Explain How Organisational Theory Underpins The Practice of Management

Unit 3 Organisations and behavior how organizational theory underpins

This unit deals with how organizational theory underpins the key question pertaining to organisational behavior and how it impacts business performance. There are four key learning objectives that would be dealt with through the current unit as given below

Assignment Brief Assignment front sheet
Qualification	Unit number and title
Pearson BTEC Level 5 HND Diploma Business (Management)	Unit 3   Organisations and Behaviour
Assignment title
In this assessment, you will have opportunities to provide evidence against the following criteria. Indicate the page numbers where the evidence can be found.

Criteria reference	To achieve the criteria the evidence must show that the learner is able to:	Case study	Evidence
AC1.1	Compare and contrast different organisational structures and cultures.	1
AC1.2	Explain how the relationship between an organisation’s structure and culture can impact the performance of the business.	1
Ac 1.3	Discuss the factors which influence individual behaviour at work.	1 & 3
AC 2.1	Compare the effectiveness of different leadership styles in different organisations.	2
AC 2.2	Explain how organisational theory underpins the practice of management.	2
AC 2.3	Evaluate the different approaches to management used by different organisations.	2
AC 3.1	Discuss the impact that different leadership styles may have on motivation in organisations in periods of change.	3
AC 3.2	Compare the application of different motivational theories within the workplace	3
AC 3.3	Evaluate the usefulness of a motivation theory for managers	3
AC 4.1	Explain the nature of groups and group behaviour within organisations.	4
AC 4.2	Discuss factors that may promote or inhibit the development of effective teamwork in organisations.	4
AC 4.3	Evaluate the impact of technology on team functioning within a given organisation	4

Coursework Regulation

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Coursework Regulation

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Assignment brief

Assignment title

Case Study 1:  Oticon   Oticon is a Danish company that is the world’s second-largest producer of hearing aids with about 1200 staff in Denmark. (The parent company William Demant holdings has about 4400 employees worldwide). Oticon has its own basic research and production facilities and stresses the high engineering and design qualities of its products.   The company had a specific company car assigned to each management level but other material signs existed. Prestige was very apparent, in the length of the curtains, type of carpet, the size of people’s desks, and that was all people strove for. People were locked into specific roles and responsibilities and nobody took initiative.   Competition intensified during the 1980s and the company began to lose market shares to longer rivals like Siemens. Lars Knud was appointed a chief executive in 1988. In 1990, he concluded that a new approach was needed to counter the threats from larger competitors who were becoming stronger. Oticon’s only hope for survival and prosperity was to be radical in all aspects of the business.   Knud intended the changes to turn Oticon from an industrial organisation producing hearing aids into a service organisation with a physical product. He organised product development work around projects. The project leader was appointed by the management team and recruited people to do the work.   Employees chose whether or not to join- and could only do so if their current project leader agreed. Previously most people had a single skill; they are now required to be active in three specialisms. One based on professional qualification and two others unrelated to the first. A chip designer could develop skills in customer support and advertising, for example, and these arrangements allowed the company to respond quickly to unexpected events to use skills fully.   Previously, Oticon had a conventional hierarchical structure and horizontal structures of separate functional departments. The only remnant of the hierarchy is a 10 person management team, each member of which acts as an owner to many projects through which work is done. Knud refers to this as managed Chaos.   The company employs adults only (who can be expected to act reasonably) ‘an assumption that staff want to know what and why they are doing it so that all information is available to everyone. While the company uses advanced information systems for many functions, it believes that dialogue is better than e-mail and has designed the building to encourage face-to-face dialogue between staff.   The ‘problem owner’ will usually use email or personal contact to bring two or three people together and have a stand-up meeting. Decisions are noted on the computer so they are accessible for everyone.   There are no titles-people do whatever they think is right at the time. Again the potential for chaos is averted by building underneath a flexible organisation a set of clearly defined business processes, setting out how they are to be carried out. The better your processes are defined the more flexible you can be. The absence of departments avoids people protecting local interests and makes it easier to cope with fluctuations in workload.   Oticon was one of the earliest companies to redesign the workplace to allow maximizing disturbance. It referred to this as the mobile office, in which each workstation consisted of a desk without drawers (nowhere to file a paper).   There were no installed telephones, though everyone had a mobile.  The work stations are equipped with powerful PCs through which all work was done (staff had a small personal trolley for personal belongings which they wheeled to wherever they were working that day).   Although common today, this arrangement was revolutionary at the time. The company’s performance improved considerably due to these changes increasing its profit by as much as 10% per annum.

