Organizational behavior

Organizational Behavior

Student Name:

Student ID:

Date of Submission:

Table of ContentsIntroduction.................................................................................................................................................4

Task 1: The relationship between organizational structure and culture.....................................................5

1.1 Different organizational structures and culture.................................................................................5

1.2 Extent to which the relationship between an organization’s structure and Culture can affect the performance of the business...................................................................................................................7

1.3 The factors that influence individual behavior at work.....................................................................8

Task 2: Different approaches to management and leadership..................................................................10

2.1 The effectiveness of different leadership styles in different organizations......................................10

2.2 Extent to which organizational theory underpins the practice of management..............................11

2.3 Different approaches to management used by different organizations..........................................12

Task 3: Ways of using motivational theories in organizations...................................................................14

3.1 The impact that different leadership styles may have on motivation in organizations in periods of change...................................................................................................................................................14

3.2 The application of different motivational theories within the workplace........................................15

3.3 The usefulness of a motivation theory for managers......................................................................17

Task 4: Mechanisms for developing effective teamwork in organizations................................................19

4.1 The nature of groups and group behavior within organizations......................................................19

4.2 Factors that may promote or inhibit the development of effective teamwork in organizations.....22

4.3 The impact of technology on team functioning within a given organization...................................23

Conclusion.................................................................................................................................................24

References.................................................................................................................................................25

Please visit our site for fitness products

2 | P a g e

http://www.workoutstocks.com/best-adjustable-dumbbells/

Executive Summary

What motivates the workforce at different levels of an organization are the organizational

structure and organizational culture. First invented in Japan, the philosophy of ‘continuous

improvement through teamwork’ is now trending worldwide in the successful companies. The

different aspects of organizational culture and structure, management and leadership approaches,

motivational theories and their implications, and the effectiveness of successful teamwork the

case studies of ASDA PLC and British Airlines are crucial addition to OB studies.


3 | P a g e


Introduction

This work studies the individual, group and ultimately the organizational behavior. This unit

focuses on the organizational culture and structure, and their impact on the workforce behavior.

The common logic is that the organization of a big multi-national firm will be different from that

of any small firm that operates locally (Applewhite, 1965). The organization of the workforce

and structure of a company will significantly develop and influence the organizational culture.

This structure of shared beliefs and values shapes and determines the recognized models of

organizational workforce behavior.

The assignment will discuss different aspects of organizational behavior on the basis of two

different companies of the UK, the ASDA PLC and British Airways.

ASDA PLC is a local supermarket chain operating grocery retailing in the UK. The ASDA PLC

was previously named as the Associated Dairies and Farm Stores Ltd which they changed to

ASDA PLC in 1965. The Headquarter of the super shop is located in Leeds, UK. After Sainsbury

and Tesco, ASDA is the third largest super shop chain in the UK. It became Wal-Mart’s (USA)

subsidiary in 1999.

British Airways is the airline of the United Kingdom. It is one of the largest airline in the world

based on international flights, destinations all over the world and fleet size. The multinational

company was established on 31 March 1974. The company has its Headquarter in waterside,

Harmondsworth, England. The company employs about 57000 employees.


4 | P a g e


Task 1: The relationship between organizational structure and culture

1.1 Different organizational structures and culture

The structure of an organization encompasses the entire organization and the environment of it

with an extensive outlook showing how planning is done, goals and objectives are met, tasks are

allocated, and control activities are performed. It is the well-formed structure and strong culture

of the organization that determines the overall performance (Brown, 1971).

The structure of an organization comprises of the structuring of the departments and the

organization wide performance.

The culture of an organization is the combination of individual, group and organization level

values, norms, common behaviors and attitudes; that shows how the overall performance is

driven towards progress.

In this section we will compare and contrast between the ASDA PLC’s and British Airways’

organizational culture and structure.

Organizational Structure in the ASDA PLC and British Airlines

The organizational structure of ASDA is hierarchical. Such structure is due to the large number

of employees in different departments. Thus, information passes towards the store managers

through a chain of employees. Due to the business nature, the chain of command is very

transparent and the organization is diverse. As a supermarket chain, it has a multi-level decision-

making stage. The employees here, are rewarded based on success in competition.

