ORGANIZATION AND BEHAVIOUR

APPROACH OF BRITISH AIRWAYS

Introduction

            Organization behaviour is basically the behaviour of the people in the organization, processes adopted by the organization, management processes and environmental interactions within the organization. It is the combination of behaviour of all these aspects within the organization and has direct impact on the operations of the organization. Various aspects of organizational behaviour like the organization structure and culture which define the organizational behaviour, management approaches and leadership style, motivation theories and the use of teamwork etc. within the organization are important to be discussed in order to understand the organizational behaviour in details. These concepts also help in the creation of better work environment within the organization by aligning the organizational behaviour according to the goals and objectives of the organization. The behaviour of the employees within the organization defines their attitude and performance within the organization which has a direct impact on the effectiveness and efficiency of the organization. It becomes too important for organizations to understand and implement all these concepts in proper manner. This report would aim at discussing all these concepts in the relation of a multinational company named as ASDA plc which have its more than 500 retail stores all over the world. This report would also implement some concepts in relation to the British Airways (BA) to understand all the concepts in an effective manner.

1. Organizational Structure and Culture

P 1.1 Organizational Structure and culture in BA and ASDA

ASDA is the multinational organizational having business of retail chain and has presence in more than 15 countries with its more than 500 stores. British Airways is the main airlines service provider which claims to have the largest number of fleet size. Organizational structure of any organization defines the way responsibilities and decision making authorities have been defined within the organization while organization culture defines the way the employees, processes and management decisions of the organizations are taken. Various kind of organizational structures that can be found usually are flat structure, tall structure and matrix structure which are being created on the basis of line of authority distribution within the organization. Organization cultures that can be prevalent within the organizations are task culture, role culture, power culture and person culture depending on the behaviour of the employees which is usually instilled in the employees through the past leaders of the organization. Based on the various facts and research, it can be easily said that ASDA follows the bureaucratic structure and role culture while BA follows the entrepreneurial structure and power culture. In a bureaucratic structure and role culture, employees are empowered and job security is ensured and the decisions are divided on the various levels according to the criticality of the decisions. In an entrepreneurial structure and power culture, employees are not empowered and most of the decisions are taken by the top management. In ASDA, organization is being divided among divisions and division heads are being empowered to take decisions while in BA all the decisions are taken by top management. Both the organizations have different structure and culture which depends on the goals and objectives of the organization however structure and culture are related with each other.

P 1.2 Organizational structure and culture influencing behaviour of employees in

ASDA

            Previous subsection talked about the organizational structure and culture of ASDA in brief manner. The organization follows a bureaucratic structure and role culture which have a direct or indirect impact on the behaviour of the employees working within the organization. It is being observed that the freedom given for taking the small decisions give the employees a feel of responsibility to them and motivates them for more responsible behaviour within the organization while when employees are termed just as a medium of work within the organization, then the employees behaviour in different manner and don’t work in more responsible manner. The structure and culture of the organization gave them such freedom or rights. The employees working in the ASDA at a lower level are provided with a flexible work environment and they have to report directly to the division head that have the authorities to take the decisions, so in such an environment employees are encouraged to work in flexible manner which helps the employees in behaving in a responsible manner. The structure and culture prevalent within ASDA has an impact on the behaviour of the employees within the organization and also impacts the results of the organization in a significant manner.

P 1.3 Employee Behaviour in ASDA

            Behaviour of employees within the organization is an integral part of the organizational behaviour in collective manner. There are several factors which are directly related to the employees and some are related to the work environment of the organization which has direct or indirect influence on the employee behaviour within the organization. ASDA follows a bureaucratic structure and role culture. Some of the important factors which influence the employee behaviour within ASDA can be listed in following manner:

1. Personality of the individual defines the behaviour of the employees within the organization. It also related to personal and professional development.

2. Perception of the individual about the organization’s goals and objectives and his responsibility shapes his behaviour.

3. Attitude of individual about the work and his own goals and objectives creates his behaviour at workplace.

4. The learning level of individual defines the way he works for the organization.

5. Apart from above mentioned individual factors, the factors which are related to the organizational environment and have influence on the employees’ behaviour are leadership, communication, motivation, organizational structure and culture, group working, peer experience etc.

The above-mentioned list of the factors which influence the behaviour of employees within ASDA is not exhaustive; there can be several other factors as well which influence behaviour of employees in some manner. Managers use various techniques in order to align employees’ behaviour according to the objectives and goals of organization (Dolphin, 2003).

