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The study of how members of a specific group behave is known as “organisational behaviour” (OB). As a result, Alshmemri, Shahwan-Aki and Maude (2017) claim that an organization’s personnel and the dynamics of its group may better be understood, which in turn aids in increasing productivity. Consequently, it strives to get the most out of the group members, as per Salminen, Vanhala and Heilmann (2016). This report is focused on the OB in Marks and Spencer (M&S). Clothing, home goods, and food are all major specialities of this London-based prominent British international retailer (Marks and Spencer plc, 2022).
The behaviour of a person and a group, along with performance in the workplace, is influenced by three crucial dynamics of the business – culture, politics, and power. They all stem from consumers’ ideas and attitudes, as Robbins (2016) explains. Employees and authorities interact with consumers according to a variety of patterns.
1.1 Culture Influences Individual and Team Behaviour and Performance
Culture in business environment is the collection of behavioural and procedural patterns that may be seen inside a corporation, which includes the organization's rules, processes, ethics and values, employee behaviours and attitudes, objectives; and standards of practice (Eliot, 2010). If an organization’s staff is given a supportive work environment that fosters a healthy corporate culture, they are more likely to act positively and strive for their company’s success. In M&S, a good corporate culture is maintained (Cocci 2014). Everyone in the company works hard to ensure that customers are satisfied, by hiring the appropriate employees and providing them with the necessary training. Thus, the organisation is continually seeking innovative strategies to enhance its operations. A good work environment is offered to employees via the company’s use of efficient communication strategies to acquire, gather, and transfer the information essential to carry out company tasks.
M&S’s good corporate culture emphasises the importance of each employee’s behaviour (Howard-Grenville and Gapp, 2022). The company’s workers and employees have been seen to act appropriately. A good company culture feeds the individual’s behaviour constantly. Organizational culture is divided into four categories: power, role, task, and person.
Power Culture
Power culture is the first word in the Handy culture model (Cacciattolo, 2014). Rule and regulation are shown by using this phrase and this aspect. Employees, for example, must adhere to the directives of their superiors. M&S’s “power culture” refers to the fact that just a few individuals have the authority to make decisions. In this case, only those who have been given the authority to make choices may do so. However, it has been said that, despite its strength, power culture may easily become poisonous. Organizational culture may be influenced by a powerful culture.
Role Culture
It is the working environment in which the company’s functions and responsibilities are performed. Role culture is a highly regulated and disciplined organisational culture. Employees are given assignments depending on their qualifications, interest, abilities, and talents at M&S. In addition, employees are well-versed in the duties assigned to them. Employee performance is improved as a result of the organization’s competitive culture. Individual professional growth was affected by the role culture of hard effort and passion.
Task Culture
If a firm has a task-specific team, it has got a task culture. It’s very uncommon for large corporations like M&S to develop marketing teams with particular goals in mind and then let those teams disband after those goals have been achieved. As the circumstances change, so does this variable (Chumg et al., 2016). Individuals’ abilities to do a difficult activity may be enhanced via participation in this process. Task culture inspires people to choose the right route, which leads to better job performance.
Person Culture
It is the culture of M&S personnel that believe they are more important than their company. Workers at the specified company may be demotivated by the company’s money-only mentality, which prevents them from being emotionally invested in it. In such a culture, workers only think about themselves, and so they never make decisions in the best interest of the company. Consequently, employees are less willing to help one another, which harms morale and production.
1.2 Politics Influences Individual and Team Behaviour and Performance
An individual’s and a team’s conduct is also influenced by political factors, which in turn affects the success of their company. At M&S, workers who don’t put in the time and effort can keep their jobs via shady means. Politics herein relates to the members of an organisation acting unreasonably to get advantages over which they have no control. Managers are responsible for ensuring that M&S runs smoothly because of the company’s enormous structure, which includes a big number of employees. As per succeed Pereira, Malik and Froese (2017), many employees are indeed more concerned with sullying the reputations of their co-workers than they are with helping the company).