In comparison with ASDA, the management of the British Airlines is more formalized, more

procedural and very much dynamic. Here the groups and teams work together, share the duties,

and coordinate functions. For the nature of the business, the top-level authority keeps close

communication with the client managers. The company operation is done in five layers which

has been changed to from the previous nine layer strategy. This change has been made to enable

5 | P a g e

small groups of employees to work with correspondence to the structure and functional

responsibilities.

Organizational Culture in the ASDA PLC and British Airlines

ASDA’s organizational culture is exceptional from other companies in various ways. The

company has a team including 170,000 employees working around the world. Aside from staffs

wearing name badges, they have routine huddles to stay advanced with their performance to

impart their key exercises for the day, to help them stay centered and accomplish the set

objective for the day. Huddles give them the chance to recognize and commend group and

individual success, ASDA beliefs each staff inside of the organization makes commitments and

emphatically impacts the hierarchical culture by giving brilliant customer administration, regard

for every person and act with respectability.

“Service to our customers, respect for the individual, strive for excellence” is ASDA’s logo and

they believe that customers are the core point of their operations. ASDA and its employees

believe in commitment. The culture of trust is deeply rooted and the company emphasizes on

doing right to its employees, customers and also the community.

British Airlines, although was defamed previously for its biased, bureaucratic, impersonal and

authoritarian culture, after being privatized, it now bears a strong culture and solid regulations.

Incorporation of training programs and appraisal systems, have contributed largely to company’s

performance improvement. The company now has a cooperative workplace where everyone is

dealt fair with. The management observes the practice of standards and ensures that they are not

reduced. Clients are taken as key priority. They are dealt with effectiveness and efficiency. When

an employee or a group of employees performs their task desirably, their efforts are reinforced

for continuity. The culture of BA includes informality, participative management, customer

orientation etc. The company holds the motto, “to be a competitive airlines”.


6 | P a g e


1.2 Extent to which the relationship between an organization’s structure and Culture can affect the performance of the business

Organizational structure affects the diversification of a company, employee recruitment and the

personnel of the company. It is important to know how structural and cultural relationship

influences the performance with a practical evaluation.

Due to the hierarchical structure, ASDA has a strong chain of command that produces good

operational performance. Such aspect of structure of this company provides close control over

the personnel and encourage a good intellect of communication among the company personnel.

Feeling as a part of the structure motivates the involved personnel and thus create a customer

friendly environment. The staffs of the company lay a good cultural foundation (Culliney, 2014).

The performance of ASDA PLC is decided by standards that the company fixes for the

employees. Structure and culture of the ASDA, both influences the individual and organization

level performance of the company. Therefore, the management should emphasis on employee

motivational factors such as the incentives, promotions etc. to ensure desired output from the

employees. Employees that are not properly motivated and are dissatisfied will impose severe

outcomes in the company performance.

Matters related to the performance of the company and its structure and culture are presented

below;

Organizational structure is the edge for the ASDA PLC. To sustain and progress in the

competitive market, ASDA must possess a constructive structure. On the other hand, the culture

of the company must be employee friendly and flexible to some extent. In this way, the

executives can desire better outcomes from the company personnel.

Employee recruitment process in the ASDA is very systematic and after the recruitment is done,

they should have an orientation program that will provide them a better understanding of the

company’s culture and structure.

The culture of the company influences the matter of receiving proper feedback from the potential

and existing customers. Thus, the supermarket chain lays a good notion about itself in customer

minds.

7 | P a g e

The way of leadership, management behavior encourages and motivates the employees of ASDA

as well. Friendly and polite leadership influences the performance of the employees. The

employees of ASDA feel valued, fulfilled and supported and thus they are motivated to career

improvement. And this ultimately results in customer satisfaction. (Daft, 1997).

Researches show that strong relation between the culture and the structure of a company not only

helps it by building a fine work place, but also by driving the employees towards better

performance and motivates them to share their duties.

1.3 The factors that influence individual behavior at work

There are some factors that affect the employees of ASDA and lead to variety of liberal

behaviors. Some of these factors are to provide good customer service, to respect, to strive for

better performance and to act reliability. Employees are taught of these beliefs during their

orientations.

Training and development programs help gain new skills and knowledge and thus improve

performance. The success of these are reflected in the company growth, increased reputation and

loyalty of customers.

