HND Business – Level 4

Organisational Behaviour

Lecturer: L. Buckley

Student: Radu Miclaus

Student ID: 11717

Table of Contents
Task 1. Recognise the connection between organisational structure and culture .................................................1

1.2 Evaluate and contrast the organisation structure and culture of ASDA to that of British Airways ..............1

1.2 Describe the way the connection between ASDA’s structure and culture influences on its performance ..4

1.3 Examine the elements that affect the behaviour of ASDA’s employees at workplace providing
appropriate examples..........................................................................................................................................5

Task 2. Comprehend various approaches to management and leadership ............................................................6

2.1 Evaluate the efficiency of the leadership styles utilised by the CEO in ASDA to that utilised by BA CEO. ...6

2.2 Discover any organisational theory applied at ASDA and describe how organisational theory underpins
the practice of management ...............................................................................................................................8

2.3 Assess the various approaches to management utilised by ASDA compared to that used by BA................9

Task 3. Recognise methods for using motivational theories in organisations ......................................................10

3.1 What kinds of changes can ASDA implement? Examine the effect that various leadership styles might
have on motivation of ASDA’s employees in times of changes ........................................................................10

3.2 Implement the Maslow, Vroom and McGregor motivational theories to ASDA. Which is the most
applicable and why? ..........................................................................................................................................12

3.3 Assess the practical use of a motivational theory for managers. How can a concept like Hertzberg’s
motivation theory be useful and relevant to the managers of ASDA? .............................................................15

Task 4. Systems for building effective teamwork in organisations .......................................................................17

4.1 Describe the type of the several groups which could occur amongst ASDA’s employees and the way
they might affect the group behaviour. ............................................................................................................17

4.2 Examine the elements that may promote or prevent the growth of efficient teamwork amongst the
employees of ASDA. ..........................................................................................................................................19

4.3 Assess the influence of technology on team working inside ASDA.............................................................21

Bibliography ...........................................................................................................................................................22
Task 1. Recognise the connection between organisational structure and culture

1.2 Evaluate and contrast the organisation structure and culture of ASDA to that of British
Airways

According to Buchanan and Huczyinski an organisation is a social arrangement for the controlled
performance of collective goals’ (Huczynski and Buchanan, 2001).

The usually hierarchical layout of lines of authority, communications, rights and responsibilities of a
business or institution constitute the organisational structure. (BusinessDictionary.com, 2014).

An organisation it also possesses its own culture. There are numerous descriptions of organisational
culture, but as Stacey states, the culture of any group of individuals is that set of values, traditions,
methods and means of thinking that they need to come to present to one another as a result of being
and working together. It is a number of assumptions people acknowledge with no doubt (Stacey,
1996).

The organisational culture can be difficult to make sense of it so there are different ways to understand
it. In our cases we will use the cultural web as introduced by Johnson (Johnson and Scholes, 1993).

(Slidegeeks.com, 2015).

Stories are those narratives that individuals inside the organisation speak to one another about, the
things they say to new employees and outsiders about the organisation. An example of a story is the
1982 flight BA 009 who lost all four engines at around 30000 feet due to volcanic ashes, but due to its
crew skills managed to land safely in Jakarta. The crew got many awards and together with survivors
founded Galunggung club. Also following the incident pilots training was changed to take in
consideration volcanic ash how to avoid it and how to clean the engines of it in the air (Mail Online,
2007).
Routines are the methods for performing things inside the organisation. Daily flights to Paris is an
example of routine at British Airways. Rituals have an extended period of time and can be either
formal or informal. An informal ritual at BA is practised at the end of a flight when the members of the
crew are drinking together.

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Symbols are elements of organisational life regarding those things that signify something to a number
of people. The symbol of BA is their coat of arms and the logo “To fly. To serve” reintroduced in
2012.
Structure of an organisation is more than merely conventional relationships that are shown on an
organisation diagram. They can also exist via interpersonal relationships that surpass the conventional
structures. BA has a hierarchical flatter structure.
Control systems are activities where performance is measured against a fixed standard and the
procedures of both standard-setting and monitoring performance vary considerably based on culture.
British Airways has a joint venture partnership with American Airlines.
Power structures are the key assumptions that add to the paradigm and will tend to be created by the
most powerful management groups in the organisation (Evans, Campbell and Stonehouse, 2003). In
BA the power is coming from its Heathrow headquarters.

Below, we will compare and contrast the organisational structure and culture of two of the biggest
businesses in UK, respectively ASDA and British Airways, both of them being a Public Liability
Company.

According to Kantar Worldpanel, a leader in consumer knowledge, ASDA is the UK’s second biggest
grocer, with a market share of 16.9 % (Kantarworldpanel.com, 2015).

