Organizational Behavior Report: Unilever's Culture and Motivation

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of organizational behavior within Unilever, a multinational consumer goods company. It explores the influence of culture, power dynamics, and organizational politics on team behavior, referencing models like Hofstede's cultural dimensions and Handy's power model. The report also delves into motivational theories, including Maslow's hierarchy of needs, Herzberg's two-factor theory, and Adams' equity theory, evaluating their application and impact on employee motivation and performance. Furthermore, it examines factors contributing to effective teamwork and the application of these concepts in a real-world organizational context. The report concludes by summarizing key concepts and philosophies of organizational behavior, offering insights into how Unilever manages its workforce and strives to achieve its business objectives.

ORGANIZATIONAL
BEHAVIOR

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
LO1..................................................................................................................................................1
P1 – Influence of culture power and politics on the behaviour of team.....................................1
LO2..................................................................................................................................................4
P2 – Theories of motivation and motivational techniques..........................................................4
LO3..................................................................................................................................................6
P3 – Factors of effective team ....................................................................................................6
LO4..................................................................................................................................................8
P4 – Concepts and philosophies of organizational behaviour....................................................8
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION
Organization behavior is the process of making people positive and influencing their
behavior in positive manner. The study of management operation with Intelligence and impact
on individual human behavior in organization. Here analyses human behavior in workplace and
observes its result on job structure, human presentation, interaction, inspiration and leadership
etc. organizational behavior supports manager to create work standard atmosphere. It also
creates motivational environment in workplace for employee's. present study is based on
Unilever. Unilever is a multinational company which is also known as transnational consumer
goods organization. It is British organization and headquarter in London and UK. It supplies
domestic goods like food, beverage, cleaning agent, beauty products and personal care product.
In Europe Unilever comes in seventh position. This is most valuable in India also famous as
Hindustan Unilever company (UNILEVER COMPANY PROFILE, 2019). This report discusses
the cultural, political and power of behavior and analyses its influences on team behavior.
Present report also discusses motivational theory to motivate individuals and team so that
accomplish company's goal. Evaluate theories impact on organization. In organizational context
will cover development theories which supports development of dynamic cooperation.
LO1
P1 – Influence of culture power and politics on the behaviour of team
Unilever is a company which was formed in UK and company wants to improve the
performance of the employees and also change the behavior of the employees as well. Culture
and politics are the major aspects which impact on overall behavior of employees and affect
overall working of organization. These factors are influencing employees of company and their
behaviour. Culture, power and organizational politics models are described below (Zhijie, and
et.al., 2019.).
Culture model
Culture model of Hofstede consists of the beliefs and the practices which are practiced in
the company. Company culture and behavior of employees is affected by the culture model. The
culture model of Hofstede consists of the power distance, masculinity vs femininity,
individualism, uncertainty avoidance index and long term orientation. In power distance the
power is distributed equally to all the employees and the employees also have equal benefits and
rights too. Through these factors the employees of the company are working efficiently because
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they are not dependent on anyone for the decisions. Employees of the company have equal rights
and the equal treatment for employees through which employees of company are gaining the
confidence to work better and these employees also feel motivated to better.
Masculinity and femininity consists of the differences between the employees on the
basis of gender. There are various companies where male employees are dominating on the
female employees and these factors in affecting the performance of female employees.
Individualism is the independence to the employees which would give them power to take the
decisions independently and collectivism states that the team member of the projects must be
united and work for the company. Team work are promoted and the company is completely
relied on the team performance. Individual employees are coming up with the innovative ideas
which are not encouraged in the team work and the employees fell demotivated. Through
uncertainty avoidance index, employee’s tolerance level in comfortable situation is tested and in
the uncomfortable situation is also tested as well. Company must try to focus on forming long
term relations with employees which would improve culture of organization (Shirono and Cox
2018). Unilever is required to understand culture of country and people those who live there.
Accordingly, it has to create organizational culture there. This helps in making people positive
and influencing behavior of workers. Unilever always emphases on power distance and
individualism approach. All the people are given rights and they can make their decision by own.
This helps in making them positive and creating positive image in their mind.
Power model
Unilever company is implementing the power model of handy which influences the
employees of organization. Handy has made the power culture with rules and the regulations for
the company and employees as well. It controls the organization from the centre, which states
that all the decisions of the company are controlled form the centre. Some employers are judging
performance and work of the employees by their achievements and not though the quality of the
work done. In power culture the powers are given to the few people which are working in the
company. The culture consists of the rules and the regulations for all the employees and
employers as well. The culture is influencing on the decision-making process which have the
power of swift decision-making. Through the power of swift decision-making the company
would not be able to analyse the impacts of the decisions in the growth of the company. Unilever
company is selling the consumer products and the company performance is affected by the
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power culture. As power culture is controlled for the center, so the decision-making power of the
employees in reduced and the employees have no power to implement the decisions on juniors.
