Business Essay

At the heart of any organisation we find people. To work effectively within organisations you must therefore understand the way people behave and the factors which can influence this. “People can be unpredictable and complex…Working with and managing people, therefore, is likely to be one of the most difficult and challenging things you do” (King and Lawley, 2019:2).

The main benefit of organising work is that collectively we can achieve more than individuals acting alone. The problem is that the behaviour of the individual may not be aligned with the organisation’s goals. Employees make choices in the way they behave which may benefit or hinder the organisation. To manage workplaces you therefore need to understand the factors which influence those behavioural choices so that you can implement practices to manage them effectively.

The aim of this module is to introduce you to organisational behaviour theory which will help you to understand the factors which influence the way people behave at work. You will develop your knowledge and skills through a combination of information, exploration and application sessions. These sessions will be delivered online through our Collaborate Ultra classroom software which you will find in the course resources area for the module. You will have three hours of synchronous (live) sessions a week where you will be able to interact with your tutor and other students, through a video and microphone if you have them or an interactive ‘chat area’. For two of these hours you will work in a large group with all the other students on the module. However, for one hour a week you will work in a much smaller group (approx. 20 students) with a specific seminar tutor to give you the best opportunity to participate in discussions and activities. In addition you will have one hour of asynchronous (sometimes referred to as ‘recorded) activity a week where you will work on your own or in small groups on a range of activities, from watching videos, answering questions, preparing presentations to completing short tasks, which you will then discuss with your seminar tutor.

To support your learning throughout the module you will be directed to relevant reading in the core textbook and to weekly reading lists. You should also aim to conduct your own independent research around the relevant areas. You will be required to build a portfolio of short answers to questions based around the core topics on a week by week basis. Your seminar tutors will provide you with formative feedback on your progress on these so you can improve the quality of your work. At the end of the module you will then choose your four best answers for grading.

I hope you enjoy the module

Sheena Bevitt

Alistair Charles

On successful completion of this module, you will be able to:

1. Demonstrate knowledge of Organisational Behaviour (OB) theory and research

2. Apply OB knowledge to analyse the causes of behaviour in the workplace at an individual, team and organisational level

You are required to compile a portfolio of FIVE short answers on a week by week basis to questions relating to the core themes from the lectures and seminars applied to an organisational case study, ‘Superbrand’ (Appendix A).

Apply your knowledge from the module to the case study and support your answers with reference to relevant literature and research in the related areas using the Harvard Referencing system.

1. Issued in week 1

Drawing on the theory of rational, social or bureaucratic organisations identify TWO key features of the approach to the organisation of work adopted at Superbrand. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of this design and how it could impact on the supermarkets employees.

2. Issued in week 3

With reference to Hackman and Oldhams Job Characteristics Model, compare the characteristics of the jobs carried out by the Grocery team and the Nightshift workers and discuss the possible impact of this on the job satisfaction of workers in the two departments. What could the Nightshift manager do to improve the work attitudes of workers on his team?

3. Issued in week 5

Compare the team work in the Checkout and Grocery departments and discuss what factors could be influencing the effectiveness of each team? How could the checkout manager build a more effective team?

4. Issued in week 6

What could be causing conflict between the part time and full time employees on the Nightshift? How could the Nightshift manager try to resolve this?

5. Issued in week 8

Using the culture web technique, describe the key factors supporting the culture and/or subcultures within Superbrand. Discuss how this might help or hinder the business from achieving its mission to be ‘First Choice for Food Value’ by delivering outstanding customer service and product quality through engaged employees.

All answers must be:

· Between 600 and 800 words long. (NOTE: 800 words is the MAXIMUM word limit for each answer. There is no +10% allowance on these questions.)

· Supported with relevant literature using the Harvard Referencing system. This requires citations (references to relevant literature) within the answer itself which then must also be listed in full in a reference list at the end of your work. Work will not be awarded a pass grade at this level of study without a clear demonstration of this skill.

· Compiled into a SINGLE word document containing ALL answers which is uploaded into the assessment link on blackboard.

For the final submission you must:

· Submit all FIVE completed questions.

Please note: Your grade will be penalised if your portfolio is incomplete

· Include a completed title sheet (appendix B) at the front of your portfolio clearly indicating the FOUR questions you want to be graded. Please note: If you fail to submit this title sheet your tutor will automatically grade the first four answers in your portfolio

Work will be assessed using the undergraduate marking scale (Appendix C) and the assessment rubric for the module (Appendix D).

The submission areas shuts at 23.59 however we strongly advise you to submit before 4pm in case you experience any problems which you need support with.

