Unit 3 Organisations and Behaviour Bechtel Assignment

Unit 3 Organisations and Behaviour Bechtel Assignment

Introduction

Unit 3 Organisations Behaviour Bechtel is way under which people interact with the subordinates and try to create the effective working environment within the organization. Organizational behavior theory is used for the man power in the organization to maximize the output of the individual group member. Bechtel Corporation is the largest civil engineering and construction organization of United States. The current report identifies the difference between the organizational structure and culture of the organization and assesses the relationship between structure and culture that affect the performance of Bechtel. It discusses the factors that affects the individual behavior and compare the effectiveness of the leadership styles in the organization. The report identifies the organizational theory that underpins the practice of management and discusses the impact of leadership style that influences the motivational level of the employees. It assesses the importance of the motivational theory for the manager in the organization and explains the nature of groups and group behavior in the organization and evaluates the impact of technology on the team functioning at Bechtel.

Task 1                      

1.1 Compare and contrast two other organizational structures and culture

Organization behaviour determines how the power, responsibilities and role are assigned, coordinated and controlled, and how would be the flow of information between different levels of management. In a centralized structure, the top management has all decisive powers and controls all other department under them. Structure would be of functional, product based, geographical, multifunctional and multi dimensional type. Bechtel follows functional structure in which reporting relationships are grouped based on functional area or specialty. There are different departments for accounting, marketing principles and technical support, CEO is the head of all the functional heads. It has advantages like heads and employee has opportunity to move up within functional area, which gives growth to everyone (Ashkenas.et.al, 2015). On the other hand Monsanto works on product based organizational structure, where activities are grouped according to product and service and formal coordination of management function would work separately for each. This structure duplicates functions of management, losing some capital; it makes their activities according to the requirement of a particular product.
Organizations have different type of organizational cultures like power, role, task, personnel, etc. Bechtel follows a power culture where director makes all the decision in the organization. Employees should work under this style of culture, to work more efficiently. Decisions could be made quickly as there is very little consultation, lack of consultation could mean that organization is not taking advantages of work skills of its employees. (Alvesson, 2012) On the other hand Monsanto follows role culture in which individuals are assigned a specific job or role. Employees have been provided with job description list which contains tasks to be performed. By providing specific role the productivity of the organization increases, as they would be fully trained to complete the task. Role culture is not suitable for organizations which very less number of employees where everyone needs to take variety of responsibilities and tasks

1.2 Explain how the relationship between structure and culture can impact on the performance of Bechtel.

Understanding the organizational goals is the main objective of the employee; it includes market search, how the business grows, how it is structured and all other elements of the organization. At Bechtel once the decision has made, there is an expectation from the employee to work with full efficiency and utilize their abilities. A poorly designed structure may lead good employees to give bad results, so there is always a need of a proper structure in the organization; this is a result of a poorly designed structure where there is no control of organization’s policies, processes, procedures on the employees. To reach the goal, the organization needs to follow a formal structure where different tasks are distributed to different groups and to ensure that no two groups would be working on one same task. So when a task is given to a team or employee, there are certain ways to speak and interact, which in effect forms the culture of that organization formed by the employees only (Murawwi.et.al, 2014). Organization culture defines the structure of the organization; it is the framework of culture to be implemented. While the culture tells how the company should be structured, so if the culture starts to integrate, the structure also follows it.
A structure makes the team to work in a well culture; the team follows the manager in a structured manner which gives best results. Communication plays a vital role in the formation of a culture of the organization, the way employees express themselves it matters a lot. Whole process effects, if the communication between the employees is bad. So it is the prime duty of the organization to form proper structures and culture which give good results (Kotah.et.al, 2013).

1.3 Discuss the factors which influence individual behavior at work

The behavior of the human resource is unpredictable and it is the challenge for the organization to run the management in effective manner with matching the activity, the manager and sub ordinate. To create the conflict free environment, the manager should have the ability to use the available resources and manage the differences between the individuals. To have an understanding of the individual behavior, Bechtel manager should emphasize on the factors that are personality, perception, attitude, conflict, stress and change, ability and aptitude. Personality affects the individual behavior as every employee has different personality which shows relatively stable set of mental attributes that distinguishes from one another. The personality is developing over the period of time to understand the process of individual behavior (Yu, 2012).