BA is the biggest airline in UK in terms of fleet, international destinations and flights

(Britishairways.com, 2012).

The organisational structure of ASDA is a hierarchical one, which has many levels, each one
controlled by one person. Around 175000 people (colleagues) are working in different departments.
The information must go through a significant number of people until the managers are receiving it.
Regarding the job each have to do there is a lot of flexibility as at times a colleague can do the job
assigned to another one (www.your.asda.com, 2012).

(Google.com, 2015).

British Airways also has a hierarchical structure, however a more official and compact one as it can be
seen in the chart below.

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 (Britishairways.com, 2010).

With almost 40000 employees, job and responsibilities of each are very specific (Britishairways.com,
2012).

ASDA’s organisational culture is one of the most important reasons for its success. This specifies how
colleagues conduct themselves at Asda. It varies from how colleagues deal with shoppers and outside
stakeholders to the way they treat one another. In ASDA, each colleague in the company creates and
supports the organisation’s culture based on the following values:
 excellent service to customers;
 respect for each individual;
 to endeavour for excellence;
 act with integrity (Asda50years.com, 2015)

BA is a very big and well known company and their rules and regulations are strict so there is a
powerful cultural influence behind its success. The result are several common rules as elements of
their organisational culture:
 Interacting reasonably;
• Updating customer base;
• Preserve standards;
• Achieving customers’ needs and requirements in the most effective way;
• Re-enforcing successful responsibilities (Britishairways.com, n.d.).

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1.2 Describe the way the connection between ASDA’s structure and culture influences on its
performance

Structure and culture of an organisation are intertwined. They generates new principles and methods
that could impact on any stage of the organisation’s performance.

ASDA having a hierarchical structure and a big number of employees has a role culture. Every
employee and department has a specific role, so there is good line of communication and chain of
command. However, the role culture leads to a less efficient way in the decision making process. To
set aside this negative aspect ASDA can introduce a task culture which will speed up decision making
process.
ASDA have to adapt to structural changes in the grocery market where the competition is fierce and
the way customers shop. In order to keep up with these changes and improve its performance ASDA
has made redundancies from its management roles (Yorkshirepost.co.uk, 2014).

In ASDA, excellent service for the customers is one of the core values of its culture, so if employees
make and keep the customers happy the sales are going up and so will the overall performance of
ASDA.
As a conclusion, if ASDA wants to perform very well and beat the competition they must have a very
strong culture based on a very strong structure. If their culture and structure is weak, the business will
also have weak performances. Since the restructuring of management structure by making experienced
manager redundant and creating other roles lower paid and filled with people not so competent
ASDA’s results went down and they lost the second best supermarket place.

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1.3 Examine the elements that affect the behaviour of ASDA’s employees at workplace providing
appropriate examples.

A number of factors are influencing the employees’ behaviour. There are two categories of factors:
internal and external. Internal factors are: organisational structure, culture and leadership. External
factors are: family and social life (Papa, 2014).

In ASDA there are a number of factors influencing employees’ behaviour. Changes in the
organisational structure like cuts in management roles replacing experienced managers with others less
experienced who accepted a lower pay have resulted in worse results as employees lost confidence in
the leaders and also lost morale. “Emotions ran high among staff, many expressing their disgust by
commenting on The Grocer’s website as what they perceived as abandonment by an employer for
whom they had loyalty toiled for years” (TheGrocer.co.uk, 2015).
Leadership in ASDA is perceived by employees in a negative way, as the only things it cares about is
numbers and figures and not at all about the staff. Employees have lost their confidence in leadership
and their performance and motivation is reduced.
“Asda will leave you feeling degraded and undervalued, used and bullied. Management treat you like
rubbish, no flexibility, no praise, clicky management, poor management, disorganised” (Glassdoor,
2015).
Pay rates are another factor influencing behaviour in ASDA. The wages are not more that good so
again, the employees’ motivation is lower and their commitment as well. “Wages and productivity are
continuously being squeezed and challenged to reduce prices, meaning more volume is being pumped
into the shops with fewer hours to deliver a standards” (Glassdoor, 2015).
Cultural changes are also taking place, making employees anxious and losing their ethics. “Culture
now changing into a Tell and Do environment rather than a Challenge and Involve team working ethic.
I saw these changes taking place from 2010 to 2013. Where ASDA previously adopted a Servant
Leadership Style within its Senior Team, getting things done with and through others willingly and
well to now just GET IT DONE!” (Glassdoor, 2015).

