Analysis of Organisational Culture, Power, and Behaviour at TESCO

This report examines the organisational culture and power dynamics within TESCO, a major UK retail organization. It applies Handy's Model of Organisational Culture to analyze the influence of power, role, task, and person cultures on company behavior and performance, concluding that role culture is the most favorable for TESCO. The report further explores the five sources of power – legitimate, expert, and coercive – as defined by Raven and French, and how they impact team performance and individual behavior. The analysis emphasizes how culture, politics, and power shape employee behavior, and evaluates how motivational techniques enable effective goal achievement within TESCO. This report provides a comprehensive overview of the internal dynamics influencing TESCO's operational effectiveness and employee relations.

Organizational Behavior
Introduction
Organisational Behaviour refers to the study which undertakes the behaviour
of individuals working in an business setting. Such studies help organisation
to grow in an effective way. It helps companies in applying scientific
approach to manage their workforce. The following report is based on
TESCO Plc, which is one of the biggest retail organisation in the UK. The
agenda of this report is to analyse how team performance and behaviour is
influenced by organisations culture, politics and power and evaluation of
how content and process theories of motivational techniques enable effective
achievement of goals in TESCO.
Culture, politics and power influence individual and team behaviour
ORGANISATION CULTURE: Culture of an organisation helps in
determining their beliefs and values according to which they perform their
duties and tasks. There are various departments within TESCO and it is
important that the culture which is followed that is most beneficial for the
organisation. Handy's Model of Organisational Culture could effectively be
used to determine the influence of culture on company's behaviour and
performance.
Power Culture: In this culture, the power or authorities are held by few
individuals. Their decisions influence the whole organisation and very few
regulations are imposed on the employees under this. With presence of this
culture, judging criteria of employees would be on the basis of their
achievement. There will be quick decision-making and working in the firm
would be decided on the basis of their decisions.
Individual and team behaviour under this would experience discipline as the
delegation of power would be limited and clear orders would be provided for
them to work.
Role Culture: Under this, the roles and responsibilities of employees are crystal
clear and the environment is quite controlled. The position of individual decides
their power in the structure. This culture fits best in organisations with long
chains of command. This culture would influence TESCO in the way decisions
would be taken as role culture slows this process. Where the behaviour is
concerned, under this culture, probability of risk taking in the firm also reduces
in this culture. This culture has a wide impact on individuals and team
behaviours as individuals and teams will not be completely independent in
taking decisions and the same would effectively exert pressure on people
working in TESCO. This would hinder organisational performance as the tasks
would take more time to be completed without complete power with individuals
and team mates.
Task Culture: The formulation of this culture is during a specific project or
organisational problem. The distribution of power depends upon the nature of
the problem and upon the blend of members. If TESCO adopts this culture, the
performance would be dependent upon the effective teams with the required
skills, leadership and personality. Effective teams would also facilitate positive
behaviour in the firm and enhance productivity of the firm. Impact of this
culture on individuals and teams would be that individuals would effectively
exercise their innovative skills with complete independence which would
encourage the teams to perform better and enhance TESCO's performance.
Person Culture: Individuals in this culture consider themselves to be superior
and unique in the firm. The organisation is simply established for them to work.
Organisations with these cultures have individuals coming from similar
backgrounds, expertise and training. If TESCO follows this culture, it will be
almost impossible to maintain hierarchies and the work would be performed on
the basis of mutual consent. Where individuals and team behaviour is
concerned, this culture would affect both the entities as individuals would likely
not modify their ways according to organisational needs and teams would likely
experience negative atmosphere due to the superiority of each individual
ORGANISATION POWER: Power exists in every organisation. The distribution,
however, depends upon their position or skills. Each individual in the firm
experiences varied degrees of power. For better understanding the power of in
TESCO, it is imperative that 5 sources of power given by Bertram Raven and John
French in 1959 be understood that are likely to be present in the firm. These are as
follows:
Legitimate Power: This also referred as positional power as the power is derived
from an individual's position in the company's hierarchy. This would allow
managers at TESCO to exercise effective decision-making authority. In addition,
effective reporting from the juniors would allow the company to perform in a better
way and facilitate disciplinary behaviour within the firm. Individuals and teams
working in an organisation would be quite disciplined as well as systematic way of
working would be adopted by the employees which would ultimately make
TESCO's performance more effective.
Expert Power: This power is possessed by individuals on the basis of knowledge
and expertise they possess. Individuals having this kind of power are highly valued
within TESCO as critical tasks are being performed by them. Employees holding
this kind of power usually end up gaining legitimate power too. Moreover, these
employees would help TESCO in enhancing its performance. Individuals working
under such power would be quite effective in their working and would work
towards enhancing their knowledge and skills by working with such skilled
superiors. With the only way of experiencing power is through knowledge, it
would foster a healthy environment in TESCO and positive behaviour of
individuals and teams.
Coercive Power: This is the kind of power used by individuals to coerce and
threaten others to perform in a certain manner or achieve a certain task. The
methods used could be terminations, salary cuts and so forth. The impact of this on
the performance could be that employees might perform ineffectively under such
high pressure and their behaviour too would be negative for the firm. The
behaviour of individuals and teams working under this would be negative and
pressurised which would degrade their performance levels as well as that of the
firm.

