Organizational Behavior of Woolworths

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Question:

Discuss about the Organizational Behavior of Woolworths.

Answer:

Introduction

Organizational behavior analysis refers to the study of the method of interacting with the different people within an organization. This paper is about the analysis of the organizational behavior of Woolworths. The selected company is one of the most popular retails chain in the global marketing, currently the company is conducting a well business in the Australian market. In order to get the desired level of success in the marketing, effective level of communication is required among the employees of the organization. The analysis of the organizational behavior of the organization will help to understand the marketing communicating effectiveness and the required improvements in the particular area for getting higher level of success in their business operations.

Objectives:

  • To identify the different factors of the organization behavior
  • To analyze current OB strategies of Woolworths
  • To understand the gaps in the practices of OB theories in the organization
  • To develop a suitable OB strategy plan for the organization

Case Issues:

The main issue in this case study organization is the issue regarding the communication with the employees.

Another major issue is regarding the motivation of the employees.

Case Justification:

Because of the above mentioned two issues, the organization is facing huge problems in their operations as the employee turnover rate is increasing rapidly. The OB strategy of the organization is highly associated with the employee management and performance of the company’s departments.

Summary:

The organization behavior of the case study organization has some issues in the area of the managing the employees, which are affecting the business of the organization. In this context, the OB strategy of the organization will be analyzed and some suggestions will be given in this report for the further improvement. 

Literature Review

Theories of Organizational Behavior:

Organizational behavior is about the behavior of the human beings who are associated with the activities of the organization. This is about the way of managing and interacting with people and has a significant impact on the overall performance of the particular organization (Powell and DiMaggio 2012). There are many theories available in this area;

Carver and Scheier (2012) have said about the Scientific Leadership, which says about the way of co ducting more efficient jobs by focusing in the objectives of the organization. According to this theory, the employees of an organization should use the optimum method for completing a job within the given time. The employees are practically trained and highly managed through professional plan.

Chiang and Hsieh (2012) mentioned about the human relation approach of the OB theory. This was developed by a group of Harvard researchers. According to this theory the relationship between the employees is very vital for the performance of the organization. The human norms are highly significant for performing better in business activities.

McGregor argued that the management of an organization should focus in the area of the individual set of needs of the employees for developing a good organizational culture and perform the workplace activities better. If the organizational behavior focuses in both the needs of the organization and the employees, then the performance could be better (Robbins and Judge 2012). In today’s world, theory Y influences the development of the personnel policies.

David McClell divided the employees in several groups for motivating them and building a good OB strategy. The majority of these needs can be classed as either achievement (nAch - seek to excel), affiliation (nAff - need harmonious relationships with other people and need to feel accepted by others), or power (nPow - seek to benefit either themselves or the organization). The management need to identify these and manage them properly by motivational strategies (Mowday, Porter and Steers 2013).

Models of Organizational Behavior:

According to DuBrin (2013), there are five important models of Organizational Behavior. They are: autocratic model, custodial model, supportive model, collegial model and system model.

As per Hatch and Cunliffe (2013), the autocratic model says that the higher level employees have the total control of the system and the lower level employees are eligible to have a little control regarding the work functions. The key decisions are taken at the top level of the management hierarchy.

In the contradictory view, Olson, Slater and Hult (2014) have said about the Custodial model where the economic security has been given the higher level of priority. In this OB model, the employee motivation, reward and recognitions are the necessary activities for developing a good organizational culture and motivated workforce.

As mentioned by Naylor, Pritchard and Ilgen (2013), Supportive model has the focus on the area of aspiring leadership. This is not like the other two models that have been already discussed. It is not about the hierarchy management or the rewarding system. In this model, the employees could be motivated through a better employer-employee relationship.

Collegial model is the appropriate one where, effective level of team work is required. In this model, everyone participate actively in the workplace activities. The aim of this OB model is to build a better organization together (Burke, 2013).