As well as internal factors there are external factors influencing employees’ behaviour in ASDA.
Family and social life will have an impact in the way employees are performing their duties. ASDA is
not known to promote work-life balance, they expect a lot of weekend work from employees and they
are called in at short notice for relief work. This makes employees tired and dissatisfied. “Understand
ASDA is not a career for most who work there, so work life balance is important, not all people can
work weekends but for Asda you have to” (Glassdoor, 2015).

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Task 2. Comprehend various approaches to management and leadership

2.1 Evaluate the efficiency of the leadership styles utilised by the CEO in ASDA to that utilised
by BA CEO.

Leadership is the ability of a manager to influence the behaviour of subordinates and persuade them to
follow a particular course of action (Barnard, 1938).

Effective leadership is a key factor in the life and success of an organization (Emelone, 2015).

There are many styles of leadership. Below we have a brief description of five of them.

Democratic - Encourages staff to be a part of the decision making

Autocratic - Manager retains as much power and decision making authority as possible

Laissez faire - The manager provides little or no direction and gives staff as much freedom as possible

Paternalistic - Leader acts as a ‘father figure’, makes decision but may consult

Bureaucratic - Manages “by the book¨, lacks flexibility, everything done according to procedure or
policy (Bized.co.uk, 2007), (Emelone, 2015).

In the two organisations we are analysing, the CEO of ASDA is Any Clarke and of BA is Keith
Williams.

ASDA being a very hierarchical structure, means there is an autocratically culture and leadership. The
CEO’s leadership is concentrated on mission, vision and values in order to grow the business, however
the employees are having a critical opinion of the leadership style.

“Leaders and managers are considered just not the right people in charge. They employ and promote
family members foremost. Almost everyone in an ASDA store is related to someone. So there's people
not getting jobs after a perfect interview and people getting jobs that have no work ethic.
Rotas are done the day before the new week and you're expected to adhere to this.
No career progression. ASDA have restructured management letting go 50% of department managers
across all stores and hiring a lot more team leaders to work crazy hours for hardly anything more than
an average colleague. People were promoted to these roles through favouritism and the easier ones to
mould or manipulate. It is expected to work to the point of sweating and being paid buttons for it.
Study leave or career breaks are not allowed (Glassdoor, 2015).

As an acknowledged worldwide brand having a distinguished status, leadership behaviour is an

essential driver for British Airways. In order to help create the appropriate conditions for the
development of this new model and way of operating, the airline has generated leadership capabilities
that will help the business and its people produce a powerful culture. The capabilities will form an
element of the performance management process and managers will be expected to role model and be
assessed towards them (Stepsdrama.com, n.d.).

On Glassdoor website the reviews of British Airways’ leadership and management have a few positive
aspects and many critical ones.

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According to reviews website Glassdoor, management promotes flexible working, equal opportunities
regardless of race, sexual options, gender, and religion. Several managers are long term employees and
possess a great deal of knowledge and share that knowledge with their staff.
The management is good, but could be better as BA has the potential to improve because of its
worldwide perspective, nature, accomplishments and business prospects.
The issues are with new managers. The business thinks the new managers they are training shouldn't
possess independent thinking. The new managers don't have confidence in the staff to do their work.
Management team is vulnerable and political, micromanaging is extremely used and there are a great
number of policies and regulations. Following the merge with Iberia, business goes with no distinct
direction and there's insufficient career development.
There are not decent money for junior managers in comparison with other sectors which inspires
younger employees to move on and improve pay to bring in top talent.
The organisation is solely concerned to generate a lot more money to make banks and investment
companies happy. There is opposition to change, under considerable cost demands to deliver profit.
BA has been removing, training and benefits to the level that 25% of new employed staff depart within
the first two years as the workload is big and the income so inadequate. BA used to be in the front now
it is seldom keeping up. Spirits are at a minimal level (Glassdoor, 2015).

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2.2 Discover any organisational theory applied at ASDA and describe how organisational theory
underpins the practice of management

Organisational theories are describing the organisation and its structure. They can be classified in
classical, neo classical and modern.
Classical theories take care of the conventional organisation and principles to improve management
performance. There are three approaches in this category (Fao.org, n.d.):
 Scientific management, introduced by F. Taylor, assesses work streams to enhance economic
performance, particularly labour productivity (Taylor, 1947);
 Bureaucratic, introduced by M. Weber, it requires structuring an institution into a hierarchy.
The institution and the people within are led by distinctly identified realistic-legal decision-
making regulations. These two factors allows the institution to accomplish its objectives
(Weber, Parsons and Henderson, 1947);
 Administrative management, introduced by H. Fayol, is an official administrative structure, a
specific division of work, and transfer of power and authority to managers relevant to their
areas of obligations (Fayol, 1949).

