INTRODUCTION
In this organizations motivation theories assignment different leadership approaches which are used by the top management of the organization and how different leadership approaches can be used for different situations to handle. Motivational theories which can be used by an organization to keep its employees motivated and enthusiastic about organization and their job roles would also be discussed and their impact with changing leadership style will also be evaluated. Lastly this assignment will also cover the team development and effective team functioning through usage of different approaches, technologies and group behaviour would be assessed. This assignment is partly based on a case study which is a case study on Egg Company and the Taylor Woodrow Company to examine the relationship between different motivational theories and demonstrate an understanding of working with others, teamwork, groups and group dynamics. This is a secondary research assignment and it would be using literature review and case study analysis as the base to answer the assignment requirements.
TASK 1
LO 3.1
Leadership can be described as the “process of social influence in which one person can enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task" characteristics or traits of leaders has been an ongoing search for centuries. There are different types of leadership styles like persuasive, participative, directive and delegated depending upon the nature of work and type of company. Styles would also include democratic leadership, autocratic leadership, knowledge and competency based leadership, hierarchical leadership etc. (Gary, 2009).
Organizational culture can be defined and explained as the shared values and beliefs of employees of an organization and how employees perceive their organization internally as well as externally. Organizational culture determines or defines the way an employee behaves with other employees, with customers, with vendors and any outside entity. It is often indicated by many authors that a better organizational culture is eventually a mandatory requirement of companies who believe in higher performance levels and continuous innovation in their products, services and processes.
There are different types of culture which can be adopted by an organization. Broadly culture can be divided into four classes i.e. clan oriented, adhocracy oriented, market oriented and hierarchically oriented. These four classes or categories are divided on the basis of two axis or long term strategies of the organizations. These axes are focus and integration on one side and flexibility and discretion/stability and control on the other side. Thesefour types of culture can be graphically presented as follows.
As it can be observed from the picture above organizations which firm believer of stability and control and at the same time have an internal focus and integration are market oriented companies. Their culture is very efficient and they believe in keeping their approach market centric only. On the other hand if flexibility and discretion is preferred by an organization along with internal focus and integration then it becomes a family owned organization where top management of the company is extended family only (Konard, 2006).
Adhocracy oriented organizations are mostly new start-ups and ventures where flexibility and discretion is practiced along with external focus and differentiation. They are risk taking organizations who believe in getting an immediate success if their gamble pays off. External focus where unites with differentiation, stability and control then they give rise to organizations with strong structures and preference for coordination of activities from different employee heads.
TASK 2
LO 3.2
Egg Company uses different motivational theories to ensure that its employees are engaged and they are encouraged and motivated to achieve goals and objectives. Motivation is basically a drive which pushes a person to get up, take a notice of the situation and environment around him and start acting on achieving those goals and objectives. Motivation comes into picture mostly when going gets tough for an employee in an organization.
First theory which is used by Egg Company is known as two factor theory. This theory is also known as Herzberg's motivation-hygiene theory. According to this theory there are two different sets or factors group in an organization which can impact the job satisfaction level of an employee. According to this theory job satisfaction and job dissatisfaction work independently of each other and two factors theory is successfully explaining it. At Egg Company there is an environment creation which ensures that employees have sufficient degree of freedom in decision making and their innovation and continues development should be appreciated and rewarded accordingly. Through this approach top management at Egg Company is ensuring that none of the employees should feel that their thoughts and contribution is not valued. Some part of the control is removed by the top management from its portfolio and given to the employees itself to empower them.
Second theory which is used by Egg Company is McClelland’sthree motives theory. According to this theory we have three basic social needs which affect them from a managerial point of view. These three needs are achievement, power and affiliation. At Egg Company achievements of the employees are celebrated and rewarded, they are empowered and they affiliated to a large and successful company. Affiliation with Egg Company gives them a social recognition as well which is a motivator for employees to stick with organization and work towards its betterment.
Taylor Company on the other hand had a very basic approach and understanding towards human psychology. Their theories of motivation mostly involved financial rewards to employees. They are a firm believer of carrot and stick approach and they believe if carrot of money and financial benefits would hang in front of employees then they will keep on working enthusiastically for the benefit of the organization.
