ASSIGNMENT

INFOMAX COLLEGE OF IT AND MANAGEMENT

(BM034-3-M)

(Organizational Behavior)

HAND OUT DATE: (25/04/2019)

HAND IN DATE: (14/06/2019)

WEIGHTAGE: (60) %

INSTRUCTIONS TO CANDIDATES:
1. Submit your assignment at the administrative counter.
2. Students are advised to underpin their answers with the use of references (cited using the
Harvard Name System of Referencing)
3. Late submissions will be awarded zero(0) unless Extenuating Circumstances are upheld.
4. Cases of plagiarism will be penalized.
5. The assignment should be bound in appropriate style (comb bound or stapled)
6. Where the assignment should be submitted in hardcopy and softcopy, the softcopy of the written
assignment and source code (where appropriate) should be on a CD in an envelope / CD cover
and attached to the hard copy.
7. You must obtain 50% overall to pass this module.
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1. Explain how the relationship between the organizations structures and cultures can
impact on the performance of the business.

LI-BIRD (Local Initiatives for Biodiversity, Research and Development), a non-profit

making, non-governmental organisation is selected for this research application of
organizational theories and concept understanding. It was established in 1995, which is
registered at the District Administration Office, Kaski and affiliated to the Social Welfare
Council, Nepal. It is committed to capitalizing on local resources, innovations, and
institutions for sustainable management of natural resources for improving livelihoods of
smallholder farmers.

The performance of an organization is influenced by multiple external and internal factors in

an organization. Among them, organizational structure and culture are two significant
internal factors that have major impact on organizational behaviour and therefore the overall
business performance.

An organizational structure defines how job tasks are formally divided, grouped, and
coordinated[CITATION Jud17 \p 531 \l 1033 ]. It is an extrinsic factor which influences
behaviour of workers externally, through formal standards set by division of labour,
allocation of power, unit grouping, and coordination. Hence, organization’s culture and
structure, along with other variables results in organizational behaviour, which directly
influences people's decisions and therefore affecting the organization’s performance.

Employees at LI-BIRD are structured on the basis of specific expertise or other assets as in
functional structure in some part for example; development unit, operations unit, support unit,
etc. The organization also follows the divisional structure as employees are organized around
different service programs which are; Agricultural Innovation for Livelihood Security, Bio-
diversity and Eco-system Services for Sustainable Livelihoods and Community Resilience to
Climate Change. Hence, LI-BIRD has an organizational matrix structure as it overlays two
structures which are functional structure and product / service divisional structure.

In contrast, organization’s culture is an intrinsic factor as it guides how individuals operate

within an organisation by determining ideas, values, norms and behaviours according to
which the employees of the organization direct themselves in the organization's daily
activities. Organizational culture determines how the employees of the organization perceive
and interpret the environment around them, as well as how they behave in it.
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Organization culture impacts the organizational structure’s design and implementation. The
culture generates the background and point of reference used by those who design the
organizational structure with its views, beliefs, norms and attitudes. Organizational culture
reinforces the behaviour and decisions that the organizational structure imposes on
management within the framework of legitimate values and behavioural norms.

Alternatively, the organizational structure actively promotes culture. Its values, standards and
behaviours are reflected. The organizational structure, however, can reinforce the current
organizational culture or even alter it. The relationship of organizational culture and structure
is therefore double-edged. Organizational structure guides employees ' behaviour in their
daily work. It determines the ways in which staffs perform duties, how they interact with
others and how they make decisions. When the organizational structure and the
organizational culture are compatible, the organizational culture influences the
implementation of the organizational structure by endorsing it. This implies that employees
recognize the organizational structure that matches to cultural expectations, principles, and
standards that is appropriate for fulfilling their needs and objectives.
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2. Identify and over view four important factors that can influence individual behaviour at
work.

Individual behaviour at work is influenced by various factors. The MARS model aims to
explain that individual behaviour is a result of internal and external factors or these factors
combined together. The four important factors as represented by the acronym MARS that
influence the organizational behaviour of employees at LI-BIRD can be identified as follows:

 Motivation
 Ability
 Role Perception
 Situational Factors

a) Employee Motivation
According to [CITATION Xia10 \l 1033 ], motivation can increase the desire to improve
performance. It reflects the drives within people that influence their direction, intensity,
and persistence of volunteer behaviour.
Direction denotes to the course that people follow to engage in their activities.
[CITATION Ste10 \p 34 \l 1033 ] People have choices of where they're putting their effort;
they have sense of what they're attempting to do and what quality, quantity, and so on.
Motivation, in other phrases, is goal-driven, not unintentional. Intensity is concerned
with how much effort people put forth to complete their tasks. Finally, motivation
consists of various degrees of persistence. Persistence is a extent of how long a person's
effort can last. Motivated employees withstand their effort until they reach their goal.

b) Ability

Ability includes both the natural aptitudes and the learned capabilities required to
successfully complete a task [ CITATION Ste10 \l 1033 ]. Aptitudes are natural or inborn
skills that assist employees to learn quicker and perform better and are usually
hereditary. Employees with higher aptitudes tend learn processes quicker and hence
resulting in faster and effective performance. Whereas, learned capabilities refer to
acquired knowledge and skills. Employees are clear about their goals and are expert in
their field when they have acquired more knowledge and skills.
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c) Role Perception
Individuals usually behave on their perception; hence perception is an impactful
phenomenon. The lack of a clearly established employee role and an
indefinite perception of their roles and responsibilities in the organization may affect
the morale and self-esteem of the employees.

