Organisational Culture at Tesco: A Comprehensive Report

This report provides an in-depth analysis of Tesco's organisational behaviour, focusing on its culture, employee motivation, and communication strategies. It begins with an introduction to organisational behaviour and its relevance to Tesco, a major player in the retail industry. The report then delves into Tesco's current organisational culture, identifying its key components and aligning it with Charles Handy's model. Furthermore, it examines the impact of this culture on organisational effectiveness, particularly through the lens of the Shannon and Weaver model of communication. The role of culture in motivating employees is also explored, along with a discussion of how Tesco can leverage its culture to achieve further success. The analysis incorporates both primary and secondary research, drawing on models and theories to support its findings. Overall, the report offers a comprehensive understanding of Tesco's organisational dynamics and provides insights into its strengths and areas for potential improvement.

ORGANISATIONAL
BEHAVIOUR

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY ..................................................................................................................................1
Culture in line with a theoretical model.......................................................................................1
Impact on organizational effectiveness with focus on communication.......................................4
Role of culture in employees motivation....................................................................................5
Use of culture for further success of organization.......................................................................6
CONCLUSION ...............................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................7

INTRODUCTION
Organisational behaviour refers to a process of determining the of the workers of the
company well as it is also related with the study of the type of culture firm is following. So that,
the employees of the organization will remain happy and perform their work for the growth and
success of the company. The following Report will be based on Tesco. The company belongs to
retail industry(Bull, R. and et.al., 2015). It was founded in year 1919 in England, UK. The
founder of Tesco is Jack Cohen. The company operates in different countries such as United
Kingdom, Thailand etc. Tesco offers a wide range of products in its Supermarkets, Convenience
shops, Hypermarkets etc. The Report will outline the present culture of the organization with the
help of primary research, and model of the culture. Further, the Report will analyses the theories
of the culture such as Handy's model and model for communication process that is followed by
all the workers in Tesco, theories of motivation etc. All the models and theories that are used in
the firm is identified with the help of secondary research.
MAIN BODY
Culture in line with a theoretical model.
Culture-
 The term culture refers to the combination of various attitudes, behavior, etiquette of the
employees and the culture is prevalent in the community. The organization culture is
comprised of the various types of habits, preferences, cultural, and some other factors
also. All these factors are presented in the working procedure of Tesco.
 There are various components of the culture of the organization. They are as follows-
 Thinking- Every individual have to think about the work then, they should perform the
work. The principle of thinking is properly followed in Tesco. Example- before
innovating any new product, Tesco will think firstly regarding the positive and negative
impact on the organization.
 Doing- It means, implementing the thinking or ideas into reality. Just thinking is not
enough, the company should make efforts for directing and motivating the employees. So
that, they will work to convert the ideas into reality.
Handy's model of organization culture-
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Charles Handy has provided a model that has described four types of culture in an organization.
Power Culture- In case of power culture, only few peoples of the organization is having the
power of decision-making. In this type of culture there are some rules and regulation that
controls the activities of all the functions of the employees of the company. This type of culture
is considered as a strong culture. Power culture helps in taking decisions in fast manner.
Role Culture- The role culture of the organization is dependent on the rules and regulations.
Under this culture, the role and responsibilities of the employees is clearly defined. The authority
will depend on the position of the workers in the organization.
Task Culture- This culture is followed when teams are prepared for performing a particular
task. This culture is determined on the basis of team dynamics. Team will have their own
objectives.
Person Culture- According to this culture, the employees are unique part of the organization.
According to this, employees work for the success of organization. All the employees of the
company follows individual culture.
 Culture of the company-
 The organizational culture of Tesco helps to promote the innovation and creativity in the
work performance of the employees. The organizational culture of the company helps to
promote cordial relationship between employees and employer of the company to
maintain harmony among the workers. Example- The culture of Tesco promotes
transparency in communication between the employees(Chumg, H. F. and et.al.,2016).
 To promote the better environment at workplace, company is making efforts to provide
better facilities to the team members. So that, they will be motivated to work in the
company.
 Tesco promotes task culture in the company. Example- Company motivates the
employees to work in a team so that, it will promote the transparency in process of
communication(Zhu, 2015).