Task 1.1 Compare and contrast different organisational structures and cultures. This provides evidence for AC 1.1, M1

Task 1.2 Explain how the relationship between Oticon’s structure and culture can impact the performance of the business. This provides evidence for AC 1.2, M1       To achieve M1 learners must make effective judgements have been made in proposing valid reasons on how the relationship between Oticon’s structure and Culture made an impact on the performance of the business.

Task 1.3. Discuss the factors which influence individual behaviour at work (Use case studies 1& 3 as examples). .   This provides evidence for AC 1.3]

CASE STUDY 2 NICE CARS   In the early 1990’s the production floor of Nice Cars was not a pretty sight. Workers would storm off in a huff. Managers would fume. Voices would rise above the hum and bang of the line. Nice cars’ assembly line looked like a dark warehouse. On either side were shelves 2.5m high with huge parts of the bin filled with 28 days of inventory. To get a part, workers had to climb ladders, wasting an enormous amount of time. Half-built engines sat on the side of the assembly line while workers left their work spaces to dig for parts, and others stood around waiting until they returned. The organisation had a lot of policies and procedures that everyone had to follow. Everyone had to specialise in a specific area, be at work at 7 am in the company’s uniform and finish at 7 Pm.   The owners (German brothers) were not always around and therefore, subordinates had to book an appointment to talk to them all the time. The majority of the staff were men and only men occupied the top positions. Most of the men went straight to the pub after work and ensured their stomachs were full before they went home.  The only period that the staff became happy was their Christmas party where management gave the best worker a gift. Junior managers never attended meetings and were not involved in decision making.   Nice Cars could afford this type of inefficiency in the early 1980s when the economic boom fuelled sales to more than 50000 vehicles per year. But then the recession of the early 1990s hit and Nice Car’s sales fell to 14000 units.   Nice Cars went to the brink of bankruptcy in 1992. The recession had crippled sales and costs were out of control. That was when the company’s family owner’s called in 43 years old Mr Christian Sideman to be Nice cars’ chief executive and solve its problem.   From the beginning, Christian’s idea was to bring in the Japanese style of management. He took his management team on an extensive tour of Japanese auto plants. They benchmarked by timing precisely how long it took Nice Cars to assemble body parts and engine and install carpeting and dashboards and studied comparable times in Japan. On most tasks, Nice cars was taking almost twice as long. These comparisons gave Nice cars a good understanding of what has to be done.   In late 1992 Christian brought the Shin-Gijutsu group, a cadre of former Toyota engineers to revitalise the system.   He advised them to be loyal to their work and follow orders like the Japanese do. He suggested lifetime employment and Staff promotion based on hard work and not seniority and always treated the employees as his family.   Workers were trained at the company’s expense because of the return on investment. The interdependency of the company and worker negated the need for aggressive labour unions to defend worker rights. Communication between bosses and subordinates became informal.   The results were the salvation of Nice Cars, with the help from the Japanese engineers the assembly time for cars was reduced from 120 hours to 72 hours. The number of errors per car fell by 50% to an average of 3. The workforce was reduced to 19 per cent from 8400 to 6800 in 1992. Lines were shortened and inventories cut back so much that the factory space has been reduced by 30%. All of these mean that Nice Cars was making cars at lower cost. In 1996 the company reported its first profit in four years after £200 million in losses.

Task 2.1 Compare the effectiveness of different leadership styles in different organisations. Provides evidence for AC 2.1 To achieve M2 Learner must demonstrate the ability to discuss different theories related to organisational behaviour (e.g. motivation, management styles, leadership etc.) and apply them to the case studies given. Also, ability to demonstrate in your assignment that a thorough research has been done, and different graphs or tables, diagrams  etc. have been applied to support your answers

Task 2.2. Explain how organisational theories (Scientific management, Human relations, contingency) underpins the practice of management in Nice Cars.   Provides evidence for  AC 2.2, M2   To achieve M2 Learner must demonstrate the ability to discuss different theories related to organisational behaviour (e.g. organisational theories, motivation, management styles, leadership etc.) and apply them to the case studies given. Also, ability to demonstrate in your assignment that a thorough research has been done, and different graphs or tables, diagrams  etc. have been applied to support your answers

2.3. ‘From the case of Nice Cars, it can be inferred that the Japanese (Toyota’s) approach to management is more effective than that of the West (German Brother)’. Discuss.     Provides evidence for AC 2.3 To achieve M2 Learner must demonstrate the ability to discuss different theories related to organisational behaviour (e.g. motivation, management styles, leadership etc.) and apply them to the case studies given. Also, ability to demonstrate in your assignment that a thorough research has been done, and different graphs or tables, diagrams  etc. have been applied to support your answers