Employees at the company engage in shady politics, which has a negative influence on morale and relationships between co-workers. As a consequence of workplace negativity, those active in politics, either as the cause or the sufferer, engage in anti-political behaviour. People’s callousness toward one another is a hindrance to interpersonal communication. Angry and frustrated feelings pervade their interactions with their co-workers. In addition, the team’s morale is impacted as a result of the manipulation and non-transmission of information. Superiors receive the incorrect impression because of how the team acts. When it came to M&Ss as a group, all of this had an impact. Individual and team behaviour may be impacted by the political climate of an organisation. While acknowledging that politics may assist people to advance in their careers by teaching them how to work in an organisation and how to be more competitive, Pettigrew (2014) criticised this claim, noting that it is politics itself that has a constructive effect on employee growth and performance.
1.3 Power Influences Individual and Team Behaviour and Performance
Individuals’ and teams’ behaviours are influenced by power in organisations. It’s the power and responsibility that bosses have over their subordinates to get the job done. With that in mind and employing such abilities positively, it will help the workers or the mentioned organisation feel pleased and inspired and therefore their performance in a company or as a person will rise (Donald and Carter, 2020). The more clout a person or group has inside the company, the greater their impact. A greater level of power-seeking behaviour by senior managers at M&S, for example, enables them to exercise influence on their workplace environment (Anitha and Begum, 2016). In the presence of a powerful leader, individual workers’ behaviour transforms.
One of the most important factors in an organization’s success is employee motivation. Motivated employees and teams work together to accomplish organisational objectives. Motivation in a firm can be described by two theories, such as content and process.
2.1 Content Theory: McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y
The “content theory of motivation” describes why individuals’ demands vary across time. Such theories explain the internal elements that affect motivational behaviour. McGregor’s “Theory X and Theory Y” are well-known content theories that explain motivation in further detail (Al Saifi, 2015). As stated by Theory X, workers do not complete their duties as they despise and avoid their employment. They are compelled to work in a company because they lack ambition and are unable to accept responsibility. Contrary to this, theory Y has no basis. Theory Y, according to which workers are self-employed and creative, is an optimism theory. In today’s businesses, this is a fantastic philosophy of motivation. Inherent in this theory’s tenets are self-reliant groups.
To meet organisational goals, workers must work together as a cohesive unit, using their collective knowledge, abilities, and creativity to develop and deliver high-quality goods and services that delight consumers. Motivated workers have helped M&S to achieve its worldwide brand goals and objectives by giving the company innovative and creative product and service offerings. Theory X has been found in this organisation, however, as certain workers, although offering incentives, fail to carry out their duties effectively. Inability to manage an organisation toward achieving objectives is due to their disinterest in their jobs (Geppert and Dorrenbacher, 2014).
M&S can be observed to match Theory Y’s motivation skills and qualities, in which workers are encouraged to perform better. High-end clothing and speciality food retailers are continuously seeking innovative methods to differentiate themselves from their competitors. Because human resources are critical to the company’s ability to innovate and create new goods and services, they are among its most valuable assets. The bulk of M&S personnel is self-motivated and enjoys their accountability (Pettigrew 2014). It motivates them to do well since they are seen as a vital element of the organisation. Theory Y managers must appreciate diversity and support skill development (Gitman, McDaniel and Shah, 2018). For example, an administrative assistant may deliver a monthly report. The reward may be a meeting citation, computer training, or a salary raise. Theory Y assumes worker and organisational interests are similar.
2.2 Process Theory: Porter-Lawler Model
It is clear that process theories of motivation, as opposed to content theories, focus on the components, which influence the degree, moderation, and persistence of effort. The “Porter-Lawler Model”, an incorporated model including all features of all incentive theories, is considered among the most well-known process theories. An in-depth model demonstrates how performance and job satisfaction are intertwined (Miner, 2015). The three pillars of this concept are effort, production, and satisfaction. The effort is the amount of energy that workers expend, and the overall performance of the company is the primary function of that endeavour. M&S workers have a positive view of effort-reward probability since the company provides them with values and incentives. Employees at M&S were incentivized to do their best work via a system of effort-performance-reward-satisfaction that rewarded them for exceeding expectations.