The neoclassical theories accentuated social and human interactions between the workers, researchers
and managers. Presented an informal organisation structure and concentrated on employees
(Roethlisberger and Dickson, 1943).

Barnard (1938) was one of the first theoreticians who introduced the modern theories which say that an
organisation is identified as a developed and organised practice in which people work together for
goals. This theories focuses on the development of the organisation and each employee, the stability of
the organisation and work relationship between employees (Fao.org, n.d.).

In ASDA because of its hierarchical structure and leadership style we can identify that the bureaucratic
theory is widely applied in a bad way. Each position on ASDA’s hierarchy has its own level of
responsibility and authority, duties are recognized on a practical basis, after which are divided based
on expertise, each getting a different chain of command, the organisation is operating in respect to a
system of procedures comprising conventional rules and regulations.
In ASDA the bureaucratic theory underpins the management practice trough the existing hierarchy, the
rules and regulations which managers have to implement in order to achieve the company’s goals
without taking in account the human factor, although the decisions taken will be highly rational from a
business point of view.
ASDA would benefit much more if a neoclassical approach would be implemented as it would be
focused more on the human relations within the organisation, people will be better treated, their
opinion sought and being allowed some degree of decision making they will be more motivated and
productive.
In ASDA the bureaucratic theory underpins the management practice trough the existing hierarchy, the
rules and regulations which managers have to implement in order to achieve the company’s goals
without taking in account the human factor, although the decisions taken will be highly rational from a
business point of view (Fao.org, n.d.).

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2.3 Assess the various approaches to management utilised by ASDA compared to that used by
BA.

During its history of just over 100 years, management approaches were classified in three main
categories:
 Classical comprising of scientific and administrative management;
 Behavioural with is human relation and behavioural science approaches;
 Modern which have three approaches: quantitative, system and contingency;
Scientific management concentrate on the technical specifications of everyone’s job and on the
capability of financial rewards to motivate every employee. Tasks are standardised anywhere feasible.
Employees are rewarded or penalised.
The administrative approach focused more on the management functions as opposed to the scientific
one who focuses on the tasks.
Human relation approach needs to understand why their employees behave as they do and which
factors have an impact on them.
Behavioural science concentrates on the type of work, and the level that it will fulfil a person's need to
exhibit skills and expertise. It offers value to perceptions, behaviour and efficiency of individuals and
groups inside the organisation.
The quantitative approach requires the use of quantitative methods, like statistics, data models, and
computer simulations, to enhance the decision making process.
System approach is centred on the assumption that everything is interconnected and inter-dependent. A
system consists of associated and dependent factors (sub systems) which when in connection, make up
one whole.
The main idea of contingency approach is that there are no general principles in management. Issues
will vary under various circumstances and demand being resolved according to the need of the matter.
Managers shall be circumstance orientated become innovative and resourceful
(Managementheaven.com, 2009).

As we seen ASDA has a hierarchical structure and British Airways has a slightly flatter one. Their
cultures and objectives are also different from each other. As a result ASDA and BA will have
different management approaches.
ASDA has elements of two approaches, the administrative one with formal structures, distinct chain of
command from CEO to store managers and well-defined partition of work among departments. The
second one is the system approach because all departments in a store are interconnected, then next,
stores are interconnected forming a regional area and those are part of the whole system which is
ASDA PLC, each of them with their own managers and at the top the CEO, as we can see in the
ASDA diagram at task 1.1.
British Airways’ has a behavioural management approach as they are a services company and this
approach is more suitable having to take in account their own employees needs in order to understand
what motivate them and what needs they need to have fulfilled so they perform at their best
(Managementheaven.com, 2009).
As a conclusion both companies can also implement a contingency management approach as they have
such activities that new and unpredictable situations will on regular basis in which managers will have
to be revolutionary and imaginative (Managementheaven.com, 2009).

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Task 3. Recognise methods for using motivational theories in organisations

3.1 What kinds of changes can ASDA implement? Examine the effect that various leadership
styles might have on motivation of ASDA’s employees in times of changes

According to Sarah Butler, writing for The Guardian (2015), ASDA had the worse sales in the first 15
weeks of the year, which did not happen for more than 20 years, being the worst performer of the “big
four” supermarkets. Andy Clarke the ASDA CEO, blames the fall on the pressure from the two big
discounters, Lidl and Aldi, as all the other supermarkets have to make price cuts.