2. Management Approaches and Leadership

P 2.1 Leadership Styles

            A leader is a person, who has influence on individuals or groups working in an organization, assists them in the formation of goals, and leads them in the achievement of those defined goals by providing them with an environment which helps in the effective working and learning process. The main leader of any organization is its CEO. The leaders have their own style of working and which is known as their leadership style and it differs from one leader to another. Leadership style of CEO of an organization has a direct impact on the performance of the organization. CEO of ASDA is Mr Andy Clarke has his own personality which defines his leadership style and CEO of BA is Mr Keith Williams has some different personality which defines his leadership style. The main type of leadership style that can be found in the leaders on the basis of their traits are autocratic (tells), persuasive (sells), participative (consults) and democratic (joins). Mr Keith Williams take all the decisions about the organization by itself after the discussion with the boards of directors, so he possess a persuasive kind of leadership where he assumes that his decisions would be accepted by the employees and would be motivated for the work within the organization. Mr Andy Clarke is a kind of democratic person who takes the decisions after discussion with different divisional heads and most of the decisions are taken on the basis of consensus. There are transformational and transactional leadership styles as well according to the thought processes of leaders. Keith Williams can be considered as transactional leader while Andy Clarke as the transformational leader. These leadership styles affect the behaviours of employee to a great extent (Stacks, 2013).

P 2.2 Organizational Theory Applicable at ASDA

Organizational theory helps in identifying various approaches in order to understand the organization. It studies the organization from various perspectives like social organizations, businesses and how they are related with the operating environment. The main organizational theories that can

be practiced within the organizations are scientific management, bureaucracy, systems approach, classical administration, human relations approach and contingency theories. These theories differ in their way of working of management and have their own advantages and disadvantages. ASDA follows contingency theory. These theory changes from one organization to another depending upon the management style followed within the organization. Contingency theory suggests that there can be best form that an organization or management can adopt. It states that most suitable form is achieved by the various factors surrounding the environment. These organization theories have an impact on the management practices within the organization. Contingency theory applicable within ASDA has a direct impact on the management practices of ASDA. The main tasks that are performed by managers within an organization are planning, staffing, organizing, controlling and leading. The organizational theories define the relationship existing between freedom of employees and the organizational control along with the nature of authority and power existing within the organization. It also defines the relationship existing between society and organizations along with the relationship between collectivism and individualism in the modern form of organizations. The practices of management are directly impacted on the basis of these relationships. Finally it can be concluded that the contingency theory applicable at ASDA form the management practice within the organization which aims at achievement of goals and objectives in most effective and efficient manner.

P 2.3 Management Approaches

Management of any organization play an important role in the success of any organization as it involves the management of individuals or human capital working within the organization who contributes to the organizational success. The main functions of management are planning, organizing,

leading, staffing, motivating, creating, communicating and controlling. All these functions are directly related to the management of the employees working for an organization. A successful management within the organization results in the successful organization. There are various kinds of management approaches followed by the organization in order to achieve success in their goals and objectives. The management plays various kinds of role within the organization like interpersonal, informational and decisional. Interpersonal role involves interactions and coordination with the employees of organization while informational role involve sharing, handling and analysing various information related to the organization. Decisional role of management requires it to take various decisions that are helpful for organization. Management approach followed in ASDA performs these entire defined roles according to the situation as it follows contingency theory of organizational. All the decisions are taken by the management to help in better results (Collins, 1996).

3. Motivational Theories

P 3.1 Changes and impact of leadership styles

ASDA is a retail chain which has to implement various kinds of changes at times in order to adapt the various changes in the environment like political, technological or  laws and policies. It is being observed that the organizational change of any kind within the company face many kinds of issues from the employees as they are not ready for such changes many a time. These changes can be implemented by the organization with the help of change management which ensures the successful implementation of change within the organization. ASDA may look forward for the changes in the billing system or the outlay of the stores which may require drastic changes within the stores and the way employees work there. Such changes within the organization can be implemented by making employees aware

about the changes before hand and getting their feedbacks on the same. This helps the organization in understanding the viewpoint of the employees about the changes within the organization. Leadership style of the managers plays an important role in the process. An autocratic manager would directly implement the changes by forcing his decisions on the employees while a consultative manager would first discuss all the aspects of the changes with the employees and would take the decisions. The motivation of the employees is highly dependent on the leadership styles of manager as the manager who forces his decisions on the employees are not usually liked by the employees while the managers who have the nature of consulting with the employees before making finally decisions are liked by the employees. Such managers motivate the employees to work in the changed environment and understand their viewpoints about the changes. So, it can be stated that the leadership style play an important role in the motivation of employees during the change in the organization (Peña, 2001).

