Leadership, Communication, and Decision-Making: Case Study Analysis

This case study examines the organizational behavior issues at the Thames Valley Building Society, focusing on challenges related to motivation, communication, and decision-making. The case revolves around Jane Taylor, a senior branch assistant, and her struggles managing a team, particularly dealing with a demotivated employee, Tony Jackson, whose behavior negatively impacts the workplace. The study explores various motivational theories like Herzberg's two-factor theory, Maslow's hierarchy of needs, and Vroom's expectancy theory, suggesting how Jane can use them to address Tony's lack of motivation. It also delves into communication theories like critical theory, information theory, and post-positive theory, highlighting how ineffective communication exacerbates the problems. Furthermore, the case touches on decision-making processes within the organization. The analysis aims to provide practical recommendations for improving leadership, communication, and overall organizational effectiveness within the Thames Valley Building Society, offering valuable insights for students on Desklib.

Case of Study

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................2
MAIN BODY..................................................................................................................................2
Organizational Issue 1: Motivation.............................................................................................2
Theories of motivation.................................................................................................................3
Theories for Case study...............................................................................................................4
Organizational Issue 2: Communication.....................................................................................5
Theories of Communication........................................................................................................5
Theories applicability for Case study..........................................................................................6
Organizational Issue 3: Decision making....................................................................................7
Theories of Decision making.......................................................................................................7
Theories for Case study...............................................................................................................8
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10
Books and Journal......................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
As per the given case study Jane Taylor is selected as senior branch assistant of Thames
Valley building society by Mary Rogers and assigned the responsibility to maintain quality and
accuracy in the work of the staff and look after the office in absence of Mary Rogers (Abdullah
and Kamil, 2020) Mary Rogers had also appointed Tony Jackson who worked as an apprentice
for two years in the branch but left the job because of no permanent position in the organization.
The given case study brief about several challenges which are faced by Jane Taylor in the
organization to manage the team in which Tony Jackson became toxic for her to complete for
managerial duties. In order to manage the work, she complain about him to Mary Rogers but it
did not affect his behavior even it became more difficult to manage him. He created such a bad
environment for the company to operate that Graham Wilkins who is a good employee of the
organization is thinking to leave the job which is not good for the organization. This presentation
contains three Types of organizational behavior issues with different theories discussed on them
in order to recommend some ways to manage these organizational behavior issues to run the
business of Thames Valley building society in a smooth manner.
MAIN BODY
Organizational Issue 1: Motivation
Motivation refers to a process which guides initiate and maintain behavior of employees in an
organization towards the goals and objectives of the organization. Motivation is derived from
‘motive’ which means desires, needs, drives and wants of an individual. In order to motivate
employees of an organization it is required to link the needs, desires, wants and drives of an
individual with the goals and objectives of the organization.
The given case study helps to ascertain that it is due to lack of motivation in Tony
Jackson that he behaves very weirdly in the office. Non availability of permanent position in
themes Valley building society demotivates Tony Jackson to work there. Afterwards when he
regains his job he takes it as granted because of gym motivation he got from his apprenticeship
period. To make him work effectively and efficiently for the organization it is essential to
provide motivation to Tony Jackson so that he performed his work effectively and efficiently. It

will not only affect the work of Tony Jackson but also affect the productivity of the organization
because his behavior also demotivates other employees to work in the organization. There are
several theories of motivation which help to solve this organizational behavior issue in Thames
Valley building society (Brunetto, Xerri and Farr‐Wharton, 2020).
Theories of motivation
Hertzberg’s two factor theory
Herzberg two-factor theory is given by a psychologist Frederick Herzberg. According to
Herzberg there are certain factors in a workplace which provide job satisfaction and
dissatisfaction to the Employees. These factors are categorized into factors which are considered
in two factor theory. These two factors are motivators and hygiene factors. Motivator factor
includes various actions in an organization which motivate employees to work hard in the
organization such as challenging work, opportunity to do something meaningful, recognition for
One’s achievement, responsibility, involvement in decision making, sense of importance in an
organization and many more. While in hygiene factors they include those activities of an
organization which does not provide any positive satisfaction or lead to higher motivation in the
employees but in absence can cause dissatisfaction from the job. These factors include status, job
security, salary, working conditions, good pay and many more (Budur and Poturak, 2021).
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
Maslow's hierarchy of needs theory is formulated by Abraham Maslow. According to
this theory an individual will be motivated if the hierarchy of his needs is to be fulfilled by the
organization. His hierarchy of needs contain psychological factors safety factors social factors
self esteem factors and self actualization factors. Psychological factors contain basic needs of an
employee to be fulfilled by an organization that is water food shelter and a proper sleep. In the
next need according to the hierarchy that is safety and security unemployed need a safety at his
workplace in order to work at a place which have good and safe working environment. Safety
and security needs of an employee includes security of income salary employment a good place
to live good health friend shall eat permanent scholarship and many more. After the satisfaction
of the need of safety and security, an employee needs belongingness and love in organization to
feel connected with them. It is essential for an organization to build a relationship with
employees like family and friends and make sure that there is no conflict between employees to