Gareth Woods, the Supermarket’s Store Manager at Pwllhell in Wales, on support of this matter

states: ‘One of the first things I learned at ASDA is that you’re in control of your own

development and should never be afraid to take on a role that you feel could be too big for you.’

Behavior is a complex element. It is hard to determine the factors that affect individual behavior.

Behavior is a study of psychology. To manage the employees of the firm, it is essential that the

management knows this study of psychology. Proper knowledge of behavior helps the

management to determine proper means of motivation and appraisal techniques. However, first it

is important to understand some determinates of behavior (Dale, 1967).

There are different internal and external environmental and other factors affecting the individual

behavior in the company. According to the case of ASDA PLC, these factors are;

8 | P a g e

Work Environment: The key motivators of the individual behavior are the work place or work

environment. It is important that ASDA keep the environment in a way that it does not create any

negative behavior among the employees.

Perception towards organization: Another important factor that affects individual behavior in

the organization is the way he/she perceives the entire work place. ASDA PLC tries its best to

make sure the employees possess positive perception about their work place.

Environment of the company: Both the perception towards the work place and work

environment depends on how well the organization’s environment is. ASDA is the company that

has been able to keep up its reputation for holding a good environment of the organization for

years.

Personality of the employees: It is important to know what sort of individuals the company is

recruiting. In the recruitment process, it is better for the company to judge the personality of the

applicants somehow. An employee with bad personality will always be a black sheep for the

company. The personality and performance have a very positive relation. The HR managers

should give their effort so that the attitudes of employees benefit the company somehow.

Other key factors: However, some of the other major factors to influence individual behavior

are the appraisal methods, rewards and incentives, motivation techniques and the promotion

methods. These factors directly or indirectly influence the employee behavior towards work. The

way they do so, will be discussed broadly in different parts of this assignment (Dean, 1981). For

example, if ASDA chooses rigid appraisal method for its employees, than there are high chances

that the employees will no longer show better performance in their works.

It is important to study behavior for the sake of the company itself. Without proper knowledge of

behavior, it is most probable that negative behavior will result in poor performance and thus poor

outcomes.


9 | P a g e


Task 2: Different approaches to management and leadership

2.1 The effectiveness of different leadership styles in different organizations

Both the British Airlines and the ASDA PLC are known for their strong leadership. As it is

known that leadership is very vital for the prosperity of any organization, here the extent or type

of leadership in this two companies will be discussed.

Both the companies have two different sorts of leadership style. It is the type, size and formation

that determined which leadership is perfect for which. Below the style of leadership in both the

company has been described.

Autocratic Style: One extreme type of leadership is the autocratic type. Here the decision-

making is rigidly centralized (EDWARDS, 1970). However, neither the British Airlines nor the

ASDA PLC’s management follows this sort of leadership because in both case, employee

involvement is very much necessary. Though in a autocratic style decisions are made rapidly and

unambiguously, it is necessary in cases of both the mentioned companies to discuss with the

employees what should be done and what should not be.

Participative Leadership Style: Above it was mentioned that why autocratic style does not suit

the mentioned companies’ situation. For the same reason, participative leadership is important

for the BA and ASDA. In both the cases, employees feel encouraged and motivated for feeling as

part of the management. The participative style makes the most productive use of personnel

resources in the company.

Laissez-faire leadership style: This style of leadership gives the best result only when the

employees are very much skilled and educated (Griffin, 1990). BA and ASDA work with a diverse

array of employees from different backgrounds and such style does not suit them.

There are two different types of leadership styles such as the task-oriented leadership and

transactional leadership style. Both are inappropriate for the case mentioned companies due to

the nature of organization and functions of employees.

10 | P a g e

2.2 Extent to which organizational theory underpins the practice of management

The structure of the organization along with the culture has been discussed above. However, the

discussion of structure remains incomplete without the discussion of organizational theory as it

defines the structure. Not just only the structure, but also the organizational design is discussed

based on theory.

The organizational theory itself focuses on matters like the efficiency and effectiveness of any

organization. Organizational theory is a broad discussion. There are various theories with

different implications. Below a brief discussion has been made.

Classical theory: Under classical theory, there are three other subheadings as the scientific

management that focuses on the involvement of collection of appropriate means and individuals

to carefully scrutinize the different production process stages. Bureaucratic theory focuses on the

importance of hierarchical framework of the management. The administrative theory is based on

the management principles of Henry Fayol.

