Organisational Culture, Behavior, Politics Business Environment Assignment Sample

Organisational Culture, behaviour, politics and the dynamics of the business environment assignments

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Executive Summary

Organisation behaviour is the study, wherein the way individuals interact within a team or a group is studied. The main idea of studying the organisational behaviour is to understand how scientific approach can be applied to the management of workers. In this report, the basic of organisational behaviour and culture was covered. The main idea was to understand how organisational culture, behaviour, politics affect the dynamics of the business environment. For this purpose, Google was chosen as the reference organisation. The role and functions of manager were elaborated along with the risks associated with them. In addition to this, the report also discussed the some impacts of ethics and code of conduct on the business. Moreover, a small discussion on impact of political and social environment was also done.

Introduction

This is a descriptive report, wherein the focus on organisational behaviour and organisational culture will be laid down. The report is divided into different parts. The first section will cover the organisational behaviour and culture. The main idea is to understand how organisational culture, behaviour, politics affect the dynamics of the business environment. For this purpose, Google is chosen as the reference organisation. The latter section of the report will cover the role and functions of manager along with the risks associated with them. In addition to this, the report also discusses the some impacts of ethics and code of conduct on the business. Furthermore, a small discussion on impact of political and social environment will also done.

Organisational Culture, behaviour, politics and the dynamics of the business environment- A case of Google

Preamble: Organisation and its management emerge out of organisational culture, which is usually defined as a well-defined system of values, norms, assumptions, and attitude. All these attributes are demonstrated as symbols developed by the members working in an organisation. These help them to interpret and understand the meaning of the business environment around them. In today’s day and age, organisations are looking at innovative technology to integrate it with the organisational culture. Google is one such organisation that has successfully combined organisational culture with technological innovation.  

Case Study: The success of Google is often relate to its effective organisational culture and structure. The organisational structure is quite different from the conventional structure. It puts a significant amount of focus on flat structure (Elsmore, 2017). Apart from this, the organisation’s culture emphasises transformation and changes. Due to this strong alignment, the company is achieving success after success and is expanding globally.

Three Organisational Theories: There are three organisational theories that an organisation can follow, namely classical theory, neo-classical theory, and modern organisation theory. Out of these three forms, Google follows the neo-classical theory because it support the idea of flatness in the organisational structure (Skrtic, 2013).  

Role and Functions of Managers

Before discussing the functions of the managers working at Google, it is important to understand that Google follows a cross-functional organisational structure. This kind of corporate structure is characterised as matrix form with certain degree of flatness. This flatnesssupports in the company’s expansion and growth. The managers at Google follows the democratic style of leadership. It is well known that a good manager can be the backbone of a successful team. Since Google is one of those organisations which are rapidly changing its modus operandi due to ever-changing market scenarios. Google has determined eight functions and roles that every manager associated with it should perform:-

• Coaching: Google has determined that manager who provide regular coaching to the employ and challenge them in order to trigger their performance. Manager should not discriminate between the star performer and other average performers. They should regularly provide feedback of their work to them.
• Empowering Team and Avoid Micromanaging: In one of the research, Google figured out that the major mistake that could harm the team member is micromanaging. Manager should not put his hand in every field instead it should focus on a particular aspect in order to give the best results. This would also help in empowering the team.
• Developing an Inclusive Environment within the Team:The managers should show keen interest in the success of the team members and their concerns and personal well-being. This is important in Google as it improves the psychological safety that leads to improvement in risk-taking abilities.
• Productive and Result-Oriented:Google believes that employees don’t want to work with the unproductive and lazy managers or team leaders. They’d like to be a part of effective and efficient team. Manager needs to be a role model for the whole team and should be result oriented.
• Good Communicator:A good manager should also be a good communicator. If the ideas of the manager are unable to reach his subordinates, then this may result in poor performance of the team. In addition to this, the manager should be a good listener too and welcome new ideas from the team members (Neuliep, 2017).  
• Performance Appraisal and Career Development: Google emphasises that managers should discuss the performance with the employees and they should be aware of the expectations they should be accomplishing. Managers should be assisting in the skill development and career advancement of the employees.
• Make strategies for the team: Employees want their manager to interpret the superiorvisions for them. They want the management to make strategies not only for the benefits of the company but also for their personal achievements. In addition to this, a clear and shared vision can be very helpful in making the team work effectively and efficiently.
• Decision-making: Google believes that manager should listen to the subordinates and share information with them. Employees would also appreciate the manager who takes the strong decisions.

Risks Associated with the Managerial Post

According to Okoro, (2012), the management in Google seems the best in the world but there’s some price to be paid for that status and those extra perks. Being a manager in the world’s top software company means that one has to deal with issues that can bring a lot more sufferings. With the managerial post, comes a lot of challenges and risks that are discussed below:-

Employee Performance Issues: Dealing with employee performance issues has been the most common challenge faced by the majority of team leaders and managers working in Google. Despite being the most work-friendly and employee-friendly organisation, many performance issues may occur. Managers in Google regularly take constructive feedback in order to curb the performance related issues faced by the employees.

