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Organisational Behavior
Lo1: Analyse the influence of culture, politics and power on the behaviour of others in an organisational context.
Introduction on Organisation structure
Organisational structure is among the major aspects that influence organisational performance. There are different definitions of organisational structure. First, it is said to be a framework of the links on jobs, systems, operating processes, individuals and groups working towards achieving the goals(Ahmady et al., 2016). It is also defined as a set of methods dividing the task to identify duties as well as coordinate them. It helps in facilitating decision making, effective reaction to environment and conflict resolutions among the units. One of the significance of organisational structure is that it is a critical part of making sure that the company attains its organisational objectives (Nene and Pillay, 2019). It represents a significant tool that directs people’s behaviors through shared values, ideas and goals. It is characterised as a technique whereby the companies are differentiated and integrated through allocation of work roles as well as activities ((Kanten et al., 2015). Other benefits of organisational structure is that it has a positive impact on learning organisation. There are two types of organisational structure, they include social and physical. Physical structure points at the link between physical elements of a company whereby the business is carried out.
Organisational Culture
Organisational culture refers to the norms that members of a company experience and describe as their work settings. It is a set of values, beliefs as well behavior patterns that differentiate one company to another (Yasa, 2019). Moreover, organisational culture is defined as a system of values that influence the decision-making process in the hospital. In most cases, business managers utilise organisational culture to differentiate their operations from other firms. It has positive relations with the corporate leadership and governance. Most business managers understand the influence of culture on corporate performance. Organisational culture differentiates the successful companies from others. It can be powerful and offer the company competitive advantage. A strong organisational culture acts as a guide for the employees. They are able to understand how to react to any situation affecting the organisation. Moreover, a strong organisational culture allows employees to have the same views about the company. They usually behave consistently with the company’s values. Business managers focus on developing a strong organisational culture so as to influence workers’ work attitude and performance. It is due to the fact that culture engages and motivates employees.
Charles Handy Model of culture
Charles Handy introduced a framework of four diverse types of culture that is still relevant.
Power Culture
The power culture has a central power source that exercises control. In such a culture, there are minimal rules or procedures, the environment is competitive and power oriented as well as political. It is linked to autocratic leadership and power can be found at the centre of the company (Cacciattolo, 2014). The process of decision making is centralised, therefore, they are made quickly. Managers’ abilities are judged based on the results they deliver rather than the process that is used to get the outcomes. Power culture is characterised by autocratic leadership and hierarchical structures. Motivational methods mainly include financial incentives as well as bonuses. They are used to reward individuals that perform exceptionally. The organisation has a power culture which was developed by the company’s founders. They have an autocratic leadership style which has affected the employee retention rate. A high number of employees are joining the rival companies. The company’s culture has affected the company’s team behavior. Also, it has negatively affected how the company operates as it records 15% turnover.
Task Culture
The aim of the task culture is to ensure that the right individuals are brought together and allowed to work. Expert power plays a major role in influence. In this case, the position that a person holds does not matter, instead, their expertise is what matters. The culture can be adapted and it encourages teamwork. It is formed when teams in a company are created to address certain issues or development projects (Cacciattolo, 2014). Team members are motivated to be creative. Power within the team shifts based on the team members and the problem status. Cloudreach is an example of a company with task culture. It believes in working as a team (Cloudreach, 2020). The current organisation does not encourage teamwork. Instead, two founders are the ones that make decisions within the organisation. The company can use the culture to motivate the employees. It can include incentives to motivate the employees. The team would help solve issues affecting the organisation.
Role culture
Under role culture, work is controlled by procedures as well as rules. Job description or the role is more significant compared to the individual who fills it. Power is linked to positions rather than the people. Companies with a role culture are based on rules. Every person in the firm understands their roles as well as responsibilities (Cacciattolo, 2014). Role culture is developed on detailed organisational structure that is mainly tall and a long chain of command. It is linked to bureaucratic companies. Employees in this kind of culture are less creative and they work based on rules. Every person has a well detailed job which they are required to fulfill. The decision-making process is slow due to the long chain of command. The organisation presented in the case study has various issues that have affected its operations. Considering the problems, it is not wise to have a role culture. Operating within rules may demotivate the employees.
