Evaluating Organisational Behaviour Theories within Ryanair's Context

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ORGANISATION BEHAVIOUR - COPY 2
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Executive summary
The study has analysed the type of organisational behaviour that exists in Ryanair.
Cultural aspects and politics as well as power’s influence on individual and team
behaviour have been examined in the study. Motivational techniques and content and
process theories of motivation have also been discussed in detail. For this Maslow’s
hierarchy need theory, expectancy theory, equity theories have been discussed in
detail. Effective cooperation within teams has been evaluated with the help of Belbin
and Tuckman theory of team development. Theories and concepts of organizational
behaviour have also been examined. Use of situational leadership as well as Belbin role
theory has been recommended.
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Table of Contents
Introduction...................................................................................................................... 4
LO1: Organisational culture, politics and power...............................................................4
P1: Culture, politics and power’s influence on individual and team behaviour..............4
M1: Critical analysis of influence of culture, politics and power....................................5
Task 2.............................................................................................................................. 6
LO2: Motivation of team and individuals.......................................................................6
P2: Motivational techniques and content and process theories of motivation...............6
M2: Critical evaluation of the application of behavioural motivational theories.............9
D1: Critical evaluation of the relationship between culture, politics, power and
motivation................................................................................................................... 10
Task 3............................................................................................................................ 10
LO3: Effective cooperation within teams......................................................................10
P3: Making of an effective team..................................................................................10
M3: Analysis of team and group development theories..............................................12
LO4: Theories and concepts of organizational behaviour..............................................12
P4: Application of concepts and philosophies of organizational behaviour.................12
M4: Evaluation of philosophies and concepts of OB that influence behaviour in both
positive and negative way...........................................................................................13
D2: Analysis and evaluation of team development theories.......................................14
Conclusion and recommendation...................................................................................14
Reference list................................................................................................................. 15
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Introduction
Organisational behaviour is a concept that helps in identifying the type of culture,
motivational parameters and the type of power an organisation has applied. The study
helps in providing an in depth analysis of culture, power, politics and motivation
techniques being applied in Ryanair. The study has provided an analysis of the
relationship that exists between culture, motivation, power and politics in the
organisational context of Ryanair. Discussion about team and group development
theories has also been done in the study. The problem statement of the study is to
evaluate organisational behaviour theories and its application in an organisational
context.
LO1: Organisational culture, politics and power
P1: Culture, politics and power’s influence on individual and team behaviour
The organisational culture should propagate the idea of shared beliefs and good
practices in a company. A positive corporate culture which works as a collaborative
team can work towards the benefit of the company as a whole and can achieve tougher
goals. On contrary a toxic environment in an organisation will result into highly unhappy
groups and self serving employees without morality. Hoffstede’s theory of organisational
culture and politics has been utilized by this company to understand association among
aforementioned parameters.
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Figure 1: Hoffstede’s Organisational Culture Model
(Source: Influenced by Fellows et al. 2016: 246)
Referring to the above diagram hierarchy of an organisational culture model can be
evaluated. A positive relationship among all the employees of the organisation comes
from individual values which lead to a set of rituals. These rituals make an organisation
a better place to work in, to socialize with and also work as a collaborative unit. Heroes
are the set of employees who are always looking for better opportunities for achieving
new heights (Fellows et al. 2016: 246). These set of individuals in turn motivate others
by achieving better prospects under the organisation. Cultural ethics nurtures certain set
of signs and symbols which when practiced can work wonders to show that gestures
help in development of the environment of a particular organisation. The organisation
culture is described as organisation’s identity and its representatives showcase its
norms and values. Leadership comes from motivation by the correct person and both
compliments each other. Motivation helps an individual to work hard for accomplishing
their goals. Understanding the basic needs of an employee helps in achieving good
leadership qualities and makes the decision making process further less complicated
(Chumg et al. 2016: 432). The leader needs to inculcate the right form of ethics to
motivate a particular employee. Job security and job satisfaction are essentials for
motivating a particular employee, these are the self fulfilment needs which at first needs
to be addressed by a particular company to bring out the best from an employee (Lau et
al. 2017: 20-26). Other important factors such as prestige, feeling of accomplishment,
physiological safety and feeling of a social well being needs to be understood.
M1: Critical analysis of influence of culture, politics and power
Autocratic practice of leadership style with very little inputs from employees is a cause
of concern. In this the leader firmly believes in supervising their employees’ leads to
demotivation among employees. This type of sheer dictatorial command is very harmful
and should not be considered. Fellows et al. (2016: 246) comment the company should
have a participatory style of leadership where employees should be treated as
invaluable assets. Transference of power and responsibility from leaders and passing it
to the lower level subordinates may also lead to a loss of control and the maximum
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effort of the employees may not become a proper fruitful outcome (Lau et al. 2017: 20).
