Organizations and Behavior

This report attempts to study four cases and thereby explains many aspects of organizations and behavior of various companies with a number of scenarios. The report considers understanding relationship between structure and culture of organization, different management and leadership approaches, methods of adopting and using theories of motivation in organizations, and instruments for developing effective organizational teamwork.

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LO 1

1.1 Different Structures and Cultures of Organization

There can be various structures and culture of a company and all of them are known to acquire their own merits as well as demerits to a number of work settings. There can be various types of organizational culture and they are too crucial as they are significant for forming a center through which an atmosphere can be formed at setting of work. Some of the types of culture are discussed as under:

Market – They are known for being more of result oriented, having of its focus majorly on competition, attainment and getting tasks done rapidly (Schein, 2010). They always look for getting outcomes which earn them better results for their attitude of work.

Clan – They are more like family, which has major of its focus on things like mentoring, nurturing, as well as carrying out various things together. Benefit for this culture is that the successors within firm learn some usual ways of performing which has been conventional within firm over years.

Adhocracy – They are more vibrant as well as consumerist, with major of its focus on undertaking more of risks, having major innovations, and learn to perform things right and differently. Such culture is often flexible as well as open to change. It is also known to accept challenges and thereby getting better rewards (Nicotera, 2003).
Culture of Greenscape is like friendly, caring for each other, supportive, motivating and learning. Employees are ready to take risks and are more interested in working hard and making innovations to get better results. Thus, culture at Greenscape is more associated with a blend of “Clan” and “Adhocracy” culture.

1.2    Impact of Culture on Organizational Performance

Organizational structure is explained as hierarchies upon which various responsibilities and roles are allocated. It involves a number of activities in the form of supervision, coordination and allotment of job which can aid organization in accomplishing objectives and goals in long-term as well as short-term. Organizational culture is the behavior and value for people working in a company which would develop the social firm’s setting (Greener, 2010). Organizational structure plays a significant role within the job of Greenscape and as a result, company needs to be implementing as well as maintaining a kind of a culture that best symbolizes its vision in terms of its structure. The crews of Greenscape can best describe how its culture and structure are both integrated to form a performance basis. Lita Ong’s vision aims at developing environment which is learning and enables employees to take part in all activities that help them get experience of different work styles. For this, she provides employees with all tools and materials that are required to carry out performance effectively. Thus, the culture of organization aims at providing workforce force with essential training and development and meanwhile developing their skills and competencies along with their confidence to boost their performance.

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In this way, structure helps Greenscape shape its culture to drive employees take responsibilities and accept challenges to work better and effectively. Culture shapes the behavior of employees and even their attitudes towards attainment of goals and objectives of organization (Salaman, 2001).

1.3 Factors Influencing Individual Behavior at Work

Behavior is something conducted by a person or a group of persons towards other person or a group. There are many factors that influence individual behavior at workplace. These factors are required to be understood well in order to have better control over them and thereby over individual behavior. They are explained as under:

Culture – The clan and adhocracy culture at Greenscape is one of the most effective cultures that affect organization to the most. Employees have become supportive and caring for each other are involved in the progress and development of organization. This is the result of culture which is affecting behavior of each and every one in the organization (Fairholm, 2009).

Abilities and Skills – Individual behavior at Greenscape is also influenced highly by abilities and skills of employees. Thus, it is significant to match job requirement of employees with their personal abilities and skills in the organization.

Perception – There are various factors that influence perception of employees and thereby their personal behavior at work. Employees at Greenscape are affected highly by how they perceive workplace and act accordingly (Lawler, 2013).

Demographic Factors – Demographic factors also affect individual behavior at work and they involve socio-economic background, education, nationality, age race, sex etc. Demographic factors at Greenscape are a bit diverse and employees believe in learning and thus, they keep teaching and motivating each other at work. This affects individual behavior at work.

In this way, all the above factors influence behavior of individuals at work and accordingly people perform their duties and achieve results.

