Organisational Behaviour: Culture, Motivation & Teams at Unilever

This report provides an in-depth analysis of organisational behaviour, focusing on the multinational consumer goods company, Unilever. It explores the impact of culture, politics, and power on employee behaviour, utilizing models such as Handy's organisational culture model and French and Raven's Five Forms of power. The report examines the role of content and process theories of motivation, including Maslow's Need Hierarchy and Goal Setting Theory, and their application within Unilever. Furthermore, it delves into the dynamics of effective and ineffective teams, referencing Tuckman's team development model. The conclusion summarises the key findings, emphasising the importance of understanding and managing organisational behaviour to enhance productivity, job satisfaction, and overall business success. The report provides insights into how Unilever can implement various strategies to improve employee engagement and organisational performance.

Organisational Behaviour

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
LO1..................................................................................................................................................3
Impact of culture, politics and power on employee behaviour....................................................3
LO2..................................................................................................................................................6
Role of content and process theories of motivation and its techniques to achieve goals in an
organization..................................................................................................................................6
LO3..................................................................................................................................................7
Effective and Ineffective Teams..................................................................................................7
LO4..................................................................................................................................................9
Philosophies of Organisational Behaviour...................................................................................9
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................12

INTRODUCTION
Organisational Behaviour is the the study of various ways people interact within an
organisation or business. Its principles are implemented in a business organisation in order to
increase its productivity and efficiency. The study of Organisational Behaviour comprises of
areas of research which focus on increasing employee performance, productivity, job satisfaction
levels, innovation and leadership. We have evaluated the principles of organisational behaviour
on the British Dutch consumer goods organisation Unilever, which operates from both England
and Netherlands respectively. Having been established in 1929, it has operated and has expanded
into various distinct market sectors in its 90 years of operations.
LO1
Impact of culture, politics and power on employee behaviour
Impact of culture on the productivity and profitability of an organisation such as
Unilever can be better understood by applying Handy's model of organisational culture.
According to Charles Handy, four widely distinct culture types exist within a given organisation
that can have a major impact on the business's operational productivity (Brenyah and Obuobisa-
Darko, 2017). Handy's organisational culture model can give us information about the effects
these cultures have on an organisation. These four organisational cultures are as follows:
Power Culture: Businesses operating on this model have all the power condensed between a
select few individuals amongst the workforce. These select individuals make all relevant
decisions of the business, without ever consulting the employees for their suggestions or ideas.
These individuals also create and implement all office rules and regulations without discussing
them first with the rest of the workforce present in the business. This model allows businesses
and organisations to make decisions promptly as decision makers don't consult with the general
employees on the details of the decision. Employees views are considered insignificant and
redundant in businesses following this model, with employees simply following instructions laid
out to them by their superiors. This has the effect of decreasing employee's productivity,
motivation and job satisfaction levels.
Role Culture: Businesses operating on this model have power concentrated with people in
positions high up within the business's hierarchical chain of command. Businesses operating on
this model have a set chain of command, with employees in the business being informed of their
roles and place within the hierarchy from the start. This culture is primarily implemented by

businesses which have a long hierarchical chain of command instead of a wide or flat chain of
command. Businesses working on role culture find decision making process to be a convoluted ,
very slow process as most people within a chain of command have to first be consulted with
respect to their ideas, suggestions and have to approve of said decision first before it can be
implemented (Elsmore, 2017). This means employees do enjoy higher motivation and job
satisfaction levels in such organisations, as their ideas and suggestions are also taken into
consideration.
Task Culture: Businesses implementing this model operate by creating individual teams in
order to address a particular problem or issue faced by the parent organisation. For these
businesses the individual task is given utmost precedence and thus the power within the
organisation changes between various team members and leaders based on the team
interactions,dynamics and progress in relation to the task. This culture increases individual
employee teamwork, creativity, motivation and efficiency but the productivity of the business
depends upon the team dynamics, efficiency and productivity.
Person Culture: Businesses operating on this model of culture employ individuals who come to
view themselves as superior and indispensable to the parent business organisation. This model
operates on the premise that businesses operate simply to facilitate the functioning of individual
employee working for the same business (Maher, 2020). Organisations operating on this model
are seen mostly as a set of particularly skilled individuals, who happen to be employed by the
same business. Employees in person culture enjoy high autonomous independence, creativity and
motivation levels. This model is unsuited for businesses requiring teamwork or cooperation
amongst employees.
Unilever should implement role culture model in its operations as it encourages
cooperation and teamwork amongst employees while increasing employee's motivation and job
satisfaction levels.
Impact of politics in a business organisation like Unilever is also significant. Politics in
office environment influences employee's productivity, behaviour, motivation and job
satisfaction levels. Due to various differences in employee's cultures, religion personalities,
ideals, nationalities and languages, politics can arise in an office environment. It is the
responsibility of Unilever's management to guarantee freedom to employee from petty office
politics in an effort to increase or maintain his motivation and job satisfaction levels. Chantel's

