Paul Reffill

Unit 3 :
Organization
and
Behaviour
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and Behaviour Assignment that is part
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Assignment Report

Contents
Introduction....................................................................................................................................1
LO 1- Understand the relationship between organizational structure and culture............1
P 1.1 Compare and contrast the organization structure and culture of ASDA PLC to
that of British Airlines...........................................................................................................1
P1.2- Explain how the relationship between ASDAs structure and culture impacts on
its performance......................................................................................................................2
P1.3- Discuss the factors which influence the behaviour of ASDAs employees at work
giving relevant examples.......................................................................................................3
LO2- Understand different approaches to management and leadership.............................4
P2.1- Compare the effectiveness of the leadership styles used by the CEO in ASDA to
that used by British airways CEO........................................................................................4
P2.2 Identify any organizational theories practiced at ASDA PLC and explain how
organizational theory underpins the practice of management..........................................5
P2.3 Evaluate the different approaches to management used by ASDA to that used by
British Airways.......................................................................................................................6
LO 3. Understand ways of using motivational theories in organizations.............................6
P 3.1 What type of changes could ASDA have engaged in, Discuss the impact that
different leadership styles may have on motivation of ASDAs staff in periods of
changes....................................................................................................................................6
P 3.2 Compare the application of different motivational theories with special reference
to ASDAs employees as Maslows hierarchy of needs, Vroom expectancy theories and
McGregors theory X and Y. Which theory is most applicable and why?......................7
P 3.3 Evaluate the usefulness of a motivational theory for managers. How could a
theory like Hertzbergs motivational theory be useful and relevant to the managers of
ASDA?....................................................................................................................................8
LO 4 Understand mechanisms for developing effective teamwork in organizations.......9
P 4.1 Explain the nature of the various groups that may exist among ASDAs staff and
how they may influence the behaviour of staff....................................................................9
P 4.2 Discuss the factors that may promote or inhibit the development of effective
teamwork among the employees of ASDA PLC..................................................................9
P 4.3 Evaluate the impact of technology on team functioning within ASDA PLC.........10
Conclusion............................................................................................................................11

Reference...................................................................................................................................11

Introduction
Organizations can be said to be a system or combination of systems which is dependent on the
structure of the organization, the people working inside the organization and behaviour, the
technology that is being used inside an organization, etc. Since, the behaviour of the people
working inside the organization is highly unpredictable, it makes it difficult to manage the day to
day working of an organization. Thus, it makes it important to understand the various theories
and approaches that are followed by various type of organization, to get a fair idea about the
behaviour of various organizations. This report is a case study of company ASDA. The report
will look into how the organization is structured and what type of culture prevails in ASDA.
Then it will focus on the various leadership style that are available and what type of leadership
style is being followed in ASDA and why. This report, will further drill on the various
organization and motivational theories and which theories are adopted inside ASDA. In the last
section, the discussion will be related to the importance of group, the advantage and
disadvantages of working in a team and the impact of technology on ASDA.

LO 1- Understand the relationship between organizational

structure and culture
P 1.1 Compare and contrast the organization structure and culture of ASDA PLC
to that of British Airlines
An organizational structure can be termed as arrangement of different groups of people
according to their level of authority based on the roles and authorities of different people. An
organizational structure decides how information should flow across the organizations and is
dependent on the strategy and goal of an organization. Based on the span of control here are two
types of organizational structure: Hierarchical and Flat organization structure. A hierarchical
organization structure is the one which has many layers of management. In hierarchical type of
organization structure the lower group of people does not play much role in management related
activities, their tasks are assigned by their managers and they are expected to complete those
tasks and report it to their managers. The main decision making tasks are handled by the people

