Qualification - Higher National Diploma in Business
Unit Name - Organisational Behaviour
Unit Number - Unit 12
Assignment Title - Culture and Management Style
Learning Outcome 1: Analyse the influence of culture, politics and power on the behaviour of others in an organisational context.
Learning Outcome 2: Evaluate how to motivate individuals and teams to achieve a goal.
Learning Outcome 3: Demonstrate an understanding of how to cooperate effectively with others.
Learning Outcome 4: Apply concepts and philosophies of organisational behaviour to a given business situation.
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Purpose: The structure and culture of an organisation are key factors which contribute to motivating the workforce at all levels of the organisation. The Japanese were instrumental in developing a culture of ‘continuous improvement through teamwork' in their manufacturing industry. This culture has now been exported around the world and encapsulates the way in which structure and culture contribute to patterns of behaviour in the workplace. This unit will develop learner understanding of the behaviour of people within organisations and of the significance that organisational design has on shaping that behaviour and review their importance in the successful management and leadership of a business.
Introduction:
An organizational operations and effectiveness in getting performance outcomes depends on various factors like the prevailing work culture, the profile of politics and power in the organization and so forth. A detailed consideration to each of these aspects do matter and an effective synchronization of these factors with ideal conditions will result in better organizational development and better organizational operations. In this context, the following part of the report is focussed on leveraging better co-operation in the organizational teamwork and will work for betterment of the organizational outcomes. Organizational behaviour and philosophy of the same matters and it will decide the outcomes achievement in any organization. There are instances like Japanese culture of team for better work output spread through out the world due to the immediate benefits that he has resulted in. A range of organizations across the world have imported this work culture for betterment of their organizational operations across the world. Pro-active work culture and positive power and the political conditions will work for benefit of any organization in general and they are of particular use for improvement of any organizational performance in general.
Scenario
The case is about US-based consumer electronics company Apply, Inc.'s (Apple), known for its abilbity to come out with path-breaking products.
Overview of the case:
Apple Inc is one of the highly innovation-oriented organizations in United States of America. There are range of path breaking products, Apple Inc has created from time to time and resulted in huge competitive advantage in the market. Apple Inc managed to maximum market share in the organization with its orientation towards innovation in products manufacturing. Apple has an excellent employee-oriented benefit system and they truly reward the performance, work culture in Apple Inc can be termed as ‘Fun, yetDemanding'. Some of the key contributors to shape the Apple Culture are people like Steve Jobs (Jobs), he is instrumental in creating a Quirky style, where he valued creative people, however others feel that his style is not very much dysfunctional from management perspective. Following are the collection of reflections from these cultural points of view and critically evaluates their appropriateness and functional significance in the Context of Apple Inc and provides a reflection over the same.
Task 1 ‘The proliferation of definitions and explanations of culture, its anthropological origins and lack of clarity undermines its value to our understanding of organisational behaviour. It is too ambiguous a concept for the effective day-to-day management of the organisation.' Do you agree? What role do you think culture plays in the management of Apple, Inc.'?
Explain how can idea likes the organizational iceberg or the concept map of cross-cultural communication might help internationally mobile managers become effective in a new context.
Solution:
Organizational culture and impact on organizational outcomes and behaviour
It is a fact that the culture is overly broad and wide, and it takes too large insight to perfectly understand the concept. Culture has origins from the start of the primitive days where in the society collectively defined its culture. The culture of the hunting and living, the culture of social living, the culture of collective understanding and shared values and norms are some of the aspects that define the culture of the society in general. Anthropological values of the culture and their roots are something overly complex and difficult to understand as well. In this connection, the continuation of the culture and its extension to the current days and times to board rooms level has proliferated through a range of frameworks and conditions, change over in the conditions of the society, changeover in the people attitudes, change in ecological conditions and values all contributed to the culture variation in the society. Culture reflects well the spirit and the attitude of the people as well discusses integration of the same with the organization as well. The norms and values of the organization and reflection of the same will be visible only through the culture that the organization displays in day to day activities as well in the ways it will formulate the policies, procedures and protocols. In this connection, the current discussion is focussed on evaluation of the culture of the Apple Inc as well discusses how they reflect the management priorities and ideology of the organization. The most important aspect of the culture in the Apple Inc is the fact that the organization has high orientation towards innovation. Innovation is at the helm of the organizational priorities. Organizational management rightly understood the significance of innovation and the role of the same in the surviving the competition of the organization. The most important aspect of the organization is the fact that the culture defines the Apple Inc's progression and defines the work culture and priorities for the people working in the organization.