Case study 3:  The Benefits Agency   The Benefits Agency was responsible for delivering a range of state benefits to the public. Most agency staff worked in a network of local offices organised into districts management units. The 159 districts were organised into 13 area units. Each area director was accountable to the Agency’s top management team.   The Agency used to be a part of a large government department (dealing with social security matters) and like most of the European public sector, provided permanent employment. Staff usually joined after leaving school and could expect a secure job, a predictable career path and a guaranteed pension when they retired.   The work was routine, and staff were expected to follow precise defined rules to ensure equal treatment to all citizens. Managers valued staff who followed the rules and discouraged innovation. The management structure was hierarchical and the staff passed any unusual problem to those above them in the agency. A change in public policy brought a radical change, as the benefit agency became a separate organisation within the government service. It would conduct the same functions on behalf of the government but will be managed differently.   A chief-executive (Derrik) was appointed on a three year contract (which in itself gave a clear signal about the end of the previous ‘job for life’ culture). He defined a new vision: To provide the right money to the right person at the right time at the right place.   To deliver this more customer centred service, he gave district managers more control over their budget, thereby reducing control by senior managers. Management in some areas ignored the new freedoms and continued to manage in the old hierarchical way.   The management of the area described in this study interpreted the freedom as giving them authority to make very wide changes. The management board defined their vision as: To be the leading provider of social security services in the country. District managers were encouraged to give more decision-making power to staff when dealing with the public and staff were encouraged to be innovative in their approach. A critical factor in achieving this vision was to have the right number of skilled and motivated staff.   Behaviour that had been valued was now a barrier to promotion. Staff who had hoped to gain promotion by following the rules now found that they have little chance of moving up. Some became disillusioned but continued to deliver at a reduced level of productivity. Some could not adapt and left. Others applied their efforts to a new goal- to resist the changes. Another group enthusiastically embraced this new culture where innovation, creativity and risk taking were valued.   Districts introduced the one-stop shop approach, so that one member of staff rather than several could deal with all the benefits that a person claimed. This led to the creation of multi-function teams and to big changes in the way the staff worked. Staff responded enthusiastically to these changes, even though pay awards were still strictly controlled and promotion opportunities have become fewer. New policies brought further change, including the appointment of a new chief executive. The new chief executive (Peter) amended the Agency’s vision to pay the right money to the right person at the right time every time. The top management team became uneasy about increased freedom of the area directors. Examples of the return to the older structure began to appear, such as introducing centrally controlled checking teams and increases in the number of mandatory management checks. Staff in the region reacted with dismay, and management again has the problem of how to create skilled and motivated staff.

3.1 Discuss the impact that different leadership styles may have on motivation in organisations in period of change     Provides evidence for AC 3.1, M2   To achieve M2 Learner must demonstrate the ability to discuss different theories related to organisational behaviour (e.g. motivation, management styles, leadership etc.) and apply them to the case studies given. Also, ability to demonstrate in your assignment that a thorough research has been done, and different graphs or tables, diagrams  etc. have been applied to support your answers

3.2. Compare McGregor & Herzberg theories indicating the one which can be more effective when applied in the case of Benefit Agency (AC3.2).     Provides evidence for AC 3.2, M2   To achieve M2 Learner must demonstrate the ability to discuss different theories related to organisational behaviour (e.g. motivation, management styles, leadership etc.) and apply them to the case studies given. Also, ability to demonstrate in your assignment that a thorough research has been done, and different graphs or tables, diagrams  etc. have been applied to support your answers

3.3 Evaluate the usefulness of motivation theories to managers (AC3.3).   Provides evidence for AC 3.3, M2   To achieve M2 Learner must demonstrate the ability to discuss different theories related to organisational behaviour (e.g. motivation, management styles, leadership etc.) and apply them to the case studies given. Also, ability to demonstrate in your assignment that a thorough research has been done, and different graphs or tables, diagrams  etc. have been applied to support your answers

Case Study 4:  Zico computers Ltd.   Zico Computers are a manufacturer and supplier of computers and computer software. The company employs, 34,000 staff working from 70 offices around the world, manufacturing Computers and Software’s and working with customers to implement and enhance their business. Its diverse workers are very skilful and productive. In each office there are informal groups comprising of people from the same ethnic or social backgrounds who socialise and support each other in different ways and in some offices a formal group, the budgetary committee, which helps to prepare project budgets.   All projects are implemented by staff from several sites working as virtual teams, in the sense that they are responsible for collective product but work in physically in separate places. Most of the team members support each other with their skills and ideas; however, every stage of the team development has had its own problem. For instance, during stage two, called the storming stage, different ideas compete for consideration. The team can, therefore, encounter problems. Also, when they are exhausted or have inadequate resources to work with, conflicts can arise. Team leaders have been given training on how to manage conflicts and make teams effective.   In March 2004 the company created a team to coordinate the testing and release of Element Management Framework (EMF), an accounting software that monitors the performance of a company. The product was to be released in November 2004 when the members of the team would be free to work on other projects. The team had eight members drawn from four sites each with his or her own expertise.   The role of the coordinator was to ensure the smooth operation of the team and to monitor actual progress against challenging delivery schedule. The software was developed in Cumberland, by engineers writing the code and revising it as necessary after testing by the test engineers. They are responsible for rigorously testing all software and reporting all problems concisely and accurately to the development engineers. The software architect had extensive knowledge of the network hardware that the software would manage, and supervised the development and testing of the software to ensure it worked as efficiently as possible with the hardware.   The release support engineer deals with the logistic of software release, such as defining each version and ensuring deliverables are available to the manufacturer department at the appropriate times.   Each member worked full- time on the project, though they never met physically during the life of the project. All members took part in a weekly conference call, and also a daily call attended by the coordinator, development manager and a member of the test team. Communication throughout the team was mainly by electronic mail together with instant messaging.

