Edexcel BTEC Level 7: Organizational Behavior Report Analysis

This report examines organizational behavior within different organizational structures and cultures, including multinational companies, government agencies, and those promoting flexible working conditions. It compares centralized and decentralized structures, and product-based and functional structures, analyzing their impact on employee behavior and organizational performance. The report further explores leadership styles such as transformational, situational, and autocratic approaches. Additionally, it discusses the influence of organizational theory, including scientific management and human relations, on management practices, covering managerial roles, authority, and delegation. Finally, the report evaluates various approaches to management, such as the human behavior, social system, and decision theory approaches, providing a comprehensive overview of the subject matter.

Organizational behavior

Introduction
Organization behavior is regarded as the study of both group and individual performance and activity within in an
organization.
Internal and external are two major perspectives through which organizational behavior can be comprehended.

Task 1
a) Compare different organizational structures and
cultures
I) A multi- national company
 Associated British Foods plc is a British multinational food processing
and retaining company.
 In terms of organizational structure, different departments have been
made which manages different functions and in which employees are
authorized to perform different activities as per their job roles.

ii) A government agency or department
 The Government Communications Headquarters is a British
intelligence and security organization.
 It provides signals intelligence and information assurance.
 The organization has been following centralized structure.

iii) Organization that encourages flexible working
 Tesco is a large multi-national organization and it has been working in
UK from past many years.
 In terms of organizational culture, Tesco is one such entity that has
flexible working conditions.

Contd..
 Centralized structure is the one in which only top authority can direct other
people and lower management is not involved in organizational decision making
processes.
 However, on the other hand, in decentralized structure, management gets opinion
from the subordinates as well and those people are also involved in decision
making process.

Contd..
 Product based structure is being followed up at Innov8 where in work processes are
divided into different levels as per the product categories and divisions.
 Functional structure is the one in which operations of the organization are divided as
per the operations and each and every department is entitled to manage their own
functions.

b) Explain how the relationship of organizational structure and culture can impact on
performance of organization
I) Centralized structure with power culture
Centralized structure does not allow the employees to present their views and opinions in decision
making process because the flow of authority goes from top authority to down authority.
At the same time, when power culture is followed up at the organization, employees do not get the
opportunity to participate in decision making process.
This impacts the behavioral aspects of employees and as a result, the overall impact can be seen in
performance of the organization.

Contd.
As per the cultural and structural aspect, employees are not able to communicate with others without authority;
therefore it changes the way of working and it also affects employee motivation level.
At the same time, the organization gets benefit from this since they are able to maintain disciplinary aspects among the
employees and organizational work processes.

ii) Decentralized structure with culture of trust, support and effective delegation
 Culture of trust, support and effective delegation is essential in an organization
because that assists the employees to communicate properly within all the
departments.
 Decentralized structure allows the employees to participate in decision making
process.

iii) Product based structure with task culture as in Innov8
At Innov8, product based structure has been followed.
As per the structural and cultural aspects, employees at Innov8
are allowed to communicate in all the departments.

c) Discuss the factors which influence individual behavior at work
Behavioral problems
Work environment
Conflict management

Contd..
Attitude of employees
Organizational policies and procedures

Discuss the factors which influence individual behavior at work
Motivation level
Ability to manage different work processes
Personality and Pay
Stress from work changes
Attitude of employees

Task 2
a) Compare the effectiveness of three leadership styles
Transformational and Situational style:
 Transformational leaders typically emphasizes on personal traits of vision and inspiration.
 In transformational leadership style, vision is critical because employees are more comfortable.
 The board of directors of Innov8 uses situational leadership style because they think that no
particular style is effective.

Contd..
Autocratic leadership style
 The subsequent leadership style has been followed up at Innov8 among the CEO
and other officers and this allows them to direct other people towards work
processes.
Opportunist leader
 An opportunist leader attempts to look like a visionary when they are not actually
receiving direct vision.
 Opportunist leaders are also called as creative and innovative leaders.

b) Explain how organizational theory underpins the practice of management
I) Scientific management versus human relations approach
 Scientific management emphasizes on efficiency productivity by motivating workers
with monetary rewards and benefits.
 The approach uses incentives to motivate workers which encourages employees
towards better productivity and efficiency.
 On the other hand, Human relation approach emphasizes on motivation of workers by
both financial and non financial rewards.

ii) Managerial roles (interpersonal, informational and decisional) and
their influence on management practice
 Managers must consider their roles and responsibilities in every situation so that the practices of organization can
be conducted in adequate way.
 In order to delegate duties and responsibilities, it is essential for the managers to identify specifications of all the
employees so that defined targets can be acquired.

iii) Managerial authority (power, authority, responsibilities, delegation and conflict)
 Managers must provide adequate authorities to all the subordinates so that the specific goals can be acquired within
the time period.
 There should be suitable conflict management system in the organization so that issues related to employee
disputes can be managed.
 This is vital so that performance of the organization may not get hampered.

Proper delegation of duties and job roles helps the employees to underpin the practices of management.

c) Evaluate different approaches to management used by the
organizations
Human behavior approach:
 It understands the value of human relations and the approach also emphasizes on
greater productivity through motivation and good human relations.
 However, on the other hand, it treats management as equivalent to human
behavior.
Social System approach:
 Social system approach is a combination of cultural relationship between external
and internal environment of the organization.
 Social system also believes in developing harmony among organizational goals
and team goals.

Contd..
Decision theory approach:
 Management of an organization becomes the central focus in the decision making aspects.
 The approach also aims to increase the quality of organizational decisions through emphasizing on
organizational efficacy and effectiveness.

References
Iqbal, T., 2011. The Impact of Leadership Styles on Organizational Effectiveness: Analytical Study of Selected
Organizations in IT Sector in Karachi. GRIN Verlag.
Jex, M. S., 2002. Organizational Psychology: A Scientist-Practitioner Approach. John Wiley & Sons.
Jones, S., and Scott, J. G., 2011. Changing business culture: theory and practice in typical emerging markets.
Emerging Markets Case Studies Collection, 10(4).
Pfister, A. J., 2009. Managing Organizational Culture for Effective Internal Control: From Practice to Theory.
Springer Science & Business Media.