Being an organization with innovation inclination it is evident that there will be always encouragement for the people who takes up initiative and put efforts to add value to the products of the organization. Apple Inc also has commitment to create the products and the services that always have higher competitive advantage in the society. For instance, the products and services that the organization creates are always aimed at creating value to the Apple Inc and they always surpass the market share of their competitors. Apple Inc management rightly understood the same and moulded its culture to give it top priority over other aspects of the culture. Another aspect is the fact that he work culture of Apple Inc is demanding. They always insist that things need to be done in the right channel. As long as the organization plans and expects things to be done in the set due time and expected target times, obviously the culture promotes result orientedness and this is perfectly what is happening in Apple Inc at present.
Understanding culture and reflecting the same to the day-to-day management activities is very much ambiguous concept, it is very much required to have very comprehensive attitude towards things to understand the reflection of the culture in the day-to-day directives in shaping the management activities and works. However still if the culture itself is not clear and if is characterized by ambiguousness, then the actual implications of the same in the planning of day-to-day activities is not actually complete and cannot be considered so.
I will agree with the fact, that as long as the clarity is lacking and if there is scope for misunderstanding the concepts of culture, it remains vague and will never contribute to the Apple Inc performance or organizational advantages in any aspects. This is same is the case for any organization. A comprehensive understanding of the concept of the culture and an detailed overview of the same as applicable to the organizational operations is very much necessary to understand the concept of the Culture as well to understand the implications of the same to the day to day management operations as well.
Well, cross cultural communication (Lvina,2015) is a new concept in the globalized business operations. There is more and more preference being assigned to the culturally tolerant and unbiassed organizational communication at present. As long as cross-cultural communication is taking place in the organization, there is much to do with the promotion of the shared vision, shared ideology and the sharing of the objectives and aims of the organization. Cross cultural communication competency is the most important aspect that defines the success of the mobile managers in the organizational performance Awareness of the mutual cultural values, norms and sentiments will make them more competent in using their cross-cultural competencies for achieving the business objectives as well as for keeping the co-ordial relations in the business operations (Serat,2017).
The power and politics in Apple Inc revolve around the central vision of the organization, which is about doing things differently and also maintaining quality of things as well. Apple derives its power from intuition of his CEO Steve Jones, whose expertise power of knowledge and skills enables his to understand the customer wants and shape them in its products. This will be done even before the customers works for articulation of the same. Apple politics are also immensely influenced by its founder's vision and mostly it reflected the same in practice.
Task 2 Explain what you understand by the underlying concept of motivation. Summarise the main needs and expectations to be taken into account in considering the motivation of people at work.
Solution:
Motivation
Motivation is all about the creation of the drive and commitment in the people for dedication for the mission and the objectives of the organization. The underlying concept of motivation is that there is need for the organizations to create a framework where in the motivation will be ensured for the employees to function for the needs and the objectives of the organization. Motivation is a tool to be employed by the organizational management to let the employees commit for the goals and objectives of the organization (Rahbi et al., 2017).
Motivation can be in numerous ways and means, motivation can be in the form of financial aspects or can be in the form of the non-financial aspects like recognition, promotions, awarding and so forth. Each of these motivational factors are instrumental in letting the employees commit for the vision and goals and of the organizations. As well they will work for keeping the organizational spirits at the highest. The most important aspect that defines the effectiveness of the motivation is the fact that the motivation and the right tool to be employed for motivation need to depend on the actual employee specific condition. The type of motivation being selected for the employee need to fit well for his individual motives (Warrick,2017). If the employee appreciates the returns and rewards in the form of financial outcomes, the best solution for keeping up the boost of the employee engagement and commitment of the person with the organization is to provide him the necessary motivation by providing the financial incentives for him to take up the additional initiative or the additional commitment for the work. Same time other attitude factors of the employee like possible motivation with awarding, recognition, providing job security, creating job promotion, providing opportunity for family well being are some of the aspects that need to be considered in shaping the organizational plans for facilitating the motivation of the employees to perform better for the organizational objectives (Hussain et al., 2018).