SECONDARY RESEARCH
Theories of organizational culture-
Organizational culture: It refers to a combination of attitudes, assumptions, beliefs of
the people that are living in the communities. The culture represents the type of behavior of the
individuals that are a part of the society. Organization culture represents the way in which all the
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peoples that are working in the company performs their task and job. Organization culture is
followed by an organization in its internal environment.
Task culture- Task culture refers to the culture that is followed by all the members of the
team of an organization. The culture that is followed by Tesco may be different with the culture
that is being followed in the whole team. The reason behind the difference is that, organization
culture is applicable to whole company but, the culture of team is implied only to the team
members. Tesco follows task culture to solve a particular problem. The effectiveness of team
work in Tesco depends on the dynamics of team.
Individual Culture- Individual culture refers to the personal beliefs, values and norms that are
being followed by the individuals. Individual culture helps to achieve individual goals and
objectives.
In relation with primary research-
Identification of culture of Tesco -
 After conducting the primary research, it has been analyses that Tesco is using task
culture in the organization. Tesco focuses on task culture because, the performance of the
employees is better as compared with the individual performance(Brough, Chataway, S.
and Biggs, 2016).
 According to task culture, the workers can better understand the task when they work
with other team members and it also helps to improve the level of productivity of the
employees of Tesco.
Theory or model of communication-
 Communication- It refers to the medium through which all the types of information is
send by the sender to the receiver. Shannon and Weaver is one of the common theory or
model of communication. Tesco follows this theory for effective communication at all
the levels.
 Shannon and Weaver model or theory has described 5 elements of the process of
communication. The 5 elements are sender, receiver, message, noise and medium etc.
This model can be used to improve the effectiveness of decision making in Tesco.
Impact on organisational effectiveness with focus on communication.
 The process of communication as described by Shannon and Weaver model is highly
effective in improving the performance of Tesco. Tesco follows proper channel of
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communication such as scalar chain of communication in which the supervisors of Tesco
provides all the relevant information to the workers that are working at different levels of
the organization.
 The model helps to improve the transparency in the process of communication in Tesco is
highly effective in improving the level of confidence of the employees. By implementing
this model Tesco Plc maintain their culture and improve effective communication by
improving transparency.
 The Shannon and Weaver model or theory of communication that is followed in Tesco
helps the employees of the company to share all the necessary information to other
employees as well as top and middle level management of the organization. It also results
in better decision making of all the peoples that are working in Tesco(Bakotić, 2016).
Tesco implement this theory or model in order to communicate and shares all the data
and information to its employees and customers for resolving problems that occurs due to
misunderstanding.
 The communication process of Tesco helps to resolve any type of problems or queries of
the employees that are occurring during the process of performing the work at the
workplace in the organization.
 Shannon and Weaver model helps to promote a healthy culture in Tesco.
 Clarity in the process of communication in the company helps to clearly communicate the
expectations of the employer regarding the performance of the employees to the workers
that are working in the company.
 Effective communication plays an important role in the development of new products of
Tesco. It is also beneficial to promote relationship of the company with the organization,
also helps the human resource department of the company in effective human resource
management.
 Effective communication helps to improve trust and loyalty of the employees as well as
of the customers. Transparency in the channel of communication of company helps to
promote ideas and innovation in the process of production and distribution of products or
services.
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 Shannon and Weaver model is highly effective because it helps to create a culture that
will helps to motivate the employees of Tesco to perform better. As a result it will
increase the level of job satisfaction of employees.
There are some aspects and concepts of Shannon Weaver model which make Tesco Plc able to
communicate effectively and shares all the information among its employees without creating
problems and disruption. Culture plays an important role in shaping the style of communication.
People and employees reach the way and how the employer speak rather than what they say, so it
is important to maintain culture in order to gain advantage related communication.
Sender: Sender in communication model and process is the one who sends and makes
messages chooses the best channel for sending the message. It plays an important role in Tesco
as the sender gives all the necessary information to employees and customers that prevent them
from misunderstanding and develop culture.
Encoder: Encoder is also known as sender who uses machines which coverts that
messages into signals & binary data.
Channel: Channel refers the mode and medium that is being used to send message.
Tesco Plc uses the best mode of for communicating and sharing views and information among
all the employees.
Decoder: Decoder is the machine that are being used to convert signals into message or
the receiver who translate encoder and message from signals.