You must submit your work using your student number to identify yourself, not your name. You must not use your name in the text of the work at any point. When you submit your work in Turnitin you must submit your student number within the assignment document and in the Submission title field in Turnitin.

Remember this work is just a ‘first draft.’ You can go back to revise and improve your answer using your feedback and what you have learned on the module as many times as you like until the final assignment deadline on 4th January 2020. To revise your work just load the new copy onto the turn it in system and this will overwrite (delete and replace) your earlier submission.

In order to reduce unnecessary travel and queuing time for students, the University uses a system of electronic submission (eSubmission) of all assignments where this is possible. The assignment on this module is submitted in this way.

Students are required to attempt all assessment components of their modules

Students with a Non Submission (NS) as a final component result, i.e. who did not submit an original or referral attempt for any part of an assignment, will normally be required to recover on a part time basis. Any decision to allow progression with an outstanding NS must be in the best academic interests of the student with full justification for approval recorded in the Assessment Board minutes.

An academic offence could include plagiarism or improper conduct in exams.

The University has a public duty to ensure that the highest standards are maintained in the conduct of assessment. It is, therefore absolutely essential that all students learn how to avoid committing an academic offence. Academic offences apply to coursework and examinations. Committing an academic offence is regarded very seriously.

All sources should be cited and all quotations from the works of other authors clearly identified as such.

If a student’s work is found to contain verbatim (or near verbatim) quotations from the work of other authors (including other students past or present) without clear acknowledgement, then plagiarism has been committed whether or not the student intended to deceive the examiners.

When you are writing your assignments it is important that you reference all your sources of information correctly to avoid plagiarism and conform to good academic practice. Make sure you understand the referencing guidelines for your subject. Referencing guides are available from the library and from various online sources. Academic referencing can, to the inexperienced, appear complex and confusing but if you are stuck, don’t be afraid to ask your tutor!

During this module you will undertake a mixture of information, exploration and application sessions. Information sessions take the form of a more traditional lecture. The tutor will do most of the talking here. However in the exploration and application sessions you will take the lead, often working in small groups on activities to help you deepen your understanding of the subject area and how this can be applied in the workplace. You must prepare for these sessions by checking the study materials section of blackboard (course resources) for all relevant materials and undertaking any indicated preparation work. As a standard you should:

· Have a copy of the lecture slides or any other information sheets to hand when you join the sessions to work form and make your own notes on;

· Read through all materials provided BEFORE attending class;

· Ensure your mobile phone is set to silent during classroom sessions;

Remember that the usual standards of professional conduct are required when working in online learning spaces as you would expect if you were meeting with staff and other students face to face within a classroom.

You are expected to arrive on time for all sessions so you do not interrupt the learning of other students. This is essential for both on campus sessions and for synchronous (Live) learning sessions on line. Please ensure you arrive on the hour and are seated quietly and ready to commence the session at 5 past the hour. When working on line give yourself plenty of time to access the collaborate classroom and set up your microphone and camera. Persistent lateness will be reported to your programme leader.

You are expected to attend and engage with all sessions and, when you are on campus, you are responsible for bringing your student card with you and using this to register your attendance through the electronic scanning system used in class (Tap-In). Electronic registers will be run from the collaborate system to track the attendance of all students at synchronous (live) on line learning sessions. Persistent absence will be reported to your programme leader

Repeated failure to attend/contribute may result in being deregistered from the module and your programme of study. Under normal circumstances missing any three instances of taught sessions for a module, either consecutively or intermittently, without good cause, may be considered a lack of adequate participation.

By accepting the Student Declaration, you agree that:

· You will participate fully in those activities which are described in each module as essential;

· You will inform the Module Leader if circumstances oblige you to miss any of those essential activities and give details of the relevant circumstances to the Module Leader;

· You wish to have your performance assessed according to the approved procedures;

· You will observe and meet the deadlines and timetable prescribed for each module; and

· Failure to participate adequately in the essential activities may lead to termination of your enrolment on your programme of study. You will be invited to explain your failure to participate before termination on the programme occurs. Failure to engage in this process will be considered to be withdrawal.

Remember: participation is not just about turning up. Contribution to and participation in essential activities on the module is essential to the learning process.

All coursework is expected on the date set by the module leaders/course tutors, unless you have an approved late submission request or late submission is covered by a support plan.  If your coursework is submitted late, without approval, it will not be marked and your record will be marked as a non submission.