LO 2

2.1    Effectiveness of Different Leadership Styles

Leadership styles of Max Worthy and Brenda Hogan are compared and contrasted as under:

Autocratic Style – This style is differentiated by having an individual all control for major workplace decisions as well as little input from supporters or group members. These leaders make choices normally based in their personal judgments as well as ideas and also rarely agree to advices from followers. Max Worthy was a kind of leader that practiced this style and has always indulged in making own decisions and instructions for this followers (Eliassen, 2008). This is because he never trusted group members and that he always tried to prove his superiority among all its employees. This lead in quick decision making and established deadlines which are to be realized without failing. Besides all that he was a bossy kind of person which is most often not liked by people.

Participative and Delegative Styles – Both these styles have been adopted and practiced positively by Brenda Hogan. She always offer guidance to her group members and was interested in modifying work culture to make it better and thriving. She always looked for input from her group members and formed a number of more group and delegated a number of authorizes to each groups (Armstrong, 2005). She left decision making upon the individual groups within their own levels and expected conducting a meeting twice a week. She was concerned about her followers and making efforts to improve their skills and competencies by introducing new style of working which often involved learning new ways of working.

2.2    Organizational Theory Underpinning Practice of Management

Organizational theory must be understood as a kind of study that involves organizational design and structure. It often encompasses external firm’s environment and also their relationships with employees, managers of firm and study of other personnel behavioral. Thus, organizational study aids in facing organizational change and further assists in obtaining essential as well as effective practice of management (Daft, 2012).

In this case, both the leaders practiced a theory called behavioral theory because they both looked for a particular repose to particular stimuli at work place. The difference is within the focus of their behavioral aspect. Worthy focused on task related aspect of behavior and liked to have a control over performance of employees from a distant approach. He indulged in providing sound instructions to employees and somehow getting all the tasks completed by them (Gray, 2012).

On the other hand, Hogan involved in practicing a blend of managerial styles involving people oriented behavior, which let her be concerned about employees of organization and get them involved within the system of working; Modern trait theory which let her motivate employees to take part in critical work and perform towards the direction of becoming leader oneself; contingency approach which let her use optimal course of action in accordance with the situation prevailing internal and external to the business.

2.3 Different Approaches to Management

Different approaches of management are described in various corporate strategies of organization. These approaches are required to be conducted in line with those theories of organization that are known to follow by various firms. Companies control the stream of employee performance with respect to these approaches which must also be in terms of platform management (Skinner, 2004).

In the case of Fancy Footwear, both the leaders namely Worthy and Hogan used different approaches to management through their different perception, skills, knowledge and personality. Worthy practiced behavior aspect and focused more on task of employees along with practicing autocratic style of leadership which lead employees work according to deadlines and instructions given by him. Under his leadership, there was little learning of employees and they were also comfortable with the same style and approach of working within the organization (Ford, 2010).

On the other hand, Hogan got involved in practicing people oriented aspect of leadership which led her to practice participative and democratic style of leadership in lights of contingency theory approach. She formed a number of groups towards which a number of authorities were delegated along with a considerable decision making authority. This was driving the work culture to change which experienced somewhat of intellectual stimulation, inspirational motivation with little presence of idealized influence within the organization which turned out to be the one where full-range leadership theory was being practiced (Cox, 2007).

In this way, leadership and managerial style of both the leaders differ from each other and which both had its own advantages and disadvantages at workplace.

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LO 3

3.1 Impacts of Different Leadership Styles on Motivation in Periods of Change

Leadership styles are possibly of equal importance in a set of situations wherein there is leadership requirement for individuals. Effective performance relies on various factors encompassing organizational culture wherein the individual is operating. Leadership styles affecting motivation of Samuel Gibson are as follows:

Directive Leader – These are the leaders that have rigid views about when and how a number of things should be carried out. They want employees to stick to schedules and methods of work, and follow systems as formulated by them (Baldry, 2002). Keeping a high orientation of goal and being concerned about outcomes are the traits that are found in directive leaders. This can impact on the motivation of Samuel Gibson and make him work according to whatever job or task he has been appointed to.