Perception too differs from individual to individual that transforms sensory stimuli into meaningful information to determine the individual behavior. The managers and sub ordinates should recognize perceptual difference and often this is the reason for mutual conflicts. Stereotyping and selective perception are beneficial to determine the individual behavior as it based on partial information. The next is attitude which influences the behavior of individual in the organization. It refers to the response of an individual in the entire cognitive process over a period of time. The attitude of the person shows the instant response in the particular situation without deep understanding. Sometimes the employees develop attitude toward the organization that are based on their biases and attribution errors (Judge Et.al. 2014). This factor has a great impact on the functioning of the Bechtel. The other factor that influence the individual behavior is the ability which the natural traits of the employees. There are basically two types of ability that are mental and physical abilities. Employees own ability determine that how he feels about the task which is assigned by the managers.

The impact of conflict, stress and change can be minimized by motivating the employees through offering higher wages and promotion to the workers on the activity that they are able to complete. The managers can even offer cash bonuses to workers who has completed task on pre-determined time. The employees can also be motivated through non financial ways like considering their needs, providing job satisfaction etc. The Bechtel managers should have understanding and maturity so that the employees feel comfortable to approach him at the time of need.

Task 2

2.1 Compare the effectiveness of different leadership styles

Leadership is the ability of the leader to lead the organization or group of people. There are different types of leadership. Every leadership style has different effectiveness and usefulness in the organization. Autocratic and democratic leadership style has been the most common leadership used for leading the people. In, Autocratic leadership style, the leader holds all the responsibility and authority. The leader makes the decision and communicates to the team members and expects instant solutions. The employees are generally got disappointed, de-motivated and de-moralized by the leaders who want their task to be completed. On the contrary, the democratic leadership, the decisions though are taken by the leader itself but they take time in taking the decision by analyzing their decision from every aspect. In this style, the leaders can see employee’s creativity and long time retention. The leader act like motivator and motivate the team and listen to every employee’s ideas and opinions (Brouer et.al. 2013).

The Bechtel has proven the effectiveness of democratic leadership by having team based structure, trust, openness and fairness among its team members and leaders and employees feel connected with the management. Autocratic leadership style is effective in Monsanto Company where leaders make decision and holds power. It is on the leaders to make the quick decisions without employee’s involvement. And more over it has been seen that the team members feels disconnect with this style of leadership. Though with, drawbacks it is seen that Monsanto Company is the biggest competitor of Bechtel following efficiently this leadership style.

2.2 Explain how organizational theory underpins the practice of management

There are different types of theory that the organization practice for the efficient management. Scientific management theory helps Bechtel in planning of work for achieving the efficiency, specialization and simplification. It increases the productivity of the management through building the trust between management and workers. The theory has four principles- science not a rule of thumb, scientific selection of workers, scientific training of workers, management and labor cooperation rather than conflict that the Bechtel will involve in operations (Watson, 2013).

The other management theory Bechtel can use is bureaucratic approach, which involve broader society. It is based on the principle of structure, specialization, rationality, predictability and stability and democracy.  It emphasize on structuring the organization into hierarchy and it members are guided by defined rational decision making. It helps in achieving the organizational goals. A hierarchy is something that refers to the arrangement of the management by level of responsibility and authority in reference to lower and upper level. For example: president, vice president, supervisor or leaders then team members or employees works in a hierarchy for the management of the organization. And rational decision making refers to set of policies, procedures and practices that help in organization functions (Truss et.al. 2013). For example: forming rules includes human resource rule and policies and practices governing who is allowed to unemployment insurance.  This approach is somewhat rigid, impersonal, self perpetuating but sometimes the management can use this theory to have the control over the employees operations.This both theory Bechtel can use depending upon its projects that influence the environment of zero tolerance safety is the main goal of Bechtel.

2.3 Evaluate the different approaches to management used by different organizations

Bechtel needs to manage the resources and work in business environment to achieve high performance and quality. The organization needs to manage the resources effectively to deliver the project within budget and time along with all fulfillments of requirements. Bechtel and its competitors use the following two approaches in management:

Human relations approach: There are many social factors like praise of employees, pride in work, sense of belonging and feeling of motivation to affect the employee performance and quality besides the financial support. The human relation approach is addressing of employee’s social demands at workplace. For that, Bechtel uses the motivation to employees through leaders and events in workplace. The organization has transparent process to communicate and connect with upper management level. The relationship with employees helps to motivate and guide them towards high productivity. Management can praise the employees for their good behavior and performance in workplace (Cummings and Worley, 2014). The management uses the events, awards and offers to manage humanresourse relations and to motivate them towards better management in workplace.

Contingency approach: It means to manage the business according to context of situation and management style. The Bechtel and competitors use the contingency approach to manage the business operations by analyzing the situation in workplace and market to achieve benefits and make best use of managerial styles and traits to conquer them. In this type of approach, organizations use a single rigid style of management which may not be long term in business but offers the efficient knowledge to handle the same kind of situational issues in workplace.  In trait-based style, the management of Bechtel uses the contact and guidance with individual member to win the situation. Also the style based approach is used to make the best according to previous experience and learning in management of operations (Pertusa-Ortega.et.al.2010).

