Organizational Theory and Practice: A Case Study of BT Group

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of BT Group, a multinational telecommunications company, through the lens of organizational theory and leadership. It begins by exploring the management style of CEO Philip Jansen, identifying his transformational leadership approach and adherence to Henri Fayol's management principles such as division of work and unity of command. The report then outlines the steps taken to bring about organizational change, focusing on the implementation of a functional organizational structure and its impact on employees. Furthermore, it delves into the leadership style of BT's CEO, highlighting the use of situational leadership and its benefits in fostering a flexible and comfortable work environment. The analysis extends to examining the effects of power, influence, and conflict within BT, utilizing French and Raven's power framework and social influence models. Finally, the report identifies various motivation types employed by the organization and suggests strategies to enhance overall organizational performance, offering valuable insights into BT's management practices and their impact on employee behavior and organizational effectiveness.

Organizational theory and
Practice

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
a. Explaining the management style along with principle & functions..................................1
b. Steps to bring about a change.............................................................................................3
c. Presenting the leadership style of CEO of BT....................................................................4
d. Analysing the effects of power, influence and conflicts at BT..........................................5
e. Types of motivation at BT Group.......................................................................................6
f. Corporate examples.............................................................................................................7
g. Suggestion to enhance organization performance..............................................................7
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
Organization theory is refer to the set of interrelated concepts that assist to explain the
behavior of individuals within a business. It also describe the way through which people interact
with each other in order to perform the activities intended towards attaining a common goal. In
the same way the current study main aim is to develop an understanding of organization theory
by evaluating different sources. The chosen firm for this study is BT which is a British
multinational telecommunication holding company whose headquarter is in London. It operates
in around 180 countries by offering range of telecommunication facilities which reflect that it
has a brand image at international level.
The report will examine the management style of Philip Jansen (CEO of BT) and
describe the steps used by a man in order to bring change in an organization. Also, study
presents leadership style opted by CEO of quoted business to raise organizational effectiveness.
Moreover, by using models and theory, report analyze the effects of power, influence and
conflict at BT. Lastly it identify different types of motivation used by an organization to enhance
the skills among employees and further recommend ways to increase organizational
performance.
a. Explaining the management style along with principle & functions
Philip Jansen uses transformational leadership style in which he keep motivating their
employees to attained the defined aim. This in turn helps to take out staff from their comfort
zone and also inspire their team to show their best during each task (Chandolia and Anastasiou,
2020). With the help of this style, innovation is increased and employees will easily adapt to
change that encouraged creative thinking as well. CEO also comply some of the principles and
functions stated by Henri Fayol in order to keep its business on track. These principles are as
mentioned below:
Division of work: BT ensure that work is equally distributed among each members
because it helps to increase efficiency that cause positive results in productivity as well as
profitability.
Unity of command: The company follow hierarchical organization structure in which
subordinates receive an order from their respective superiors. It assist in preventing dual
subordination and enhance the productivity (osadzińska, Słupska and Karaszewski, 2020).
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Remuneration: Company also make sure that all employees get fair pay without any
discrimination. If an organization wants efficient employees along with best performance then
they should have a good remuneration policy which BT offer.
Initiative: Management of BT always encourage employees to initiatives (involve within
decision) in which they share their own plan that helps to give satisfaction, as a result it brings
success to an organization.
There are five functions which management of BT complied and these are as described
below:
 Planning: In this, manager should set objectives which must be attained by team
members by using different strategies. In this, management should also determine the
alternative course of action and then choose the best out of them that assist to enhance
the organization performance.
 Organizing: In this, team is organize in effective manner to attain the set objectives. For
that, BT develop different training session in order to prepare their members to focused
upon objectives (Henri Fayol's functions of Management, 2021).
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 Commanding: It is all about instructing the team and keep motivated them to complete
the task. For that, manager must possess integrity and communicate the same to others in
order to provide proper direction.
 Coordinating: Another function which means that organization should ensure
everything works well together. It is possible when company have right resource and
manager also coordinate with their team about the procedure and action which will be
taken (Salehi and Baboli, 2017).
 Controlling: It means controlling the resources and teams so that they align with rules
and procedures within organization.
b. Steps to bring about a change
There are some steps which CEO of BT used in order to bring a change pertaining to
organization structure. These are as mentioned below:
Define the change: In order to bring new organization structure within company, the
first step which CEO adopt is to identify the need of change. Currently, company uses
hierarchical organization structure, so to meet the goal and improve performance, it is necessary
to adopt functional organization structure.
Develop communication strategy: To implement change, it is necessary to communicate
the same to all stakeholders so that they also share their views with regards to organization
structure (Slack and Brandon-Jones, 2018). For that, board meeting can be conducted in which
face to face discussion will be performed that assist to identify about new structure.
Provide resource to implement change: Before implementing a change, it is essential to
identify key resources that plays a crucial role in success. To adopt new structure, management
should ensure that they have infrastructure, equipment, software systems and effective training
session in order to implement change.