In order to overcome problems, ASDA are making redundant around a third of their middle level
managers, as they are hiding the reality from the senior managers for their own benefit, although Andy
Clarke is not saying exactly like that.
"As much as it is my job, and privilege, to be Chief Executive of this business and to do what is right
for Asda as a whole, this is one of the most difficult decisions I've had to make. Whilst I genuinely
believe that it is the right decision for the future of Asda, knowing that it will result in valued
colleagues leaving us is not easy. Every supermarket must adapt to the intense changes in UK retailing
or they will get left behind" (HR International, 2014).

In addition to these redundancies, ASDA should make steep and bold changes and has to start by
sacking its CEO and senior managers and also let their employees to come up with ideas and take them
into account.

Motivation is defined as external and internal elements that stimulate desire and energy in individuals
to be continuously interested and focused on a job, role or subject, or to make an effort to achieve an
objective (BusinessDictionary.com, n.d.)

People are motivated by various things. It is important to be aware of what motivates each employee.
Moreover it is important to be able to develop, enhance and sustain their motivation (Emelone, 2015).

At task 2.1 we described five types of leadership. We will see below how each of them can impact on
ASDA’s staff motivation in times of changes.

First, I am considering that when changes take place people are more sensitive, more concerned with
what will happen with themselves, what their future will be in the company, so leadership should be
aware of these and act accordingly.

At ASDA a democratic style of leadership shall be introduced when changes are taking place, specially
if the CEO and senior managers are sacked. This will put at ease staff’s concerns and they will feel
useful and appreciated and will see that changes are positives making them being more motivated to
perform at the best of their abilities and growing confidence that by doing that their career might go
further.

Maintaining an autocratic style of leadership at ASDA in time of changes will completely demotivate
the employees, as they will see that as no positive change has been made things will be the same or
even worse for each of them, fearing their very own job can go at any moment. Staff will continue
doing their jobs, but with no pleasure, at a basic level and no security regarding their future.

If a laissez faire style is introduced at ASDA in times of changes the employees will become confused
as they being used with an autocratic style they will not know what to do in order to make the business
going on and to grow it They will perform their jobs at a decent level but will not go the “extra mile”
simply because without coordination and leadership they will not know how to do it.

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Introducing the paternalistic leadership style at ASDA will be the second best after the democratic one.
The leaders and managers will be perceived by staff as “father figures” who knows what is in the best
interests of the company and employees. The leaders and managers will take decisions but may also
consult the employees when doing that, giving them a better motivation to perform very well and ease
their concerns.

The last style, bureaucratic can be as worse as the autocratic one when changes are made at ASDA. If
this style is implemented, there will be no flexibility in any aspect, employees must work by the book
and have no personal initiatives. Furthermore, leaders with this style may also lack imagination as well
and that will lead to stagnation or even regress. Staff will have no motivation at all, and everyone will
think how to leave the company as quick as possible.

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3.2 Implement the Maslow, Vroom and McGregor motivational theories to ASDA. Which is the
most applicable and why?

The performance of the employees depends on motivation. Organisations require motivated staff and
motivation is also essential to our individual success. Many theories on motivation were created. There
two categories of motivational theories
1. Content theories which want to find by what the people are motivated;
2. Process theories which are looking at the process of motivation
Content theories are Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory, Herzberg’s motivation hygiene theory and
McClelland’s learned needs theory.
Process theories are expectancy (Vroom), equity (Adams), goal (Locke), x and y (McGregor)
(Emelone, 2015).

Maslow’s theory says that individuals have five sets of needs that appear in a specific order. While
each level of needs is fulfilled, the desire to satisfy the next set kicks in. The principle is expressed in
the figure below (BBC News, 2013).

(Google.com, 2015)

Vroom's theory is based on an employee’s values:

Valence - describes emotional orientations that people keep regarding results (rewards) – the
significance the individual attaches to first and second order results;
Expectancy – describes employees’ various expectations and degrees of assurance about what they are
able to do – the assumption that effort will cause first order results;
Instrumentality – relates to the understanding of the employees if they would really get what they wish
– the recognised link between first order and second order results. As we see in the figure below
elements interact with each other to generate a motivational drive for an employee to work towards
satisfaction and prevent discomfort (Sites.google.com, 2015).

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 (Google.com, 2015)
McGregor's X/Y theory indicates there are two essential strategies to managing people. Theory x
claims that employees detest work and will keep off it when they can, thus many of them must be
pressured using the threat of penalties to work towards organisational targets, the employees would
rather be led, stay clear of responsibilities, are somewhat ambitionless and wants stability most of all.
Theory Y says employees take pleasure in work, motivated by a range of intrinsic factors, like to make
their own decisions, are ambitious and committed (Businessballs.com, 2015).

(Leadership & Project Management Champions, 2009).