4.1 Explain the nature of groups and teams and their behaviour within organisations. . Provides evidence for AC 4.1

4.2 Discuss the factors that may promote or inhibit the development of effective teamwork in Zico Computers.   Provides evidence for AC 4.2

4.3 Evaluate the impact of technology on team functioning within Zico computers.   Provides evidence for AC 4.3

Merit descriptors Indicative characteristics Contextualised Indicative characteristics ü M1   Identify and apply strategies to find appropriate solutions   effective judgements have been madecomplex problems with more than one variable have been exploredan effective approach to study and research has been applied   Ability to identify different organisational behaviours and applied them to the case studies. Also, using effective judgements to identified the core problems in each case study and try to discuss those using different theoretical materials to support your answers.       M2 Select/design and apply appropriate methods/ techniques relevant theories and techniques have been applieda range of methods and techniques have been applieda range of sources of information has been used the selection of methods and techniques/sources has been justifiedthe design of methods/techniques has been justifiedcomplex information/data has been synthesised and processedappropriate learning methods/techniques have been applied   Ability to discuss different theories related to organisational behaviour (e.g. motivation, management styles, leadership etc.) and apply them to the case studies given. Also, ability to demonstrate in your assignment that a thorough research has been done, and different graphs or tables etc. have been applied to support your answers.     M3 Present and communicate appropriate findings the appropriate structure and approach has been usedcoherent, logical development of principles/concepts for the intended audiencea range of methods of presentation have been used and technical language has been accurately usedcommunication has taken place in familiar and unfamiliar contextsthe communication is appropriate for familiar and unfamiliar audiences and appropriate media have been used Ability to structure your assignment in a coherent and logical way to make clear for your marker, using organisational behaviour jargon and any technical words you used in class, and giving examples to illustrate your answer and send your message across to all audiences.       Distinction Descriptors Indicative characteristics Contextualised Indicative characteristics ü D1 Use critical reflection to evaluate own work and justify valid conclusions conclusions have been arrived at through synthesis of ideas and have been justifiedthe validity of results has been evaluated using defined criteriaself-criticism of approach has taken placerealistic improvements have been proposed against defined characteristics for success Ability to draw conclusions of the issues presented in the case studies, and ability to present evidence (through organisational behaviour theories and approaches studied in class, and also the ones researched) to support these conclusions.   D2 Take responsibility for managing and organising activities autonomy/independence has been demonstratedsubstantial activities, projects or investigations have been planned, managed and organisedactivities have been managedthe unforeseen has been accommodatedthe importance of interdependence has been recognised and achieved Ability to show that the learner has gone the extra mile and search different organisational behaviour materials, such as interviews, data collection from different organisations to support their answers.   D3 D3 Demonstrate convergent /lateral /  creative thinking Innovation and creative thought have been applied.   Self-evaluation has taken place To achieve D3: Innovative concepts have been used in designing effective strategies for improvement of overall organisational performance. Or Self-evaluation has effectively taken place when developing your personal plan. (Task 3).

Evidence checklist

Sources of information   Brooks I — Organisational Behaviour, Individuals, Groups and Organisation (Prentice Hall,) ISBN: 0877781265. Huczynski A and Buchanan D — Organisational Behaviour: An Introductory Text (Prentice Hall) ISBN: 0273651021. Maccoby M — Why Work: Motivating and Leading the New Generation (Simon and Schuster, New York,) ISBN: 067147281X. (Outlines the changing nature of the workplace and categorises people into five types, giving the characteristics and sources of motivation and demotivation of each.) Mullins L — Management and Organisational Behaviour (Pitman Publishing, London, ISBN: 0273651471.  Robbins S — Essentials of Organisational Behaviour (Prentice Hall International) ISBN: 0582820758

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