The hierarchy of needs and Maslow's theory of needs will make basic criterion for creating a model for motivation of employees in the workplace. The actual motivational levels of the people need to align well with their interests and needs as well. The basic needs of the individual are fundamental priorities, and the rest of the things will come later, the motivational theory is expected to consider each of these factors while devising the right strategy for motivation of employees and for aligning them with the objectives of the organization.
Apple Inc and motivation
Apple Inc is highly concerned with the motivation of the employees in general. The average salary offered in Apple Inc is much higher than the industry average. There are meticulously designed plans exist in the organization for health and safety of the people staying in the organization. Apple makes concerns for the organization and will motivate them to provide the best they can for the organization. They not only get the right skilled and right qualified employees, rather it will mould them to work more for the organization and creates a culture where they want to work more for the organization. Apple Inc's unique incentive format is its non-financial incentive structure. It will work attaining and retaining employees, by providing range of facilities like benefits and expected non-performance characteristics as well. Apple is committed for innovation and creativity and motivates the human force and do all it can to retain and place the right personnel in the right positions. Apple employed both the financial and non-financial incentives to motivate employees and its designs are quite complex and meant for providing the best they can for the organization.
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Task 3 Detail fully the main factors to be considered in a review of effective teamwork.
Solution:
Main factors to the considered in a review of effective team work.
Team wok will be effective when each and every member of the team has performed to the fullest and up to the needs of the team objectives. If each member of the team is fully motivated towards the team objectives it will be possible for the team to perform the best outcomes. For a team to perform effectively it is necessary for the team operations to be aligned with the goals of the organization. In this context, it is required for each of the team member need to be aware of the team goals, aims, the planning of the timelines, milestones and so forth. Hence in this context, the team will perform well, when the team leader is well knowledged and equipped with the necessary skills and competency to provide knowledge and all the team members towards the goals of the organization (Zellmer-Bruhn and Maloney,2020).
Also, it is necessary for a team to be effective, that each of the team member need to possess the necessary skills and competencies to take up the task. Each team member should be aware of the necessary skills and competencies to make up the task and so the actual needs and competencies required for the problem solving should be upto the mark. Team must and should have all the necessary provisions for the sake of conflict resolution, change management as well as should be competent enough to take up the challenges that may arise at any time during the task functioning(Anderson,2019).
An effective teamwork will be defined by the quality of the work outcomes, the compliance of the teamwork for the cost and the schedule planned for. Further the teamwork and its effectiveness is also depend on the factors like resources available for the team to function for the organization, the prevailing organizational culture as well. It is mandatory to emphasize the prevailing culture as well. the functionality in the organization, i.e., the team work will be effective only when the prevailing (Li et al., 2018)organizational culture is supporting the vision and the team orientation towards the goals of the organization. It is like prevailing culture should support the team commitment towards the work objectives as well it should support the way the objectives of the team are being achieved as well. In this connection, organizational culture also need to be effective and should compel the team to perform better as well facilitate the team to excel in the team operations in the organization.
Effective teamwork in Apple Inc
Apple enabled to leverage effective teamwork by making its stand quite clear. Apple Founder indicated openly that the great things cannot be done individually, rather they will be done by a team of people. Further the effective teamwork is ensured by doing in lot of team work at the top of the organization, which filtered down the team work through out the company. Teamwork will come through the trust that comes from watching them all the time. Mutual trust is everything and it matters. Apple Inc believes that the teamwork is essential for innovation and so they developed every framework and possibility to promote the team work. Team work is a process, coming everyone together is a beginning, working together is a success. Such ideology in Apple Inc is created and spread in the organization by its founders and is retained so by policies and procedures, which generated and maintained the effective team work in the organization. The key means and enablers of team work in the organization are communication and collaboration. Communication and collaboration of high-quality enabled right team work in the organization. Some of the key reasons for success at Apple Inc can be attributed to the effective team work in the organization.
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Task 4 Prepare a briefing paper that compares the effectiveness of different leadership styles of Apple.