However, we know there can be circumstances out of your control - a bereavement or hospitalisation for example - and when this happens, the EEC process may help you. You'll need to submit evidence to support your personal circumstances, from a professional person with your application.  Your request will be considered by a panel. The most important thing to remember is you still need to attempt your assessment (presentation/exam/coursework). If your EEC is approved, you'll normally be offered the opportunity to sit a fresh assessment at the next submission point if not, your original submission will be marked. 

Note: If you have a support plan which identifies the need for extensions, and your need is related to your disability, you should use the Assessed Extended Deadline (AED) system instead.

Here are some circumstances that the EEC option covers:

· Bereavement

· Unexpected carer responsibilities

· Hospitalisation

· Sudden return home (abroad) following a family emergency

· Mental illness

Here are some circumstances that the EEC option doesn't cover

· Lack of time management

· Failure to organise your time appropriately

· Circumstances for which you have had ample opportunity to plan

· Technical failures of computers/equipment

· Negligence or carelessness

· Circumstances already addressed in a support plan

· Circumstances which you didn't disclose at the appropriate time (unless you were unable to do so e.g. hospitalisation)

In circumstances where you believe you can hand in your work but need some extra time you may be eligible for a 7 day extension (instead of an EEC).  This can be applied for if circumstances out of your control mean you won't be able to meet an assessment deadline e.g.

· Short term illness or flare up of an ongoing medical condition

· Bereavement

· Unexpected care responsibilities

If your application is successful this will allow you to submit your assessment up to 7 days late, without your mark being capped. 

This would NOT cover:

· Lack of time management

· A student's failure to organise her/his time appropriately

· Circumstances for which a student has had ample opportunity to plan

· Technical failures of computers/equipment

· Negligence or carelessness by the student

· Circumstances already addressed in a student's support plan

· Circumstances which a student didn't disclose at the appropriate time (unless the student was unable to do so e.g. hospitalisation)

· An on-going disability or medical condition for which you already have a support plan unless it's above and beyond what your support plan covers. 

Again, the most important thing to remember is you'll still need to submit an attempt at your coursework by the original deadline

A referral is an opportunity to make good an element of the module that you've failed. This may be a piece of coursework, an exam or both. It means you don't have to re-take a module, just repeat the element (coursework, exam or both) that you've failed. This means that you have to redo the assignment and submit it in time for a further deadline, the referral deadline. If the original failure is redeemed, i.e. you pass the referral, then the work is graded with the lowest pass mark, i.e. 40%. If you have been given a referral, the details of the task set will be posted on UDO.

You must register to accept a referral (see paragraph below). Only one referral opportunity is offered per element. If passed your grade for that element will be capped to 40%. If you fail the referral opportunity you will need to retake the module in its entirety and this will be capped to 40%.

Tutors will aim to return grades and feedback within 3 weeks of submission. This may take longer at the end of the academic year when grades need to be released through the examinations board and sent to external examiners for approval.

Feedback as well as a grade is provided with the return of assignments. You should carefully read this. If you have further questions you should contact the marking tutor

Assignment feedback on this module will be returned via the digital marking system. The module tutor will notify you by email when feedback is available. It is important to recognise that you will receive feedback in a number of ways during the module. Whilst it is most apparent when your work is marked and returned to you, you may also receive feedback in one or more of the following ways:

· Through in class discussions about assignments

· Through one to one tutorials

· Through email correspondence with your tutor

In all instances, it is important that you pay close attention to what you are being told and, in particular, look for any patterns that might be emerging in relation to your strengths and weaknesses.

The student voice for this module is captured through a variety of formal and informal mechanisms to enable the improvement and enhancement of the module. Formal mechanisms include through the module evaluation questionnaires which are conducted towards the end of the module (note: these will be conducted online), contacting student representatives and discussion at the programme committee meetings. Other mechanisms include informal discussions between staff and students during the teaching sessions or in email. These interactions allow the module to be developed and kept current. 

In response to previous feedback

· We have reduced the number of assignment questions.

· We are providing advice on how to structure questions and what to include in the content in lectures.

· The exemplars used in the seminar activity on assignments have been provided within study materials so they can be referred back to at any time.

You will be given the opportunity to provide anonymous feedback towards the end of the module but if you have any comments or ideas during the module please talk to your seminar leader or email the module leader

This module handbook contains a lot of very important information. You should continue to read through the appendixes very carefully, especially the case study in appendix A which you must refer to when answering the assignment questions. To confirm that you have read the handbook to this point we now need you to send us a picture of a Dinosaur! Please go to the course resources area for this module and find the Dinosaur Club link. Click on ‘You know what to do’ and ‘reply’ with your name and attach your picture. Feel free to leave feedback on the pictures left by other Dinosaur Club members – REMEMBER TO KEEP IT PROFESSIONAL! Don’t tell anyone you have found this message in the handbook. Let’s see how many make it into my dinosaur club this year - “The first rule of dinosaur club is, you do not talk about dinosaur club!”

