Organisation Behaviour of Waitrose

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P1 Analyse how an organization's culture, politics and power can influence individual and team behaviour and performance.

Waitrose needs to follow certain values, policies and guidelines which distinguishes it from others. It will help the company to establish a unique work culture based on principles and beliefs of the organization. This organizational culture determines the way its employees interact and behave amongst themselves as well as external parties. (Elsmore, 2017) The culture, power and politics influence organization in different ways:

Culture:

All types of cultures have a direct impact on employee motivation and performance. It also determines their behaviour in the organization and impacts on regularity, timely delivery of outcomes, coordination among teams, attrition rate. A more flexible environment tends to be more motivating for certain employees while top-down model is preferred by some for clarity of performance and proper guidance. The Charles Handy Model presents culture as four major types namely: power culture, role culture, task culture and the support or person culture explained via two dimensions (high and low) ideal for both bottom-up or top-down approach.

• Power culture: There are some organizations mainly entrepreneurial and start-ups where power is in the hands of a few people who are authorized to take decisions like founders and bosses who delegate responsibilities and do the decision-making. There is heavy reliance on individuals rather than teams and performance is judged on results. Mutual collaboration is important but the leader may decide who in the team is being delegated certain tasks. There is competitive atmosphere and heavy pressure on individuals so, turnover rates can be high. But if the leader is good, it can result in a committed and goal driven workforce. Therefore, lower the power distribution, higher the cooperation levels.
• Person culture: A person culture is usually practised in professional organizations where employees have independence, are highly educated and able to work with their own expertise. It is completely people oriented. The number of employees in such organizations is generally less and is majorly individual centric. There is high flexibility and independence but lack of authorization. In case of teams; employees, departments and services jointly use and depend on organizational services. Their shared interests are a binding element. But there is often ambiguity regarding who has the final responsibility and occasional coordination problems. Therefore, higher the power distribution, lower the cooperation levels and it is a very rare and short-lived cultural typology.
• Role culture: This type of culture is primarily Job-oriented and are usually seen in bureaucratic organizations. Over here lower power distribution will result in low degree of cooperation. In a role culture, employees want higher security and stability. This culture is known for its strict structure containing various rules, agreements, obligations and procedures. There is a distinct hierarchy system and the status becomes more important than performance because of which the flexibility level is very low in the role culture. Management and other operations are conducted by clear guidelines and job descriptions. The individuals tend to be more compliant and there is no ambiguity of instructions but tend to have reservations in communication to leaders and colleagues due to the top-down level of organization. The team coordination doesn't have enough flexibility in working but there are fewer problems in coordination. This culture is safe, stable, conservative and predictable.
• Task culture: A lot of project or matrix organizations have a task culture which is primarily result-oriented. The employees of such organizations are experienced professionals who are problem-solving oriented. They want to complete their tasks and projects with accuracy and on time. Such employees rely on their own expertise as well as their colleagues. The task culture assigns temporary teams and therefore the cooperation is supreme. The hierarchical power distribution is followed in the entire organization and is not limited to a specific person. Results and outcomes are more important than any rules or individual needs. Over here, higher power distribution results in higher cooperation levels. (Intezari and McKenna, 2018)

Power:

The French and Raven model is used to explain power in the context of organizational behaviour. This model represents the level of observability and the extend of power dependence on structural organizations.

• Coercive Power: This power is based on the idea of forcing someone to do something against their will or coercion. This form of power describes what happens when compliance is not obtained from the employees. The forms in which it can be done are- withholding rewards or expertise, social exclusion using referent power etc. It is also associated with conditional reward behaviour and often leads to problems. In many cases this power is abused which leads to unhealthy behaviour of employees and dissatisfaction at work. Leaders who use this often rely on threats of dismissal or demotion in their management styles.
• Reward power: This type of power includes the ability of individuals to delegate matters they do not want to do to other people and also reward them for the work done. Mostly managers in an organisation use this power to value and reward their sub-ordinates' good result and promote positive atmosphere. This leads to increase in motivations of individuals and teams. The most popular forms are raises, compliments, employee awards, recognition and promotions. The problem occurs when the reward is not perceived of value to others and power is weakened. (Murphy and Bratton, 2020)
• Legitimate Power: It gives the ability of linking certain notion of responsibility or feelings of obligation to the management. Rewarding or Punishing workers can be seen like a legitimate part of the appointed or formal leadership role. Employees always run with the pack and follow the person with power based on position or title. This a weak form of power to persuade or convince other workers.
• Referent Power: This power is regarding management which is based upon the ability to administer a sense of personal approval or acceptance to someone. The boss or leader is often pursued as a role model in this power and are often treated with charm and admiration. The leader has a lot of influence and people strongly identify with such person. Responsibility in this form of power is high. If practised in combination with other forms of power, it can turn out to be very useful.
• Expert power: This powered is based upon in- depth information, expertise and knowledge. Such kinds of leaders are highly intelligent and aim to fulfil several organizational goal, roles and responsibilities, This power lets them combine the power of reward in the right manner. People have high trust and respect for the people who particularly expertise in dealings of the organization and therefore it could be greatly appreciated in Waitrose.

Politics:

Organizational Politics refers to various activities associated with the use of influence tactics in order to enhance personal or organizational interests. It includes efforts that are usually informal, unofficial ans behind-the-scenes. Today Waitrose may need skills in handling conflicts and shifting power bases within its culture. Mostly portrayed negatively, it might be important to understand how to deal with it in order to reduce the impacts as inherently it is a part of the organisational culture. (Jain and Ansari, 2018) The antecedents of Political Behaviour are:

• Individual Antecedents: Employees in an organization who have a high political skill tend to be more effective at their jobs because of their interpersonal style, ability to relate well with others, self-monitor, altering reactions according to different situations, inspire confidence and trust. But it should not include any malpractices or bullying within the premises and should only be appreciated up to a certain level.
• Organizational Antecedents: the scarcity of resources tend to breed politics. When resources like promotions or incentives are limited, the organizations becomes political. Ambiguity and freedom can lead to politics as employees might not feel clear about their job responsibilities. This can also impact performance evaluations and promotions.

M1 Critical evaluation

The critical evaluation of the culture, power and political influences in business organisation is: Positive impacts: Task culture will be the best approach for a higher performance and cooperation among employees and will result in low attrition rate and improve organisational

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