P 3.2 Application of Motivational Theories

There are various motivational theories defined over the time and are applicable in different kinds of organizations according to their goals and objectives and the motivation level of the employees working within the organization. These motivation theories basically help the managers to understand the motivational factors for the different kind of employees working under them and suggest them the applicable motivational factor in order to motivate them. These motivational theories are used by the organization to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of the employees over the time. Retail chain organization where the employees are assigned targets for their works, there is much use of motivational theories in order to motivate them in achieving their targets. Following motivational theories are the important motivational theories that are in most use:

Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs:

Maslow’s identified various needs of the employees and designed them in a hierarchical manner in order to assign the priorities to these needs of individuals. According to him, there are various kinds of needs of an individual and with the passing time, these needs changes. An individual who has completed first level of needs looks for next level of needs and so on. So, the motivation factors for an individual will be those factors who will address the needs of next level. The different levels of needs defined by Maslow are:

First Level: Physiological needs Second Level: Safety needs Third Level: Social needs Fourth Level: Self-esteem needs Fifth Level: Self-actualization needs

Hertzberg’s Motivation-Hygiene Theory:Hertzberg identified various factors that are important for the employees working within the organization or can be said that the factors that results in an effective work by the individuals working in an organization. These factors are being divided by Hertzberg in two categories i.e. hygienic and motivational factors. Hygienic factors help the employees in providing with a hygienic and suitable work environment while motivational factors increase the motivation level of the individuals working within the organization and increase their efficiency. Hygienic factors identified by him are security, company policies, salary, work condition, supervision, peer relationship, leadership etc. while motivational factors were identified as achievement, recognition, responsibility, growth,  interesting work, advancement etc. It is necessary for ASDA to provide the employees with the environment which have all the hygienic factors in order to get an effective work from them.

McClelland’s Learned Need Theory:McClelland identified the learning experience as the important factor for the motivation. According to him, individuals working within the organization can

be categorized in three important categories according to their needs from the organization i.e. Need for achievement, Need for affiliation, Need for Power. He mentioned that these needs are dependent on the learning and experience level of the employees and the employees at one level can be motivated by identification of his needs for another level. It is somewhat similar to the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs but differ in the context.

Finally, it can be said that the above discussed theories for the motivation of employees are important theories and should be used by ASDA according to the employees in order to motivate them for effective and efficient working. It can be easily recommended to the management of ASDA to utilize the benefits of Maslow’s hierarchy needs theory in order to get the effective and efficient work from the employees (Rastogi, 2006).

P 3.3 Application of motivational theories for Managers

            Motivational theories are of much use for managers working within an organization as the managers can utilize the effectiveness of the employees by using any of these motivational theories according to the motivational level of the employees. Managers identify the factors that can help the employees in working more effectively and reward employees accordingly in order to motivate them for effective working. It is already known that the employees get motivated according to their needs for the work. Motivational theories are applied by the managers according to the requirements from the businesses. Hertzberg’s motivational hygiene theory can be used by the managers of ASDA in a manner that it is necessary for the employees to provide a hygienic business environment which  help in attracting more customers as well due to the direct interaction of employees with the customers in same environment. Managers assess the motivational factors for the different employees and according to that they reward the employees and get the work done by employees in more effective and efficient manner. So, it can be concluded by stating that motivational

theories are much helpful for the managers in order to get work done by the employees in a better way (Ocholi, 2006).