The organization Unilever is implementing on the power model and Due to the swift decision-
making power company performance is affected and some company projects might suffer due to
not analysing the impacts of the decision. Rules and regulations are important for maintaining
the discipline in the company premises which would have the positive impact on the
performance of the employees (Rudolph, 2016). Managers of Unilever always involve people in
decisions and also they give power to other workers as well. This supports in improving the
workplace environment and this thing motivate people. By this way they work better in
organisation and put best efforts to reach to organisational goal.
Politics
Unilever company is trying to change the behavior of employees and the performance of
the employees which is influenced the politics in the office premises. The behavior and
performance of the employees is changed by the decreasing the organizational politics in the
organization. Organizational politics is further divided into the woods, the high ground, the
weeds and the rocks. The weeds politics is generally carried at the individual level and at the
formal level. It creates the misunderstanding between the employees and the form the informal
network between the employees which would have positive and negative results a swell, impact
of the weds is depended on the situation. Sometimes this informal network is useful for the
company while in other ways sometime it is not useful for the company and the performance of
the team (Wang, and et.al., 2016.). The rock politics is done in the formal way with the
individual employee, it only affects the performance of the employees. High ground politics is
done in organizational level in the formal way which includes the policies, rules and structures.
The woods' politics is done in informal way at the organizational level which includes the
assumptions and the norms. Team performance is affected by office politics and performance of
individual employee is affected by the office politics. The organizational politics is affecting the
performance of company and performance of the company. The company is implementing and
focusing on politics which is going in the company, and try to overcome these organizational
politics. The organization is implementing on the politics which are running in the organization.
Through analyzing the politics model Unilever would find the loopholes join the company and
would apply strategies which would help the company to overcome the problems in the
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organization (Brown and Capozza, 2016). Unilever try to avoid misuse of power and politics by
higher authorities. All the managers give respect to their lower level workers which encourage
them and motivate them to work better in the organization.
Through implementing the models on the company Unilever, company analyze the gaps
which are affecting performance and behavior of the employees. By analyzing the models
company influence the performance. Unilever use various strategies which help the company to
improve the business environment and the culture of the organization (Kulapov and et.al., 2019.).
LO2
P2 – Theories of motivation and motivational techniques
Unilever company is applying the motivational theories which would help company to
gain the growth in the market. The company is applying the Maslow theory of motivation,
Herzberg theory of motivation, Adams equity theory, and Skinner reinforcement theory. These
motivational theories are explained below:
Maslow theory of motivation:
Maslow theory consist of the hierarchy which consists of needs of the individual and the
hierarchy need to be followed from down which consists of the physiological needs. The
physiological needs consist of fulfilling the necessities which includes the water, food and
shelter. Moving upwards there comes safety and security needs which consists of salary, income
and health (Lord, and et.al., 2019). Then there comes belonging and love which contains of the
relation with the friends and the family. Then it comes to self-esteem needs which consists of the
standard and status of the individual. Moving upwards there comes self-actualization needs
which consists of the desire of an individual which will help the individual to achieve the aims of
the life. These theories would be implemented by company in employees of company and the
employees of the company are motivated to work better and improve the performance of
themselves. Company must focus on the fulfilling the needs of the employees and the company
must focus how to fulfill the necessities of the employees. Employees of the company are
motivated by appreciation of the work of employee and the rewards must be given to employees
for performance in the company (Borenstein 2016.). Employees of the company are motivated to
work better by praising the performance of employee and also by giving rewards such as bonus.
Company can provide better working conditions and the friendly environment in the office
premises which would also motivate employees of company. Theory is concentrating on the two
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factors which consists of the factors like motivation factors and hygiene factors. Motivating
factors include the satisfaction of the employee with the job and the office environment.
Employees of the company are motivated by responsibility and the advancement provided to
them. Unilever always ensures to offer hygiene things to its staff members. Apart from this, it
gives respect and maintain dignity of its workers. This is helpful in managing the people in the
firm and making them positive towards the brand. Apart from this, Unilever always ensure to
give safer workplace environment to its workers so that they manage their work effectively and
give their best to the business unit. Managers ensure that staff members help each other and they
get best rewards against their performance . All these things motivate staff members and they
work hard to raise productivity of the Unilever. This supports Unilever in meeting the
organizational goal successfully.