Main Text:

King, D., Lawley, S. (2019) Organizational Behaviour, 3rd Ed, Oxford, Oxford University Press.

(Earlier editions of this textbook will be fine, especially if you can pick up a second hand bargain!)

Don’t worry if you can’t get into the library for a copy of the core text book or afford to buy one. There are plenty of very good alternative text books which you can check out from the library and read online e.g.

Arnold, J. (2016) Work psychology: understanding human behaviour in the workplace, 6th Edition, Harlow, Pearson Education Ltd.

Brooks, I. (2018) Organisational behaviour: individuals, groups and organisation, Harlow, 5th Edition, Pearson Education Ltd.

Buchanan, D. A., Huczynski, A.A. (2016) Organizational Behaviour, 9th Edition, Harlow, Pearson Education Ltd.

Mullins, L.J. (2016) Management and Organisational Behaviour, 11th Edition, Harlow, Pearson Education Ltd

Journals

At this level of study you should be starting to use academic journals to supplement your reading from text books. The good news is these can also be accessed and read on line through the library plus system. The following list contains just a few suggestions and is by no means exhaustive:

· Journal of Applied Psychology

· Harvard Business Review

· Human Resource Management Journal

· Journal of Management Studies

· Journal of Organisational Studies

· Journal of Organizational Behavior

· Journal of Organizational Behavior Management

· Journal of Occupational Psychology

Super brand is a UK based retail organisation with just over 1,000 stores including large and medium sized supermarkets and 450 smaller ‘convenience’ local stores. Despite intense market competition and a challenging economic environment the group has seen a small but positive growth in sales and size during the financial year. This has included the opening of 5 new supermarkets and 40 convenience stores. The organisation has kept pace with its competitors with the development of its high end ‘Exclusive’ and lower cost ‘Value’ own brand product ranges as well as its own online and banking services.

The organisation is focused on food retailing but also offers a small selection of household merchandise, clothing and entertainment products such as CD’s and DVD’s. The business mission to be ‘First Choice for Food Value’ is underpinned by organisational values of delivering outstanding customer service and product quality through engaged employees. The mission and values are clearly communicated to new employees in the standard company induction programme and form the foundation for the organisations training and development programmes, including its internal management development programme, which is well advertised to existing staff members throughout the retail stores.

In January a new HR manager joined The Stockington branch of Superbrand. The branch has a sales turnover of £1m per week and employs around 500 staff including a team of 31 managers. Staff are employed on a range of full time, part time and temporary contracts to try to meet fluctuating customer numbers across the week and during seasonal peaks. The store is divided into 6 departments, Grocery, Check out, Homeware and Entertainment, Warehouse and Administration. Each is run by a department manager and assistant manager who report into the stores senior management team of 3 deputy managers and the store manager. The larger departments (Checkout and Grocery) also have a small number of team leaders.

In their first meeting together the store manager informed the HR manager that the Stockington branch had been having some difficulties in the last 9 – 12 months. The opening of a new supermarket at the other side of town and the continued growth in on line sales had placed real pressure on store sales figures. At the same time he had noticed some employee problems emerging in different areas of the store. He asked the new HR manager to take some time to observe and research what she thought was going on and to present a report of her findings and recommendations to him and the senior team to help them to understand and improve the situation. During her first six weeks she spent time talking to and observing the different departments and made some key discoveries to inform her report.

The Checkout department has the largest team of employees in the store although over 90% of the staff are on part time contracts. Despite this the department manager has regular problems staffing busy customer periods fully with staff reluctant to change their shifts around to meet the needs of the business. Checking the performance metrics the HR manager found absence rates on the department of 5%, well above the store average of 3.2%. In addition, results from the most recent employee attitude survey revealed this department had the least satisfied members of staff including recording the lowest score against the statement ‘my ideas are listened to and valued’.

These results are disappointing as the organisation has spent a lot of time and money developing its recruitment processes to ensure staff are happy in their work by appointing employees with the right personalities to fit the job descriptions. They have introduced personality tests based on the ‘Big Five’ into the on line application process. This aims to find applicants who will enjoy providing outstanding customer service by identifying those with scores which are high on openness and extroversion. The HR manager also observed ‘regular team briefings’ being conducted at the beginning of each shift. The briefings started with the department manager giving clear instructions to the assistant managers about what she needed them to achieve each day and to pass down information about the stores sales, its impact on the staff pay bonus, new offers and till discrepancies. This was then cascaded down through the assistant managers and team leaders to the Checkout assistants. These approaches don’t seem to be working.

