Organisational Behavior, CAPCO has been a highly successful technology, assignment is to critically, organisational structure,

Introduction

CAPCO has been a highly successful technology consultant with a host of offices worldwide. The aim of this assignment is to critically analyse the role of organisational structure, culture, team dynamics and leadership style in the overall organisational success at CAPCO. Additionally, some of these attributes are compared with Tesco so as to bring out the similarities and differences along with the underlying reason that drives the same. The management approach of CAPCO along with its impact on individuals has also been briefly discussed in wake of existing literature. Additionally, the relevance of motivation theories for managers in the organisational setting provided by CAPCO is also discussed. Further, the impact of dynamic technology on the teamwork and organisational success of CAPCO is also briefly reviewed.

Task 1

1.1 Compare and contrast CAPCO’s structure and culture with another organisation of your choice. Show the differences and similarities in these two organisations.

 

The organisational structure of Capco is highly different from that of Tesco. This is evident from the diagram of both the organisational structures shown below.

 

Figure 1. Tesco tall structure charts (Tosca, 2012)

 

A comparatively much leaner and flat organisation is in operations at CAPCO. The example of a possible structure is shown below.

 

Figure 2. Capco flat structure chart (Velji, 2014)

 

Organisational Structure

 

While Capco has a flat organisational structure, Tesco has a hierarchical structure (BusinessCaseStudiesUK, 2013). However, the hierarchical structure of Tesco is attributed to the nature of the business rather than the endeavour of the management or their management style. In theory, the management of Tesco also intends to have a lean organisational structure but the business model does not permit the same. This is primarily because there is a corporate level hierarchy and also a structure at the store level. Considering the vast number of stores that the company has, a vast corporate level structure is also desired to bring in integration which is not required in case of Capco which not only has a different business model but also less offices.  At the store level, the organisation structure of Tesco is similar to that of Capco since there is not too much hierarchy (Maloney, 2015).

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Organisational Culture

Further, with regards to organisational culture, there is similarity since the management of both the companies are employee centric and promote a culture where employees can participate and are valued rather than being passive. Additionally, the focus on customer satisfaction and providing high quality services remains the endeavour of both the companies. Despite that there are critical differences between the organisational cultures of the two companies, Capco’s organisational culture emphasises on creativity and innovation in a much prominent way as compared to Tesco (Maloney, 2015). However, this difference can be explained on the basis of the difference of the businesses. In the technology consultancy business, being innovative is a desired skill at all levels. But this is not the case in Tesco where the customers tend to expect standardised practices to be adopted so as to ensure a uniform service level.  As a result, Capco’s organisational culture is more empowering from an employee perspective as compared to Tesco as employees are provided with great deal of autonomy (BusinessCaseStudiesUK, nd).

 

 

1.2 Explain how the relationship between CAPCO’s struture and culture can impact on the performance of its operations.

 

It is imperative that there should be a synchronisation between the organisational structure and culture. While there are multiple organisational structures to choose from for any given organisation, but it makes sense to choose a structure which fosters the desired culture and value system or else the productivity would be compromised.  In case an incorrect structure is chosen then the desired value system and business strategy may not be implementable (Brooks, 2008). Thus, the significance of organisation structure as a key success factor cannot be undermined. Capco is a prime example of this where the underlying organisational structure plays the role of an enabler for the desired cultural values the organisational culture at Capco is entrepreneurial and innovative culture and provides adequate amount of freedom to employee to realise their aspirations without compromising the key interests of the company. In order to nurture such a culture on a sustainable basis with success, it is imperative that employees should be provided with high autonomy and thereby minimise the hierarchical chain of command (BusinessCaseStudiesUK, 2013).

In order to facilitate the same, the prevalent organisational structure at Capco is relatively flat (BusinessCaseStudiesUK, 2013).  In case a hierarchical structure is put in place, then there would be associated centralisation of decision making which would minimise the amount of autonomy and responsibility that a particular employee would have especially at the lower hierarchy levels. This is turn would lead to reduction of innovation on the part of the employees and make them more dependent on their seniors for the action plan rather than working out innovative plans and being self –driven (Bloisi, Cook & Hunsaker, 2006).

 

Besides, at times matrix structure would be preferred since the project teams require representation from various departments so as to deliver superior service to the client. This is especially critical in the modern day organisations where the complexity of the underlying tasks is increasing leaps and bounds (Mullins, 2009).