Neoclassical theory highlights the meeting of the human needs of the employees to motivate

them and drive them towards growth.

Contingence theory is based on the ability of the management to deal with the changes in the

environment.

Systems theory talks about the inner relation between the different parts of an organization.

Among the above-discussed theories, the administrative theory best fits in the case of ASDA

PLC. The reasons are firstly, that the company is a supermarket chain. Secondly, for the nature

of business it needs a work specialization that is centralized, the authority in this case needs to be

scalar chained and initiative. Thirdly, the company needs to apply the very theory to achieve the

long-term goals and objectives and increase the standard of the performance (Hersey and

Blanchard, 1982).

To be more specific on the point of the appropriateness of the administrative theory in the case of

ASDA, the reasons are that the theory is based on the principles of Henry Fayol. The principles

of Henry Fayol’s management study are the discipline, centralization, work specialization,

11 | P a g e

committees, managerial functions etc. A supermarket chain is the best fit for applying these

principles.

A good specialization of works is important for the delivery of better service to the customers.

Discipline in the work place makes the best use of a work force. As the company is not any

production company, decentralization is needless and a waste of time. In conclusion, it can be

drawn that the theory provides ASDA with the right guidelines and suits most in its case.

2.3 Different approaches to management used by different organizations

Management can be of various types, styles and may take different approaches inside an

organization. This is how the organizational functions are ordered. Again the same notion goes

that whichever style of management a company is following, must match with the size of the

company and type of business it is involved.

There are various approaches to management. Some of these approaches are the active

management approach and passive management approach; cultivating approach and capacity

building method; steering method or high control method.

Management style in ASDA is participative. Employees here can report to several line managers

due to the absence of any fixed line of command.

One facilitating management method is the cultivating approach that depends on the skills of

employees and identifies the necessity for external stimuli to improve outcomes.

ASDA follows the method due to its dealing with the factors such as recognition of exact

customer community on the basis of local community; collaborative and collective activity and

explanation of specific problems and stated solutions.

Steering method of management is commonly practiced in different companies for its

materialistic and specific outcome oriented results. BA commonly inspires participatory

appreciation and design. As the method requires, the company follows by the development

guidelines, comprehensive preparation, suitable process planning and pre specified rules and

regulations.

The key features of the managerial approach in the British Airways are;

12 | P a g e

• Properly mentioned project planning, process, objective and time period;

• Assimilated project development within wider range of planning process;

• Assessment of project advancement and project products against pre-indicated standards;

• Necessity for precise task estimate, modification and reporting. (Hiriyappa, 2009).

A crucial issue mentioned earlier is that ASDA has a compound reporting method for the

employees for there is no plane command line. Because the super shop relies mostly on

personnel skill, it is clear that it follows the cultivating management approach. Exercises inside

ASDA are synergistic. Furthermore, an important mentionable thing is that the ASDA recognizes

buyer group on the local community premise.


Task 3: Ways of using motivational theories in organizations

13 | P a g e


3.1 The impact that different leadership styles may have on motivation in organizations in periods of change

Although management and leadership come from the same root, they are not synonyms.

Management is about effectiveness or doing the right thing, whereas, leadership concerns

efficiency, or doing the most productive thing. This implies that leadership needs more skill.

Leading people requires some extra characteristics that not everyone has. The knowledge of

motivation and appraisal is important. The right leaders lead the company to success.

Leadership is of various types. Different style suits different situation. One type of leadership is

best fit for one type of team whereas it is useless to another type of team (Kreitner and Kinicki,

1998). Democratic, transactional, autocratic, paternalistic- these are the styles of leadership. To

illustrate the term best suit, in a manufacturing company autocratic style is demotivational.

Therefore, it is necessary that any particular style is implemented carefully.

In the times of any sort of change undergoing inside the organization, leadership becomes very

much important. Changes because of introduction of new policies, entering of new management,

incorporation of new technology or many other external and internal changes require the

employees to be directed properly under the right leadership.

Here it will be discussed that which type of leadership best fits in the case of ASDA PLC, when

it is undergoing some sort of change in the work force. One answer can be the autocratic style.

The justification of this answer is that with this approach the leader will implement the changes,

and take straightforward decisions. Another answer can be the democratic style. The justification

of this approach is that the leader will discuss about the change with the employees and consult a

way to face the change.