Identify the impact: To bring change within organization, it is necessary to examine the
impact upon organization and employees. Such that it creates positive impact because
employees focus upon their own role and encourage specialization that enhance performance of
organization (O'Neill and Mclarnon, 2018).
Monitor and manage resistance: There may be chances of resistance and that is why,
management should regularly monitor employee performance and ensure that there is no
resistance between employees, otherwise it lead toward negative outcomes.
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As Functional organizational structure will be implemented by the CEO of BT group that
helps to improve the culture and it creates a direct impact upon employees which includes raise
the performance of employees, enhancement of skills (DiRomualdo, El-Khoury and Girimonte,
2018). Therefore, with the help of new culture i.e. task (in Handy's model), employees are
organized within a team so that they all share their views in order to attain defined am. So,
working in a team assist staff members to gain new skill and enhance their competences which
in turn improve the workflow as well. Overall, with the help of this culture, employees develop
innovative ideas and this in turn boost their performance level too. Having this type of culture
within BT assist to build trust among employees and sustain the brand image at international
level as well. Hence, it leads to healthy workplace culture in which employees are align with
company's policies and tries to accomplish the defined goal as well.
c. Presenting the leadership style of CEO of BT
For the success of company most important thing which is required is effective
leadership. The leadership is the one which relates to stimulating other people to work in
effective way and attain objective of work (Bosse and et.al., 2017). There are different types of
leadership styles which can be followed by leaders and CEO in managing their business. in case
of CEO of BT Group, the use of situational leadership is being undertaken. The reason
underlying this fact is that situational leadership is the one which involves selecting a leadership
style which suits present condition. The major focus of this style of leadership is over situation.
This is pertaining to fact that it is not necessary that every situation in business is same and
hence, style of leader will depend on prevailing scenario.
In addition to this situational leadership states that there is no set pattern or best fit style
in order to solve the business situations. The selection of the leadership style or steps involved in
solving problem and managing employees depends on present circumstances only. Further this
style focuses on managing relationship between leader and follower in order complete a
common task in successful manner.
Along with this major reason for the selection of situational leadership CEO of BT
Group is that this provides more flexibility. The reason pertaining to this is that under this style
there is flexibility to select how the employees will be managed and will be directed towards the
attainment of goals of business. furthermore, another fact underlying selection of situational
leadership is that this creates a better and comfortable environment in business. This is
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pertaining to when situational leadership is used then leaders are more cordial and friendly and
this makes employees more comfortable working with leaders.
Further, leader of BT Group knows that how they have to deal with employees and their
problem and solve it in better manner. Hence, this motivates employees of BT Group to work in
more effective and efficiency manner (Wright, 2017). In addition to this when leader is more
free and relaxed then this increase team work as well. The reason underlying this fact is that
leader also involves themselves in working of team and this motivates other team members to
perform in effective and better manner.
The use of situational leadership enhances the organizational effectiveness to a great
extent. The main reason pertaining to this is that under this style of leadership leaders are more
flexible and in accordance to situation moulds themselves (Verma and Menezes, 2018). As a
result of this employees are more comfortable with working of leader and their regulations.
Along with this if employees are comfortable then this will result in increase in efficiency of
employees. This increase in efficiency of employee’s further result in overall development of
organization leading to overall improvement of company.
d. Analysing the effects of power, influence and conflicts at BT
Power
By using French and Raven's five form of power, it is analyzed that BT uses reward as a
power in which company raise, promote their employees in order to make them comfortable
within a business (French and Raven's five forms of power, 2021). This power also assist
employees to raise their performance to get reward. It is a kind of motivation factor that helps to
make their employees comfortable within an organization so that it sustain the brand image at
international level. Also, with the help of this power, company's leader implement the new
culture that assist to attain the define aim.
Influence
By using social influence model which stated that company use the quoted model to
navigate the shifts in people, process and focus when an organization must begin to operate in
different way than previously. Also, there are many sources of influence that affect the business
performance. In the context of BT, personal motivation and social motivation are considered
some of the common influence factors that affect the performance of employees (Benzer and
et.al., 2017). To meet the same, there is a need to implement different strategies that assist to
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raise the productivity and profitability. Also, effective motivation factors must be considered so
that they all gain support and take a business at further level of success.
Conflicts
In order to stay ahead in the competition, companies are trying to adopt new changes
which may lead to conflicts among employees. This in turn leads to create negative effect upon
workplace such that work disruption, decreased productivity and project failure. Therefore, it is
analyzed that the causes of workplace conflict can be any such that personality differences,
communication differences etc. So, if an organization do not solve the problem in an effective
manner, then most of the employees will leave the firm and this in turn affect performance level
as well.