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Task 3

3.1 Impact of leadership styles on motivation within period of change.

During the period of changes in business operations, Bechtel needs to motivate the employees to make use of resources and time to become flexible and survival in period. The organization needs to empower the motivational approaches and styles to deliver the best outcome in period of changes. Leadership styles in workplace play a vital role to motivate and guide the employees according to changes in business processing:

Participative Leadership Style: The leaders can encourage the employees to engage in decision making process so that individual’s ideas and approaches can be used to deal with changes. The participation of employees in decision making may bring the effective and innovative approaches to attain the changes. The leaders need to motivate the employees to make their contribution and support in accomplishment of objectives. The employees in Bechtel get the opportunity to be rewarded and satisfy in workplace through their ideas. This leadership helps to find the best solution to meet the changes in workplace. For instance, Bechtel may have same unusual project to complete in budget and limited resource, then the prospective and approach of individual can be used to determine the best solution in situation (Dolatabadi and Safa, 2010). 

Charismatic Leadership Style: The Bechtel and competitors use the charismatic leadership people style to meet the changes when business operations and processing are same but needs the improvements in quality and performance. The motivational speeches and rewards are helpful to meet the changes. The employees can be directed towards the addition of changes in work. The motivation to individual helps to enhance the performance and quality. For instance, the appearance of urgent projects to complete under the minimum time, organization can encourage the employees to meet the changes as challenges to complete (Wang.et.al.2010).

3.2 Comparison between the applications of two motivational theories

Bechtel use the two motivational theories to enhance the performance and outcome in workplace McGregor’s XY theory and Vroom and expectancy theories. McGregor has proposed in 1960 that there may be two approaches for organization to achieve the performance and quality. Under Theory X, Bechtel assumes that employees under the management have not efficient knowledge of operations and needs guidance and supervision to accomplish the work. In this manner, theory X has strict rules, supervision, rewards and punishments for employees. The theory Y in Bechtel is more flexible as it encourages the employees to attempt the task by themselves and motivation helps them to take self initiations to improve the quality and performance. Thus, theory XY is combination of management and motivation to deliver the performance in Bechtel. Theory XY is used by Bechtel to sustain with better performance in regular projects and similar work in business for building and construction (Kopelman.et.al.2012). 

Vroom expectancy motivation theory has basis that the individual’s knowledge, behavior, skills and abilities play vital role in productivity and quality. The theory assumes the motivation of individual in workplace with three main things: efforts, performance and outcome. Vroom has defined the three variables to account the work of individual in workplace: Expectancy, instrumentality and valence. The personal expectations from the job in Bechtel and availability of equipments and scopes to perform effectively are part of performance affecting factors in theory. Vroom determined the valence for employees in many term like money, interest, satisfaction and growth though working in workplace. Bechtel also has application of Vroom theory as it helps to segment the motivational process into manageable and effective manner. The organization can impose the theory to achieve the best outcome from the ability and expectations of employees to meet their requirements through organizational operations (Latham, 2012). 

3.3 Usefulness of a motivation theory for managers

The managers in Bechtel are using the motivational theory of McGregor because the XY theory addresses the need of management and motivation in effective manner. The theory Y is used to motivate the employees through training, personal guidance and support to enhance their performance and quality. The managers guide the workers at construction site with practical implementation. Motivation to employees with better relational approach helps the managerial unit to manage employee turnover. It also raised the efficiency and performance of the employees. The motivational practices of managers in Bechtel helped the employees to be free and loyal with organization for help and guidance in work. The systematic implementation of theory helps the managers to achieve progressive enhancement in staff skills and performance. Bechtel is using theory X in many cases to enhance the workplace environment and to quality under the pin of management (Miner, 2015).

Motivation to employees for their good and improve demanding areas helps to achieve the business objectives effectively. The managers use the theory X to encourage the employees to be dedicated for their role and responsibility in workplace. Henceforth the overall productivity and performance is used to meet the organizational objectives in time. Addition to it, Bechtel has enhanced the utilization of resources in proper manner through the motivation to employees. The morality is developed in employees for their responsibility and behavior with organization. The morality has increased to make the proper utilization of resources and to develop the productive environment in workplace. For instance, the managerial unit allocates the resources to workers and engineers to perform the work with better efficiency and support. They get motivation though their freedom, availability of scope and resource along with proper use of skills in workplace (Pinder, 2014). However, the theory X is somehow complicated in business use of Bechtel as employees face the constraints and limitations to them to perform the work. Manager rarely use theory X to enforce the performance and quality in employees of Bechtel.