model of politics classifies the various political influences within an organisation into 2
subdivisions:
Individual Politics: These are the office politics which present themselves due to multiple
differences in workforce and leadership's religion, race, language, ideals, culture etc. It is the
responsibility of an organisation's management to ensure a healthy working environment to
employees in order to provide equal opportunities to them for succeeding as well as setting
similar objectives and goals for individual employees within a workforce. Individual politics in
an organisation decreases workforce motivation and job satisfaction levels and drives employees
to seek job elsewhere.
Organisational Politics: These type of politics occur in an office environment due to
management's indecisiveness in relation to enforcing office laws and regulations on all
employees without biases. These can occur due to misuse of power by a high ranking official
within the organisation in relation to altering standard office policies concerned with rewards,
incentives, promotion etc. in order to provide these to candidates he seems to like rather than
those who deserve based on their performance. Organisational politics encourage the use of
sycophancy and flattery by the workforce and give rise to toxic work environments which
decrease employee motivation and job satisfaction levels .
Unilever's management must act against the spread of office politics and take critical
steps to ensure neither individual nor organisational politics can arise at Unilever (Brenyah and
Tetteh, 2016). This would help increase Unilever's workforce motivation and job satisfaction
levels allowing Unilever to better retain their existing workforce.
Impact of power within a business such as Unilever can be understood by applying
French and Raven's Five Forms of power model, which stipulates the existence of 5 bases of
powers and shows how these influence the operations of a business.
Reward Power: In this approach, managers and leaders display their power by giving monetary
incentives and rewards to employees on the achievement of a task or objective. This method
encourages the workforce to increase their productivity and efficiency by providing them with
incentives and rewards.
Coercive Power: In this approach, managers and leaders punish or penalise employees who have
not been able to perform up to the standards required by the business. This approach installs

discipline in the workplace but can make employees ineffective and inefficient due to their fear
of getting constant penalties and public humiliation.
Legitimate Power: In this approach, managers and leaders are issued powers based on their
relative position in the business's hierarchical chain of command (Raven, 2017). This approach
encourages workforce to work hard in hopes of getting promoted themselves in the future.
Expert Power: In this approach, power in an organisation is granted to individuals who possess
superior skills, knowledge or experience which is needed in order for the business to operate.
This type of base encourages workforce to study new technologies and problems and help find
innovative solutions. This increases motivation and job satisfaction levels in employees.
Referent Power: In this approach, power is exuded from the leader or manager's personal image,
character, presence, charisma, traits or background. Limited use of referent power can be good
for an employee's development and growth, but when used in excess this power brainwashes
employees and decreases their productivity and efficiency (Rahim, 2017).
Unilever's management should implement reward base of power in order to raise
employee motivation and job satisfaction levels, resulting in increased business's productivity
and profitability.
LO2
Role of content and process theories of motivation and its techniques to achieve goals in an
organization
Motivation is an inner feeling which energies a person to work more in their job. The
willingness to do the work of employees affects the organizational goals. The employees should
be continuously motivated by organization to enhance their ability of doing work. People can be
motivated by both intrinsic and extrinsic factors. Intrinsic factors are accepting the challenges,
feeling valuable and getting satisfied with the work. On the other hand extrinsic factors are
position, comparison with others or interest. Unilever has framed different ways to motivate their
employees like taking care of their mental, physical, emotional and purpose, so the employees
does not lose the interest in their job(Allen, and et.al., 2016).
Theories explaining the motivational techniques of Unilever to meet the organization's
goal are as follows:-
CONTENT THEORY