 

 

1.3  Discuss the factors which influence individual behaviour in CAPCO or in any organisation of your choice.

 

The factors which influence the individual behaviour at Capco are briefly discussed below (BusinessCaseStudiesUK, 2013). 

·      Attitude of employees and organisation

The organisation provides growth opportunities on a personal level, performance linked award, challenging nature of work along with adequate learning and experience. As a result, the employees need to be creative and give their 100% as the organisation does not promote red tapism and hence employee accountability is high. This ensures that employees should be agile and committed to excellent performance in a dynamic environment where the firm operates. Besides, since creativity is advocated hence, employees are also willing to take calculated risk which may not be a possibility in other organisations (Brooks, 2008).

·      Job Satisfaction and communication

The flat organisation structure fosters open communication ensures that employees are more proactive in seeking advice and coaching from their immediate superiors. As a result, employees seek for better solution with active inputs from the peer group and superiors. Besides, the employees readily accept challenging works as the organisational structure promotes mentoring from supervisors and this leads to increased job satisfaction for the employees and also lowers the overall employee attrition (Bloisi, Cook & Hunsaker, 2006).

·      Group working and motivation

In the modern day organisations, teams are used to perform various complex tasks which require cross functional skills. The team size at Capco is small which ensures that the trust factor amongst the team members is relatively high and easy to establish. Besides, the formation of team takes place in a manner so that the persons with the requisite skill sets are available in abundance. This ensures that teams have high productivity and the productivity of the members is high. Additionally, the decision making is not top to bottom but rather all the team members contribute to the collective decision making derived from their respective skill and knowledge level. Also, the broad communication channels play an enabling role which ensures that even various teams tend to cooperate with each other (Mullins, 2009).

The above factors ensure that the employee stay motivated and hence has positively altered their behaviour which has maximised their efficiency and productivity.

 

Task 2

2.1   Compare the effectiveness of the different leaderships at CAPCO and any other organisation of your choice.

 

In this, the leadership of Capco would be compared with Tesco. Both the organisations have achieved excellence on the back of participative leadership style being pursued by leaders. One potential reason for the participative leadership is the fact that both the businesses are essentially service oriented and hence client satisfaction is paramount.

Democratic - In this particular case, the ultimate decision rests with the leader but the leader consults the followers or other employees before taking decisions.

Autocratic – It is a leadership style where the leaders take the decisions themselves only without consulting the other employees.

Leizzer faire – In this particular leadership style, a considerable autonomy is provided to the employees or followers and intervention is done by the leader only when it is desired by the followers.

Bureaucratic – In this particular leadership style, leadership is derived from the official position occupied by the leader and is based on rules and regulations which are driven by hierarchy.

At Capco, the prime concern is to ensure that employee are provided sufficient autonomy and decision making power so that they can address various challenging situations and work out creative solutions which in turn provides competitive advantage over peers. As a result, the top management ensures that requisite power is delegated to the employees. A flat organisation structure supports this endeavour. Besides, before taking critical decisions, input is sought from employees and thereby the employees are involved in decision making (BusinessCaseStudiesUK, 2013). The same is also exhibited at the team level where the decisions are not dictated from the top. This ensures that the inputs from employees are given its due importance before decision making by the management (Osuchukwu, 2016).

In case of Tesco, there are various employees who are working in the stores and are in touch with the customers. Encouragement is provided to these employees to initiate practices which would enhance the overall satisfaction level of the customers. Further, before taking critical decisions, input is sought from the duty managers of the as they are constantly in touch with the consumers. Decision making is not necessarily from top to down as the top management is sensitive to the fact that requirement for the stores to be customised and flexible to serve customers better, In this endeavour various duty managers at the store level and key personnel of the various departments are provided adequate training with regards to leadership and decision making. Additionally, before making critical decisions, inputs are sought from the various employees so that the decision taken is correct and acceptable to the employees (Maloney, 2015).

 

2.2 Explain how organizational theories (e.g. scientific management and human relations theory) have had influence on the practice of management.

 

The influence of the various organisational theories on the management is discussed below.

·      Scientific Management – The scientific management approach gained currency at the end of the 19th century. The foremost proponent was F.W. Taylor who introduced principles of scientific management. As a result, the core function of the management became finding out the most efficient manner of performing work and enhancing productivity of employees through appropriate training and division of labour (Coriat, 2000).

·      Bureaucratic Approach – This was advocated by Weber with the intention of creating impersonal organisations governed by rigid rules and regulations. Hence, the focus of the management become to draw various regulations so as to provide guidance to employees on how to deal with particular situation and minimise the discretion available while introducing merit based selection to enhance efficiency (Brooks, 2008).