Participative Leader – This leader will try to get out of employees in the organization by using a number of ways and techniques. Hence they support contributions from all the team members and also discussion in group will be of democratic nature (Kehoe, 2001).

Delegative Leader – This kind of leader believes in delegating tasks to employees and expects them to carry out tasks in the best possible manner. Leader may not find it important to discuss much with employees about anything and may expect results from them accordingly. This type of leadership can influence Samuel Gibson in terms of motivating him to freely carry out his tasks and give better performance in the organization.

3.2  Application of Motivational Theories at Workplace

Gibson’s motivation was affected in a number of ways which can be explained with the help of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs theory. It is explained as under:

Physiological Needs – These are the basic needs which are related with air, water, shelter, clothes and food. It is known that all other needs become secondary when these basic needs are not fulfilled. At workplace, Gibson’s physiological needs were getting fulfilled and he was satisfied with these needs at any point of time in the company (Kehoe, 2001).

Security Needs – This involve needs for security and safety. Needs for security is significant for survival, though they cannot be as much important as those of basic needs. Gibson’s security needs are known to be like desire for stable employment, safe locality, health care, and protection from environment (Ekwulugo, 2004).

Social Needs – This encompass needs for love, affection and belonging. Maslow has defined these needs as less important than those of basic and security needs. Gibson’s social needs are relationships like friendships and families help fulfill this need for acceptance and companionship.

Esteem Needs – Once Gibson is able to satisfy first three needs, then esteem needs arise which involves things that represent self-esteem, social recognition, personal worth and accomplishment (Berlin, 2014).

Self-Actualizing Needs – This is the level which is highest of the hierarchy in which people are self-aware, less concerned with others’ opinions and more concern with personal growth, and are interested in fulfilling their potential (Price, 2009).

3.3 Usefulness of Motivation Theory for Managers

There are many benefits to managers for understanding theories of motivation in Britannia Home Manufacturers. These advantages must be for both long run and short run. The benefits derived out from related theories will aid employers to obtain insights into what brings about effective employee motivation. Thus, factors affecting motivation of workforce will be resulted from these theories. McClelland theory will aid managers in predicting factors affecting attainment approach of employees in the firm. This can be achieved by avoiding high and low risk levels which will save time of managers and money (Sharp, 2003).
Herzberg’s hygiene and motivation theory will help managers in conducting things that are known to motivate staff members and keep them satisfied with sound dedication towards job. It may also assist staff members in keeping themselves happy and steady at workplace in obtaining better grab on job while providing desired output of their performance. The theory X and Y are known to aid employers in choosing many approaches to motivate staff members and this would assist in shaping the way managers and employees approach the work. Managers must adopt theory X in case when employees lack significant skills and are not much experienced. Similarly, theory Y must be used when workers are skilled and experienced and are ready to take challenges at workplace (Bulkin, 2011). This will only help in improving productivity of employees and accomplish efficiency within organization. In this way, company can understand importance of motivation for managers at workplace.

LO 4

4.1  Nature of Groups and Group Behavior within Organization

Groups are basically defined as people’s agglomeration that works together, so that many goals and objectives can be accomplished with ease. The group’s nature as well as its behavior relies very much on many factors like style of leadership, group dynamics and its structure. More of members of group are impacted by the style which is employed by leaders. It defines the means through which they will work and also their motivational levels (Fairholm, 2009). Alan has somewhat understood the behavior of groups but has failed to implement any specific strategy that boost performance of group members (Price, 2009). He needs to build a team-based approach to manage team members and thereby plan and implement strategies that help get best out of employees. There are certain factors associated with behaviors which are to be considered in order to build a team-based approach of management. One of the factors is group dynamics which is important for the team in order to have mutual understanding and coordination among team members. It can have a profound and deep impact on the group behavior as well as on cohesiveness (Eliassen, 2008). It essentially means how members of group should react to every leader’s decision.