Person Culture
Companies that have a personal culture, people perceive themselves as unique and superior to the company. The firm exists for individuals to work (Cacciattolo, 2014). The culture has various disadvantages, for instance, there are high chances of conflict between personal goals and the organisation’s goals. Nevertheless, it promotes creativity and people are not required to work as a team. Every person is required to handle their tasks as well as projects. The organisation presented in the case study, requires a more structured culture. Therefore, the person’s culture may not work effectively.
Organisational politics
Politics with the organisation are significant as they offer an understanding of the informal processes of conflicts and cooperations within a company. Politics within the organisation are viewed as a group phenomenon (Cacciattolo, 2014). In this case, employees form informal groups in the workplace as well as different coalitions grow among people. The groups may include managers and subordinates within the department.
Advantages
Politics within the company are understood as organisational defensive routines that change and filter the right information. Nevertheless, there are various advantages of politics in a company. They can be beneficial to the firm. First, they may promote competition within the organisation. Mostly, this happens when the involved parties are politically skilled. For instance, politically skilled management can handle environments that are under stress (Cacciattolo, 2015). They may have the ability to handle people and promote trust within the company. Moreover, politics in the company will help in solving conflict within the company. Politically skilled individuals may aim to ensure that they make sense of the environment and promote a positive co-existence. Also, they may work towards improving the firm’s success. Individuals may enable change and adaptation within the organisation. Mainly, political behavior may have positive outcomes if it is focused on ensuring that the company’s vision and objectives are met. It also needs to promote teamwork and should be ethically-balanced. Constructive politics is perceived as a way of bringing individuals with dissimilar views and opinions as well as interest of the stakeholders. Another advantage of the politics in the company is that it helps in promoting trust among individuals. Other advantages of politics in a company include career advancement and attainment of company and individual goals. There is also a link between successful managers and the use of organisational politics.
Disadvantages
Although there are various advantages of organisational politics.political environments are known to be hostile. They may be perceived to influence unfairness, deprivation as well as inequity. Another disadvantage of politics in a company is that it may hinder free flow of information. Employees that perceive the working environment to be political, may withhold information. It may mute the voices as well as opinions of people. Workers are likely to feel threatened by the uncertainty and self-interest actions that take place among the people. Moreover, organisational politics influence stress and conflict. It may as well affect the employee’s motivation (Cacciattolo, 2015). There is also confusion as there is no unclear function. Another disadvantage is that at times politics within the company are linked to trust issues. Workers may develop suspicion of others’ work. Lack of trust may have a negative effect on people’s behaviour. It may lead to informal political behaviour that may have a negative impact on a company’s operations. In addition, politics may cause anguish among workers. Companies may be affected negatively by politics. Therefore, it is important to have leaders that understand politics within the company.
Types of politics in an organisation
According to Jarret (2017) there are four types of organisational politics. They include the weeds whereby personal influence and informal networks play a major role. Such politics need proper management as they can affect a company’s reputation. For instance, Tesco has a team that is tasked with protecting and guiding the employees. The team works for the benefit of the company. However, at times their good intentions may not work . Another type of politics is the rocks, which is based on the person’s interactions and formal sources of authority. For instance, for IKEA, the decision-making process is centralised (IKEA, 2020). The top management has the authority to make decisions. Therefore, any significant decision should be authorised by the management. Highground is another type of politics within a company. It connects formal authority and organisation systems. For instance, Tesco has a bureaucratic structure. It has threatened to affect the company’s operations as employees complain (Tesco Plc, 2020). The decision-making process is carried out by the top management.