Altman, Valenzi and Hodgetts (2013) have mentioned this model as the contemporary OB model, where the management had the focus in the area of the team environment and considers that every individual has unique talents, potential and different goals.

Summary:

The literature review of the OB theories and model has been conducted in this section. It has been found that the employee motivation and effective leadership are the two main building blocks of the OB strategy. The knowledge gathered in this section will help to develop a beter OB strategy for the case study organization.

Analyses and Development

Basis of the OB Plans of the Organization:

As per the annual report of the company, more than 30000 employees are working within the organization. Managing this huge amount of workforce is not an easy work. The organizational behavior of the organization is the most important factor for managing the workforce and operating the business activities properly. The company is operating over the nation with more than 800 different stores. In each of the stores of the company, there are mixture of part time and full time employees. In the area of the organizational behavior, the company has a distinct hierarchy apparent. In this hierarchy, the centre head is in the top level. He or she is responsible for managing the overall business operations of the centre. There are two managers in each of the stores who are responsible for the controlling the stocks, staff schedules and other financial activities. At the next level of the hierarchy, there are the full time employees and then at the bottom level, the part-time employees. The main base of the current OB strategy of the organization is this hierarchy. The main focus of this strategy is on the area of production and performance. Very less focus has been given in the area of employee motivation. The top level management does not communicate with the lower level employees which is the reason they don’t have the idea about the requirements and motivational factors of these employees.

Requirements and Challenges in the Strategy Used in the Organization:

The employees of the organization have low level of motivation regarding their job responsibilities and the economic profit. They are unable to find good future growth in the retail sector. These are the major reason of the huge employee turnover of the company. A huge number of employees of the organization are the part-time employees who are in the bottom level of the hierarchy of the OB strategy. Motivating and managing these employees is a major challenge to the management of the organization. These people simply have the aim of making money from the part-time job (Mowday, Porter and Steers, 2013). The management of the organization is unable to understand the requirements of these people due to the hierarchical management. They should understand the motivational factors of these employees and develop a motivated workforce for providing better customer service. It has been found that the de-motivated workforce have provided low quality services which has hampered the image of the organization (Nahavandi et al. 2013). In these type of issues, the management simply throughout the employees. This is affecting the other employees and the overall OB negatively (Barrick, Mount and Li 2013). The organization should look into these matters and develop a good OB strategy for managing these issues.

Summary:

The OB strategy used by Woolworths has been analyzed in this section and it has been found that the employee motivation is the main challenge faced by the organization. The hierarchical OB strategy is restricting to develop a good employee-employer understanding, which is the major reason behind the employee turnover. The organization need to improve the OB strategy for mitigating these issues. 

Final Recommendation and Conclusion:

Revised OB Strategy Plan:

It is always supportive for an organizational management to develop their structure to manage their individual workforce through recognizing their individual needs while working in a work place. Basically Maslow’s hierarchy of needs model is useful for organization to evaluate their efficiency effectively. 

There are also other employees motivation and performance evaluation methods like McClelland’s principle required for the evaluating the initial employee’s career, managerial authorities. It is always expected that people required monetary support for their family and own needs. With the help of this particular theory, it is easier to assume that the willingness of an employee’s while working effectively and efficiently in the organization will automatically turn into his successful career. Such kinds of employees are denoted as NAch group of McClelland’s theory for recognizing their efficiency to provide managerial opportunities for their development and increment in roles and responsibilities.

There are several organizational structures which is efficiently working with part time workers, as they are also fit into nAff character, they are always keeping their work environment more clear and effective through making harmonious and pleasant experiences. This is the primary responsibilities of managerial authorities for settle out their proper working environment for their employees. The McGregor’s X and Y theory is also playing better managerial recognition role in organizational growth. Woolworths has been found that there are several numbers of employees are categorized into X and Y theory character.  Theory Y character employees are generally not adopted for the part time job activities. according to the particular research it is found that part time job only done by the employees who are suffering with financial crisis therefore theory Y people are not categorized in that scenario. These types of employee are willing to take responsibility and effectively manage their work activities.  Generally in retail sector, management of the company is delegating the job to the people who is inbuilt both the theory X and Y, for proper progression of job.