·      Human Relations Approach –Both the above approaches did not take into consideration the importance of human relations and hence only focused on rules and scientific principles. However, Elton Mayo acting as the pioneer emphasised that work is a social activity and hence it is imperative that human interactions at work should be given importance. As a result of this approach, the HR functions gained prominence as steps were taken to ensure that work is not looked at in isolation and its social characteristic is given importance (Mullins, 2009).

·      Fayol –Fayol gave fourteen principles of management as per which management needs to be done. This includes factors which deal with division of labour, organisational structure, reporting structure, unity and discipline. These are critical for the manager to effectively manage the employees while maintaining productivity of employees (Brooks, 2008).

 

 

2.3 Evaluate the different approaches to management used by CAPCO and your chosen organisation.

 

Both Capco belong to the service sector and are dependent on the efficiency and underlying motivation of employees. As a result, both the organisations follow a human relations approach whereby emphasis is given on empowering employees. This starts from the induction stage when standardised training is provided to employees based on their underlying role and job description. Besides, employees are provided autonomy to take decisions which ensures that they feel empowered. The team size at Capco is intentionally kept low so as to ensure that the trust level between the employees remains high which creates a social finding and hence improves the overall efficiency of the team and hence the organisation (BusinessCaseStudiesUK, 2013).  Similar case is also witnessed in the case of Tesco where at the store level, there are teams which ensure that the performance of the stores remains high (Maloney, 2015).

·      Systematic Approach- The modern organisations are normally viewed as systems which consist of interconnected sub-systems which are mutually dependent. Further, there are goals of the system and the surrounding environment is also given due importance. This has brought about fundamental alteration in the management as the organisation is viewed as various departments which are required to work in synchronisation so as to realise the vision of the organisation. Further, the critical element of environment has also been accorded increasing importance as it becomes increasingly dynamic and therefore the organisation has become more dynamic since change has become an essential component (Bloisi, Cook & Hunsaker, 2006).

·      Contingency approach – As per the contingency approach, the principles of management are not static and are inherently dynamic. As a result, the management approach to be adhered by the firm is dependent on the underlying situation at hand. There is no one approach in management which is suitable for all organisations and essentially the best approach would differ for different organisations and various other factors (Mullins, 2009).

 

Also, the participative management style adopted by the top management in both the organisation reaffirms the fact that the management does not consider employees as recipients of strategic decisions but expects them to participate in critical decision making and thereby encourages the employees to provide their view on critical manners. This leads to higher self-esteem amongst the employees as their opinions and suggestions are given due consideration by the management. This further enhances the feeling of belonging to the organisation and hence the employees feel that they are valued members of the team. Hence, the approach of the management in both companies is employee centric while keeping the business objectives in mind (Brooks, 2008).

 

 

 

 

Task 3

3.1   Discuss the impact that different leadership styles may have on motivation within period of change.

 

It is highly likely that Capco would undergo changes at a regular basis so as  to keep up with the demands of the technology consultancy industry which inherent is very dynamic. Change is always a crucial phase and it is required that the leadership style should be apt as it plays a crucial role in dealing with the uncertainties and resistance associated with change (Steven, Normand & Glavas, 1998). During the period of change, it is imperative that the management along with change leaders need to play a proactive role in ensuring that the employees continue to stay motivated.  Based on the leader, kind of employees, level of change, organisational culture, a plethora of choices with regards to leadership styles are available. It is quite likely that the managers at Capco can choose from the amongst leadership styles (Osuchukwu, 2016).

1) Autocratic Leadership

In case of autocratic leadership, the managers act as dictators and merely give orders to the employees without taking their advice or feedback. Clearly, in a situation when there is anxiety and insecurity amongst the employees, this kind of leadership is not advised since it does not lay enough emphasis on the concerns that the employees may have about the change. As a result, the resistance against change may grow stronger even though the change may actually favour the employees. This is because there is lack of two way communication. As a result, the motivation for the employees to change becomes low (Bloisi, Cook & Hunsaker, 2006).

2) Democratic Leadership

In case of democratic leadership, the managers tend to allow for enough space for the employees to participate in the change management. There are broad two way channels of communication which go a long way in alleviating the various apprehensions that the employees may have with regards to the change. Also, the way forward to an extent is decided by the employees and hence this ensures that the employees become motivated for the change and hence the process of change management becomes relatively easier. This is a preferred method when the change is incremental and hence the employees are in position to offer constructive suggestions (Muffins, 2009).