Teamwork, however, is the best solution for this case. Under a teamwork method everyone will

share their efforts and will be liable for own actions.

Teamwork approach or the democratic approaches are the right approaches to follow in the

ASDA, because with this method of leadership the employees are given importance for their

work in the company. Moreover, in the democratic approach the employees get a part in the

decision making process. Autocratic style makes the organizational functions done faster but on

the other hand, makes the employees demotivated.

14 | P a g e

Teamwork approach results in better performance quality of the employees. Creation of

productive workforce and a work environment of cooperation and coordination are also the

benefits of teamwork approach.

Democratic approach may encourage creative and employee oriented work force where the

employees share efforts to solve problems. However, democratic approach may result in creation

of workers unions, slow work progress and low influence of management in the ASDA.

To draw the conclusion, it should be kept in mind that the leader must keep his actions and

directions clear in times of changes. It is important that he/she withholds the logics of having the

change and drive the employees to get used to the change and finally work as a team to make the

change effective.

3.2 The application of different motivational theories within the workplace

Management of the personnel resource requires the application of proper motivational theories.

The management must keep the clear knowledge of the right motivation techniques to apply on

the right individuals. The point is, some employees might desire better pay off and some might

be motivated when they are given promotion and duties that are more challenging. Some may get

motivated if his or her rewards match his or her performance and on the other hand, some would

be motivated if given the same benefits received by some other colleague on similar position.

Therefore, it can be a complex task for the managers to properly motivate the employees

(Luthans, 1977).

There are different motivational theories. Below some of the most popular theories have been

discussed on the context of ASDA PLC.

Maslow’s theory of hierarchy of needs is one of the popular and most simple motivational

theories. The theory states that one’s needs can be listed respectively as physiological needs(need

to meet the basic demands), safety needs(needs to get safety of work, safety of income and safety

of life), social needs(needs to have respect, affection and care from closed ones), esteem

15 | P a g e

needs(needs to gain self-satisfaction) and self-actualization needs(state of self-respect and

recognition in the society) (McShane and Von Glinow, 2000). With this strategy used, ASDA can

effort to meet each needs at different levels of employees organizational achievement.

Another popular theory is the Victor Vroom’s expectancy theory. In the case of ASDA, the

application of theory will create the situation where the skilled employees will provide some

expected performance, his/her performance then will result him to desire some matching reward

and expected reward achievement will ultimately motivate the employee.

One extreme type of motivational theory is the McGregor’s theory X and Y. This theory states

that X category employees are most likely to be lazy, dislike work and thus require strict

controlling. On the other extreme, the Y employees are dynamic, work oriented and involved and

are motivated by the job activities.

The best suit in case of ASDA PLC is estimated to be the expectancy theory of Victor Vroom.

The theory is more practical rather being assumption based.

3.3 The usefulness of a motivation theory for managers

In some cases, the theory implies that “no one can motivate anyone; one gets motivated by the

environment and himself”. Where there is an employee responsive environment, there is most

likely be a state of motivation (Stoner, 1982).

16 | P a g e

Motivating the work force is a tough job for the management. Without the right motivation,

employees will show less responsiveness and low productivity, and ultimately the company will

suffer (Middleton, 2002).

In this discussion, Herzberg’s theory has been presented with context of the ASDA PLC. The

hygiene theory of Herzberg states the elements that create job satisfaction, non dissatisfaction

and job dissatisfaction.

Based on this

theory, the super

shop will face employee dissatisfaction if proper incentive policies are absent, work environment

is dissatisfactory and other employee benefits are absent. But what does not dissatisfy, not

necessarily satisfy- that’s the point in this theory. The company must provide a challenging work

force, good career achievement and competitive environment to keep its employees satisfied

(Robbins, 2001).

17 | P a g e

Herzberg’s theory is a complex one. However, if ASDA can implement it properly, then sure it

will get some better outcomes.

Task 4: Mechanisms for developing effective teamwork in organizations

4.1 The nature of groups and group behavior within organizations

18 | P a g e

There are different types of groups formed in the firms. The role of such groups in a firm is

undeniable. Individual efforts are important, but in some organizational tasks, group efforts are

the only requirement. When individuals work in groups, they receive some combined benefits of

working together and working alone.