Transactional style of leadership believes on rewarding a particular employee based on
his performance, on contrary the same employee will be punished due to poor
performances.
Task 2
LO2: Motivation of team and individuals
P2: Motivational techniques and content and process theories of motivation
In order to understand the employee motivation level in case of Ryanair, content
theories and process theories of motivation have been discussed below;
Content theories of motivation
Maslow’s hierarchy theory of needs
The Theory of Maslow Hierarchy Needs is rightfully applicable in case of Ryanair. It
has been seen that staff management of Ryanair has never been reportedly found to be
effective. Due to more focus on the company’s cost effectiveness, cuts and reduction in
remuneration have been found to affect employee motivation (Ahmed et al. 2019:44).
The basic physiological needs of employees are not met by Ryanair’s management
(corporate.ryanair.com, 2019). On the other hand it has been seen that Ryanair’s
organisational culture as well as the structure does not help in improving communication
with staff. Thus large number of needs of the employees remains unheard. In addition to
this the need to get acknowledgement or esteem needs of employees are not fulfilled.
This because there is no proper feedback system in Ryanair or appraisal of
performances of workers is not conducted on regular basis (Caputo & Borbely,
2016:99). Thus it can be said that the number of strikes and protests from employees
can be reduced if Maslow’s hierarchical needs theory is applied. In spite of the
proposed organizational structure change, it has been seen that more focus has been
put to improve costs structure and operations (corporate.ryanair.com, 2019). Hence a
proper management for employees should be set up. This would help in assessing their
needs, companies as well as would be responsible to assess their performance on a
timely basis.
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Figure 2: Maslow’s hierarchy theory of needs
(Source: Influenced by Carayon et al. 2015:548)
McClelland's need for achievement, affiliation and power
In case of Ryanair it has been observed that employees do not feel motivated as the
main drivers such affiliation, power and achievement is missing. Their performance has
declined leading to lack of customer satisfaction rate in the recent years. Since the
employees are not appraised properly thus they lack the sense of achievement and
affiliation. Lack of recognition of work in Ryanair has made employees feel less
motivated to work in contribution of the organisation. This has led to poor quality service
also and hence customers are feeling unsatisfied. In response to the problem
organization can introduce performance appraisal and rewarding system (Corfield &
Paton, 2016:88). Moreover a regular system of promotion and increment should be
involved.
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Figure 3: McClelland's need for achievement, affiliation and power
(Source: Influenced by Fellows & Liu, 2016:246)
Process theories of motivation
Expectancy theory
In case of expectancy theory, Ryanair’s employee motivation can be examined. This is
because, the employees of Ryanair expect at least that the firm would hear their
demands on a timely basis and would provide with feedback within time (Peters,
2015:74). The organisation also cuts down their remuneration and does not pay them
on time. Hence employees expect all these from the organisation. Therefore it can be
said that improvement in these areas of concern would help in increasing employees’
motivation level.
Equity theory
In terms of equity theory of motivation, it has been seen that there is no equality being
observed in context of Ryanair. This has been so because the company discuss more
on the cost effectiveness and hence it aims to improve customers’ satisfaction by
offering them services at low rate (Lăzăroiu, 2015:97). It also focused on its operations
more, thus employees are left out. This type of inequality that exists in Ryanair makes
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the workers feel less motivated. Therefore the organisational structure should be
divided on such a boss that one department looks after the human resources employed
and their needs.
M2: Critical evaluation of the application of behavioural motivational theories
Use of various motivational theories would help in meeting the objective of increasing
employee motivation to a large extent. It has been seen that if the management of
Ryanair takes into account the basic, physiological and esteem needs of the employees
then their performance can be impacted as well as behaviours in an organisational
setting can be improved. As per the opinion of Chumg et al. (2016:432), Maslow's
hierarchy need theory is helpful in these aspects. Under this improvement in
remuneration structure, performance appraisal can be taken into account. If the basic
needs of employees would be fulfilled then they would feel motivated to achieve more
and enhance their performance. It helps in increasing the quality of services to large
extent. However it can be said that application of Maslow’s needs theory is insufficient
and applying measures under this would not help in meeting achievement, affiliation
and the need for power. Therefore use of McClelland's need for achievement, affiliation
and power theory can help in increasing the motivation level and would help; the
employees feel the need to put their efforts so that their expectation to get recognised
and rewarded can be met. On the contrary Lau et al. (2017:20) opined that employees
have different expectation from the organisation and different things motivate
employees. Therefore in this case expectancy theory can also be used. With the help
of proper feedback system Ryanair can understand different opinions of employees and
employee motivational techniques as per the needs. However it has been seen that of
employees see any form of inequality in terms of resources then the expectancy theory
application would not be useful. In this case the company should make information,
facilities and other things accessible to all.