Solution:
Leadership styles of Apple
The discussion on the leadership style at Apple Inc invariably need to discuss the leadership style of Steve Jobs. Steve Jobs is very much focussed and autocratic in style. He is always ready to shoulder the responsibility to keep the organization move differently. Never hesitates to take up the challenge, even it can mean risk for the organization. He is instrumental in promoting the innovativeness that is key enabler in generation of range of products from Apple Inc from time to time. He is meticulously dedicated to keep the organizational functionality to remain upto the focus. His leadership is characterized by great attention to detail. Apple Inc never hesitates to create its own branding and it will never hesitate to keep the branding as well is never hesitant to create employment opportunities for those who are talented and have the attitude(Al Khajeh,2018).
The follower CEO to Apple Inc is Tim Cook, Tim Cook is follower CEO of Apple Inc and he is very much instrumental in bring forward the employee engagement in the organization. His style of leadership is more characterized by inspirational leadership. Tim Cook is more an inspirational leader and he always like to keep the employees of the organization committed to the organizational mission and vision by making them always motivated and committed to the interests of the organization. CEO Tim cook encouraged more democratic style of leadership in the organization. He is instrumental in letting the team members commit for the goals and objectives of the organization. He always allowed the team members of the organization to be very much committed and remain focussed on the vision and ideology of the organization. For instance, he provided more autonomy to the product development teams to continuously make the products of interest for the organization. The role of CEO is very much restricted in poking into these processes, the product development teams are provided with necessary freedom and autonomy while working for the organization.
The change in leadership at Apple from Steve Jobs to Tim Cook is characterized by the variation in terms of the change of the leadership from that of more charismatic to that of quiet and effective. Tim cook is always characterized as a leader who stays more calm but still remains effective in working out the solutions.
A critical analysis of the leadership styles indicate that Tim cook is more a people's person, however Steve jones is more charismatic and is more oriented and committed for the delivery of range of products for the organization. When compared with Steve Jones, Tim Cook has not actually delivery more number of products from the portfolio of Apple Inc, for instance, iMac, iTune, iPod, App store and iPad are some of the products released by Steve Jobs, whereas Tim cook released products like ipad watch, ipad Retina and ipad Mini, which are quite lower in number. The difference in this perspective is explained by differences in the leadership styles of both the leaders of the organization and their individual differences in their priorities and approaches. Both of them have their own implications. When Steve jobs is more into the product development and more aggressive in bring out the organization towards success and letting it achieve the required distinct recognition in the society, whereas the Tim cook is more concerned in establishing the relationship with the employees is more concerned in keeping up the autonomy and employee satisfaction driven performance. Each have their own priorities and each of them have their own preferences in achievement and they managed to attain success for the organization accordingly.
Conclusion
There are several factors of importance to be considered while considering the organizational development The most important aspects of the organizational development is the need to be aimed at organizational culture. The basic requirement for the organizational development is the need to align the culture, politics and power in the organization towards the organizational development and integrating each of them towards the key objectives of the organization. In this context, creating and developing an organizational culture that promotes these functionalities is a major priority for the organization. Organizational culture is expected to be transparent and to be contributing to the positive organizational outcomes. It is one of the key factors that impact the team work quality and effectiveness in the organization. The most important implication of the organizational culture is an effective team work. As long as the culture in the organization is effective, the outcomes of the organization will be quite effective. The leadership of the organization need to be highly motivated need to be constructive in materializing these aspects of the organization. Apple Inc has witnessed a range of cultural aspects that are of great importance for the organizational establishment and for constructive leadership. Each of the two key leadership styles that the organization has experienced viz., the Tim cook and Steve Jobs are instrumental in working out the culture that propagated the interests of the organization. But each of them are different from their own perspectives. They operated in styles that distinctly reflected their priorities and operational preferences. In any case, the current case of leadership exercise is very much a concern for the organization wellbeing. As a whole it is worth emphasizing the fact that the culture, power, politics and leadership are some of the ways through which the organization will move towards the goals of the organization and it is also very much necessary to understand the fact that the organizational leadership also mattes and it is an important factor of consideration to formulate the activities and actions plans for the organization. Within the context of Apple Inc, it is evident that said above factors of influence have drastically shaped and impacted the outcomes of the organization. It is true that the organization has realized the benefits of focussed vision, focussed attention, focussed leadership benefits in terms of the team work potential realization as well as other forms of managerial benefits.