A vaguely defined perception of the role may also result in poor performance and
underuse of the individual's ability. In long run, this leads the organization to lose
proper results from employees as well as some competent employees to its competitors.
Hence, it is in the concern of the organization to provide all employees with clearly
defined roles.

d) Situational Factors
[CITATION XuH09 \l 1033 ] states that the role of leaders in controlling the situation within
the organization plays an important role in building employee empowerment. It
includes environmental circumstances that restrict or promote behaviour, such as
deadlines, teams, payroll, and job facilities that can be controlled by the organization.
Whereas, it also includes external factors like customer preferences and economic
conditions, which are beyond organizational control. These circumstances need to be
cautiously organized by corporate managers so that employees can effectively perform
their tasks and objectives.
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3. Compare different types of leadership styles in the organizations.

[ CITATION Ciu98 \l 1033 ] Leadership does not represent an individual or a position; it's a
complex philosophical connection that is based on honesty, responsibility, dedication,
emotion and a mutual vision of the good. Successful leaders consist of a style or a blend of
various styles that make them effective in directing and inspiring workforces. Diverse
leadership styles can influence efficiency or achievement of the organization. Different
leadership styles can be compared as follows:

a) Autocratic Leadership
This is a conventional leadership strategy. In this approach, the director holds full control
and decision-making authority. The manager neither consults nor is entitled to give
details to his staff. This provides a standardized array of incentives and penalties that
motivate the employees.[CITATION Kur \l 1033 ] This kind of management resents
innovative workers and team players as they are unable to change procedures and
decision-making, resulting in career discontent.

b) Democratic Leadership
Democratic leadership, also regarded as Participatory leadership style, allows employees
to give ideas and opinions regarding a decision. [ CITATION Kur \l 1033 ] This thereby helps
increase the morale and enjoyment of individuals as their feedback were taken into
account at the final decision. Over long periods of time, democratic leadership may
create high quality and high volume activities. Many personnel like the trust they get and
therefore reply with cooperation, teamwork and strong values.

c) Bureaucratic Leadership
Bureaucratic managers invest more in highly structured processes and prefer to use
previously established steps. There's no space for this kind of management to reach for
innovative ways of solving challenges and it is generally slow to ensure compliance with
the business ladders [ CITATION Max05 \l 1033 ] . The manager is basically more a cop than
a leader as it all follows the rules.
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d) Laissez-Faire Leadership
Under Laissez-faire, also known as Delegative Leadership, a leader does not provide
constant reviews or surveillance because the workers are strongly experienced and need
minimal monitoring to get the anticipated results. This kind of style is also linked to
managers who do not lead, refuse to monitor staff members and therefore do not have
influence and higher costs, struggle to provide resources or not reach deadlines
[ CITATION Kur \l 1033 ].

Each leader works differently in LI-BIRD depending on these styles. Different managers
blend in according to the circumstances. When starting a new project, the organization
appoints a participatory leader, as an autocratic would ruin the whole situation. Whereas for
lower level management, the organization uses democratic leadership style to direct the staff.
Managers at LI-BIRD provide reviews and constant feedback to its employees and look for
new or situational approach in management; therefore, use of Bureaucratic and Delegative
leadership is not applicable there.
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4. Explain how organizational theory underpins the practices of the management.

Organizational principles are used as management practices because these ideas are extracted
from the organization's theoretical and realistic simulations. As people seek to follow those
principles, their work and daily activities continue to thrive. An example may illustrate this: if
a finance director wants to raise the income in the business it must implement the previously
accepted series of principles and managerial strategies. He might have to abandon his moral
values to follow organizational practice in line with the principle of management to operate
and achieve management objectives. Business practices are always related to the principles
established and modelled for the organization. Organizational theories are drawn from the
managerial actions and morale of managers and workers who work for the organization.
Those theories allow the organization to build and establish organization task framework as
well as help individuals to accomplish their set targets and goals. If he is unable to meet those
goals, the individual can modify and improve his role appropriately to the management
necessity. Such principles explain and help in effective enforcement of the policies,
strategies, laws and standards in the enterprise.

The organizational theories thus allow the management to develop and implement its
procedures, processes and principles. Different organizational theories such as Maslow’s
Need Hierarchy and Expectancy theory assists management in recognizing particular
employee concerns and needs to satisfy and motivate them. Organizational theories allow
management to be aware of what needs to be done to retain skilled employees in the
organization.
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5. Evaluate different approaches used by management.