Alan must consider four steps for forming group dynamics and strong team within the organization. These factors are forming, storming, norming and performing. These factors will not only build team effectiveness from scratch but also shape behavior of groups in the way the leader wants.

4.2    Factors Promoting or Inhibiting Development of Effective Teamwork in Organization

Factors encouraging team work within organization are discussed as under:

Diversity – Diversity is one of the factors that too effective in making a team diverse and competitive from all the fields. People forming a team are from diverse background which can be effective in performing a dynamic task. It is fact which is proven that those teams which are created of people from different backgrounds of culture are sought to be the most practical and useful ones (Skinner, 2004). Such diversity can promote team members to perform together with one another and also implement their tasks in both innovative and creative manner. On the other hand, those teams that fall short with this factor are the teams that are not able to attain goals and objectives of crew since they are not in a state to finish tasks.

Communication – Communication is called as one among the majorly effective factors through which firms may effectively have success. An appropriate system of communication can result in working environment creation which is often positive and thereby accomplishment of goals and objectives of firm. It is said that for effective interaction in teamwork, effective communication is vital (Ford, 2010).

Leadership – This is another factor that Alan can incorporate within the organization which can influence working as well as performance of different teams. Such a kind of leadership style is requiem to be adopted by a leader or manager which will prove to determine how and what performance have to be given by them. Such leaders must utilize various means to manage the team. It is crucial for them to direct team performance that they are known to be leading (Lawler, 2013).

4.3    Impact of Technology on Team Functioning

Alan must understand the use of technology on team function and also its impacts which can enhance overall functioning of team in long as well as short run. Technology nowadays plays a vital role in team development as well as performance. It has appeared to become one of the major elements through Alan can carry out effectively various tasks and duties of his teams. There cannot be even one facet of working in team that has not been impacted by all the changes as well as development in the current field of technology. Its influences can be seen as well as implemented through almost each and every team working part (Armstrong, 2005). New methods of working have been created through which a group or team is able to communicate within as well as with the external world. At Thompson Company, through the means of such technology, members of group are able to interact with one another in better ways and effectively as with the stakeholders and customers. Employees at the organization can be made to work in cross culture teams means with employees that are working in different areas of region within different shops of company (Daft, 2012). It is due to this reason that staff of company can learn new ways of working and get to use better means of carrying out tasks. In this way, effectiveness of team-based arrangement can be enhanced.

CONCLUSION

The report has attempted to explain various structures and culture of organization which are known to aid leaders understand how they affect on employees’ performance and how they have to be monitored and shaped in order to gain best out of staff members. Further, report has explained factors influencing individual’s behavior at work and also effectiveness of different leadership styles at workplace.

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REFERENCES

• Armstrong, M., 2005. A Handbook of Management and Leadership: A Guide to Managing for Results. Kogan Page Publishers.
• Coffey, V., 2010. Understanding Organisational Culture in the Construction Industry. Routledge.
• Daft, R., 2012. Understanding Management. 8th ed. Cengage Learning.
• Eliassen, A. K., 2008. Understanding Public Management. SAGE.
• Fairholm, R. M., 2009. Understanding Leadership Perspectives: Theoretical and Practical Approaches. Springer.
• Greener, T., 2010. Understanding Organisations. Bookboon.
• Lawler, J., 2013. Social Work Management and Leadership: Managing Complexity with Creativity. Routledge.
•  Nicotera, M. A., 2003. Understanding Organization Through Culture and Structure: Relational and Other Lessons From the African American Organization. Routledge.
• Salaman, G., 2001. Understanding Business: Organisations. Psychology Press.
• Schein, H. E., 2010. Organizational Culture and Leadership. 4th ed. John Wiley & Sons.

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