3) Transformational Leadership

In case of transformation leadership, the leader tends to share a futuristic vision to the employees and the employees genuinely tend to follow the leader as they believe in the broad vision that the leader shows them. This belief in the futuristic vision of the leader ensures that the employees are motivated for the change and hence put their best foot forward so as to embrace change and achieve the vision. This method is preferable in case of radical change in organisation either considering current crisis or futuristic thinking but requires the backing of a charismatic leader who can motivate the employees to become followers and hence have a shared vision (Osuchukwu, 2016).

3.2   Compare the application of two motivational theories (e.g. Maslow’s & Herzberg theories) within organizational setting.

 

The two motivational theories that would be applied in the given case are Maslow theory of motivation and Herzberg hygiene theory which would be applied in the organisational background of Capco.

As per Maslow, human needs are arranged in a hierarchical order and further lower needs must be fulfilled before having moving on to the higher needs. This needs are summarised in the form of diagram shown below (Tracy, 2013).

 

If Capco takes into consideration the Maslow theory of hierarchy, then it would have to develop its strategy so that the employees could satisfy their needs at a particular level and then move on to the next level. Clearly, both this would be impractical as it requires that there is high degree of customisation and flexibility along with objectively determining the stage at which a particular employee is. This would not be feasible and hence implementing this may raise issues related to favouritism and may not be able to satisfy the various employees (Brooks, 2008).

An alternate choice in this regard is the Herzberg hygiene theory. As per this theory, there are two set of factors called as motivators and hygiene factors.  Motivators are those factors which tend to enhance the overall satisfaction level of the employees and include factors such as recognition, achievement, personal growth arising from the job along with level of responsibility (Tracy, 2013). On the other hand, hygiene factors are those factors which should be sufficient so as to not cause dissatisfaction. These factors include salary, job security, fringe benefits associated with work, work conditions and a lack of adequate level of these would cause dissatisfaction. However, an excess of these factors would not contribute to the enhancement overall motivation level of employees (Thomas, 2009).#

Thus, it makes sense for Capco to adhere to the Herzberg’s theory and hence emphasis should be on increasing the motivators level while maintaining sufficient level of the hygiene factors. Hence, the company should aim to improve the intrinsic factors linked with the job which enhance the overall satisfaction levels of the employees and reduce the turnover level. The company should seek to optimise the decision making power at each level along with responsibility and achievement particularly in the form of non-tangible rewards. This would auger well for the company’s workforce and their intrinsic motivation (Mullins, 2009).

 

3.3   Explain the necessity of managers to understand and apply motivation theories within the workplace.

 

The managers need to take the requisite steps so as to ensure that the employees stay motivated and also their productivity is maximised. In this regard, it is imperative for the managers to provide requisite incentives to the employees in the manner expected by them which would in turn enhance their motivation levels. However, it is imperative that in this endeavour, the employee cost should also be minimised. As a result, the managers need to be aware of the motivation theories (Tracy, 2013).

From the above discussion on the motivation theory especially given by Herzberg, the managers would focus less on salary as an incentive since it does not indefinitely works as an incentive and also because it is a cost to the company. The better mechanism to motivate the employees and enhance their commitment is to involve techniques such as job rotation, job enrichment, acknowledging the employees who have performed well, providing challenging tasks to employees, providing them ample opportunities to harness their talent and contribute to organisational growth. This does not directly entail cost for the organisation and go a long way in enhancing the satisfaction of the employees (Thomas, 2009).

Besides, even for different employees, it is quite possible that there underlying needs may be different as has been indicated by Maslow. Hence, it may be required for the managers to follow different approaches with different employees keeping in mind their underlying needs and the then deciding on the underlying incentive that must be expected. However, the same should be done in a manner which ensures that the salary of the employees remains within a limit and is not overshot as thus it could be a drag on the business profitability (Brooks, 2008). Hence, for this it is imperative that the managers should have familiarity with the various motivation theories and apply that which is relevant to the given situation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Task 4

4.1 Explain the nature of groups and group behaviour within CAPCO or your chosen organisation.

 

In order to ensure that tangible results are to be obtained from the organisation, it is imperative for the groups to be formed. This is particularly imperative in the modern business environment where the complexity of the tasks has increased manifolds and hence an employee working in isolation cannot obtain the desired outcome within a reasonable timeframe. With regards to group formation at Capco, the following groups may exist.

1) Formal Groups

 

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