In ASDA Maslow’s theory is applied at the first two levels of needs, the physiological and safety. That
is demonstrated by the fact that numerous employees are with ASDA for tens of years and they did not
progressed from the shop floor jobs, they are not motivated to do so and ASDA doesn’t care about
their other needs from higher levels.
In the case of Vroom’s theory, when people are joining ASDA they have expectancies that they can
develop and for their hard work will be rewarded accordingly. However, ASDA doesn’t pay attention
to the work of their employees, especially on the shop floor and storage rooms, they are rotating
employees where and if needed as their skills are also low, so an employee’s efforts will go unnoticed
and the desired rewards will not come or are meaningless as ASDA is well known for their very low
levels of rewards. All of these led to employees losing motivation and many of them leaving the
company just as we can see from some quotes on Glassdoor below:
“Senior management are hit and miss, salary is generally much less than industry standard”
Low pay. Working conditions not conducive to a happy workplace. “
“Also hire more staff. You cut thousands of managers and did nothing. People leave the business
(lucky them) and you fail to replace them! Moral is at an all-time low!”
“Sort the wage out and won't lose staff to Tesco” (Glassdoor, 2015).

From McGregor’s theories, theory X is definitely the one currently applied in ASDA. Managers and
supervisors are constantly “bullying” employees and having no trust in them.
“Again told that I must never, ever leave the till unattended - when I called a runner to fetch a
replacement for a customer (something which is a huge part of their job...) I was told to stop being lazy

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and go get it myself, leaving till unattended for a few minutes, only to be told off by a 2nd runner on
my way back for leaving “(Glassdoor, 2015).
Theory Y is not implemented in ASDA, as people are not motivated and don’t take pleasure in work
due to the Theory X used by managers.
The most relevant theory for ASDA is X but if they want positive changes to happen theory Y shall be
implemented, employees being considered as human beings which enjoy work and not robots doing a
task, motivate them especially with financial rewards and providing a stress free environment. In this
way employees will feel they are appreciated, their needs taken care of hence their performance will
improve and so ASDA’s results.

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3.3 Assess the practical use of a motivational theory for managers. How can a concept like
Hertzberg’s motivation theory be useful and relevant to the managers of ASDA?

Motivation is an essential instrument which is frequently under-used by managers in workplace.

Managers use motivation in an organisation to stimulate employees to work, both independently and in
teams, to generate the best results for business in the most effective and efficient way. People have
their personal group of motivating forces therefore it is the job of the manager to thoroughly recognise
and deal with these motivating forces. The objective of each manager is to improve production and
performance to achieve highest results for the organisation. Motivation for superior performance is
determined by job satisfaction, accomplishment, recognition, and development. Delivering a good
motivational work place is a demanding managerial task. Thus, managers must recognise employees'
needs and together with their employees they need to establish an individual level for effective
programs (Ian Bessell, 2012).

Herzberg, came up with his Hygiene Motivation or “two factors” theory in 1959. The theory is based
on his own research inquiring people about situations and events in their workplace. The research
discovered that intrinsic factors are associated with job satisfaction, while extrinsic factors produced
job dissatisfaction. Basically when individuals felt satisfied and happy at work the existing
circumstances were directly impacting their internal emotions and self-confidence. The table below
shows a graphic image of the theory (Learnmanagement2.com, 2015):

(Learnmanagement2.com, 2015).

Because job satisfaction and job dissatisfaction are governed by various factors, job satisfaction isn't
the opposite of job dissatisfaction. The conclusion is that the opposite of job dissatisfaction is a work
place which has no dissatisfaction and the opposite of job satisfaction is a person which has no
satisfaction (Learnmanagement2.com, 2015).

For Herzberg’s theory to be applicable, in order to reach the organisation’s goals and increase
employees’ performance, ASDA managers have to ensure that they are creating job satisfaction by
motivating the employees trough recognition, personal development, career advancement, engaging
them in decision making process and avoid dissatisfaction by creating job security, good working
conditions, a work life balance, good manager-employee relations and financial rewards. However, the
real situation is ASDA is showing that the employees have no satisfaction as their work is not
recognised, have no career development prospects, they are not engaged in decision making process
and they are dissatisfied with the working conditions, have no flexible work, wages are low and there
are no other financial rewards and the relations with the managers are not good, as the later are using
theory X towards employees as we can see in the following quotes:

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“Treat colleagues with a little more respect and give them some sense of responsibility to keep them
motivated”;
“Progression is non-existent unless you’re sleeping with a manager, and understaffed so you end up
doing 3x the work for the same pay! My advice to anyone, is leave! Don’t look back”;
“It's easy to be criticised by management when something goes wrong but when you do something
right they look past it and don't thank you”;
“To allow people who have degrees or how aspire to progress at ASDA to have a bigger say in how
things are ran and allow them to shadow management more” (Glassdoor, 2015).