who are at the top of the hierarchy (Katz, 1978). ASDA follows hierarchical type also known as
Tall organization structure as it has more layers of management and the employees provides the
information to other employees who report finally report it to their boss and the chain continues
till the information is shared with the top hierarchy. This kind of approach is followed in most of
the companies where the population is more. On the contrary, a flat organization is one which
has lesser number of management layer, hence employees in a flat organization are involved
in decision making activities. There is nothing like top or bottom level and each employee is
allowed to give suggestions and feedbacks which are taken into account before taking any
decision. British airlines follow flat organizational structure. Another difference between ASDA
and British airline organizational structure is that ASDA follows functional division where the
division of group is based on the function that is performed by the employees. The people
involved in account related activities are grouped in accounts group; similarly other groups are
formed like human resource, marketing, etc. While, British airlines follow divisional
organization structure, where group is made based on the product. All employees involved in
making a particular type of product are grouped as one. This type of structure helps British
airlines in quick decision making and active supervision by the managers as their common
objective is customer care.
Organizational culture is means how employees inside the organization behave. The culture of
any organization shows the values, beliefs, goals, visions and habits that prevail inside the
organization. The organization culture of any organization can be classified based on the double
S cube. The double S stands for sociability and solidarity. There are four type of organization
structure: Network culture, mercenary culture, fragmented culture and communal culture. A
company like ASDA whose main objective is to serve their client to the best of their ability,
respect each other within the organization, integrity and excellence, clearly shows that ASDA
follows communal culture inside their organization, which is high in solidarity and sociability.
On the other hand, British Airlines till recent times were focused more on delivering high
customer satisfaction, but there has been drastic change in their organizational structure which
resulted in communal culture in British Airlines.

P1.2- Explain how the relationship between ASDAs structure and culture
impacts on its performance
The performance of any organization is dependent on the how the strcuture of organisations and
behaviour is? It has been observed by many researchers that it essential to form a well structure
within an organization for smooth functioning of it. An unstructured organization will only lead

to confusion and chaos across the organization. Moreover, behaviour of employee also plays an
important role. The satisfaction level of any employee plays an important role in improving the
performance of the organization. Thus it can be seen that both organization structure and its
culture are essential to improve companys performance.
Any organization which is well organized and works on the same principle and values creates
confidence and provides great level of security and satisfaction among its organization. Any
organization which is confused and unorganized will increase uncertainty and will develop
insecurity in the minds of its employees. All this plays a big role in improving the performance
of the company. Moreover, customers are also driven by how well a company is organized.
Customers like to look at the background of any company before assigning them their work.
Thus, to improve customer satisfaction, both structure and culture of any organization plays a
vital role. However, both culture and structure should not be very complex as it can adversely
affect the performance by slowing down the processes that are followed inside the organization
(Wilkins, 1983).
As discussed above, ASDA follows hierarchical and functional type of organizational structure.
Thus, it becomes important for it to have a communal culture because functional type of
structure is characterized by lack of communication between different groups, each group works
separately. Similarly, in case of hierarchical structure, the lower group of people feels dissatisfied
because they do not play any active role in taking decision. However, the common goal of the
company and communal culture helps the company to minimize these disadvantages, so that
company can aim for better results. Thus, the culture and structure of ASDA compliments each
other and effectively improves companys performance.

P1.3- Discuss the factors which influence the behaviour of ASDAs employees at
work giving relevant examples
In this section, the focus will be on various factors that affect an individual behaviour while
working inside an organization. Some of the factors are discusses below:
1. Communication: The most important factor which influences human behaviour is
communication. An effective communication between a manager and its team member
can lead to the individual gaining interest in the work. It is essential to share your views,
ideas, and problems to be more expressive and creative in your work. This can be made
possible with the help of effective communication. ASDA has been working in improving
the communication so that no employee is left alone. Their policy Your Voice that was

adopted in 2013 had a survey among all stores to know how the people feel and what do
they expect and think about the company. This kind of small initiatives shows how
communication has been used effectively by ASDA in influencing the behaviour of its
workforce.
2. Culture: As discussed above, any organization should have a common objective. The
rules and regulations should not differ from person to person. If such thing happens, it
will create insecurity in the minds of employees. As discussed, ASDA follows communal
culture, which means Sociability and Solidarity. Sociability means that employees should
share cordial relationship with each other at work, while solidarity means that
organization should have a common goal. Thus, ASDA has been pro-active in
maintaining both solidarity and sociability as part of their culture, to improve individual
behaviour at work.
3. Leadership: An effective leader is the one who not only can get the work done from the
team, but also get involved with the team. A leader should know each member of his or
her team not only professionally but also personally so that he can understand the
problems of each individual and actively participate in solving them to bring out the best
from each individual of his team. In ASDA, according to an audit, some of the positives
were that employees felt they were treated alike by their managers, equal opportunities
were given to each one of them and there was feeling of respect for each other. This has
been made possible because of effective leadership.
Thus, it can be seen that ASDA understand the importance of individual behaviour at work in
order to attain better performance, at tries hard to provide better environment to all its employees
so that they feel part of the organization and should not feel left alone. These increase the interest
towards work and results in better efficiency from each individual.

LO2- Understand different approaches to management and

leadership
P2.1- Compare the effectiveness of the leadership styles used by the CEO in
ASDA to that used by British airways CEO
In this section, the discussion will be on different types of leadership styles that are available and
then the focus will be on the effectiveness of leadership style in ASDA compared to that of
British Airlines.

