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Assignment Front Sheet
Qualification Unit Number and Title
Pearson BTEC Level 4 HND Diploma in Business Unit 3: Organisations and Behaviour
Student Name Student No.
Assessor name Nadine Gibson
Date of Issue Completion date Submitted on
18th April 2014
30TH May 2014
Assignment title Organisation and Behaviour:
Learning
Outcome
Learning
outcome
Assessment
criteria
In this assessment you will
have the opportunity to
present evidence that shows
you are able to
Task
No.
Evidence
(Page no)
LO1 Understandtherelationshipbetweenorganisationalstructure andculture
1.1 Compare and contrastdifferent organisationalstructures and cultures
1
1.2 Explain how the relationshipbetween an organisation’sstructure and culture canimpact on the performance
1
1.3 Discuss the factors whichinfluence individual behaviour
at work
1
LO2 Understanddifferentapproaches tomanagementandleadership.
2.1 Compare the effectiveness ofdifferent leadership styles indifferent organisations
2
2.2 Explain how organisationaltheory underpins the practiceof management
2
2.3 Evaluate the differentapproaches to managementby different organisations
2
LO3 Understandways of usingmotivationaltheories in
3.1 Discuss the impact thatdifferent leadership stylesmay have on motivation inorganisations in periods of
3
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organisations change3.2 Compare the application of
different motivational theorieswithin the workplace
3
3.3 Evaluate the usefulness of amotivation theory formanagers
3
LO4 Understandmechanismsfor developingeffectiveteamwork inorganisations
4.1 Explain the nature of groupsand group behaviour withinorganisations
4
4.2 Discuss factors that maypromote or inhibit thedevelopment of effectiveteamwork in organisations
4
4.3 Evaluate the impact oftechnology on teamfunctioning within a givenorganisation
4
Learner declaration
I certify that the work submitted for this assignment is my own and research sources are fully
acknowledged.
Student Signature: Date:
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In addition to the above PASS criteria, this assignment gives you the opportunity to submit evidence in order to achieve the followingMERIT and DISTINCTION grades.
Grade Descriptor Indicative characteristic/s Contextualisation
M1 Identify and apply strategies tofind appropriate solutions
Effective judgements havebeen made
An effective approach tostudy and research has beenapplied
To achieve M1, you will make effective judgments about the organisationalstructure and culture that is most suitable to Zappos.(Task 1)
M2 Select/Design and applyappropriate methods/techniques
Relevant theories andtechniques have beenapplied
To achieve M2, you will have used relevant management theories to underpinand justify your arguments, particularly in terms of establishing the linkbetween management/leadership style and motivation as well as exploring theapproaches to motivation used by Zappos ( Task 2 & 3)
M3 Present and communicateappropriate findings
The appropriate structure andapproach have been used
A range of sources ofinformation has been used
To achieve M3, your work will be presented in the appropriate formats andpresentation. Evidence of wider reading and research. (Task 1,2,3 &4)
D1 Use critical reflection to evaluateown work and justify valid conclusions
Conclusions have beenarrived at through synthesisof ideas and have been
justified
To achieve D1, you will have drawn conclusions which underscore the linksbetween motivation, leadership, organisational structure and employeeperformance.( Task 1 &3)
D2 Take responsibility for managingand organising activities
Autonomy/ independencehas been demonstrated
To achieve D2, you will have displayed an effective approach to independentresearch. work is referenced appropriately using the Harvard system (Task
1,2,3 and 4)
D3 Demonstrate convergent/lateraland creative thinking
Effective thinking has takenplace in unfamiliar context
To achieve D3, you will need to demonstrate critical thinking and analysis. Youshould be able to link theory to practice. ( Task 1,2,3 & 4)
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Assignment Brief
Unit Number and title Unit 3: Organisations and Behaviour
Qualification Pearson BTEC Level 4 HND Diploma in Business
Start Date 18th April 2014
Deadline 30th May 2014
Assessor Nadine Gibson
Assignment title
Purpose of this assignment
This assignment explores the impact of individual and group behaviour within
organisations. It focuses on exploring the link between organisational structure and
culture and their impact on individual and group behaviour. Structure and culture are
influenced by the organisation’s size, the approach to leadership and management.
The structure and culture of an organisation are key factors contributing to the
motivation of the workforce at all level in the organisation. In addition, the assignment
will explore the links between structure and culture and effective team working.