Receiver: Receiver is the one and an individual who receive the message or the place
where the message need to be reach. Receiver is the final stage and a person in this model who
receive the information and message such as customers and employees of Tesco Plc.
Noise: Noise is called the physical disruption who puts barrier in communication process
like people, environment etc.
With the help of this model and this implementation, this company can easily maintain proper
culture and continuous improvement.
Role of culture in employees motivation.
Organizational culture plays an important role in an organization in order to know that how
employees and people feel about the job. Organizational culture impacts on the performance and
working operation of the company as its beliefs, norms and behaviors help the manager of an
organization in retaining their employees and motivating them for the long run.
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From the secondary research it has analyzed and found that Tesco follows hierarchical
organizational structure and culture is very strong as it has experience and potential to gain a
competitive advantage & also to attract a wide range of customers’ towards their products and
services (Elsmore, 2017). The theory and model which Tesco Plc follows and use is culture web
theory that helps them in considering the cultural context for their business. When Tesco started
out its business it had a culture of being a company of cheep affordable price. The main aim of
having this culture is to be able to pile its products high and sell it cheep. Now company has
introduced quality into its products. It is now focusing on changing its culture for becoming a
one stop shop and for more motivating its employees.
From the books and journals it has researched and identified that there are various
characteristics of Tesco of having the culture that contribute in motivating employees includes:
Works with integrity: Tesco main aim and focus is to conduct its all the operations with
integrity and also with the respect for the people. It is the corporate responsibility of this
company for motivating employees.
Continuous commitment: The other focus of this company is it is committed with
continuously improving its way of managing and doing all the activities for working towards its
long term goals in order to develop a sustainable business (Laforet, 2016).
Work with others: Its culture help and impact on employees’ behavior towards the
higher performance as it focus on working with other rather than working separately and
individually. It works with its suppliers who possess the same values. It improves and increases
relationship with its suppliers, customers and other people. Its business partner code is aligned to
its code of business principles, integrity and responsibilities related to its employees and
environment (Zhu, 2015).
It makes able itself to take competitive advantages by using the motivational theory and
model. The best model and theory which this supermarket and company use is Herzberg’s 2
factor theories that have mainly 2 factors such as motivating factors and hygiene factors. There
is a relationship between organizational culture of Tesco and this Herzberg’s motivational
theory. The main aim of adopting this theory by Tesco is they can better motivate their
employees by adopting this theory. This theory has 2 factors that help this company such as
hygiene factors and motivators. Both hygiene and motivation factors defined are as follow:
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Motivators: Motivation factors include all those factors that increase employee’s job
satisfaction like recognition, responsibilities, growth, achievement etc. It helps Tesco in
improving and maintaining culture and environment. It also decrease the labor turnover. All
factors and motivators help Tesco in encouraging their employees to work harder.
Achievement: Every employee want a job that can give them a sense of achievement.
This give employees a proud feeling of having done something with effectively. Manger of
Tesco, praise and recognize their employees for their better performance. It motivates and make
them feel respected that decrease labor turnover. It directly impacts on making an effective
organizational culture.
Recognition: It is very important for the manager of company to praise and recognize of
their employees in front of other employees as every employee want to be recognize for their
success. It also motivate their employees which helps them in improving relationship that is also
good for improving the better culture.
Hygiene factors: Hygiene factors includes improved relationship, salary, security,
working conditions etc It also helps them in increasing employees’ job satisfaction as all the
employees have different needs so it provides these benefits accordingly (Güss and Dörner,
2017). These factors do not encourage employees to work harder but if these factors are not
present and not given to employees then employees become demotivated and do not work
productively.
Use of culture for further success of organization.
The culture of the company has been changes as it is full of beliefs, business standards and
ethics that motivate and enhance its success (Daniel, 2017). There are some theories of
organizational culture that Tesco Plc uses in order to enhance its success and profitability.
Communication also plays a vital role in increasing and developing employees for business
success. From the secondary research it has analyzed and identified that Tesco Plc follows the
best motivation and communication theory which makes it able to increase its sales and
profitability. With the help of social responsibility theory of communication, this company
allows everyone and employees of its company to express their opinion and feelings about the
business and employers as what they think about the company. They also have freedom and
opportunity to give suggestions to the company about decision making process and the changes
which they want to make for the betterment of the business.