Leadership can be considered as a quality through which the attitude and behaviour of others can
be influenced. Based on various types of theories, leadership style has been classified into
various types. According to Michigan and Ohio theory, leadership was classified into task
oriented, relationship oriented and participative leadership style.
A task oriented leadership style is one where leaders are more focused on doing and getting the
task done rather than having an effective relationship with his or her team. The leader provides
its team with the necessary resources required to complete the task. British Airways use to follow
task Oriented leadership style under the leadership of Willie Walsh.
Relationship-oriented leadership style is one where leaders also focus on maintaining good
relationship with its employees, along with getting the work done (Graen, 1995). As discussed
above, ASDA follows relationship-oriented leadership style, where it effective measures were
taken by the leaders to maintain healthy relations with their subordinate members.
Participative leadership style: The main feature of this type of leadership style is it involves the
whole team while taking decision and the decision is taken after complete discussion,
suggestions and feedback from the whole team.
According to another theory, leadership style can be classified into transactional and
transformational leadership style. These are:
A transactional leadership style is one in which the leaders used to motivate their subordinated
by giving them rewards and used to punish the employees who fails to deliver quality product on
time. Willie Walsh believed that Salary of an employee is sufficient to get the work done, hence
British airlines used to follow transactional leadership style.
Transformational leadership: In this leadership style, as seen in ASDA, the morale and
motivation of an employee was not just defined by rewards and punishments. Transformational
leadership doesnt believe in give and take business but focused on bringing the change through
leadership. A leader should set an example through his belief in the work, his ability and skill.
The employees will follow him eventually (Podsakoff, 1990).

P2.2 Identify any organizational theories practiced at ASDA PLC and explain
how organizational theory underpins the practice of management
An organization theories are models that explains how an organization is working and how is it
related to external environments. It is essential to understand the organizational theory of an

organization for better management. Management related activities require theory, which can be
used by managers to refer while performing these activities.
It was in 2000, when ASDA for merged with Wal-Mart, that leads to confusion in the minds of
many employees working in ASDA. Since, the merger resulted in new rules and regulations, the
employees of ASDA were not comfortable and felt insecure. At this point of time, the higher
management took the initiative of explaining the new business activities to its workers which
help them build trust and made the employees felt more secure. Though, the two organization
had similar kind of structure, still the organizational theory acted as the base for the management
team to take crucial decisions in favour of the employees and the company as a whole.

P2.3 Evaluate the different approaches to management used by ASDA to that

used by British Airways
The difference between the approach in the management of the two companies ASDA and
British Airways comes from the difference in the organizational structure. As discussed above,
ASDA follows functional organizational structure while British Airways follows divisional
organizational structure. Thus, in case of ASDA, the management focuses on how to maintain
effective relationship with their employees and make them understand their goals and objectives
so that they can perform to the best of their ability to have competitive advantage over other
companies in UK. The management also focused more on maintaining good relationship with
their employees during the merger process with Wal-Mart.
On the other hand, British Airways, being a divisional type of organizational structure, focuses
more on training its employees so that the employees are aware of the complete process rather
than just knowing what is expected from them. In case of ASDA, management expect that each
employee should be best in whatever work he is doing, while in case of British Airways, which
focus more on customer service, management tries to incorporate different skills to all its
employees so that each one is aware of the complete process and its functioning.
LO 3. Understand ways of using motivational theories in organizations
P 3.1 What type of changes could ASDA have engaged in, Discuss the impact
that different leadership styles may have on motivation of ASDAs staff in
periods of changes
Any organization keeps on changing from time to time. The structure, the culture, the values,
everything that is been followed inside an organization is subjected to changes. As already