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D1: Critical evaluation of the relationship between culture, politics, power and
motivation
There exists a complex relationship between culture, politics, power and motivation. In
case of Ryanair it has been reportedly known that the organisational culture is not good
and macho style of power is followed (Dello Russo et al. 2017:769). This has made the
employees experience a cold behaviour from their seniors’ managers to large extent.
Thus they feel less motivated to work in such organisational setting. On the other hand
the organisational setting does not offer high remuneration, promotion, rewards and a
sense of affiliation is missing. Hence employees of Ryanair have been demotivated for
long. It can be inferred that in case of Ryanair there is an existence of direct form of
relationship between all the four elements of organizational behaviours.
Task 3
LO3: Effective cooperation within teams
P3: Making of an effective team
Different types of teams
There are different types of team that Ryanair can form in case of its proposed
organisational structure change. These have been identified to be project, functional,
virtual teams and problem solving.
Project team
In case of Ryanair, it has been observed that the organisation wants to dedicate small
team for all its four subsidiaries hence team of different project should be built. This
would help in dedicating efforts to a particular form of project such as cost reduction,
energy efficiency or meeting customer needs (Heizmann & Olsson, 2015:756).
Functional team
Functional team development in case of Ryanair would help in achieving the
effectiveness across various functions (Amin, 2017:59). These functions would be
regarding financial management, cost management, marketing department and
research and development. The interlinkage between the functions would ensure that
objectives of the company are nein met with great coordination.
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Virtual teams
Virtual teams across all subsidiaries should be employed by Ryanair as part of their
change in corporate structure. This would help in achieving deadlines and management
if any issues form places flexible for employees. They can work for many location at
their flexibility and handle everything minutely.
Problem solving team
Building a problem solving team, would help Ryanair to achieve cost effectiveness or
economies of scale through other measures. Since problem solving team is dedicated
to use cognitive skills and logical skills to solve complex problems (Madar, 2018:95).
Hence the problem of excessive reduction on employees’ remuneration can also be
solved.
Team development theories applicability
Team development theories that have been found to be of relevance in case of
Ryanair’s organisational structure change are Belbin, Tuckman and Jensen theory of
team development.
Belbin team types
In context of Belbin team types, use of people oriented roles would be more effective.
This is because; there are lot of problems related to staffing and employee
management. Using this aspect of Belbin team development theory, more number of
coordinator, team worker and resource investigators can be employed for each and
every department or group (Lau et al. 2017:20). Use of action oriented and thought
oriented roles are required less in the company is currently the firm requires more
attention to human resources working within Ryanair.
Tuckman theory of team development and Jensen group development models
Tuckman theory of team development and Jensen group development models can be
sued to make the group or team more effective. The Stages of formation of an effective
team have been found out to be forming, storming, norming, performing and adjourning.
These stages would be required to be followed step wise as the structural change would
be exposed to lot of complexities. Under forming stage team mates would be introduced
to each other, storming stage would involve agreements and disagreements over
matters related to strategies. This stage would then be followed by norming where each
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team member would be assigned with a role that bests suits their skills and all forms of
conflict would be thus managed. Every team development involves such steps which in
turn makes them accustomed to sticking to organisational objectives rather than getting
carried forward to internal conflicts.
M3: Analysis of team and group development theories
In order to develop an effective team, and in order to maintain higher rate of cooperation
between the team members, Belbin role theory model should be used. This has been
identified to be of more use in place of Jensen or Tuckman group development model in
the context of Ryanair. This is because in case of Ryanair, there is no proper
management to handle staff problems, and give them a feedback in relation to their
performance. On the other hand it has been seen that Ryanair puts more four on
operations and costs departments. Therefore employing a people based roles would
help in addressing the problems of employees effectively (Madar, 2018:95). On the
other hand it has been seen that action oriented roles and thought oriented roles could
also be used for developing teams. Such team that are action oriented and tight
oriented would help in coming up with strategies that would improve the customers
satisfaction rate.
LO4: Theories and concepts of organizational behaviour
P4: Application of concepts and philosophies of organizational behaviour
It has been seen that to apply effective management in an organizational culture,
aspects such as leadership style, assessment of characteristics of employees and
others are required to be evaluated.
Path-goal theory
Path goal theory helps in understanding the type of leadership style the management
would adopt to help employees perform effectively and efficiently. It has been seen that
as per path goal theory Ryanair should first assess the characteristic if the business
requirement it operates. This would involve intensity of operations, requirement to meet
customer demands as well as intensity of competition it faces. On the other hand, it
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