Adam equity theory of motivation
According to the Adam equity theory the people feel motivated if they are not treated
equally and not compared to the other people achievements. People achievements are compared
and the work of the individual is not praised. In the company, work of the employee is compared
on the basis of the post, qualification and gender as well. In every company employee are
working of gaining the experience, promotion and salary as well. Challenges must be given to all
the employees which are make the employees feel equal to others. Due to these factors the
employees reduce the efforts which have effect on the performance of the employee and the
quality of the work done. Adams theory does not give importance to the individual needs and
individual personalities as well. If employees of company are demotivated than it would affect
the working of the company and company would not be able to achieve the long term goals and
objectives. Employees of company are giving the time and also using the skills, knowledge and
efforts to work better. So employees of Unilever get satisfaction salary rewards promotion and
achievements. Employees of the company Unilever motivate workers time to time and company
must look that the needs of the employees are satisfied (Raczynski, 2020.).Theory also focus on
the hygiene factors which includes deficiency needs of the employees. Employees are
dissatisfied by the salary, unfavorable working conditions and supervision. Employees of the
company need to be motivated on through providing the salary according to the job and the
qualification and also company must provide effective working conditions.
Skinner reinforcement theory of motivation:
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Skinner reinforcement theory is focusing on the behavior on the individual in the
situation. Theory is divided into two parts positive reinforcement and negative reinforcements.
Positive reinforcement includes the appreciation, trophy, promotion and money. Employees of
the company are appreciated for the work and the performance of the employee in the projects.
Trophies can be given to employees for the good work and promotion can also be given to the
employees for better performance in the company. Salary could be increased of employees for
the effective working in the team projects these factors would also motivate the employees of the
team work and improve the performance of themselves. Negative reinforcement includes the
punishment given to the employees for not performing well in the company. Ideas of the
employees are neglected and the work is never praised by the employers demotivates the
employees of the company which would also have effect on the performance of the employee.
Negative feeling in employees are generated through the stress and work pressure in the
employees of the company. If employees of company are demotivated than it would affect the
working of the company and company would not be able to achieve the long term goals and
objectives. Employees of company are giving the time and also using the skills, knowledge and
efforts to work better.Elimination of the employee in team project is and no importance is given
to the employee while working in the team projects is demotivating the employee.
Through implementing the theories, the company Unilever is motivating the employees
which improve the performance of the company. The motivational theories of the organization
are contributing to improve the behavior of employees of company.
LO3
P3 – Factors of effective team
Tuckman model explains the leadership qualities, relationship of employers and ability of
the employees of the company. A team always need the leader and the effective leader which
will direct the team in right path. Through this model the company is analyzing the progress of
the employees and the ability of the employee to work in the team projects. The tuck man model
is described below in detail:
Forming
In the process of forming the team leader the team member does not have the ability to
work and also the responsibilities of the employees are not clear to the employees as well. Team
leader of the company must be prepared for answering the questions which is asked by the team
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members. Purpose and the objectives of the projects must be classified and employees of the
company must have detail information of the projects on which they are working. Rights and
responsibilities of the employees of Unilever working under the projects is explained in detail.
Leaders make people aware and understand their job role. This encourage them and they get
stable in a team. Team leader directs the team members How to complete the projects with in
effective way in Unilever. Members have the knowledge of the process which is going to be used
by the team leader and members must have explained the roles by the team leader. Members of
the company have tested the tolerance level and the ability to use the skills of the employees in
the projects in the effective way (Ponnuswamy and Manohar 2016.).
Storming
Team project run effectively due to the effective working of the team member. Unilever
company leader are attempting to establish themselves in the company, but they can be
established by the maintaining the relations with all the members of the project. The team leader
of Unilever has clarity of the purpose and objectives of the projects on which they are working
and also employees working in the team also have the clarity of the purpose and objectives as
well (Bosse, and et.al., 2017). The team face the challenges and the barriers in fulfilling the
work, so team member must be ready to complete the work effectively without affecting by the
challenges and the barriers. Team behave focused on the goals and try to avoid the problems
which is stopping them to achieve the goals. Leader encourages the employee to work for the
company in the effective and efficient way. Storming is Done when the conflicts among the
employee is rising and the employees are working in the effective manner.
Norming
Leader of the team must try to clear the roles and the responsibility of the employees and
also it must be accepted by the team members as well. The team work also includes the
agreements and the forms which must be filled by the leader effectively. Team engages in the
fun and social activities also, and improve the work performance of the employees of Unilever as
well. Through effective team working it affects the performance of the employees in the
Unilever. Various forms is filled by the employees and team leader with the responsibility. Team
leader is providing the facilities and the also maintain unity among the team members of the
company as well. Team leader perform the responsibility to give powers to the team members
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regarding taking the decision in the projects as well (Dinkmeyer and Eckstein 2015). Norming is
about the members which are affecting which are getting to use each other in the effective way.