discussed above, ASDA follows hierarchical type of organizational structure, thus it has the top
level or the senior people which takes most of the decision, while the lower level people do not
contribute in any part of decision making. Their goals and objectives are defined by their
manager, and they are expected to meet their targets on time.
However, it has been observed in recent times, that most of the organizations have changed their
structure from hierarchical to flat. Thus, it is possible that in near future, ASDA also changes its
structure to a Flat structure. The main advantage of a Flat organization structure is that it gives
all the employees equal chance to give their suggestions and feedbacks are taken are considered
while taking the decision.
Thus, based on changes in the structure, it will become essential for the company to change their
leadership style as well. Today, the company follows relation oriented leadership style, where
managers share healthy relation with his or her subordinates. With flat organization, it would
become essential for the organization to follow participative leadership style, where even the
lower level of people are encouraged to bring their suggestions and these suggestions are used
for making better decisions for the organization.
P 3.2 Compare the application of different motivational theories with special
reference to ASDAs employees as Maslows hierarchy of needs, Vroom
expectancy theories and McGregors theory X and Y. Which theory is most
applicable and why?
Motivation is the driving force which gets the work done. The main role of any developing
manager in any organization is to keep his team motivated. A motivated team performs better and
delivers good output consistently. The performance of any team is not only dependent on the
ability of the team, but motivation plays a big role too. If people continue to do same kind
of work again and again, they reach a saturation point and started losing interest in work. At this
point of time, it is the manager who needs to push and motivate his subordinates.
There have been many motivational theories that are practiced in various organizations.
They are: Herzberg Dual factor theory, Mayos human relation theory, McGregor X and Y
theory, Maslows Hierarchy of Needs theory, Taylors scientific theory, Vrooms Expectancy
theory, Equity theory, etc.
Some of the theories that are adopted in ASDA are: Maslows hierarchy theory, Vrooms
Expectancy theory and Equity theory.

According to Maslows hierarchy theory, an individual is motivated to achieve an objective; once

that objective is achieved the individual changes his goal and is motivated to achieve the next
goal. Thus, Maslow gave a hierarchy diagram in which the lowest level was the basic needs,
which motivates everyone to work. Once, a person is able to meet those needs, their objective
changes to the next level of requirement are they are motivated to meet the next set of objectives
(Hall, 1968).
According to Vrooms Expectancy theory, employees are motivated if they see that their efforts
are getting converted into desired rewards. Expectancy theory comprises of three things. Firstly,
the management should be aware of what type of rewards keeps the employees motivated.
Secondly, management should be aware of expectation of each employee which differs from
person to person. Thirdly, management should assure the employee that their efforts will result in
better rewards (Van Eerde, 1996).
According to Equity theory of motivation, people are motivated when they see that their efforts
are fairly being converted into proper output. If the company does not follow a fair process or if
an employee feels that the amount of input is more compared to the rewarded output, the person
can be de-motivated.
P 3.3 Evaluate the usefulness of a motivational theory for managers. How
could a theory like Hertzbergs motivational theory be useful and relevant to
the managers of ASDA?
Motivational theories are useful for any organization. An organization on most occasions follows
multiple theories to understand the various factors that keep the workforce of the organization
motivated. Earlier, organization use to think that the reward in terms of salary is enough to keep
their workforce motivated. However, with passage of time, people realize that there are other
factors such as security, respect, involvement in decision making, providing
responsibilities, managing financial resources etc. that also affect the performance of the
employees.
In a company like ASDA, which is second largest supermarket chain in UK, it is essential that
the workforce feels that they are being valued inside an organization, which keeps them
motivated. As discussed above, ASDA follows Vrooms Expectancy theory. The managers are
aware that there should be a proper process of measuring the efforts of each employee, only then
proper rewards can be shared with them. Thus, a proper performance review system is followed
in ASDA. This system is followed in almost all the companies in UK. Thus, managers sets up

the goals for their employees and the results are compared with the goals and based on that
rewards are distributed. This kind of system keeps the employees motivated and increases their
efforts in order to meet their goals and get rewarded. According to Herzberg dual factor theory,
there are some factors which keep the employees motivated and there are some factors whose
presence may not motivate the employees but whose absence may result in demotivation. This
theory make the management realize that some factors are just essential so that employees are
not demotivated to do the work (Maidani, 1991).
Thus, it can be seen that motivational theories are highly useful to the managers and the
management team inside any organization as it helps them realize the importance of various
factors that are needed to be taken care of in order to have better and consistent performance
from their workforce.
LO 4 Understand mechanisms for developing effective teamwork in
organizations
P 4.1 Explain the nature of the various groups that may exist among ASDAs
staff and how they may influence the behaviour of staff
A group is collection of people who work together to attain a common objective. Group
behaviour is how a team or group behaves with each member of the team within the team. Group
inside an organization can be classified as two types: Formal and Informal Groups. Formals
Groups are generally formed by the leaders keeping in mind various skills that are required to do
a particular job. On the other hand informal groups are formed by the employees themselves.
Formal groups are more organized and compared to informal groups. It has been observed that
working in a team leads to better results when compared to the sum of output of each individual
inside the group working alone. ASDA faces the issues in group behaviour during the early phase
of their merger with Wal-Mart. The main reason was because; a cordial relationship in a group
can only be maintained when each individual working in the group has a common objective.
Since, the merger means new set of rules and new set of objectives, this lead to initial problems
and conflicts in the groups. However, the management of ASDA was proactive in identifying the
employees with common skills and objectives, thus formed new formal groups which solved the
problem of conflict and increased the relationship between the employees.
P 4.2 Discuss the factors that may promote or inhibit the development of
effective teamwork among the employees of ASDA PLC