The MBO style is also one of the effective model which required to manage theory competency of the employees and also it is required for the gathering the essential knowledge for the work force. It is supportive in creating the better employees management and proper leadership skill to manage the better creativity and initiative within an organization.

Conclusion:

The overall scenario has been observed and come to the conclusion that a successful work environment is always having several features like open and effective communication channels in every level of the hierarchy and also it is providing motivation to the managerial authorities of the company to identify and motivates their employees. The managerial authorities of Woolworths has been effectively identified all such motivation factors according to the roles and responsibilities of their employees and their motivating factors while working in a work place. They are also decided to enhance the incentive techniques of the organization as the performance of the employees can improve accordingly. The mutual agreement and understanding between employees of the company is also required to fulfill the objectives and aim of the organization. The managerial authorities of the company has been also assured that organization always required an appropriate work force to manage their work force and also looking after their employees as per their primary need which is providing positive motivation to them.

References:

Altman, S., Valenzi, E. and Hodgetts, R.M., 2013. Organizational behavior: Theory and practice. Elsevier.

Barrick, M.R., Mount, M.K. and Li, N., 2013. The theory of purposeful work behavior: The role of personality, higher-order goals, and job characteristics.Academy of Management Review, 38(1), pp.132-153.

Burke, W.W., 2013. Organization change: Theory and practice. Sage Publications.

Carver, C.S. and Scheier, M.F., 2012. Attention and self-regulation: A control-theory approach to human behavior. Springer Science & Business Media.

Chiang, C.F. and Hsieh, T.S., 2012. The impacts of perceived organizational support and psychological empowerment on job performance: The mediating effects of organizational citizenship behavior. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 31(1), pp.180-190.

Derlaga, V.J. and Berg, J.H. eds., 2013. Self-disclosure: Theory, research, and therapy. Springer Science & Business Media.

DuBrin, A.J., 2013. Fundamentals of organizational behavior: An applied perspective. Elsevier.

Giacalone, R.A. and Rosenfeld, P., 2013. Impression management in the organization. Psychology Press.

Greaves, M., Zibarras, L.D. and Stride, C., 2013. Using the theory of planned behavior to explore environmental behavioral intentions in the workplace.Journal of Environmental Psychology, 34, pp.109-120.

Hatch, M.J. and Cunliffe, A.L., 2013. Organization theory: modern, symbolic and postmodern perspectives. Oxford university press.

Marion, R. and Gonzales, L.D., 2013. Leadership in education: Organizational theory for the practitioner. Waveland Press.

Mowday, R.T., Porter, L.W. and Steers, R.M., 2013. Employee—organization linkages: The psychology of commitment, absenteeism, and turnover. Academic press.

Mowday, R.T., Porter, L.W. and Steers, R.M., 2013. Employee—organization linkages: The psychology of commitment, absenteeism, and turnover. Academic press.

Nahavandi, A., Denhardt, R.B., Denhardt, J.V. and Aristigueta, M.P., 2013.Organizational behavior. SAGE Publications.

Naylor, J.C., Pritchard, R.D. and Ilgen, D.R., 2013. A theory of behavior in organizations. Academic Press.

Naylor, J.C., Pritchard, R.D. and Ilgen, D.R., 2013. A theory of behavior in organizations. Academic Press.

Olson, E.M., Slater, S.F. and Hult, G.T.M., 2014. The performance implications of fit among business strategy, marketing organization structure, and strategic behavior. Journal of marketing, 69(3), pp.49-65.

 Powell, W.W. and DiMaggio, P.J. eds., 2012. The new institutionalism in organizational analysis. University of Chicago Press.

Robbins, S.P. and Judge, T., 2012. Essentials of organizational behavior. Boston: Pearson.

 

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