Content theory is also known as need theory. It concentrates on 'what' motivates the
employees. Need depends on the person's lifestyle and factors that motivate individual to seek
their desires and satisfy their needs.
MASLOW'S NEED HIERARCHY THEORY
Maslow's need hierarchy theory shows theory of human motivation.
There are 5 levels in Maslow's theory:-
Physiological needs:-
This need tells that where an individual is getting regular income, place to work and
fulfilling their basic needs. Unilever is providing physiological needs to their employees by
limited working hours, work related to their interest and breaks when required.
Safety needs:-
This includes security and well-being of an employee. Unilever is providing job security,
safe working conditions, financial security and health policy to their employees.
Social needs:-
Social needs encourage employees to work in teams and maintaining work relations, love
and affections. Unilever give their employees to work at different levels in different departments
so the employees can boost their confidence and can do good work.
Esteem needs:-
The employees must be praised by their supervisor, and he must maintain a status or self-
respect in the organization. The supervisor must give feedback to the employees on their work so
that they get motivate. Like Unilever keeps motivating or appraising the employees on their
work and also offers promotions to them, so they become more responsible towards their work.
Self-actualization needs:-
The employee should be self-confident for accepting the challenging jobs, to get
achievement in their work. Unilever provides self development plans, training, opportunity for
promotion for their employees (Bouzenita, and Boulanouar, 2016).
Process theory of motivation
These are defined as the motivational theories which use behavioural and psychological
process which plays a key role in motivating an individual. Unilever can use following process
theory to motivate its staff members.

Goal setting theory: As per this theory setting goals for the staff members can also act as
influential factor in encouraging employees to motivate them. The leaders of Unilever must set
goals which inspire team members to make additional efforts for improving their performance.
The goals must be challenging as well as inspiring which can meet the skills and competencies of
the staff members. To enhance the motivation process leaders must also ensure that they must
regularly give feedback to the employees so that they can make necessary improvements in their
outcomes. Another aspect of goal setting theory is that when Unilever gives realistic goals to its
staff members then it allows all staff members to stay positive and confident at work place which
is essential for the growth and improved productivity of the organisation.
LO3
Effective and Ineffective Teams
In order to form an effective team which can achieve its goals and objectives with high
effectiveness and efficiency, team development theory is used. To form an effective team,
Unilever's management should make of team development model made by Tuckman, which
addresses the various requirements and issues organisations face while working in teams to solve
tasks and problems faced by an organisation (Özaslan, 2019). Tuckman's model of team
development can develop professional, skilled and efficient teams in order to tackle problems
currently faced by Unilever.
Tuckman Model: Bruce Tuckman created a simple and elegant team development model which
tries to analyse various individual behaviours of team members, team dynamics in relation to its
operations and ways to increase team effectiveness, efficiency and productivity. This model
states that there are four primary processes through which an effective team forms and works,
namely Forming, Storming, Norming and Performing (Black, and et.al,. 2019). These four
phases identify and analyse the journey of a team, its experiences gained, problems faced and
solved and how its teamwork improved. Later Tuckman ended up adding a final fifth phase to
his team development model called Adjourning which describes the adjournment phase every
team has to go through after it has completed its goals and objectives.
There are multiple deciding factors that influence and contribute towards making a team
inefficient or efficient :
Goals: Ineffective team managers and leaderships tend to ignore or miscommunicate the end
objectives and goals to individual team members, while effective team leaderships do