As discussed in ASDA, communication plays a vital role. Communication is one of the most
important factors that contribute to have an effective teamwork. Leaders are specially trained so
that they can connect with their team members in a better way. It is important for a leader to be
proactive in understanding the problems of his team members, listening and helping or giving
advice, helps in building good relationship and results in effective teamwork.
Another important factor that affects the teamwork is recognition and reward. The organization
provides bonuses and salary hikes to those employees who have shown great results and good
performance consistently. Money and rewards, always keeps the employees interested and
motivated and thus, helps in developing an effective teamwork.
Leadership can be considered as the backbone for smooth and effective functioning of any team.
A team without a captain or leader cannot function on its own. The leader is someone, who a
team looks forward to, the leader keeps the team motivated, and the leader defines the goals and
explains what is expected from each team member. Thus it is leader who defines the structure of
a team. An un-organized team will result in chaos, confusion and insecurity, while a wellorganized team will function to the best of its ability. Leader also brings the belief in the work
which is very important to build trust among each other. In ASDA, leadership is considered
as key element within the organization. The company follows Tiny Noticeable Things, which are
being followed by the leaders, which help them improving their bond with the team. For
example, the polite behaviour, helping the employees at the stores and get involved in the social
events makes the employees feel more valued (Dionne, 2004).
P 4.3 Evaluate the impact of technology on team functioning within ASDA
PLC
The recent advancements in the field of communication and information technology has been
a contributing factor in impacting the proper functioning of the team within the organization.
With the introduction of mobile phones and internet, it has become easy for employees to stay
connected and help other employees during emergencies. However, these advancements also
have their negative affects too. Since, these days computers have become prime source to store
data and confidential information of an organization; these are subjected to various malicious
threats such as virus and Trojan. Activities like phishing can lead to stealing of data or
credentials which can be misused later. Mobile phones have become an easy source to
communicate with each other, but too much use can lead to burden also. A person who is on
vacation or away from work would not appreciate too much phone calls (Kumar, 2003). Thus it
can be seen that these advancements have contributed a lot in smooth and proper functioning of

the team as they can interact more conveniently, but at the same time these technologies should
be used wisely in order to make full use of it.
As we know, ASDA is a retail company who has many supermarket and stores across UK, it is
important for managers to interact and keep track of day to day activities. Thus, ASDA follows
an effective communication system, since it is not possible for managers to physically visit each
store. Thus, with the coming up of new and improved technologies interaction in ASDA has
increased a lot, which has improved the proper functioning of the team. The nomination process
which is used by managers in ASDA to nominate employees who have shown great results, so
that they can be rewarded is now done through an online process. The new recruitment process in
ASDA also involves an online process, which has been made possible because of the new tools
and software because of the development in the field of technology.
Conclusion
It can be concluded from the above report, that understanding organizational behaviour is an
important aspect of management. The rules and regulations, the structure and the culture should
be such that they complement each other, so that the company can perform better. It is important
to have effective leaders in any organization that can motivate the team and defines their goals so
that the team as a whole can work effectively. The report also bring out the importance of
different organizational theories and motivational theory that acts as the theoretical aspect, which
the management can refer in order to take better decision within the organization. The report has
studied the organizational behaviour of the two companies and have shed light on the various
aspects of both and also compared them to show that each organization has different structure,
different culture and follows different approaches depending upon the main objective of the
company.
Reference
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Graen, G. B., & Uhl-Bien, M. 1995. Relationship-based approach to leadership: Development
of leader-member exchange (LMX) theory of leadership over 25 years: Applying a multi-level
multi-domain perspective. The leadership quarterly, 6(2), 219-247.

Hall, D. T., & Nougaim, K. E. 1968. An examination of Maslow's need hierarchy in an

organizational setting. Organizational behaviour and human performance, 3(1), 12-35.
Katz, D., & Kahn, R. L. 1978. The social psychology of organizations.
Kumar, S., & Zahn, C. 2003. Mobile communications: evolution and impact on business
operations. Technovation, 23(6), 515-520.