De-layering, team-working, multi-skilling, integrated job descriptions and empowerment
are all features of modern organisations. All of which is centred on the need for more
flexible organisation and management in the face of continuous change.
Organisations have devolved from traditional hierarchical structures with rigid cultures,
to flatter structures with adaptive cultures and participative styles of management.
While most organisation evolution is often continuous, incorporating modern
management practice overtime, some organisations, such as Zappos, are taking a
more radical approach to organisational re-structuring.
Zappos, was founded in 1999 by Nick Swinmurn and has since become one of the
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largest online shoe stores. In 2009, Zappos was purchased by Amazon.
Zappos is known for its unconventional corporate culture. The company’s Q4 “All
Hands” meeting in November 2013 was aptly-themed “Gone Wild”: one female
employee voluntarily climbed into a case filled with tarantulas to win a $250 gift
card. The event opened with a Lion King performance put on by employees at the
Smith Center in downtown Las Vegas and closed with an after party at the museum
next door. Focusing on company culture and customer service is how CEO Tony Hsieh
built Zappos into a billion-dollar online retailer. While he’s not getting rid of those
priorities, Hsieh is laying the groundwork for a major reorganisation.
Zappos’ recently announced that its traditional organisational structure is being
replaced with Holacracy, a radical “self -governing” operating system where there are
no job titles and no managers. The term Holacracy is derived from the Greek
word holon, which means a whole that’s part of a greater whole. Instead of a top-down
hierarchy, there’s a flatter “holarchy” that distributes power more evenly. The company
will be made up of different circles—there will be around 400 circles at Zappos once
the rollout is complete in December 2014—and employees can have any number of
roles within those circles. This way, there’s no hiding under titles; radical transparency
is the goal.
CEOs who sign on to Holacracy agree to relinquish some level of power. The
advantage is that they get to view their company through an entirely different lens. But
it’s an adjustment for both leaders and employees. Zappos, which has 1,500
employees, will be the largest company to date to implement Holacracy.
“We’re classically trained to think of ‘work’ in the traditional paradigm,” says John
Bunch, who, along with Alexis Gonzales-Black, is leading the transition to Holacracy at
Zappos. “One of the core principles is people taking personal accountability for their
work. It’s not leaderless. There are certainly people who hold a bigger scope of
purpose for the organisation than others. What it does do is distribute leadership into
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each role. Everybody is expected to lead and be an entrepreneur in their own roles,
and Holacracy empowers them to do so.”
In its highest-functioning form, he says, the system is “politics-free, quickly evolving to
define and operate the purpose of the organization, responding to market and real-
world conditions in real time. It’s creating a structure in which people have flexibility to
pursue what they’re passionate about.”
Twitter Co-Founder Ev Williams is one of the system’s early adopters; he uses
Holacracy to run his publishing platform Medium, which has around 50 employees.
Jason Stirman, whose roles include head of people operations and product designer at
Medium, says that one of the best things about Holacracy is that it facilitates
autonomy. “Ev isn’t the CEO of Medium to have another title for his Twitter bio graphy.
He wants the company to operate at the highest level possible, and he recognizes that
all the power consolidated at top is great for people who are hungry but it can be a total
bottleneck. There are decisions he wants to make and the rest can be absorbed in
other areas of the organization.”
Still, Holacracy can feel unnatural, especially at first. Meetings are designed to rapidly
process tensions. The focus is on the work, not the people. “It’s not a very human -
centric model for things,” says Stirman. “For example, if you’re a junior designer,
Holacracy says that you should bring up everything in this forum, but it can be difficult
to ask for feedback or mentorship, especially when you’re new.”
Robertson says that Holacracy is meant to address structural issues, and that leaders
will respond to the human element in different ways. Medium has created mentorship
circles, and Zappos has similar plans. Williams and Hsieh both “have a high capacity to
see the complex systems at play in their organizations,” says Robertson. “It’s not linear
or a matter of just following the logical argument; it’s seeing the cloud of
interconnections and influences, beyond just cause and effect thinking.”
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At the Zappos “All Hands” meeting Hsieh said that at most companies, “there’s the
organisation chart on paper, and then the one that is exactly how the company
operates for real, and then there’s the organisation chart that it would like to have in
order to operate more efficiently. … [With Holacracy] the idea is to process tensions so
that the three organisational charts are pretty close together.”