STUDENT ID: 11717 16

Task 4. Systems for building effective teamwork in organisations

4.1 Describe the type of the several groups which could occur amongst ASDA’s employees and
the way they might affect the group behaviour.

A group is an assemble of individuals who have frequent contact and interaction, shared influence and
common feeling of companionship. Groups have specific features like sense of identity, commitment
to the group, purpose and leadership (Organisations and Behaviour, 2000).
There are two types of groups:
 Informal, which are always present in all organisations. These groups are formed from people
who meet frequently to exchange information and socialise outside the work. The purposes are
related to members’ satisfaction and not tasks.
 Formal, which are established by the organisation, have a formal structure and function and are
task orientated. These groups are called teams (Organisations and Behaviour, 2000).

An image showing group classification is presented below.

Teams requires various personality types to succeed: those who are great at thinking and issues
resolving ("heads"), those who are efficient at doing and operating ("hands"), and those who are
effective in social networking and managing sensible situations ("hearts").

According to Bruce Tuckman (Tuckman, 1965), after a team is established, five phases of progress are
determined:
1. Forming. Team members start knowing each other.
2. Storming. Relates to brainstorming as thoughts get proposed for the first time and situations
that occur as team members make clear their roles and expectations.
3. Norming. People find a method of working collectively and start to discuss the team targets.
4. Performing. Members concentrate on resolving issues and carrying out tasks. Improvement is
visible while they pass several key events.
5. Adjourning. The project is completed and there is usually a public acknowledgement and
celebration of accomplishments.

In ASDA, being an organisation with a high level of diversity, the informal groups are constituted by
people who have same interests like same religion, same political views, and fundraising in help of
colleagues or the community where their store is, having similar hobbies, for example supporting the
same football team. There are also informal groups based on friendship made from people working in
the same department or shift and having common characteristics. All informal groups in ASDA are
behaving in a way specific to their nature but also are having an influence on the organisation’s
behaviour and this is common to all groups. As example a group based on religious interests will

STUDENT ID: 11717 17

influence its behaviour by having working patterns established around their religion customs (times of
praying, days off on big religious events, etc.) and also can have higher moral values towards work and
colleagues. On the other hand a group based on sympathies for a football team will want their working
pattern established to satisfy their need to see the games of that team but their behaviour towards work
and colleagues can be very similar to one of a “football fan”. Other informal groups in ASDA are
football teams made up of ASDA employees which are playing in amateur leagues. These groups will
have a more developed sense of teamwork.
“Chepstow's Football team is going from strength to strength. On Monday 10th Dec Asda All Stars
played their second match with Caerleon FC at The Goal Football Centre, Newport”
(Greenroom.asda.com, 2013).
All the groups can have a positive influence on ASDA’s behaviour by way of communication,
improving the working environment, organising events for employees, but can also have a negative
influence by resisting to changes made for the growth of the business when affecting the group
interests and it may lead to the formation of an union.

Formal groups in ASDA are in two forms. One are the command groups established by ASDA’s
organisational structure for example the Executive Board, the area managing team and the managing
team in each store and the second one are the task groups formed from ASDA’s employees which have
a specific task for a limited period of time. Example of a task group is the annual employee’s survey
team, or the team behind the campaign against food wastage “Beautiful on the Inside” (Your Asda,
2015).
As ASDA has a hierarchical structure with an autocratic leadership, each command group have an
autocratic behaviour with the group adapting an authority rule way of taking decisions. The tasks
groups are formed from experts in the job they have to perform and decisions are made by the majority
of the members.
An example of a task group is Colleague Voice which is a formal group consisting of ASDA
employees, that is utilized for informing and consulting on business issues in respect with ASDA's
different legal responsibilities. Colleague Voice also work as ASDA's Safety Committee (GMB,
2012).
ASDA also have formal groups that are established to work with the communities. ASDA aspires to
stand for and recognize the communities they serve. They are including all colleagues and value
difference. The emphasis is on five strands with the help of network groups, Gender, Age, Disability,
LGBT and Ethnicity (Greenroom.asda.com, 2015). The name of the each group defines what they are
working towards and is establishing the behaviour of each group. The groups are making decisions in
consensus.

In conclusion, the nature of groups in ASDA influence the group behaviour, each in its own way.