4. Teamwork

P 4.1 Groups and their influence in ASDA

            ASDA is an organization with more than 1 lac employees working within the organization. It is well known that individuals tend to form group within the organization, society, institutes etc. A group is formed by two or more people for different purposes. There can be many kinds of groups that can be found within ASDA. Groups can be formal or informal in nature. There are various other kinds of groups like task group, command group, interest group, friendship group etc. Groups are formed by individuals in order to get affiliation, security, power, recognition, fulfilment of the goals etc. Task groups are the groups which are formed for the accomplishment of a particular task. Such groups can be mostly found in the organizations as most of the organizations create groups for the completion of the tasks. Command groups are the groups where the members of the group report to same managers and get commands from same manager. These groups are most prevalent within the organizations as most of the organizations follow such structure where a manger manages the particular group for the accomplishment of organizations goals and objectives while keeping in mind about the individuals’ goals and objectives. Interest groups are formed on the basis of the interests of the individuals while friendship groups are formed for the special purposes like get together, enjoyment of trips etc. where the purpose of all the members is same. Different groups in an organization behave in different manner according to their purposes and the constituents of the groups. The cultural beliefs, language, value systems etc. of the individuals within the group influence behaviour of the overall group. These groups active within the organization influence the organizational

behaviour in direct or indirect manner. In ASDA, command groups can be found mostly due to the organizational structure. In ASDA, employees report to same supervisor of the store according to their tasks within the store. The employees working within the group influence behaviour of each other and ultimately the behaviour of the group where the actions of the group are influenced in a great manner. An individual in a group who is from a particular culture may influence the person from another culture and may be fatal for the organization if have negative thought process. So, finally concluding it by saying that there can be various kinds of groups in the organisations and behaviour of individuals in the groups affect the group behaviour in ASDA (Adams, 2004).

P 4.2 Development of effective teamwork

Effective teamwork within the organization is most important for the success of the goals and objectives of the organization in effective and efficient manner. Organization emphasizes on the development of effective teams within the organization as effective teams of the organizations are considered as the most important assets for them. There can be various factors that promote the creation of effective teamwork within the organization. These important factors can be described in below manner:

Diversity:  It means the presence of the people from different cultures, languages, and beliefs etc. in a team. Diversity promotes the creativity and innovation thinking of the individuals within the team as individuals gets to know about various kinds of culture at the same place. They get affected by the thinking process of the individual from other culture and if find that effective they start following them which results in the effective teamwork for the organization. However there can be some issues with the diversified teams as well like conflicts due to the nature and beliefs of the individuals.Leadership Style: Leader of the team plays an important role in the results from a team. Working with leading people can get effective results from the

team while a leader who is ignored by its employees can’t get the effective results as the employees will not follow his orders and would behave in their own manner.Team building Exercise: Such exercise helps in the better coordination among the team members as they get to know about each other in more details with the help of such exercises. Most of the organizations emphasizes on the team building exercises on periodical basis as it bring cohesiveness within the teams. With the help of team building exercises, team members get to know about the interests, weaknesses, characteristics and strengths of the team members in a better manner (Kleiner, 1997).

P 4.3 Technology and team function

                Technology plays a very important role in the functioning of the team active in the organizations. With the introduction of new technologies day by day, the role of information technology within the organization is becoming more important as technologies ease the works of the teams and enable them to function in effective and efficient manner. Various technologies that have influenced the team functioning in significant manner at ASDA are as follows:Email: This is a form of asynchronous communication which enable the members of a team to communicate with each other irrespective of their location and the time. However, the misuses of email can be fatal for the team sometimes.Groupware: It is a very useful technology which is in much use by the organization to plan meetings in virtual manner. It enables the teams to conduct meeting without forcing them to gather at a single place (Hunsaker, 2008).Computers: Computers have become too important these days and there is no organization which does not have computers. They have made all the work easy for the employees and all the communication, presentations,

database etc. are handled through them only. Laptops, palmtop etc. are some other forms of computers which come in compact form and allows all the functions of computers to its users.Mobile phones:  With the introduction of mobile technology, the life of people has become too easy. It enables individuals to communicate and get informations anywhere, anytime without the help of internet and enables the individuals to get all the information about their work so that they can plan their work accordingly (Wells, 1995).

Conclusion

Organizational behaviour play an important role in the effective and efficient results from an organization as it defines the behaviour of the processes followed in an organization, behaviour of the individuals etc. Various aspects of organizational behaviour which are discussed in the report are most important to understand the organizational behaviour. Structure and culture of the organizations differ from one to another while teamwork get affected by various factors and technology. Leadership style is important for the organization in achieving goals and the motivational theories are used by the managers to get the effective results from the employees. Overall, various concepts of organizational behaviour discussed above play some kind of role in the working of the organization. This assignment helped in the practical implementation of all the concepts learnt during the course. This report would enable the readers to understand these concepts in better details so that they can also implement such practices within their organizations.

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