Various approaches are used by the organizations in management including some common
approaches as:

 Scientific approach
 Contingency approach
 System approach
 Human Relations approach
 Neo-classical approach
 Bureaucratic approach

These management approaches have been recognized as assisting company to enhance

efficiency and maintaining successful workforce management. In the case of LI-BIRD,
different approaches to the management and its operation are used in an integrated manner.
LI-BIRD uses Human relations approach, System approach and Situational approach to
management. The organization's management has put additional attention on human
resources and has helped employees build their organizational skills, which encourages
sustainable relationships and care for workers and makes them operate better in the company.
Secondly, it also follows a System strategy that allows managers to routinely carry out
operations. According to this approach, each and every part of the enterprise is intertwined
with each other. Lastly, LI-BIRD also agrees that there is no single way of doing things and
hence, also uses the Contingency approach to management. This approach defines that
different internal and external situations are to be dealt differently.
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6. Discuss the Impact of different leadership styles on employee motivation.

Employees are the most vital resources in any organization through which it can achieve its
desired goals and objectives. Therefore, LI-BIRD should effectively motivate its employees
through acceptable leadership styles to achieve greater efficiency and results. Motivation
makes employees enthusiastic for their career and jobs. The leadership style is an important
factor in motivating the staff to support any transition in the organizational changes. Strong
leadership contributes by improving their success levels in delivering innovation,
opportunities, encouragement, goals, etc.

Following are the different leadership styles on employee motivation used by LI-BIRD:

a) Democratic Leadership
This approach allows managers to motivate their workers during the
transformation period by empowering them to take part in the decision-making
course. This serves to create morale and passion among the workforce, which will
lead to the effectiveness of the modifications in Li-BIRD and have full support
and effort from staff members for effective performance.

b) Paternalistic Leadership
The leaders appear and operate like a parent to their employees in this style of
leadership. Employees are made sure to feel at comfort in embracing any changes
in the organization. In this way, employees become more dedicated to their jobs
and a healthy working culture is developed.

c) Transformational Leadership
The leaders in this style collaborate with their subordinates to recognize the
necessary changes in the organization. Leaders develop a vision to inspire the
transition[ CITATION Dav10 \l 1033 ]. This approach allows leaders to display
genuine, effective guidance while encouraging workers to comply.
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7. Explain the nature of group and group behaviour within the organization.

For organisations such as LI-BIRD, there are primarily two types of groups. The nature and
group behaviour varies according to its type. When two or more people operate collectively
to achieve a mutual objective, a group is formed. The group members decide to work
collectively to accomplish the task efficiently and in advance of the time limit. In LI-BIRD,
the following groups are categorized:

a) Formal Group
A formal group is formed when it is intended to accomplish an organizational goal
or mission. It is generated for a specified objective by formal authority. They
conduct and interact in professional manner. The main focus of the group is
successful execution of duty [ CITATION Mar10 \l 1033 ] . The group members work
with immense dedication and express their efforts together and help one another to
effectively accomplish the project.

b) Informal Group
For many purposes including affection, mutual interest and shared objectives the
informal group is established in LI-BIRD. This naturally develops; in reaction to
group members ' shared concerns. This emphasizes in the use of job and
interaction independence. Such independence allows people to act closely and in
friendly manner when offering assistance to other departmental staff.
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8. Evaluate the impact of the technology on team functioning within a given organization.

"Many of the impacts of Information Technology are straightforward. But they are not
necessarily obvious, nor are they trivial" (Jack Nilles, Centre for Future Research)

[ CITATION Sin17 \l 1033 ] The corporate industry is transforming drastically with the evolving
information technology (IT). While technology use in companies is influenced by
company cultures and strategies, the greater the impact of companies is contrariwise.
Technology has a major impact on strategies and offers management with prospects and
challenges in many areas of their companies.

Following impacts of technology on team functioning within LI-BIRD can be evaluated:

a) Effective communication
Today’s technology has helped employees of LI-BIRD from different branches to
communicate effectively whether it be the head office or project area through
telecommunication, video conferencing, emails and Internet. Exchange of
information and data or important documents has been made easier by latest
technologies. Although not being at the same place at the same time, employees at
different sectors can work as a cohesive unit through effective communication
tools.

b) Innovative Productivity
LI-BIRD being a Research and development organization, members of the
organization can bring the best out of them through use of latest technology in
their research and development activities. Through the use of effective
communication and latest research tools, the productivity of team members is
increased.

c) Management Process
Technologies assist the employees of the firm in carrying out tasks such as data-
based management, industry by online sites, consumer analyses etc. This is
achieved more effectively with the aid of technological advances with minimal
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effort and cost. It also encourages the compilation and use of data from multiple
source materials to make rational decisions.

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