boohoo is democratic, the employees are able to speak freely and also have
their contribution to make effective ideas so for the growth and a better performance of the
organisation. The organisation considers their employees as assets and also empowers them. The
helps in motivating the employees by providing them various benefits and rewards such as
discount cards, paid holidays and many more along with this, they also offer award winning
pension scheme to all the employees of the organization (Harrigan and et. al., 2018). The
democratic style of leadership is adapted by Boohoo in various situations. As this leadership has
a flat structure which enables the employees do give a huge contribution to the success of the
organisation as well as it is effective and efficient for the continuous growth of the organisation.
Boohoo is able to take care of all the staff members as well as committed to help whenever and
wherever they need.
Task D : Effects of power, influence and conflicts
Organisational behaviour may be characterised as an organisations culture where it is
focused on the individuals who create the organisational environment and are the sole
determinants. Power, influence and conflicts are considered as the most important foundations on
which the organisational operation is taking place. They are helpful in deciding the structure of
the environment of the organisation and these are different from each other in terms of
implementing the activities in an organisation. There are related to each other and also interplay
as well as the leaders often practise in the organisation to achieve the goals and objectives of the
firm. These three attributes are so important that can become a boon as well as curse at the same
time. Along with this, they can also become the cause for the failure of the organisation as well
as success of the organisation by boosting up all the functions and activities as well as providing
benefits to each other. Power is one of the most crucial factors that can affect the functions and
operations of the organisation as it has a capacity to control and it is identified as the ability of
individuals to resolve competition from others and to impose their power and accomplish things

associated with their goals and values. The manager has the ability to influence their employees
by providing them roles and responsibilities. To increase the power of the manager, the
organisation makes different strategies for doing the same. With the help of power and influence,
the manager is able to implement tactics on the employees which help making them work.
Conflicts in an organisation are common and it has a both positive and negative effect. Conflicts
is not necessary to be negative as it helps in providing the staff members a feeling of realisation
add helps in resolving the issue within the organisation (Ihlen and Fredriksson, 2018). The
positive effect of this conflict is that the employees can achieve their goals. One of the major
negative effects of conflict can be seen in reduction in the production, issues in the relationship
and many more as the stress is developed due to the conflict. The effects of power, influence and
conflicts at Boohoo can create both positive and negative impact on it as they are considered as
the pillars of the organisation in which is any pillar is not able to balance itself, it can lead to a
huge loss to the organisation.
Task E : Motivation strategies
Motivation is considered as that factor which encourages an individual in providing their
best performance achieving the goals and objectives of the organisation it helps in energising and
activating the actions for achieving a goal (Jandrić, 2017). Motivation strategies are those
strategies which are implemented by the organisation to the employees so that they work for the
organisation. These strategies can be in the form of various benefits which is provided to them
such as monthly salary, bonuses, paid leaves and many more. In context to Boohoo, they are
using various motivation strategies for their employees. They is providing discounts and schemes
to their employees such as day outs, holidays and so on. Along with this, they are also providing
holiday pay and sick pay in which the company will take care all the expenses which is done by
the employee, maternity pay. This motivation strategy not only help them in motivating but also
develop opportunity to learn as well as has an opportunity to maintain their professional as well
as personal life (Liao and Ai Lin Teo, 2018). These strategies helps employees and organisation
maintaining a trust between them as the employees know that they are giving motivation to do
work and in return it will do trust by giving their best for the organisation in achieving the goals.
These incentives not only provide motivation but also provide recognition for those employees
who contribute to their best of efforts. The manager also makes sure that all the employees got
the opportunity for achieving a position in the organisation. They provide various on job