The HR manager was pleased to see that all the appraisals for the department were completed. Talking to individual cashiers she found out this was achieved by carrying appraisals out in small groups around the customer service desk. All staff were set the same SMART objectives around the organisations strict performance targets for scanning speeds and till discrepancies but there was little evidence of training needs or future career objectives recorded on the forms. However the HR manager observed a training session for new staff and found that new Checkout assistants received a very thorough training programme on joining the organisation. Each part of the job was broken down, clearly explained step by step and practised on the training tills to ensure the assistant could perform each task accurately, quickly and consistently. In fact Checkout assistants spent extra time practising this during their induction while other staff members went on a store tour with the deputy manager and took part in a question and answer session about the business with the store manager.

Although the Grocery department has a much smaller team of employees, the HR manager noticed that the manager seemed to have far fewer problems staffing the department fully. He appeared to be able to easily persuade his team to move their shifts around to cover holidays and of course he also had less absence to deal with than on the Checkout department. The Grocery department covers 5 areas, frozen foods, chilled foods, bakery, fruit and vegetables and dried goods and the HR manager was surprised to find the Grocery staff were being scheduled to work on different areas each week. Initially she was worried that this might cause problems with their product knowledge. In fact she observed some excellent customer interaction and product advice being provided while she was on the department and was pleased to hear that the Grocery Team had won a company award for quality customer service the previous year.

However the department was having problems with the amount of ‘out of date’ stock that the store had to throw away, referred to as ‘wastage’. The HR manager noticed the manager running a number of meetings he called ‘buzz groups’ where he drew together different members of his team and asked them for their ideas about how they could reduce this figure. After holding these sessions he introduced a new process. For half an hour every day the whole team would divide the Grocery section up between them and all check for stock reaching its sell by date. The prices on these products were then reduced to sell them in time. This was a change to the old system of having one person on the team looking after ‘wastage’. The team seemed to enjoy the sessions of frantic activity and started to refer to this time as ‘Bin Buster’ sessions. The wastage rates appeared to be coming down since the new system had been put in place.

Back in the HR office, the HR manager noticed that a few of the Grocery departments appraisals hadn’t been completed yet, however when she checked she could see that the manager was making slow progress through them and that those that had been completed had different challenging targets for each member of staff and clear accounts of discussions about their career aspirations. She was impressed to see that two of the assistants on the department had recently been successful at an assessment centre to get onto the organisations internal management development programme. She also noticed that the staff attitude survey indicted this department had some very satisfied employees who would ‘recommend working for the company to friends and family’.

The Night shift team has the smallest number of employees in the store and are responsible for replenishing the shelves from the late night delivery before the store opens at 7am. Made up of five full time members of staff who have been with the store for many years and supported by a team of part time employees, including a large number of students the HR manager was concerned to see high staff turnover in this team and difficulties recruiting replacements despite the late night shift payments. The early morning managers complained to the HR manager that they frequently come in to find the delivery hasn’t been completed and that trolleys of stock and waste packaging have been left in the customer aisles. Recently a trolley of frozen food was left out too long by the Night shift team and had to be thrown away. This had a disappointing effect on the stores wastage results given all the efforts the Grocery team had been placing on reducing this figure.

Stopping over night to observe the team in action the HR manager notices that the Night Shift Manager adopts a very friendly and laid back approach to managing his team. He rolls up his sleeves and helps the team out – he certainly isn’t afraid of a bit of hard work. She doesn’t see him monitoring the speed at which individuals unpack boxes onto the shelves however, an important organisational measure referred to as ‘case rate’. At tea break she notices the full time and part time members of staff sit at separate tables. The full timers laugh when she asks them about their appraisal targets and complain they are run off their feet trying to get the job done because the part timers are so hopeless. She can see their point as she has to speak to a number of part time staff during the night who appear to be standing around doing nothing but finds when she gets the manager to give them some clear direction about what he wants them to do next they work quickly and efficiently.

A copy of this sheet MUST be completed and inserted at the front of your assignment

Understanding People in Organisations 4HR503

Student Number:

Please note: You must submit your work using your student number to identify yourself, not your name. You must not use your name in the text of the work at any point. When you submit your work in Turnitin you must submit your student number within the assignment document and in the Submission title field in Turnitin.

1. I confirm that this assignment includes my answers to all 5 short questions

2. I request that the following questions are assessed for grading on this assignment:

Question 1:

Question 2:

Question 3:

Question 4:

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