Employees are more motivated to work harder because of the greater job satisfaction brought about by the rewards system. According to this hypothesis, a reward system was put in place to recognise those workers who worked hard to assist the company to grow its business and client base. There are alternative ways to attain organisational goals and objectives, according to Miner (2015), who criticises motivation. Additionally, financial and operational elements are equally crucial in helping the organisation realise its goals. A company’s degree of success is determined by its ability to manage its finances and business operations. As Miner (2015) has pointed out, if the workers aren’t driven to perform properly, an organisation can’t succeed even if it has a lot of money and a good business plan.
Additionally, motivational tactics have a significant role in influencing the behaviour of others, which in turn aids in the attainment of objectives. A strict daily activity programme was maintained by M&S to break the cycle of laziness and reinvigorate everyday routines. In this way, the employee can rediscover the basic joys of life and improve their skills (Jelphs and Dickinson, 2016). Nevertheless, this kind of incentive isn’t very successful since it relies on the individual’s behaviour.
Motivational ideas and approaches utilised by M&S help keep the company’s workers motivated to work hard for the company’s goals. This program’s success may be boosted, nevertheless, by increasing the number of quarterly rewards and recognition programmes. Quarterly bonuses should be given to the company’s workers to keep them engaged, as per Lawter, Kopelman and Prottas (2015). Employees need frequent breaks to refuel their batteries, which in turn help them regain their stamina and health and so help the company meet its objectives. Offering frequent and constructive feedback is also necessary to assist the organisation to become more efficient as its personnel focus on their responsibilities.
A proper team or a group is a very important factor in Marks and Spencer’s and this helps to make a proper and developed workplace (Ginting et al., 2020). Every organization in the UK has several teams who help to run the business for that organization. Human Resource, Management and Operational departments are some of the teams that are important to make a perfect business.
Every team in M&S is helpful to produce a perfect outcome related to the business using the “team development factors”. Team development is very important to make a proper approach to any group activity and this helps to make the best outcome for the organization.
3.1 Team and Group Development Theories
Different theories are there that help to understand the concept of team development and management (Zhang et al., 2018). Some of these theories are as follows-
3.1.1 Tuckman’s Team Development Theory
“Tuckman’s team development theories” are helpful to make a perfect model for team building. According to Tuckman, there are four different stages a team goes through while making a perfect team (Guttenberg, 2020). These stages have different jobs in team-building and serve as a platform for perfect team development.
The four stags derived by Tuckman for team development are as follows-
“Forming”
This is the first stage where every team member is new to the team and they do not understand the purpose of the team. This stage suggests the drawbacks and limitations of the team and serves as a perfect outline of the team.
“Storming”
In this stage of team formation, all the team members conflict with other and “storm” the team activity. Different opinions are being served by the team members and this causes conflicts between them.
“Norming”
This is the stage where the entire team member knows about the ethics of the team and they make a proper approach to the team activities. Team members proceed to the team job from this stage.
“Performing”
This is the last stage of team development and the team members make a proper team approach in this stage. All the members of the team make a proper team approach and fulfil all the important team functions as a group.
3.1.2 Belbin’s Team Development Theory
A team is formed with more than one member and all the members are important in a team. All members have their relevant job in a team and they perform accordingly (Bao, 2019). The team members make a perfect approach to their respective jobs and this makes a perfect outcome for the job.
The “Belbin’s team roles” are helpful to understand the important roles of the team members and the importance of these roles in a team. The important team roles in a team are as follows-
Belbin also suggested that all the team members are should be “team workers” and they should approach as a team keeping their conflicts aside.
3.2 Factors of an Effective Team
A perfect team is important to make a perfect outcome for the business of Marks and Spencer’s. All the teams are involved in their respective jobs and they help to make a perfect outcome for the business of the company.
Different factors are there that help to make a perfect team. Some of the important factors of a team are as follows-
Communication
Good communication between the team members is important to make a perfect team. All the team members must be free to share their opinions and thoughts.
Dedication
All the team members must be dedicated to the team which makes a perfect bond for them. Dedication to the job motivates them to stay focused and make a perfect outcome for them.
Efficiency
Efficient team members are important to make a perfect team. If a member of a team is inefficient to complete a job within a team, he or she can affect the team negatively.