Second theory which is employed by Taylor Woodrow group is scientific management theory which is later popularly known as taylorism only. This theory is employed to improve economic efficiency and increase labour productivity. If we compare with Egg Company then Taylor Woodrow approach is inorganic and it does not allow room for its employees to have any freedom of experimentation and innovation. Taylor believed that in their business employees cannot use such approaches and become successful because their business is a process bound business and their primary aim is to provide quality at a reasonable pricing and this can only be done if employees are firm believer of efficient working and keeping their productivity levels on a continuous improvement mode. In this approach numbers associated with each employee matters more and their performance is evaluated and rewarded on that basis only.
TASK 3
LO 3.3
In this task we would be evaluating how the management of both Egg and Taylor Woodrow’s workforce has applied these motivation theories and practices in the company and what benefits have the companies derived from their chosen motivation practices.
Egg Company used the motivation theories which were more holistic in their approach and they ensured that employees in their organization should feel that they are in a nurturing and motivating environment. At egg company relationships with top quality management was nurtured and motivated and this helped employees to gain a social recognition and rewards. Employees are motivated to review their roles by themselves and identify areas where they can improve and perform better. This is equivalent to self-empowerment of employees and giving them freedom to make decisions which are right and wrong for them.
Egg is aiming to understand the people who work for them and aligning their personal goals with the organizational goals and objectives. This way egg will be able to build an atmosphere where employees are sure that if they work for the goals and objectives of company, they will be rewarded not just financially but also in form of promotions, giving better job roles,more empowerment and security (Hackman & Johnson, 2009). It can be said that expectancy theory is properly utilized by the egg company and created a spark in mind set of its employees that their organization is going to take care of them and their needs if they in return would take care organizational goals and objectives. It is a win-win situation which is created by Egg.
Taylor Woodrow on the other hand is working in a competitive market and they are well known for their unique selling point that they can take care of any type of engineering needs of their customers from their in house employees only. Secondly Taylor Woodrow is known to be a customer focused company and they are continuously striving to exceed customer expectations while at the same time enhancing shareholder values as well. With such mission and vision of a company having anefficient and hardworking human resource pool is almost mandatory and approach which is used by them to develop such human resources is suitable. Scientific management is needed to manage a large work force if it is involved with a job role which is repetitive and redundant after a certain point of time. In both companies there is a difference of complexity of the job involved. For example in case of Taylor Woodrow they are required to detoxify the Brownfield site and make them healthy for habitation and this activity requires efficiency and technological involvement of highest level. In such situation motivational theories and approaches which are used by Taylors would actually benefit them (Zaleznik, 2004).
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TASK 4
LO 4.1
In this task we would be explaining the nature of groups and group behaviour within Egg and Taylor Woodrow’s workforce. Group behaviour can be explained as the behaviour among people when they interact with each other in groups of different sizes. It is often observed that small groups work in a coordinated manner and reach a general consensus while in large groups of a crow behaviour is guided more by the herd behaviour or a mentality to follow the leader. These people act in a similar way with a belief while small group people behave in a coordinated manner with a shared understanding (Spillane, 2004).
On a comparative analysis it can be observed that Egg employees behave in a coordinated manner and they have a shared understanding with clear aims and objectives. This is because egg has lesser number of employees and they have strong and clear objectives in front of them. At egg company there is a sharing of vision and mission in an elaborate manner with employees and they are converted into small but strong functional teams which are very effective in their job performance and at the same time they are having a higher degree of freedom within their boundaries.
Taylor Woodrow employees who are higher in number behave more in a herd form and they are motivated by the top quality management to trust in their judgement and belief and do as per the process is laid for the company. In my opinion for Taylor’s this approach is justified and effective because they cannot afford to give their employees freedom of innovating and experimenting with the laid down process, secondly their work involves a significant use of technology and market factors which cannot be understood by the employees of all levels. For such employee motivational approaches should be simple and straight forward while employees who are associated with an innovative and differentiating business role sharing of visions and including them in roles where they can make a difference to the final products and services. At Taylor’s people join for survival and security which are their fundamental needs in Maslow’s theory of hierarchy (Pritchard &Ashwood, 2008).