communicate the goals and objectives the team must achieve in a clear and concise manner so
that there is no confusion within the team (Natvig and Stark, 2016).
Interdependence: Ineffective team members do not inter depend upon one another to achieve
end objectives or goals and hence there is no cohesion in the team, whereas effective team
members do inter depend upon one another in order to complete the given task effectively and
efficiently.
Delegation: Ineffective team leadership and members do not delegate individual tasks to
members based upon their perceived strengths and weaknesses, while effective team leadership
and members do delegate tasks based on the skills and experience of its members in order to
improve team's overall productivity and performance.
Listening: Ineffective team leadership and members generally do not listen to the views, ideas
and suggestions of subordinate members, while effective team leadership and members take into
consideration the suggestions and views of their team members to increase their efficiency.
Team Contribution: Ineffective team members generally contribute unequally towards the
completion of a gives task or objective, while effective team members hold multiple discussions
in order for everyone to make their contribution towards achieving a set task (Zhen, 2017).
Conflict Resolving: Ineffective team members and leaders generally tend to suppress or ignore
conflicts between team members, even at the cost of team's productivity and performance,
whereas effective team leaders and members resolve any conflicts as soon as possible in order to
maintain the team's cooperation, productivity and efficiency.
Leadership: Ineffective team leaders dominate their team members and do not consider their
suggestions during decision-making process, while effective team leaders do consider the team
ideas during decision-making process.
LO4
Philosophies of Organisational Behaviour
In an organisation various philosophies, concepts, models and theories play a significant role in
helping the organisation and its employees to work in effective and efficient manner and achieve
its goals successfully. Therefore, Unilever is following Autocratic Philosophy in its
organisation as it is a large organisation with wide variety of products of different brands at one
place. This concept helps the organisation's top management to take decisions on their own ideas,

judgement and control the whole organisation with it by rarely accepting other's advice. Also,
helps in quick decision making in the organisation (Bickle, 2017).
Path-Goal Leadership Theory
This theory is based on Vroom's Expectancy Theory that help in identifying the best leader's
style that suits the employees' needs and the working environment in the organisation to achieve
its goals. It follows the process in which firstly, the characteristics of the employees as well as of
the environment are determined then after leadership style is selected and support the employees
and provide ways to get motivated and focused towards the goals to achieve them. There are
basically 4 types of Leadership styles which are as follows-
Directive Style – This means that the leader provides clear guidelines to his employees about
what is expected from them and how to perform the work given to them and accordingly
coordinating and scheduling the work to the expectation. Therefore, this style is more suitable for
Unilever in situations in which its employees are not experienced and required guidance and
check on regular basis. A directive leader rely and focus on his own decision rather than other's
opinion also sets deadlines, give tasks and proper rules and regulations of the organisation
(Grobler and Du Plessis, 2016). Here, Unstructured tasks gets the base to be done in proper way. It is
easy to learn and therefore provides safety and security and the employees of Unilever are
totally dependent on their leader.
Supportive Style – In this the leader shows his concern towards his team members which is
quite pleasant for the workers to work in the organisation. The leaders of Unilever give their full
attention towards his employees for their welfare and needs. They respect employees and support
them when needed. A supportive leader treats his employees equally and is friendly and
approachable with ever one. This style is widely accepted in Unilever because leaders train their
employees to deal with the consequences themselves so that employees get fully empowered in
that particular area. The leaders are considerate, understanding, and sympathetic to employee’s
problems and solve them, develop trust, assist them, gives feedback on their performance.
Participative Style – This theory means the leader discuss with his team mates on how to
precede the work before making decision on his own. In Unilever leaders seem grateful to
include ideas, suggestion and opinions from the employees in decision-making process (Rana,
K'aol and Kirubi, 2019). Sometimes, it is fruitful and sometimes can affect the leader when the
staff members of organisation have great knowledge and are deeply involved in doing the work

