Organizational Behavior in Tesco Plc - Case Study Example

Organisation Behaviour Table of Contents Introduction 3 Work Motivation 4 Job Design 6 Organisational Goal & Structure 7 Leadership Management 9 Conclusion 10 References 11 Bibliography 12 Introduction Organisational behaviour is one of the most important aspects of a modern day organisations and it is more prevalent in the retail sector. Tesco Plc is one the largest retailer in both the domestic market of United Kingdom as well as international market. Tesco started its trade in the year of 1919 and was founded by Jack Cohen. Tesco specialises in food & drink, but it had diversified into clothing, electronics, financial services, telecom, etc. Tesco is committed to corporate social responsibilities & contributed 1.87% of the revenue in the year 2006 to local charities. Tesco Plc looks upon the employees benefit as its goals & objectives. Tesco implements the induction programme for the employees before entering into their assigned job. Later, training & development is also imparted for the betterment of the employees. Many benefits like stock option, life assurance scheme, discount of theme park, etc, are given to the employees, so that they get motivated towards their goal of improving performance for the organisation. Tesco not only look upon their aim to achieve the sales target but they also look upon the employees because they believe that their employees are their main assets. Work Motivation In organisational behaviour, individual level is divided into work motivation and job design. Motivation means the role of needs and wants. Performance = Ability x Motivation i.e. when an employee’s capability and motivation is blended, the employer gets the best performance of the employee. The barriers of work motivation are, firstly it depends on the features of the job that lessens the likelihood which can satisfy the person’s need. Secondly, at a state where motivations are aroused but goals are blocked. Some of the responses of motivation are the adaptive behaviour, i.e. by removing the situation where goal blocking occurs and non-adaptive behaviour, i.e. shutting out the realisation that goal attainment is blocked. According to Maslow’s need of hierarchy, it is stated that a worker basically works for physiological needs or the basic needs i.e. food, shelter & clothing. After fulfilment of the physiological needs, worker craves to fulfil the security or safety needs. Similarly, after fulfilling he longs to fulfil the affiliation, esteem & self- actualisation needs. It shows that the worker gets motivated after getting the rewards, incentive etc. In case of McClelland’s Theory of learned needs, a human gets motivated through three dominant needs. Those are firstly, need for achievement, which implies that those with low need for achievement choose a very easy task, so that there is a less chance of failure. On the other hand, those who choose a difficult task, feel that they are challenging but within reach like entrepreneurs. Secondly, the need for power, which states that people who are the in-charge are mostly satisfied as their environment moves to a certain direction due to their involvement. Third is the need for affiliation, which states that person must feel belongingness as they belong to a group. These persons need close interpersonal relationship and affiliation from those in the relationships. Persons who value affiliation tend to be good team members. At the end, McClelland theory states that the three needs are to be culturally induced and Maslow’s theory states that needs are to be structured in hierarchy. Tesco emphasise on Maslow’s hierarchy need of theory, it is basically to motivate the employees so as to satisfy the majority of the hierarchy. Physiological Needs - Tesco offers a competitive salary, pleasant working environment, staff cafe along with flexible working hours. Safety Needs – There are well researched provisions for pension & life assurance scheme. Social Needs – One can find equal opportunities, friendly environment, discounts on theme park, holidays and gym membership. Esteem Needs – Tesco provides with recognition mechanisms that induce pride among the employees and also it induces tax free bonus. Self-actualisation Needs - Training for the job assigned and proper career development schemes and policies are prevalent at Tesco. Job Design Job design can be defined as “a set of activities that involve alteration of specific jobs or interdependent system of jobs with the aim of improving the quality of employee job experience and on-the-job productivity”. Motivation of the employees influence on the type of job as in traditional approach job designing depends on the job simplification. Job simplification has important advantage which results to human problems. To reduce that job enlargement or job rotation or job enrichment is done. But in recent terms, job satisfaction & motivation are not only affected by job designing but the contextual factors are to be considered. Job design of Tesco moves around simplification of work, challenging the unwritten rules, core skills to top level employees and performance management to achieve the specified targets. The human resource strategy of Tesco leads over its rivals in UK’s supermarket section. The future policies of Tesco are to free up the store employees so as to improve customer service. The organization is drawn in training. This training is offered at the various levels of the organisation. After the initial induction, employees get control on the training that is to be imparted which helps the employees to control their career path, choice of handling any job they want (Business Teacher, n.d.). Tesco is one of the largest retailers in UK and had achieved National Business Awards for the “Employer of the year” because its solution seemed to be holistic. Tesco’s motivation for the staff reflects positively on the company’s performance. Tesco invested millions of pound in training scheme which is based on Herzberg’s motivation theory, e.g. More lines of communication between the workers and the managers Senior Managers & the directors listen the views of the clients & staff by spending a week on the floor. New Schemes introduced by Tesco where individual talent is spotted and promote floor workers based on their performance. Understanding personal problems of the employees. Herzberg’s theories were influenced in developing in the field of job design and management to provide job satisfaction and motivation. Expectancy theories are assumed on the basis of the people from different course of action that results favorable outcome for themselves (Train and Develop, n.d.). Tesco uses Vroom’s expectancy theory, where the staff effort is put to work efficiently which leads to high performance and accomplish staff benefits & rewards. Organisational Goal & Structure The organizational system is classified into organizational goal and organizational structure and design. Each and every organization set its goal. Goal literary implies “a desired state of affairs which an organisation