Ideas
Innovative and accessible ideas make the team approach positively and help the organization to make perfect business. Ideas depicted by these teams help to fulfil a job perfectly.
Support
Supporting each other is one of the most important factors to make a proper team. This helps to make a trustworthy bond between the team members.
Concepts and philosophies of “organizational behaviour” are important to understand the context of this and to operate the team functions properly (Kondalkar, 2020). Different concepts of organizational behaviour help to make a perfect organizational culture. Some of the concepts of organizational behaviour are as follows-
4.1 Concepts and Philosophies of OB
Important concepts of organizational behaviour are given below-
Individuality
This is important to respect the individuality in an organization to make a perfect ‘organizational behaviour”. Many people work in Marks and Spencer’s and they have different personalities and habits. The company can make perfect organizational behaviour by respecting the individuality of all the employees of the company.
Awareness
The employees of the company must be aware of all the important factors and traits followed by the company. This helps them to act accordingly and follow perfect organizational behaviour in the company. This also helps them to understand the factors of their respected job and fulfil their jobs perfectly.
Teamwork
This is important to follow a perfect team approach within the company. All the members of the company must remember that they work for the same company and help each other to make a perfect outcome for the company.
Motivation
All the employees of the company must be motivated and they should be interested in their jobs. Motivational factors help to enhance the potential of the employees and to make a better outcome for the company. This also helps to release the work pressure for the employees and make them efficient for any important business-related job.
Desire
Employees must have the desire to involve in all the important factors of the company. This can motivate them to join all the essential factors of the company and help to make a better outcome for the company.
4.2 Influence of the Concepts on Behavioural Approach
Perfect behaviour is important to make connections within a company and this is important to make growth within the company (Li et al., 2019). This helps to be motivated and interested in the job and makes a perfect business for the company. The concepts of “organizational behaviour” have a good influence on the behavioural approaches of the employees. Some of the influences are as follows-
Motivation
The concept of “organizational behaviour” helps to motivate the employees to work properly and enhance their potential. A proper “organizational behaviour” is made by helping others and motivating them to do the job. A good and healthy “organizational behaviour” motivates the employees and thus helps the company to make a better outcome for the business.
Enhanced Potential
A proper “organizational behaviour” is helpful to enhance the potential and efficiency of the employees to make a perfect outcome. This helps to understand all the important traits of the company and the employees get help to mitigate their drawbacks and enhance their skills. This helps to make a perfect business for the company.
Better outcome
Proper “organizational behaviour” helps to make the employees motivated and efficient. The employees make a job properly and make a perfect outcome from all their jobs. This helps to make a perfect outcome for the company and make a good business. This also helps to mitigate the risks involved in the job and deliver a proper and safe outcome.
A good and healthy “organizational behaviour” is important for Marks and Spencer’s to make a proper team and enhanced business outcomes. This helps the company to achieve success in the market.
4.3 Critical Evaluation of the Team Development Theories
The theories of “organizational behaviour” are true and effective and these are helpful to make a perfect behavioural approach for any company. Marks and Spencer make a perfect job using these theories and they are achieving success in the market.
“Tuckman’s theory of team building” helps to understand the important factors to make a perfect team and the stages the team can face while executing a job. This theory helps to understand the evolution of the team and to monitor its progress of the team. However, the theory does not suggest any solution to the problems that can arise in a team. There is no suggestion to solve the conflicts and disrespects among the team members.
The “Belbin’s Team role” model helps to understand the important roles of the team members in a team. It suggests that all the team members have some particular jobs and all of them are important in a team. However, the theory makes no suggestions to mitigate the risks of the team.
Conclusion
The report has been effective in terms of new ideas that may be used in the management of employees. This paper has examined the effect of culture, power, and politics on the contemporary situation of M&S. All of these variables help to identify good and harmful behaviours in the selected firm. Also included are content and process theories of motivation, which have a significant influence on organisational goals and outcomes. In addition, it evaluated that a theory-based team is superior to an ineffectual one, using Tuckman and Belbin's team development theories, and the concept and philosophies of OB influencing the organisation in concern.
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