which in result their advice becomes invaluable for him. The leader is present with his team
mates during the work and encourages them as well. It is a powerful leadership style.
Achievement Oriented Style – This refers that the leader expects his employees to perform well
to their best and show their confidence and ability to meet his expectations and accordingly he
sets challenging goals for them. Goals are clearly communicated and leaders of Unilever make
themselves available to his employees and manage their time. Employees who have problem
solving attitude and work independently are capable for this. The behaviour of the leader can
change anytime according to the situation to meet the demand. It encourages high performance
from the employees of Unilever but it can be undesirable when the targets are unclear.
Employees cannot give feedback regarding their work process. It also reduces innovation and
creativity of doing work, causes exhaustion in employees (Olowoselu, bin Mohamad and
Mohamed Farag Mohamed Aboudahr, 2019.).
From the above stated different leadership styles it is clear that the best style which is
suitable for the UNILEVER is Achievement Oriented Style because it will the employees to
work properly as the goals are communicated in a clear manner which required to be achieved.
Leaders used to be with them whenever they require and help them to solve their problems and
can be achieved easily.
CONCLUSION
Organisational Behaviour is the process through which businesses and
organisations can evaluate, understand and predict an individual or group's activities, behaviour
and performance in relation to the business. This report evaluates the various impacts of culture,
power and politics on employee behaviour within an Organisation and goes on to evaluates how
individual employees and teams can be better motivated in order to achieve their goals and
objectives. The report also studies multiple factors that influence teamwork and cooperation
metrics between various employees within a team and applies philosophies and concepts of
organisational behaviour to a business scenario.

REFERENCES
Allen, M.L., and et.al., 2016. The importance of motivation, weapons, and foul odors in driving
encounter competition in carnivores. Ecology.97(8). pp.1905-1912.
Bickle, J.T., 2017. Developing remote training consultants as leaders—Dialogic/network
application of path‐goal leadership theory in leadership development. Performance
Improvement.56(9). pp.32-39.
Black, S., Gardner, D.G., Pierce, J.L. and Steers, R., 2019. Team Development Over Time.
Organizational Behavior.
Bouzenita, A.I. and Boulanouar, A.W., 2016. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs: An Islamic critique.
Intellectual Discourse.24(1).
Brenyah, R.S. and Obuobisa-Darko, T., 2017. Organisational culture and employee engagement
within the Ghanaian public sector. Review Pub Administration Manag. 5(233). p.2.
Brenyah, R.S. and Tetteh, E.N., 2016. Organisational Culture and Its Impact on Employee
Retention: Evidence from the Private Tertiary Education Sector of Ghana. European
Journal of Business and Management. ISSN, pp.2222-1905.
Elsmore, P., 2017. Organisational Culture: Organisational Change?: Organisational Change?.
Routledge.
Grobler, S.W. and Du Plessis, Y., 2016. Requisite leader behavioural competencies for
sustainable organisational performance. Acta Commercii.16(1).pp.1-8.
Maher, C., 2020. Career Needs and Career Values: the Mediating Role of Organisational
Culture. In Recent Advances in the Roles of Cultural and Personal Values in
Organizational Behavior (pp. 240-260). IGI Global.
Natvig, D. and Stark, N.L., 2016. A project team analysis using Tuckman's model of small-group
development. Journal of Nursing Education. 55(12). pp.675-681.
Olowoselu, A., bin Mohamad, M.A. and Mohamed Farag Mohamed Aboudahr, S., 2019. Path-
Goal Theory and the Application in Educational Management and
Leadership. Education Quarterly Reviews.2(2).
Özaslan, G., 2019. Principals’ conceptions of teachers’ power basis: a phenomenographic study.
International Journal of Educational Management.
Rahim, M.A., 2017. A Model of managerial power bases: alternative explanations of reported
findings: Center for Advanced Studies in Management. In Social Intelligence,
Power, and Conflict (pp. 29-46). Routledge.
Rana, R., K'aol, G. and Kirubi, M., 2019. Influence of supportive and participative path-goal
leadership styles and the moderating role of task structure on employee performance.
Raven, B.H., 2017. The comparative analysis of power and power preference. In Social power
and political influence (pp. 172-198). Routledge.
Ryan, J.C., 2016. Old knowledge for new impacts: Equity theory and workforce nationalization.
Journal of Business Research.69(5). pp.1587-1592.
Zhen, J., 2017, September. Application of Tuckman's Model in the Community Folk Team
Management in Community Education. In 3rd Annual International Conference on
Social Science and Contemporary Humanity Development (SSCHD 2017). Atlantis
Press.