make the working environment safe and healthy for them. After the need of belongingness and
love, the 4th need of an employee is of self esteem which means to provide a proper status to the
talented employees in the organization. According to this need the talent in the organization
deserve a good status promotion respect appraisal good grades and prices in the organization
which motivates other employees to increase their productivity towards the goal of the
organization (Cek and Eyupoglu, 2020). According to the Maslow's hierarchy the last need is of
self actualization needs. In order to motivate employees in the organization, management should
provide training and development programs to the Employees so that they can realize their
abilities and potential which motivates them to perform well in their future project.
Vroom’s theory of expectancy
Vroom theory of expectancy has been given by Victor vroom in which he stated that
individuals who are highly productive and motivated if they met two conditions (Yücel, Ribeiro
and Gomes, 2020). The first condition is that they believe their efforts will give successful
results in the organization and second is that those individual believe they will be rewarded for
their success. Employees will feel motivated at higher level when they believe that there is a
relation between their efforts and performance to attain rewards from the organization.
Theories for Case study
In the given case study it is analyzed that there is high need of motivation in employees. In order
to manage the behavior of Tony Jackson motivational theories can be used by Jane Taylor. She
can assess the needs and wants of Tony Jackson in order to motivate him to perform well in the
organization. The theory of Maslow's hierarchy of needs will help Jane Taylor to ensure that are
there any basic needs which needs to be fulfilled in order to motivate Tony Jackson. She can also
challenge him in order to motivate him for the work. As it is observed that Tony Jackson is a
person who can be handled with the challenges given in the war and it will help to motivate him
in the present scenario. The theory of motivation which is given by Victor vroom popularly
known as room theory of expectancy can also be used bye making him understand the relation
between his effort and success of his life. In case of Tony Jackson it will be helpful to him
motivated and highly productive for the organization.

Organizational Issue 2: Communication
Communication refers to the process of exchanging the thoughts or message from one
person to another (Donmez-Turan and Kiliclar, 2021). It is very essential in an organization in
order to run the business successfully. In order to maintain an effective communication in an
organization it is very essential to provide skills to the employees and other managerial person
which are required for effective communication. Especially the leaders and managers of the
organization should have effective communication skills in order to run the business in effective
manner as they are the one who is responsible to provide guidance to employees regarding the
work to be performed by them.
In the given case study also, bad communication of Tony Jackson affects the working
environment of themes Valley building society. He communicates with the clients in sarcastic
manner which affects the business of themes very building society as they can even lose clients.
This sarcastic type of communication with clients depicts the ineffective communication skills of
Tony Jackson (Đuretić and Krasulja, 2020). According to the case study he will understand the
message which has been given by Mary Rodgers and take it on his ego which is also bad for an
organization to run in effective manner. Jane Taylor As a manager shows good communication
skills to manage various employees in the organization but in effective communication is skills
of Tony Jackson also effects the skills of Jane Taylor
Theories of Communication
Critical Theory
According to the critical theory, which is based on the assumption that conflicts are natural state
in an organization, top level management always try to establish a communication between lower
management and employees to motivate them (Schiffinger and Braun, 2020). In this theory
communication plays a vital role in resolving conflict between various groups of people in the
form of preventing problems encouraging employees to do more work and providing direction to
the work force. According to this theory communication is very essential for conflict
management and prevents problems between groups for teams of individuals in an organization.
Communication is also essential to provide directions to the Employees to work under a single
goal which is organizational goal.