Task 4

4.1 Explain the nature of groups and group behavior within Bechtel

Group behavior in the organization plays vital role in the organization it depicts the working environment within the organization. Group in the organization are classified as per the behavior of the employee in the organization and also help the management to judge the attitude of the individual employee. The most general reason behind the creation of the group is to increase the affection among the group members and also create the healthy working environment at the work place. Formal groups are designed by team leaders in the organization for the completion of the task or any other objective. In Bechtel groups are designed for the specific purpose in the business thus employees in the organization feel motivated and try to give their best for the development of the organization. This kind of groups are large in size thus employees are not able to interact with each other easily. Formal groups are the professional in nature and are created for the purpose of the business and they are limited in nature. This kind of groups are related to the work and after the completion of the work these groups are transformed into another new groups (Robbins and Judge, 2012). It can be said that these are the temporary groups which are formed for the completion of any task in the organization.

Informal groups are formed by the employees in the organization to increases the interaction among them. Informal groups are formed for the development of the organization and it may raise the interaction among the employees and create the friendly environment among the employees. This are the voluntarily groups that are formed by will of the employees there is no involvement of the management in the organization. Bechtel try to increase the interaction among the employees and motivate them to create the friendly environment among them.

4.2 Discuss the factors that may promote or inhibit the development of effective teamwork at Bechtel.

Various factors promote the group work in the organization and also create the effective business environment within the work place. The development of the organization is based on various factors that may give contribution in the completion of the given task. Various factors influence the effective team work within the organization like Groups cohesiveness, group knowledge, skills and ability of the employees etc. For the effective team work employees needs to perform well and complete the work within the deadline given by the leader in the team. The knowledge of the individual employees increases the ability of the group and helps the team to complete the task within the given time. The manager of Bechtel identifies the skills of the employees in the organization and then forms the group thus they are able to perform well. The skills of the individual employee affect the growth of the team and organization as well (Evans and Dion, 2012). Another factor that help the business to develop the effective team work is group cohesiveness means group work at the work place. 

Group working assists the business to maintain the efficiency of the business thus they are able to perform better for the betterment of the organization. All the team members in the organization are liable to maintain the group working in the team to achieve the management goals. Another factor that helps the business to achieve the effective team work is Group knowledge. The information and knowledge of the employees help the team members to perform better for example engineers in Bechtel try to put their self efforts in order to perform better and complete the task on their own basis (Di Felice.et.al.2013). It is the best way to develop the group work in the organization and try to encourage the employees for development of the group.

4.3 Evaluate the impact of technology on team functioning within Bechtel

Technology increases the efficiency of the employees in the organization all the employees are now working with the virtual team that connect them with all the team members. It assists the team leaders to enhance the efficiency of the employees in the organization and maintain the relation among them. Technological up gradation help the top management to float the information in the organization easily. For example a team leader gets the innovative idea to complete the project then he can float the information with the help of e-mail, mobile phones etc. Technological changes may increase the cost of organization but it will give benefits at every single step of the management. Bechtel operates business in different parts of the world and for the effective communication organization needs to use the technology in order to get in touch with the leaders of the teams. Technology helps the business to get in touch with the employees to take the update of the recent projects. For example team of Bechtel is working on the project in California and management wants the update of the project than project manager may click the photograph of the current and send it to the management for the update (De Guinea.et.al.2012). Technological up gradation connect al the departments and help to float the important information among them.
For better output management needs to take the decision regarding the technology up gradation thus it may help the business to generate the better outcome from all the teams. Bechtel have to provide the technological instruments to engineers by they are able to take the details of the projects on the computer. The modern era in the market is of technology to sustain in the market organization has to adopt the technological way to achieve the management goals. Video conferencing, group chat etc help the team members to stay in touch with the team leaders. Technology provides the way to complete the work but on the other it gives negative impact to like dependency on it; employees may be lazy etc (Qian.et.al.2013). Thus excessive use of the technology may affect the efficiency of the employees.

Conclusion

The report explains the ways use of technology in the organization and also identifies the ways that a team leader gets in touch with the help of technological means. Two types of group are reformed in the organization like formal and informal groups. Formal groups are formed by the organization on the other hand informal groups are formed by the employees itself. Behaviors of the employees plays vital role in the growth of the organization and also give the positive impact on the working business environment of the organization. The report gives different kind of motivational theories that help the Bechtel to keep the employees motivated in the organization. It is the duty of the employees in the organization to identify the needs of the employees for their good contribution.

References

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