STUDENT ID: 11717 18

4.2 Examine the elements that may promote or prevent the growth of efficient teamwork
amongst the employees of ASDA.

A team is a group of individuals with an entire number of supporting skills necessary to perform and
finish an activity, job, task, or project.
An effective teamwork exists when the following are present:
 membership and size fits the task;
 great leadership and care about team-building;
 dedication by team members to understand and identify with each other’s goals;
 the creation of team goals ‘ to be a shared vision;
 a feeling of common ownership of the job taking place and shared responsibility for its success;
 co-ordinated effort and organised sharing of duties equally through the team;
 the open trade of knowledge inside the team;
 integrity, frankness, and confidence between team members .
Following the above principles, the factors which can promote effective team work are:
 number of people in the team, the less the better (5-12);
 members to have a number of diverse skills and qualities;
 key roles to be covered;
 establishing the goal of the team;
 each member knows its role and doesn’t clash with others’;
 how issues and disagreements are fixed;
 organised leadership;
 motivation of members;
 regular reviews;
 leadership’s responsibility;
 very good communication and collaboration;
 strong team culture.
Different opinions between team members are unavoidable. Divergence is welcome in terms of skills,
experience, beliefs and goals, however arguments may appear between team members.
Factors preventing effective teamwork are:
 conflicts between members;
 personal non constructive criticism;
 rivalries between different teams;
 bad leadership decisions;
 team’s underperformance;
 favouritism;
 unhealthy competition for a specific role;
 lack of motivation
Altogether, effective teamwork occurs whenever team members coordinate their efforts and work to
achieve a common target (Quinn, 2006).

In ASDA teams are formed for internal business related purposes, but also for external ones like work
in the communities, fundraising campaigns and other tasks.
Unfortunately there are just a few elements promoting effective teamwork in ASDA: strong team
culture, good coverage of key roles, number of members in a team, diversity, with a few more in teams
working with the communities: motivation to help people in need, communication, collaboration,
leadership responsibility trough Community Life Champions (Your Asda, 2015).
The elements preventing effective teamwork have a bigger presence in ASDA. These are: leaders
taking bad decisions and constantly making personal critic remarks toward their subordinates,
favouritism as some team members are benefiting much more than others when comes to overtime
work and avoiding check out work, unhealthy competitions for roles as they are just a few and people

STUDENT ID: 11717 19

will do everything in their power to get them as it matters more who they know then what they know,
all of these leading to lack of motivation (Glassdoor, 2015).

STUDENT ID: 11717 20

4.3 Assess the influence of technology on team working inside ASDA.

Technology assists in communication between members of a team and lowers the time and costs
related to team work. The key advantages of using technology with teams is that it permits separate
groups of people with various schedules and places to better interact by reducing task completion
times and costs. Technology also is widely used for online sales, which are becoming more and more
popular.
Technology comes in the form of hardware (computers, mobile phones, tablets, radiophones, public
announcement systems, etc.) and software (email, instant messaging, video conferencing, cloud data
storage, business software, etc.) (Work - Chron.com, 2015).

In ASDA technology is used in each store but also at headquarters. In stores, ASDA do not have a big
variety of devices, they are kept at minimum and they are radiophones for communication between
manager and floor supervisors, automated checkouts where one employee takes care of several of them
and the manned checkouts are equipped with lights which are used by the cashiers to call for a
supervisor when needed. Also the store managers have access to computers and business mobile
phones and also stock software.

At the headquarters and other offices, ASDA has a wider range of technology which is used for
communication and specific activities in their departments. Those are computers, tablets, mobile
phones, video conferencing, email, finance and payroll software, HRM software.
The finance teams in ASDA are using business programs to help with shop money intakes, suppliers
accounts, taxes both corporate and from employees’ wages.
The IT teams deal with all the equipment and software and also designing and maintaining ASDA’s
websites, like asda.com, yourasda.com, greenroom.asda.com.
Marketing teams are promoting the business which seen a big technological development since online
social media started to have a huge impact on everyone and everything. Each of ASDA’s websites
have links to Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc. where stakeholders can be informed and interact
(www.your.asda.com, 2012).

ASDA has also pioneered the introduction of 3D printing which is regarded as the next step in
photography by allowing the reproduction in ceramic of any object, people or pet (Gibbs, 2013).

Last but not the least a big technological development which helps ASDA to have better results are
their numerous online shopping websites and them being the first supermarket to introduce the Click
and Collect service.
Richard Mayfield, the group’s chief financial officer, said “Click and Collect groceries were now
available in 100 of the company’s 568 stores, and that this would rise to 200 by the end of 2013”
(Flanagan, 2013).

In conclusion the impact of technology on ASDA’s team working is that it makes their tasks to be
completed quicker and better and enable communication between team members wherever their
location is. It also enables ASDA to make more sales (online and via Click and Collect) and save costs,
an example being for advertising in social media which is pretty much free.

STUDENT ID: 11717 21

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