Information Theory
According to the information theory and information Travels from one person to another with a
few based mistakes which sometimes became big till the information reach to the last person.
Information theory helps to focus on how to fix a message which is to be communicated so that
they cannot be altered when it travels from one person to another (Eyupoglu and Tashtoush,
2020). An individual who is involved as a centre of message in the communication process
should ensure that the message is going to the receiver with inaccuracy and should put various
measures which are essential to make the communication accurate.
Post-Positive Theory
Post positive theory is a theory which helps an organization to design orders which are given to
the Employees in order to follow them in the organization. The assumption which is used in an
organization that orders which are issued by the management is natural in the company is a part
of postpositive communication theory. These assumptions help to treat conflicts insubordination
misunderstanding et cetera in the organization as unacceptable occurrences (Ik and Azeez, 2020).
Communication in this theory focuses to design a message in such a manner that people over
them by accepting them as a rule to work together smoothly.
Theories applicability for Case study
A bad communication can cause serial problem in any organization. To make the communication
effective in Thames Valley building society it is essential to follow the theories of
communication which are given above. There are so many communications which are made on
the basis of of a message which is transferred from Jane Taylor to the Mary Rogers and she takes
the decision according to her mind set. according to information theory of communication when
a communication travel from one person to another it left with some fewest mistakes from the
original message. In this case when Jane Taylor tell Mary Rodger about the behavior of Tony
Jackson she was not able to communicate in proper manner which results in even worst behavior
of Jackson. Orders which are to be made in the organization should follow post positive Theory
of Communication as this theory helps to make the orders natural to be followed by the
employees in the organization.

Organizational Issue 3: Decision making
Decision making refers to the process which is followed by managers and leaders in an
organization to make choice on the basis of collected information and assessment of alternative
resolutions (Lu, Wei and Wang, 2020). Decision making is a step-by-step process in which an
individual needs to collect all the information which is available regarding the decision. In the
next step information should be analyzed in such a manner that they provide various alternative
of resolution of the problem. In order to make an effective decision an individual should have
capability to choose one alternative which is is best among all of them which can be rational or
irrational. Decision making helps a person to make him more deliberate thought full and
organized to take decision. Some authors believe that decision making is an art which helps an
individual to create a successful organization. Weak decision making power in organization can
cause serious losses to the company (Ndoja and Malekar, 2020).
In the above case study it has been analyzed that it is due to slow decision making
process in the organization that the problem became that much serious. If Mary Rodger takes the
decision to fire Tom Jackson on the early stage it can prevent the company to have such a bad
working environment that good employees of the company even think of leaving the company. It
has been observed in the starting of the case study that there is no fixed position in the
organization which shows delay in decision making Thames Valley building society. Delay in
decision making in the organization gives more chances to Tony Jackson to treat the customers
in his own way due to which company can face losses in the future. It is the major issue in the
Thames Valley Building society that there is not a proper structure of decision making in the
organization.
Theories of Decision making
Descriptive decision theory
Descriptive decision theory is it theory which concerned with typical decisions by characterizing
and explaining the regularities in the choices which people should make to dispose a decision. In
order to make a good decision (Ndoja and Malekar, 2020). There are several choices which are
available to the person when they need to make a decision and descriptive decision theory

describe the typical manner in which an individual or manager make decisions. Some of their
decisions are rational some of them are intuitive whereas some of them are quite irrational.
Prescriptive decision theory
Prescriptive decision theory is the theory which provides certain guidelines to the managers and
leaders of an organization which helps them to make best possible decisions for the organization.
There are several on certain decision making frameworks which are to be faced by an
organization. In order to deal with these uncertainty season making prescriptive decision theory
is used by an organization as it provides guidelines which helps to take decisions for these
uncertain situation (Richards, 2020). This theory is very useful for the managers and leaders in
order to take decisions in several difficult situations.
Normative decision theory
Normative decision theory provides set of values in order to provide guidance to the decision
making. According to this theory a decision should be made on the basis of certain values to be
considered by the decision maker so that decision can be made in ethical manner. it is a best
approach or theory which is used to take decisions for an organization. Normative decision
theory certain values are set for decision making process so that decisions are made in ethical
manner and they provide good results to the organization (Roberts, Sojo and Grant, 2020).
Theories for Case study
In the given case study it is essential for Mary Rodgers to make some effective decisions for the
organization as there are several problems which is faced by Jane Taylor and she does not have
the authority to take that decisions. As it has been noted in the whole case study that Tony
Jackson became toxic for the whole organization and its business and in this case Mary Rodger
should take an effective decision to fire Tony Jackson so that a good and healthy environment
can be created for other employees. It is in the benefit of talent management in the organization
that toxic people should be fired and talented employees should be hired in the organization. It is
an effective decision to fire Tony Jackson in order to make employees like Graham Wilkins to
stay in the organization. Tony Jackson is also a reason of stress for Jane Taylor as she is a
talented employee of Thames Valley building society (Weber, Unterrainer and Höge, 2020) It is