trainings so that they can know the value and roles and responsibilities which help in making
career advancement. Furthermore, the manager also makes sure that all the employees are
satisfied with their job role and their performance. It is essential for them to focus on all the
employees for the continuous improvement of the organisation and their staff members.
Task F : Example and literature
Organisation uses different strategies for its employees to enhance their performance as
well as give directions and motivate them to perform. These strategies can be different leadership
styles, motivation strategies, culture of the organisation and many more. The leadership style is a
matter for making plans and motivating employees of the organisation. Boohoo is using
democratic leadership style in which all the members of the organisation are involved and
decision-making. Along with Boohoo, ASOS is also using democratic leadership style, whereas
H&M is using transactional leadership approach. In this, the leaders empower and inspire their
subordinates by explaining how the reforms will help the company. They reinforce a sense of
urgency and resolve objections in order to assist the organisation in meeting its corporate
objectives. The efficient transformational leaders may relieve worries and clear the way for a
profitable business turnaround through times of disruptive change, such as emerging
technologies, industry dynamics or ownership. Moreover, organisational culture includes shared
believes, values an assumption with respect to the behaviour of the employees in the
organisation. Boohoo, ASOS and H&M follow organisation culture in which they are working in
a disciplined manner within hierarchical structure which means that the decision making creates
a impact on behaviour and work of the employees which leads in getting rewards by the
organisation. The rewards given to the employees of all three organisations are almost same.
Theses all organisations make sure to provide various incentives such bonuses, extra working
wages and many more and benefits which includes, sick leaves, paid holidays to their employees
for employee engagement as well as maintaining the trust between them (Michelle Russell,
2020).
Task G : Recommendations
From the above, it has been analysed that managers plays an important role in an
organisation for motivating their employees so that they can work to achieve the goals and
objectives. They use motivation strategies to encourage them for doing the work. Along with

this, they apples different leadership style for giving direction to them. For enhancing the
performance of organisation as well as for the employees, they can use performance appraisal for
the employees to boost their productivity. They can apply various performance appraisal
methods such as 360 degree feedback which helps evaluating the employee performance on the
basis of feedbacks taken from managers, customers, reports and also from employee’s circle of
influence. It includes evaluation of five reviews such as self appraisal in which the employee has
a chance to review their performance in the past and determines the strength and weaknesses
(Luo and Tung, 2018). Another is managerial review which is done by managers, as they provide
ratings to employees on the basis of their performance. While the employees who work within
the team gives review about the employee’s ability which is known as peer reviews.
Subordinates appraisal manager is a type of feedback in which the review is given from the
managerial point of view and customer review includes internal and external view which is given
by the customer on the employee performance. This appraisal method not only helps in
increasing the awareness but also encourages employees to develop their skills and embrace the
change management.
Another strategy can be used for increasing the organisational performance in future can
be done by using behaviourally anchored rating scale. This strategy will evaluate the employee
performance on the basis of their behaviour and also assistant getting out the qualitative and
quantitative benefits. With the help of this strategy, the chances of biasing will be reduced which
help the employees in motivating and makes them work more. These both strategies will create a
huge impact on the employee performance. This helps them in encouraging them to work as
these methods will act as a motivation for them (Randhawa and Ahuja, 2018).And this will
directly impact on the functions and operations of the organisation and increase the performance.
CONCLUSION
From the above discussion, it can be concluded that, in an organisation the manager uses
various types of managerial styles for defining the roles and responsibilities. Along with this,
they also use different leadership styles for enhancing the effectiveness all the organisation. The
leaders are those with help in providing the direction, making plans and encourage employees to
work for the organisation. In addition to this, they also apply various motivation strategies to the
employees so that they feel confident and also have a feeling that they contributed to the

organisation success. In this report, it includes the Henry Mintzberg’s managerial roles in which
it defines all the roles and responsibilities of manager in an organisation. It also includes the
recent changes in the organisation structure as well as culture of the organisation. Moreover,
democratic leadership style which is following the selected organisation with the effects of
power, influence and conflicts which is essential for an organisation. This can have both positive
as well as negative effects. Also the various motivation strategies are used for employees in an
organisation for make them work is explained with different corporate examples and
recommendation for applying different strategies that can be used for increasing the efficiency of
the organisation.

REFERENCES
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