attempts to realise”. Also, the organisations aim to target the goals in a specific direction. Organisation formulates the mission, the strategy and the policies. Means are ends of a hierarchy. Goals at one level in an organisation are the means of achieving the goals of the level immediately above. In an organisation, there are two types of goal; they are official goals, which represent the ideal state that an organization wishes to achieve. Other is operative goal are the actual goals pursued by an organization. Goal approach states that evaluation of the organizational effectiveness against the criteria to which the organization achieves its goal. Tesco’s mission statement emphasizes on retaining the loyal people. Tesco has initiated club card service, where they can award people through extra points and special vouchers. Tesco’s objectives often change over a span of time, e.g. Tesco make a profit of £5 per book, in comparison to other organisation’s book, the books of Tesco are not cheaper, which they had to change to remain in the competition (Coursework, n.d.). Tesco’s organisational Structure is decentralised which implies that the people at the lower end has power to make any decision about the happenings in the store. Tesco provide pricing, layout, staff terms, etc, but other functions in a flexible manner to a certain limit within the organisation. This is done to satisfy the customers. Tesco’s specialist teams look into the purchasing requirement such as building the store, delivering in the stores, support the stores, support the staff, etc (Encyclopedia,n.d.). Tesco’s international strategy is based on ten years of overseas experience. Tesco’s strategy is based on six elements. They are as follows: Firstly, Tesco’s product in each market is unique and had a different approach. Secondly, Tesco had acted as local i.e. local customers, local cultures, local regulations delivered by local staff. Thirdly, Tesco focuses on its goal & objective by providing local service of the leading local brands. Fourthly, Tesco uses multi-formats, as whole format are convenient for the hypermarket of that region. Fifthly, Tesco develops capability through people, process & systems. Lastly, Tesco builds brand, e.g. Tesco is branded as a store known as Tesco Legou in China. Leadership Management In an organisation, the group level is classified into groups & leadership. Group can be defined as any number of people, who interact with each other, are psychologically aware of each other, perceive them to be a group, interact purposely to achieve a particular goal or aim. Tesco group had different kind of business. Tesco’s management hierarchy is divided into two group i.e. retail outlets which includes food, non-food & clothing and services that comprises of telecom, personal finance & website. In retail sector, marketing & operation team should have huge number of employees, here horizontal structure is followed. In case of service sector, hierarchy of marketing department will be vertically structured. Leadership can be defined as “the group process whereby the leader influences the other group members for achieving a common goal”. Leadership frequently used two major terms namely task behaviour and relationship behaviour. Task behaviour is said to be present where leader instructs regarding the role and duties of the follower whereas relationship behaviour is that where leader tries to maintain communication linkage and interpersonal relationship with the follower. Leadership style is combined with task and relationship behaviour. Also, there are different styles of leadership. They are authoritarian, autocratic, democratic and delegative (Northouse, 2010). Tesco follows participative or democratic style of leadership i.e. that the employer takes the view of other employees while taking any decision. Not only the employer takes view from the employees but they also take opinions of the customers regarding the product & services. All the decision regarding the strategies & any important decisions taken by the management is considered as participative style of leadership. As Tesco uses participative style of leadership, the employees are involved in decision making process. This is done as the employees can feel the value and responsibility towards the company. Tesco provides stock option, pension schemes & fringe benefits to their employees and these non-monetary benefits motivate the employees. In UK, Tesco group is the leading retailer in terms of compensation. Tesco group bring a new long term reward plan all across the market, which shows a clear picture to develop benefits and how will they invest in pay in each country. Conclusion In an organisation, goals, objectives and targets are the main pillars. Without, this an organisation cannot implement any strategies nor execute any policies upon the employees. Employees will get motivate only when they get their needs to satisfy i.e. reward, benefits, discounts, etc from an organisation. Without an efficient team and an effective leader, an organisation cannot reach its goal. Taking into consideration the policies formulated by the organisation, it binds the group of workers together. Hence, the organisational goal and structure, motivation of the employees and the leadership style of working are correlated with each other, to bind each and every one of them in an organisation. References Business Teacher, No Date. A Report on the Human Resources Management Practises At TESCO. Tesco HRM Essay. [Online] Available at: http://www.businessteacher.org.uk/free-business-essays/tesco-hrm-essay/ [ Accessed May 20, 2010]. Coursework, No Date. Aims and Objectives of Tesco. A-Level. [Online] Available at: http://www.coursework.info/AS_and_A_Level/Business_Studies/ICT_in_Business/Aims_and_Objectives_of_Tesco_L118971.html [Accessed May 20, 2010]. Train and Develop, No Date. Frederick Herzberg - Theory of Motivation. Training and Development Solutions. [Online] Available at: http://www.trainanddevelop.co.uk/view_article.php?ArticleID=78 [Accessed May 20, 2010]. Encyclopedia, No Date. Hierarchy Structure of Tesco. Organisational Hierarchy. [Online] Available at: http://www.free-encyclopedia-online.com/business/tesco-structure.htm [Accessed May 20, 2010]. Huber, D. Leadership and Nursing Care Management. Saunders Elsevier, 2006. Northhouse, P. G. Leadership: Theory and Practice. SAGE. 2009. Bibliography Dychtwald, Ken & Et. Al. Workforce Crisis: How to Beat the Coming Shortage of Skills and Talent. Harvard Business Press, 2006. Johns, Ted & Et. Al. Managing People. CIPD Publishing, 2005. Kanter, R. Evolve!: Succeeding in the Digital Culture of Tomorrow. Harvard Business Press, 2001. Mullins, L. Management and Organisational Behaviour. Prentice Hall/Financial Times, 2005. Piercy, N. Market-led Strategic Change: A Guide to Transforming the Process of going to ....... Butterworth - Heinemann, 2002. Saddler, P. & Craig, J. Strategic Management. Kogan Page Publishers, 2003. Seth, Andrew, Et. Al. The Grocers: The Rise and rise of the supermarket chains. Kogan Page Publishers, 2001. Read More