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From the secondary research it has also been found out that organizational culture have
impact to a great extent on its performance and employees in order to achieve its determined
organizational goals. Tesco plc brand identity differ from other companies’ and super markets in
UK. With the help of Schein culture theory has mainly 3 different levels that helps them in
fulfilling all the needs and demands of employees with the main objective of being in a
competition and become a market leader (Cooper, 2015). Three levels of this theory are
Artifacts, espoused values and basic underlying assumptions. This theory is also known as onion
model theory because it is based on different 3 layers. This model states that outer layer is easy
for them to adapt, whereas, outer layer is difficult and become harder to adjust it. Artifacts layer
consists of some elements of the company such as structure, logos etc. It is visible to the external
parties as well as employees. Espoused values concerned with values, standard, objectives and
philosophies. There are various importance of culture as it has various characteristic that help
them in enhancing Tesco growth includes:
Organizational culture of Tesco Plc attracts new and skilled talent. In Well established
culture, employees naturally seek them out and want to job within this type of organization. It is
worth because all the employees know their worth. Employees have different types of needs as
some employees do not want more salaries as they seek the best working environment, office
culture, and way of treating because they want to stay on the same organization for the long run.
an effective organizational culture also help in retaining skilled employees which directly
impacts on the overall cost and profitability of the company. Employees retention and company
culture have a kind of self sustaining relationship. The stronger the culture of an organisation, the
less likely their employees to leave (Lichtenberg, Lachmann and Fosshage, 2016). It also has
analyzed from the secondary research that Tesco Plc culture encourage passion and differentiate
their brand identity. It is the main reason which make Tesco plc brand identity differ from other
companies’ and super markets in UK.
CONCLUSION
The above Report has provided a clear information and analysis of the organization behavior.
The Report has outlined that the behavior of employees and of the organization plays an
important role in growth and success of the organization. The Report has also described the term
organization behavior as the field that helps to study the affect of any type of change in the
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organization on the attitude or behavior of the workers in respect of working in the company.
The Report has also described the various elements of culture and the team culture that is being
followed in Tesco. Further, the Report has presented the use of questionnaire to better understand
the culture of Tesco, also help to know the point of view of the workers that are working in the
company. Further, the Report has explained different types of theories in respect of culture,
motivation and communication with the help of secondary research.
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REFERENCES
Books and journals
Bakotić, D., 2016. Relationship between job satisfaction and organisational
performance. Economic research-Ekonomska istraživanja. 29(1). pp.118-130.
Bester, J., Stander, M. W. and Van Zyl, L. E., 2015. Leadership empowering behaviour,
psychological empowerment, organisational citizenship behaviours and turnover
intention in a manufacturing division. SA Journal of Industrial Psychology. 41(1). pp.1-
14.
Brough, P., Chataway, S. and Biggs, A., 2016. ‘You don’t want people knowing you’re a
copper!’A contemporary assessment of police organisational culture. International
Journal of Police Science & Management. 18(1). pp.28-36.
Bull, R. and et.al., 2015. Moving beyond feedback: Energy behaviour and local engagement in
the United Kingdom. Energy Research & Social Science. 8. pp.32-40.
Chumg, H. F. and et.al., 2016. Factors affecting employees' knowledge-sharing behaviour in the
virtual organisation from the perspectives of well-being and organisational
behaviour. Computers in Human Behavior. 64. pp.432-448.
Coccia, M., 2015. Structure and organisational behaviour of public research institutions under
unstable growth of human resources. Coccia, M.(2014)‘Structure and organisational
behaviour of public research institutions under unstable growth of human resources’,
Int. J. Services Technology and Management. 20(4/5). p.6.
Elsmore, P., 2017. Organisational Culture: Organisational Change?: Organisational Change?.
Routledge.
Güss, C.D. and Dörner, D., 2017. The importance of motivation and emotion for explaining
human cognition. The Behavioral and brain sciences, 40.pp.e267-e267.
Laforet, S., 2016. Effects of organisational culture on organisational innovation performance in
family firms. Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development. 23(2). pp.379-407.
Zhu, C., 2015. Organisational culture and technology-enhanced innovation in higher
education. Technology, Pedagogy and Education.24(1).pp.65-79.
Online-
Shannon Weaver model .2017. [Online] Available Through :
<https://www.businesstopia.net/communication/shannon-and-weaver-model-communication>
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