TASK 5
LO 4.2
There are different factors which can play a significant role in effectiveness of a team. These factors are level of skills and competencies of the team members, knowledge and understanding level of each member regarding goals and objectives of a team, communication abilities and skills, strong and effective relationship between team members, an effective and efficient process which is pre-determined between the teams and accepted leadership roles (Montana and Charnov, 2008).
For example if a team is having members who are highly competent and an expert in their subject matter then entire team would be a high performance team. Such teams can be cross functional teams which are designed for a specific problems or projects, for example NASA creating a team for a space project would be a high performance cross functional team. Along with basic requirements of an effective team like having a good level of knowledge and understanding level, it is also important that team members should be able to communicate with each other effectively and keep an open policy for communication.
As it can be observed in teams of Egg Company that sufficient opportunity is provided to each team member to put their thought process in front of top management and if their ideas have a value then they are accordingly rewarded as well. On the other hand teams are Taylor Woodrow is large in numbers and they can only work effectively if they work in harmony and alignment. This means there is more importance to the rewards like bonuses and monetary benefits to keep the team efficient and hard working. Skills like time management, problem solving ability, learning skills and stress management skills are also important factors in success and failure of a team (Miltenberger, 2004).
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LO 4.3
Technology is a very significant and important aspect in current business process and I believe it would be a tool which can determine the success and failure for an organization if used effectively. One business which I can think of as highly dependent on technology is banking and financial services. Today’s banking process and banking needs of a company requires that its transactions can be carried out fromanywhere globally and it can be done with minimal time possible. This feat can be achieved only through advanced information technology like internet and IS based systems. In this case similar technology can be used in an effective manner and it can be very effectively use din increasing quality as well. In performance of egg and Taylor’s company technology can make a significant impact and this impact would differ in both companies. Technology can help Egg Company in improving its efficiency and effectiveness while in case of Taylor’s Woodrow technology would help them in opening new doors to increase innovation and development without impacting their existing efficiency (Kickul&Neuman, 2000).
If we imagine any bank using the same process which was used 30 years before when technology was not developed then it would take days for doing the same work which can be done in minutes in current environment. Technology has enabled companies to reach out to the world globally, expand their business in more than one country easily and lastly they can now compete globally for biddings and tenders because their banks can follow them globally and provide a guarantee as and when needed. Technology is a tool which is to be used by the companies to improve their efficiency level and increase productivity of a company, but it should not be used as a replacement for HR Management because technology cannot self-direct itself neither it can take into consideration not tangible aspects which are important for a company as well.
Conclusion
In conclusion it can be said that both organizations have a different structure and work culture and they believe in different system and processes in doing their business. Both organizations are very different from each other; one organization is working in virtual environment and they have a very degree of dynamic working environment and changing needs of customers. On the other hand second company is into a conventional and core business and they have to focus on delivering the products and services in a cost effective manner without compromising on quality. Thus it is prudent that both companies would have different management styles, leadership structure and work environment.
Rererences
- Gary, Y. (2009). Leadership in Organization”. 7th Prentice Hall. PP: 35-48.
- Hackman, M. & Johnson, C. (2009).Leadership: A communication perspective. Long Grove, IL: Waveland Press, Inc.
- Konard, A. (2006). Engaging employees through high-involvement work Practices”. Ivey Business Journal. Retrieved 14-11-2006.
- Kickul, J. &Neuman, G. (2000). Emergence leadership behaviors: The function of personality and cognitive ability in determining teamwork performance and KSAs. Journal of Business and Psychology, 15, 27-51.
- Miltenberger, R. (2004).Behavior Modification Principles and Procedures (3rd ed). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning.
- Montana P. J. and Charnov B. H. (2008) Managerment: Leadership and Theory, Barron's Educational Series, Inc., Hauppauge, New York, 4th English edition.