Dimension of political skills
Political skills are considered as necessary competency within a company. Various significant aspects need to be included in the conceptualization of political skills. First, is social astuteness, whereby people that have political skills are astute observers of other individuals. They have an understanding of social interactions and can interpret their behaviors (Ferris et al., 2007). Another dimension is interpersonal influence, whereby they are able to influence individuals. Also, they need to have the ability to network. They need to develop diverse networks and contacts of individuals. They have the ability to negotiate in any situation. Moreover, they appear to others as possessing high levels of integrity. They are authentic and genuine which makes it easy for people to trust them. IKEA ensures that their leaders can be trusted by the employees at all times (IKEA, 2020). They have created a culture where leadership skills is an important aspect.
Conclusion on the impact of culture in a company
A company’s culture has a huge impact on how it operates. It defines how employees relate with the top management. Some cultures may interfere with smooth running of an organisation. For instance, power culture affects the employees performance as they are not offered a chance to feel as they are part of the company. It mostly involves control and this may lead to high employee turnover within the organisation. Additionally, companies that have a personal culture, people perceive themselves as unique and superior to the company. The firm exists for individuals to work. The culture has various disadvantages, for instance, there are high chances of conflict between personal goals and the organisation’s goals. Nevertheless, there are different organisational cultures that promote a healthy working environment. For example, task culture is to ensure that the right individuals are brought together and allowed to work. It promotes teamwork within the company. Team members are motivated to be creative.
LO 2: Evaluate how to motivate individuals and teams to achieve a goal.
Motivation
Motivation is a drive that is internally generated to attain a goal. Employees that are motivated focus on attaining certain goals. The managers are tasked with motivating the employees. It helps in ensuring that they work towards the company’s goals. Workers who are highly motivated are less likely to miss work (Varma, 2018). Additionally, they are productive and behave well at work. Employee motivation also helps in increasing workers’ retainment. Managers need to encourage employees to show up for work. There are individuals that are motivated from within while others get motivation from outside sources. Motivation is a significant stimulation that directs human behaviors. Every person has their attitude or behavior. Therefore, organisations need to ensure that their motivation approach satisfies every person.
Maslow Theory of Motivation
Maslow’s need hierarchy theory highlights five levels of need. The needs follow hierarchy. The need for the next level arises after the earlier need is realised. They include physiological needs, safety and security, social need and self worth as well as self actualization. The physiological needs include those that are required for a person to survive (Pande and Basak, 2015). For instance, food, water as well as shelter among others. Safety needs are those that offer an individual a sense of protection. A person needs to feel that they are financially protected as well as healthwise. The organisation needs to increase the employees retention. Therefore, the management should focus on ensuring that their needs are met. They ought to fulfill their social needs. Employees should have a sense of belonging and acceptance within the organisation. It will decrease employee turnover so they will prefer working in the company.
Equity Theory of Motivation
The theory holds that motivation is directly linked to the idea of equity within the company. In case a company is biased, the employees may not be motivated (Pande and Basak, 2015). However, in cases where the workers are treated equally, they are likely to be motivated to work towards the company’s goals. In the current case study, it is obvious that the employees are not motivated due to lack of proper treatment from the two founders. Therefore, it is important for them to ensure that every person is treated equally.
Conclusion/ recommendation
Employee motivation is important as it enables workers to work towards the firm’s goals. Motivation is a significant stimulation that directs human behaviors. Every person has their attitude or behavior. Therefore, organisations need to ensure that their motivation approach satisfies every person. Maslow’s theory of motivation focuses on fulfilling individuals’ needs. For a company to motivate the employees they need to fulfill certain needs. Also, there is the equity theory of motivation. It focuses on making sure that employees are treated equally. The approach ensures that every person is motivated. In the case study, the organisation has various issues especially employee turnover. It is important to adopt a theory that will help in motivating them and increase the retention. They should ensure that employees are treated equally. They ought to be given a chance to offer their views and opinions in the company. The management should focus on ensuring that their needs are met. They ought to fulfill their social needs. Employees should have a sense of belonging and acceptance within the organisation. It will decrease employee turnover so they will prefer working in the company.
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