Formation of groups differs significantly. In terms of characteristics, they vary as well. Below a

brief discussion on group and its types has been presented.

Formal Groups: Formal groups are formed officially for organization purposes (Robbins and

Coulter, 2005). These groups focus on achievement of some specific objectives. Formal groups

are of two types;

Task group

Command group

Task groups in the ASDA are created to accomplish some specific tasks. They are officially

made and officially motivated.

Formal groups may have some drawbacks. Negligence or narrow mind tendency pushes the

group progress backwards. Official jealousy is the main reasons behind it. In ASDA these

negative affect are less apparent though.

Informal Groups: When employees of the company voluntarily form some groups among

themselves for both official and unofficial purposes, it is called the informal group (Robbins and

Judge, 2007). Such groups greatly influence the company performance. Friendship groups and

interest groups are two types of informal groups. Informal groups are much effective than the

formal groups.

ASDA PLC’s culture motivates its employees to form informal groups. This way, the company

is benefitted in various ways.

Group is a collaboration of some employees to provide collective efforts to accomplish some

specific objective. Broadly there are two different types of groups, formal group and informal

group. We will see the nature and functions of these groups from the view of ASDA.

Formal Group: Formal groups are formed officially for organization purposes (Robbins and

Coulter, 2005). These groups focus on achievement of some specific objectives. Formal groups

are of two types;

19 | P a g e

• Task group

• Command group

Task groups in the ASDA are created to accomplish some specific tasks. They are officially

made and officially motivated.

Formal groups may have some drawbacks. Negligence or narrow mind tendency pushes the

group progress backwards. Official jealousy is the main reasons behind it. In ASDA these

negative affect are less apparent though.

Informal Group: When employees of the company voluntarily form some groups among

themselves for both official and unofficial purposes, it is called the informal group (Robbins and

Judge, 2007). Such groups greatly influence the company performance. Friendship groups and

interest groups are two types of informal groups. Informal groups are much effective than the

formal groups.

ASDA PLC’s culture motivates its employees to form informal groups. This way, the company

is benefitted in various ways.

What makes the team work?

Teams are formed in numerous perspectives. Teams are formed to fluid the efforts of a group of

people. Team work provides an excellent synergic affect. Team works provide better outcomes

than that if same number of individuals worked individually. Teams are formed for various

purposes.

Belbin’s Theory

Belbin described nine specific team roles. He divided the roles into three sets: Action Oriented, People Oriented, and Thought Oriented.

20 | P a g e

Belbin’s team functions identify individual behavior in the work force.

How they may influence the group behavior

Both the formal and informal groups increase the organizational performance. Cooperation and

coordination between colleagues are important for the better functioning of a work place. As mentioned

earlier, team works create synergic affect. Discussion with peers often discover unique ways to

accomplish tasks. This directly influence group behavior. Team work or group works avoid work place

conflict. Formal groups are effective in accomplishing official tasks that are assigned to be done in group.

Informal groups are effective in general.

4.2 Factors that may promote or inhibit the development of effective teamwork in organizations

There are different issues that inhibit or promote the effective team functioning of ASDA PLC.

21 | P a g e

Some teamwork and norms influence the employee attitude and behavior. Group norms are set of

informally established rules that are built within the groups to regulate individual behaviors.

These norms are evaluative in nature (Schermerhorn, Osborn and Hunt, 2000).

Dysfunctional behavior harms the functioning of team and weaken organizations' success.

Dysfunctional conduct creates adverse sentiments among the members of team which ultimately

harm team performance. These affects disappear if team colleagues abstain from stating their

adverse feelings.

Team effectiveness: Groups of ASDA PLC may come up short for various motivations. Regular

purposes, targets are being imparted through groups of an association.

Clarity of communication: To keep team on pace, it is imperative for ASDA to successive

convey the undertaking reason.

Dynamic team functions: The ASDA PLC’s team members are obliged to have a reasonable

duty to the group for working dynamic in the team.

Team Specialty: The group is centered on the exceptional ability to which the group towards as

well. Group of ASDA PLC can utilize its assets choosing team members either who should

capably guarantee the achievement or can converge for coordinated effort.

Social environment: Teams can fraternized both in a working and social environment of ASDA.

Fruitful teams can suspect what others will do and how they will react.