Therefore, it is examined that power, influence and conflict affect the overall
performance of BT in positive manner, only when right type of power is used (Argyres, Rios and
Silverman, 2020). Also, to solve the conflicts among employees, company should implement
conflict management process which describe five ways to solve conflicts i.e. avoiding, defeating,
compromising, accommodating and collaborating. With the help of such methods, company is
able to meet the sustain the brand image at international level.
e. Types of motivation at BT Group
Motivation is described as an inner state of person which drives them to work towards
attaining some specific goals. In a company as well it is the duty of business to frequently
motivate its workforce so they perform in effective and required manner. For this BT Group
makes use of Adam Equity theory (Cheng and et.al., 2020). This is a theory which states that
there need to be a balance between the input of employees and the output which they get in
return. This theory is being used by BT Group as if employees of company are getting relevant
output as against their input then this means that employees are motivated. These input of
employees are their efforts, hard work, commitment, ability and loyalty towards company.
hence, if employees give so much of input and if they do not get something appropriate then this
demotivates employees. Hence, in accordance to this theory there need to equivalent output like
good pay, job security, responsibility and others.
In addition to this another major theory of motivation undertaken by BT Group is the
Maslow need hierarchy theory. This is being used by company in order to manage all need of
employees in such a manner that they feel motivated to work. This theory starts by fulfilling
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basic need and for this BT Group provide enough salary to its employees. Further comes safety
need and for this BT Group is providing job security to employees (The 5 levels of Maslow’s
hierarchy of needs, 2021). Thereafter, comes social needs and in order to fulfil this, BT Group
organizes some informal meeting so that employees are comfortable with one another. In last
comes self- esteem need and self- actualization need and for this time to time performance
management and appraisal are provided by BT Group to its employees.
Hence, in end it can be said that use of motivation theory is utmost important in order to
keep employees connected with company in positive manner.
f. Corporate examples
As per the views of Gopalan and et.al., (2017) BT Group makes use of Adam equity
theory for motivating the employees of company. This theory is being implement by company as
this involves both input and equivalent output to employees. Hence, this simply states that if
employees will provide good input then they will be getting similar output as compared to their
input. Thus, this is a good theory for motivation as this stimulates employees to provide better
input and against it get relevant output. In addition to this, it is also realized that with the help of
this theory, company is also able to enhance its brand image because employees put extra efforts
to attain the defined aim. Like, team are made to accomplish the goal in which members put
extra efforts and in return they get benefited from incentives.
On the other side Koenka (2020) states that Virgin group makes use of McClelland
theory of motivation in order to encourage employees to work in proper and effective manner.
This theory relates to the fact that there are three major factors which motivates employees to
work in better manner. These factors are based on power, affiliation and achievement and if
employees will get all these things then they will be motivated to work in better manner. This
theory is being used as this will motivate the employees in accordance with their requirement
like if person is motivated more with power then power will be provided to them.
g. Suggestion to enhance organization performance
In order to enhance the performance of BT, company can use below mentioned
techniques that assist to keep employees motivated and sustain the brand image of a firm as
well:
 Companies can use advance technology in order to improve the efficiency. As BT is deal
at telecommunication industry and that is why, using advance technology i.e. artificial
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intelligence and virtual reality will help the firm to enhance the performance in
competitive era (Koops and et.al., 2017).
 Organizations must implement training and development sessions in order to improve the
performance of employees. For that, BT may hire experts who conduct effective training
session by focusing upon both personal and professional skills so that it assist to enhance
capabilities among employees.
 It is further recommended to the company's leader that they may use situational
leadership style which in turn assist to make action accordingly. With the help of this
leadership style, leaders generate range of solutions which in turn assist to improve the
organization performance. Also, opting such style also helps to develop good
relationship between employees and employer, as a result, organization is able to
improve the brand image at international level.
 Moreover, it is also recommended to the firm to offer reward system in the form of
monetary and non-monetary benefits. This assist to motivate employees so that they
make extra efforts in order to attain the defined goals of a company. For instance,
promotion, incentives and bonus are considered some of the most common reward
system which firms usually applied, this is turn encourage employees to put extra efforts.
CONCLUSION
By summing up above report it has been concluded that organization theory assist to
determine pattern which in turn assist to solve problems. CEO of BT Group opt transformational
leadership style in order to identify the change and implemented the same. Also, five steps has
been taken by the leaders in order to bring about a change within an organization so that it attain
high performance. The quoted firm used task culture in which different team are prepared in
order to achieved the specific goals. Also, the leadership style of Philip Jansen is situational
leadership style that assist them to collect views from team members in order to generate the
best outcomes. Apart from this, study also concluded that the effect of power, influence and
conflict at firm's performance is positive as well as negative.
In addition to this, the cited firm also adopted different types of motivation theories such
that Adam Smith in which company ensures that there is a balance between input of employees
and output which they get in return. Whereas, with the help of Maslow Hierarchical theory,
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company make sure that they meet the basic need of their employees so that they remain
motivated which is followed by Virgin Group. Overall, the assessment reflected that to run a
business at smooth manner, it is necessary to motivate employees so that they improve their
performance.
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