Performing
Team performs on the strategies which have used by the team for completing the projects
effectively. The team achieve the goal set and it is responsibility of the team member to take the
team members in the right path. As there are many employees working in the team so it may
situation the employees might disagree in the decisions in that case the decision must be taken by
the team leader. In team, team members look after each other for effective working. The team
requires to complete the task assigned and also look after the facilities which are being provided
to the employees for completing the work assigned. The team of Unilever perform on the need to
work on the track which will complete the project on time and also quality of the work would not
be compromised. Through working effectively and in efficient way they would improve the
performance of the employees working in the organization.
The Unilever company have the efficient leader which includes the efficient working of
the employees.. These factors are performing the factors which are affecting the performance of
the leaders in the team. Team leader of Unilever motivates employees time to time which also
include the performance appraisal. It also includes the performance and the team member as
well. Leader of the team give details of the roles and the responsibilities to the members of the
team. Its helps in improving the relations of the employees of the company and the employees
are also encouraged to work in the team projects.
Belbins theory of team roles are made for the leader which consist of the roles for the
every team member. The roles include the coordinator, shaper, team worker and resource
investigator, plant innovator and monitor evaluator. These are some roles discussed in the theory.
Through these roles a team leader would communicate effectively with the team. The team spirit
in the team is increased by implementing on these roles. The team leader must support the team
members and motivate them. Through dividing the roles into the every team member the conflict
in the team would be reduced. The team roles of Belbins theory is are promoting the skills of the
team (Senaratne and Gunawardane, 2015).
Coordinators have the ability to work and manage the other team members. These
coordinators quickly spot the talents of the individual and use them for the team projects. Shaper
are motivating the people which are nervous, and they also push the workers which are working
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in the team. Monitor evaluator are evaluating the performance of the team members and also
these evaluates make slow decisions which make them think twice on the decisions and the
impact. Resource investigators are good in communication and these people have the ability to
gather the information form the other resources.
Through these types of the theories the company is focusing on the encouraging the team
work and managing the work in the effective manner. These theories are encouraging the work
and employees are working in the effective manner while working in team.
LO4
P4 – Concepts and philosophies of organizational behaviour and leadership theories
Organizational behavior includes the behavior of the employees which are working and
forming the environment of the company. Behavior of the organization is based on the concepts
and the philosophies which are helping the company to improve the behavior of there
organization goal theory consist of the effective leadership skills and how to implement the
theory in company Unilever. The concept is revolving around the motivation and the desire of
the individual. The organization concepts are provided below:
Individual differences
Every individual is different and so every individual of the company is also different. So
Unilever must try to invite the ideas of the employees and ideas must be praised by the
employers which will also motivate the employees as well. Every employee of the Unilever is
unique and every employee also have unique skills which will improve the performance of the
employee and the company as well. Experiences also give knowledge to the individual so the
employees have experience of working in the team and also working individually which will
increase the performance of the company (Zhao, Hwang, and Lee 2016). By this way they work
according to their capabilities and work better in the business unit.
Perception
Every individual has different perception for to see the situation. Some employees take
the situation positively while some will take the situation negatively. Experiences of the
employees changes on the behavior of the employee on the situation. Different perception is also
because the employees have different personalities, different needs, different experiences and
different surroundings as well. Leaders of Unilever allot work to all individuals by looking at
their capabilities which encourage people and make them able to work hard in business unit.
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Through these factors some employees not need motivation and some employees need
motivation from time to time as well. Employees reaction in the situation is the reason for
problems which employees face in the office premises. Surrounding and the environment of the
office is affecting the performance of the company.
Motivated behavior:
Some employees have motivated behavior but some needs motivation. So the company
Unilever fulfill the needs of the employees for achieving the long term objectives of the
company. Some need to be motivated to improve the performance and the quality of the work.
The company must encourage the employees for working in the team projects and the gain the
experience of working with the team. Company provides the salary and the bonus which would
fulfill the desires and needs of the employees. Promotion to employees is motivation them to
work for the company and also improve the performance as well (Storey 2016.).
Human dignity
Every employee of the company needs respect whether it is labor or CEO of the
company. No employee in the company be ill-treated and the no discrimination is done among
the employees on the basis of the race, caste, and gender. Employees of the company must not be
treated differently on the basis of the work performance. Unilever must try to give respect to the
employees from peon to the senior employees (Anderson. and Sun 2017).
Value of individual
Employee of the company is different on the basis qualification and the performance but
every employee has its own value which is different form the other employees. Employees must
be treated with the respect and dignity. Every employee is different because every employee is
from different areas and different surrounding which is affecting the performance and every
employee could learn new thing from the other which would encourage the employee to work in
the team projects (Gucciardi, and et.al., 2015).
company is using the motivational theories and other these are solving the issues a which are
affecting by employee in the effective manner. These motivational theories are affecting the
performance of the employee which are walking in the organisation.
Unilever is introducing a new product in the market for which it requires an effective
leadership and with the help a proper leadership style can make a new product a success in the
market. This can be explained with the help of path goal theory. The company is only adopting
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