not good for the working of Jane Taylor as it will also affect her performance in the business to
work in such a stressed situation.
CONCLUSION
Above discussion regarding the various issues arise in an organization helps to conclude that to
run the business o Thames Valley building society in a smooth manner it is essential to follow
the theories which are given for solving organizational issues. First issue which is is found with
the help of case study is the lack of motivation in the employees. Motivational theories help Jane
Taylor to effectively manage the employee’s productivity in the organization. Second issue in the
organization according to the case study is the gap of communication between Jane Taylor and
Tony Jackson. This issue is resolved with the theories of communication which provides several
solutions to communicate with employees like Tony Jackson and fulfill managerial
responsibility. Third issue which has been considered in this case study is decision making
power which is resolved with the help of theories of decision making.

REFERENCES
Books and Journal
Abdullah, M.R. and Kamil, N.L.M., 2020. Demographic Characteristics And Organisational
Citizenship Behaviour In Public Institutions. Institutions and Economies, 12(2), pp.89-
105.
Brunetto, Y., Xerri, M. and Farr‐Wharton, B., 2020. Comparing the role of personal and
organisational support on the innovative behaviour of frontline healthcare workers in
Australia and the United States. Australian Journal of Public Administration, 79(3),
pp.279-297.
Budur, T. and Poturak, M., 2021. Transformational leadership and its impact on customer
satisfaction. Measuring mediating effects of organisational citizenship
behaviours. Middle East Journal of Management, 8(1), pp.67-91.
Cek, K. and Eyupoglu, S., 2020. Does a job satisfaction and organisational citizenship behaviour
relationship exist among teachers?. South African Journal of Education, 40(2), pp.S1-
S12.
Donmez-Turan, A. and Kiliclar, I.E., 2021. The analysis of pro-environmental behaviour based
on ecological worldviews, environmental training/knowledge and goal frames. Journal of
Cleaner Production, 279, p.123518.
Đuretić, G. and Krasulja, N., 2020. Dimensions of national cultures and organisational
behaviour. Kultura, (168), pp.323-345.
Eyupoglu, S.Z. and Tashtoush, L., 2020. The relationship between human resource management
practices and organisational citizenship behaviour. South African Journal of Business
Management, 51(1), pp.1-11.
Ik, M. and Azeez, A.A., 2020. Organisational green behavioural change: The role of Change
Management. International Journal of Entrepreneurial Knowledge, 8(1), pp.34-48.
Lu, W., Wei, Y. and Wang, R., 2020. Handling inter-organisational conflict based on bargaining
power: Organisational power distance orientation matters. International Journal of
Conflict Management.
Ndoja, K. and Malekar, S., 2020. Organisational citizenship behaviour: a review. International
Journal of Work Organisation and Emotion, 11(2), pp.89-104.
Ndoja, K. and Malekar, S., 2020. Organisational citizenship behaviour: a review. International
Journal of Work Organisation and Emotion, 11(2), pp.89-104.
Richards, D., 2020, April. Organisational plasticity: can we really model human–agent
behaviours?. In Evidence-based HRM: a Global Forum for Empirical Scholarship.
Emerald Publishing Limited.

Roberts, V., Sojo, V. and Grant, F., 2020. Organisational factors and non-accidental violence in
sport: A systematic review. Sport Management Review, 23(1), pp.8-27.
Schiffinger, M. and Braun, S.M., 2020. The impact of social and temporal job demands and
resources on emotional exhaustion and turnover intention among flight
attendants. Journal of Human Resources in Hospitality & Tourism, 19(2), pp.196-219.
Weber, W.G., Unterrainer, C. and Höge, T., 2020. Psychological research on organisational
democracy: A meta‐analysis of individual, organisational, and societal outcomes. Applied
Psychology, 69(3), pp.1009-1071.
Yücel, İ., Ribeiro, N. and Gomes, D.R., 2020. Perceived organisational support and employees'
performance: the mediating role of affective commitment. International Journal of
Management and Enterprise Development, 19(3), pp.187-202.