With the much use of groups or teams, the performance of teams is now considered to be a

crucial component of firm’s success. Thus, ASDA and other companies expect staffs who are

"team players". Those who are interested and able to work effectively in team settings.

4.3 The impact of technology on team functioning within a given organization

Technology is one of the key determinates in the recent times. New inventions and innovations

are benefiting the companies largely.

22 | P a g e

Similarly, for ASDA, technological progress is of great blessings for the company. To manage

the diverse work force and huge workload, use of technology has brought a new dimension for

the company. Now the company can connect with its customers more easily and offer a diverse

array of customer service to them.

Technology has improved the business functions by computerization of record keeping, book

building and inventory checking. Future earnings can be forecasted more accurately now.

Studies demonstrate the fact that technology influences the teams and groups in the company

contrastingly due to the reason of styles of the groups and their exercises. It is debatable, whether

virtual group activities are more viable or the individual-to-individual collaboration (Sorge, 2002).

Nonetheless, as far as scattered work power, commitment of virtual groups is certain. Being a

general store chain its correspondence channel must depend on intranet and web facilities.

Online communication is another advantage of computerized team activities. ASDA tries to stay

one-step ahead of its competitors. Therefore, it encourages online team involvement and

reinforces better performances herein.

Technologically advanced strategy is very much important to sustain and progress in the

competitive market. ASDA is no different from any other successful company that brings any

technological innovation in the business process to keep its reputation intact.

Conclusion

This unit focused on the organizational culture and structure, and their impact on the workforce

behavior. The objective of this work was to provide the understanding and practical knowledge

on individual and group level behaviors in the organization and how they influences the

workforce and are influenced by the culture of the organization. Throughout the unit, the

23 | P a g e

different aspects of organizational culture and structure, management and leadership approaches,

motivational theories and their implications, and the effectiveness of successful teamwork was

shown on the basis of the case studies of ASDA PLC and British Airlines. It has also shown the

importance that the designs of organizations have on structuring that behavior.

A range of strategies was used to deliver the assignment properly. Use of case studies is an

important learning methodology. It enables application of concept learned in the studies. With

application of practical knowledge, the understanding of organizational behavior is more fruitful.

References

Applewhite, P. (1965). Organizational behavior. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall.

Brown, W. (1971). Organization. London: Heinemann Educational.

24 | P a g e

Catlin-Legutko, C. and Klingler, S. (2012). Organizational management. Lanham, Md.:

AltaMira Press.

Culliney, T. (2014). Notes on Predatory Behavi our in Rhinacloa forticornis (Hemiptera: Miridae

). Curr. Agri. Res. Jour, 2(1), pp.01-04.

Daft, R. (1997). Management. Fort Worth: Dryden Press.

Dale, E. (1967). Organization. [New York]: American Management Association.

Dean, J. (1981). Organizational behavior. Durham, NC: Eno River Press.

EDWARDS, L. (1970). A review of: â€œ ganizational Climateâ€”Explorations of a Conceptâ€. �By R. TAGIURI and G. H. LITWIN (Editors). (Harvard Business School, 1969.) 50s.

Ergonomics, 13(6), pp.807-808.

Griffin, R. (1990). Management. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co.

Hersey, P. and Blanchard, K. (1982). Management of organizational behavior. Englewood

Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall.

Hiriyappa, B. (2009). Organizational behavior. New Delhi: New Age International.

Kreitner, R. and Kinicki, A. (1998). Organizational behavior. Boston, Mass.: Irwin/McGraw-

Hill.

Luthans, F. (1977). Organizational behavior. New York: McGraw-Hill.

McShane, S. and Von Glinow, M. (2000). Organizational behavior. Boston: Irwin/McGraw-Hill.

Middleton, J. (2002). Organizational behavior. Oxford, U.K.: Capstone Pub.

Robbins, S. (2001). Organizational behavior. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall.

Robbins, S. and Coulter, M. (2005). Management. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice

Hall.

Robbins, S. and Judge, T. (2007). Organizational behavior. Upper Saddle River, N.J.:

Pearson/Prentice Hall.

25 | P a g e

Schermerhorn, J., Osborn, R. and Hunt, J. (2000). Organizational behavior. New York: Wiley.

Sorge, A. (2002). Organization. London: Thomson Learning.

Stoner, J. (1982). Management. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall.

26 | P a g e

Organizational behavior

Education

Transcript of Organizational behavior