Referent Power: This type of power is gained through effective interpersonal
relationships within the firm. The access of power is gained by certain
employees simply by making others like them and by development of good
connections. Individuals in TESCO could gain such power by maintaining
healthy relations and better approachability towards them. The behaviour in
the organisation is quite favourable in this kind of power. Positive behaviour
could be fostered under this power as the main focus of individuals and
teams of TESCO would be to make effective and positive relationships with
each other as well as the management.
Reward Power: This kind of power is gained by the employees who have the
authority of giving incentives to the firm. They allocate these incentives in
the way of bonuses, hikes, paid leaves, etc. which influence the behaviour as
well as performance of employees. This power would help TESCO in
motivating the employees and create an environment of healthy working in
the organisation. Again, this power would be subjected to positive behaviour
and enthusiasm in individuals and teams to work more effectively and
enhance organisation's performance.
ORGANISATIONAL POLITICS Organisational Politics, if used in a correct
manner could be beneficial for an organisation. Every company has a
political facet and set of rules and regulations that are required for them to
work in a systematic way. It is imperative that individuals working in
TESCO use their own agendas and objectives to fulfil organisational growth
requirements. Moreover, the authority and power exercised in the
organisation must be effectively used to promote ethical practices and
discrimination-free environment for the employees. This would foster the
behaviour of teams and individuals and build better commitment towards the
firm and effective engagement which in the long-run would be effective
where organisational success is concerned.
Motivation refers to the methods used to develop intention in individuals to
work in a more effective manner. TESCO could use motivation as an
effective tool to achieve its operational and organisational goals effectively.
There are two types of Motivational theories that could be efficient and
beneficial for the organisation. These are described below:
Content Theory: The focus on these theories is on the management policies
and practice and what behaviour of individual is motivated. They identify
individual needs and the right kind of motivation to fulfil the same. The
theory covered under this is described below:
Thus, it is concluded that organisational behaviour is quite important to regulate
and monitor to ensure effective working. Organisation's culture, power and politics
play a crucial role in determining the behaviour and performance of the
organisation. Moreover, evaluation of various theories of motivation determine the
most effective way in which employees in organisation could be motivated.
Maslow's Heirarchy of Needs: This theory is based on individual needs while
working for an organisation. TESCO, in order to motivate its employees must
focus on all these needs which are mentioned as under: Psychological Needs:
The basic need of any employee working in TESCO would be to receive a pay
that is enough to fulfil their psychological needs like such as food and shelter.
Safety and Security: Another need of employees of this firm would be to get
effective training in order to ensure their safety while working with different
equipment’s. Love and Belongingness: While working in TESCO, the need of
employees would be to effectively be accepted in the firm and be a prominent
part of their teamwork to contribute better in its success. Self Esteem: This
need arises when individual reach a certain level and start feeling the want of
being valued within the firm. They need respect and acceptance within the
company in this stage. Self Actualisation: The last step requires individuals to
grow and achieve their highest potential in the workplace. They undertake
creative tasks and challenging position to accomplish every possible situation
in a most effective way.
There are various advantages if TESCO uses this theory for motivation: This
theory is quite simple to understand as well as to apply. Basic human nature is
applied which makes it quite effective for employees.
However, there are certain disadvantages too of this theory: There are various
ways in which individuals perceive things at the workplace which makes it
ineffective for TESCO. This theory is quite complex to measure as it is in
qualitative terms.
Process Theory: These theories focus on how employee behaviour could be
motivated. They undertake the process of occurrence of motivation and its kind
to influence behaviour of individuals. The theory which is covered under
Process Theory is discussed below: Adam's Equity Theory: This theory
undertakes the idea of maintaining a fair relationship between individual
performance and their rewards in comparison with other employees. The
ideology is to keep employee input more than their outputs. In TESCO, the
various types of exchange relationships arising while comparing input/output of
one individuals with others are described below: Overpaid Inequity: This is the
stage when perception is developed by an employee about their outputs being
more than their inputs as compared to others. Underpaid Inequity: In this stage,
the perception developed by employees is about their incomes being less than
their outcomes in relation with others. Equity: Individuals in case perceive that
their incomes and outputs are equal from that of others.
Conclusion
Fair treatment is the main source of motivation according to this theory. It is
imperative in TESCO in order to ensure a healthy working environment.
The advantages associated with this theory is described below: Managers of
TESCO using this theory could make them realise that one of the most important
motive of people in the organisation is equity. This theory could effectively
contribute to motivational theory and practice. The disadvantages of Adam's
Equity theory is mentioned as under: This theory is ineffective in describing
actions taken by a person to re-establish equity if inequity is perceived. All the
motivation factor are not considered in this theory. Only personal perception is
considered. Herzberg's Two Factor Theory: This theory considers that various job
factors induce satisfaction and other factors prevent dissatisfaction in the
employees towards organisation. Where this theory is concerned, TESCO could
focus on various factors that would satisfy the employees. Hygiene Factors: These
factors are crucial for motivation in the firm. However, these do not induce long-
term satisfaction, but absence of these induces dissatisfaction. These include: Pay:
The salary structure and pay for employees in TESCO must be quite effective and
appropriate, moreover, it must be competitive as compared to other firms. Physical
Conditions: The working conditions for employees in the firm must be clean,
hygienic and safe for the employees so that they stay healthy and secure while
working for the company. Motivational Factors: These factors provide long-term
satisfaction and are termed as satisfiers. In TESCO, it would motivate employees
for a superior and effective performances. These factors are described below:
Recognition: Employees in the firm must be quite recognised and must be
effectively communicated for their effective performance and capabilities. In
addition, they must be praised for their accomplishments. Achievement: TESCO
employees must have a certain sense of achievement and they must be
communicated and understand the benefits from their jobs. The advantages of this
theory are as follows: This theory would clearly help identify the factors and
elements that actually generate motivation in the workforce. This theory could help
the managers in focusing on wider horizons upon which work could be done and
performances could be enhanced. The disadvantages of this theory are mentioned
below: Situational variables are overlooked in this theory. In this theory, there are
no comprehensive measures that are used for satisfaction.