Terminating a Worker: Google is one of those companies that has achieved the highest ratings in employee retention and satisfaction. This is due to their organisational behaviour and lenient culture. Terminations are very rare but when they take place, they might be due to gut-wrenching. Google has well-structured and well-defined policies and employees are well versed with them. In case any employee breach them, the actions have to be taken against him/her and that may end up with the termination of the employee.

Hiring Decisions: Most of the hiring managers have admitted that making the final decision on the selection of the right candidate is very agonising. If the decision goes wrong, then the whole team would have to suffer.

Team Conflicts: Google hires people across the world and make them work as a team. Therefore, there is a high chance of them to have contradicting views on a particular aspect. This may result in a conflict that may cause severe harm to the team’s productivity and efficiency.

Project Risk: There are numerous projects on which Google is simultaneously working. Each project has innumerable risks that might increase the scope and project’s budget. As a leader project manager, one needs to think about the factors that may cause serious harm to the project.

Reputational Risks: Over the years, Google has gained a lot of reputation across the world both in terms of brand level and brand image. However, reputation is always at a high risk as it can be easily damaged. The managers have to be mindful of such major category of risks that basically associated with the manager’s actions (Nunn, 2012).

Impact of role of ethics and ethical practice

Ethics are code of conduct that guide an individual’s behaviour. In 2014, the top research organisation ‘Ethisphere’ ranked Google as the most ethical company across the world. Google is known for promoting ethical business standards and modus operandi. Many current and past workers have shared their experiences about the company. Google offers so much to its staff that they feel like home even at work. The company provides them healthcare services, childcare facilities, travel insurance, academic scholarships, and many more meaningful benefits. Apart from this, employees can spend 1 full day on their personal projects in order to provide them to go further with their passion. This may have many positive impact on the Google’s business:-

• Earning Trust: Employing the code of conduct will help the organisation to earn others’ trust and increase market credibility. In addition to this, organisation will earn employees’ respect as well (Park, et.al, 2013).
• Improving Reputation:Ethics and code of conducts also guides the process of dealing with the clients and customers. If they are satisfied with the services and are treated respectfully, the company’s reputation will improve.
• Building Brand Image and Business:The positive self-conduct of any business can help in gaining customer’s loyalty and will attract more opportunities for the business. Ethics can help in gaining the trust, thereby improving brand image.
• Beating Competition:Code of conducts and practicing ethics can help in gaining an edge over the competition. The ethical behaviour of the company will promote the business through word-of-mouth.

Impacts of politics and the social environment on the company

Google, being a global company, is quite vulnerable to changing social, political, legal, environment, and technological factors. Google has faced many antitrust actions from the European region. Many countries, such as North Korea, China, GCC members, etc., have put some restrictions on its way of conducting searches. Many governments have criticised Google for influencing the outcomes of the general elections. This has affected the cash flow of the company and forced the organisation to acquire small foreign firmsin order to avoid taxes. These factors can limit the growth of the company (Sicilia &Palazón, 2018).Company’s revenue and growth also depend on social factors. The modern era is witnessing the rapid growth of social media platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, etc. All this have limited the use of Google searches as now people can get information from these sources and they are spending their most of the browsing time on these platforms. In addition to this, the image of Google as sinister has also affected the business and brand image of the organisation. Some web users are now avoiding any contact with the company and its product.

Conclusion

This report talked about the organisational behaviour and culture in context of Google. It discussed the basic of organisational behaviour and culture. The main idea was to understand how organisational culture, behaviour, politics affect the dynamics of the business environment. For this purpose, Google was chosen as the reference organisation. The role and functions of manager were elaborated along with the risks associated with them. In addition to this, the report also discussed the some impacts of ethics and code of conduct on the business. Moreover, a small discussion on impact of political and social environment was also done.

References

• Elsmore, P., (2017). Organisational Culture: Organisational Change?: Organisational Change?.
• Graves, N. (Ed.). (2013). Learner managed learning: practice, theory and policy. Routledge Publisher.
• Hargie, O. (2013). Skilled interpersonal communication: Research, theory and practice. Routledge.

• Neuliep, J. W. (2017).  Intercultural communication: A contextual approach. Sage Publications.
• Nunn, N. (2012). Culture and the historical process.  Economic History of Developing Regions,  27(sup1), S108-S126.
• Okoro, E. (2012). Cross-cultural etiquette and communication in global business: Toward a strategic framework for managing the corporate expansion. International journal of business and management,  7(16), 130.
• Park, H. S., Levine, T. R., Weber, R., Lee, H. E., Terra, L. I., Botero, I. C., ... & Wilson, M. S. (2012). Individual and cultural variations in direct communication style.  International Journal of Intercultural Relations,  36(2), 179-187.

• Sicilia, M., & Palazón, M. (2018). Brand communities on the internet: A case study of Coca-Cola's Spanish virtual community.  Corporate Communications: An International Journal,  13(3), 255-270.
• Skrtic, T. M. (2013).  Behind special education: A critical analysis of professional culture and school organization. Denver, CO: Love Publishing Company.