Hsieh’s plans for Zappos are part of an even more ambitious undertaking. He’s
currently investing $350 million of his own fortune to transform downtown Las Vegas,
where Zappos’ is now headquartered, into an improved holarchical system. For Hsieh,
work, play and everything else are already a series of overlapping circles. (Source:
www.qz.com)
Task 1 (LO1: 1.1,1.2,1.3 and
(a) Discuss the advantages and disadvantages to Zappos (i) if they maintain a
traditional hierarchical structure, and (ii) if they adopt a flatter structure.
(b) Explain how the new organisational structure and culture may impact on bothemployee and organisational performance.
Task 2 (LO2: 2.1,2.2,2.3 and
Compare and contrast the leadership and management styles of Zappos with its
parent company Amazon. Use appropriate management and leadership theories to
underpin and justify your answer.
Task 3 (LO3: 3.1,3.2,3.3 and
(a) Examine how Zappos leadership style may affect the motivation of their
employees during the organisational re-structuring.
(b) Clearly defined job titles, responsibilities and authority have traditionally
been used as a means of motiving employees. Under the new organisation
structure there are no job titles or managers. Critically discuss the alternative
http://www.qz.com/http://www.qz.com/http://www.qz.com/
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approaches Zappos can use to motivate their staff.
(c) Evaluate the benefits of motivation to both Zappos and its employees.
Task 4 (LO4: 4.1,4.2,4.3 and
Zappos’s flatter organisational structure will be made of ‘circles’ or groups.
(a) Explain the behaviours and dynamics of groups, including the factors that may
inhibit effective group formation and teamwork.
(b) Discuss the strategies that Zappos can use to develop and promote effective
teamwork. Examine the impact of technology on teamwork.
Evidence
Checklist
Summary of evidence Evidence presented
Task 1 Essay (word count 750 max ) Task 2 Essay (word count 900 max)Task 3 Essay (word count 1100 max)Task 4 Essay (word count 750 max) AdditionalInformation
References ( Harvard referencing system)
Important
Plagiarism, collusion and non-compliance with assessment regulations are offences underthe awarding body regulations and where suspected will be thoroughly investigated underoff icial procedures.
Penalties may be imposed depending on the severity of the offence, as per the awardingbody guidance.
Appropriate citations of source documents are essential when presentingwritten/word processed work and it is crucial that you quote the books, journals,websites etc. that you used whilst you carried out desk research.
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Achievement Summary
Qualification Pearson BTEC Level 4 HNDBusiness
AssessorName
Nadine Gibson
Unit Numberand title
Unit 3: Organisations and Behaviour
Student Name Student No.
CriteriaReference
To achieve the criteria the evidence must show that thestudent is able to:
Achieved?(tick)
LO1
1.1 Compare and contrast different organisational structures and
culture1.2 Explain how the relationship between an organisation’sstructure and culture can impact on the performance if thebusiness
1.3 Discuss the factors which influence individual behaviour atwork
LO2
2.1 Compare the effectiveness of different leadership styles indifferent organisations
2.2 Explain how organisational theory underpins the practice ofmanagement
2.3 Evaluate the different approaches to management used bydifferent organisations
LO3
3.1 Discuss the impact that different leadership styles may haveon motivation in organisations in periods of change.
3.2 Compare the application of different motivational theorieswithin the workplace.
3.3 Evaluate the usefulness of a motivation theory for mangers
LO4
4.1 Explain the nature of groups and group behaviour withinorganisations4.2 Discuss the factors that my promote or inhibit the
development of effective teamwork in organisations4.3 Evaluate the impact of technology on team functioning within
a given organisation
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Grade Descriptor Achieved?(tick)
Grade descriptor Achieved?(tick)
M1 Indentify and applystrategies to find appropriatesolutions
D1 Use critical reflection toevaluate own work and justifyvalid conclusions
M2 Select/Design and applyappropriatemethods/techniques
D2 Take responsibility formanaging and organisingactivities
M3 Present andcommunicate appropriatefindings
D3 Demonstrateconvergent/lateral andcreative thinking
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Assignment Feedback
Formative Feedback: Assessor to Student
Action Plan
Summative feedback
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Feedback: Student to Assessor
Assessor
Signature
Date
Student
Signature
Date