Organisational behaviour essay

1. 0 Introduction The aim of this report is to analyse two companies who have significantly different organisational structures.

It will analyse the relationship between an organisations structure and culture and the effects on the business performance. Also the factors which influence an individual’s behaviour at work will be looked into. The two companies that will be focused on are: 1. 1 British Telecom (BT) BT is a leading communications solutions provider serving customers throughout the world.

It provides Networked IT, telecommunications and broadband services to some 20 million customers in the UK. It also provides services to other licensed operators. 1. 2 Part Motor Factors Part Motor Factors is a small car mechanics business located in Ashton-In-Makerfield.

It also has a car accessories store next to the garage. They deal with local customers providing service, repair and spare car parts. 2. 0 Organisational Structure Organisational Charts for both BT and PMF have been placed in the appendix of this report.

2. 1 BT It is important that BT has a good structure because without it the performance of the business would lack. They do this by allocating responsibilities, decision making, co-ordination, control and reward. These aspects are obviously managed to at least a reasonable standard because of the successful business BT has become, and wouldn’t have become without it. BT is formally structured but is supported by some flexibility to meet variations in demand of their service. (Mullins 2005) 2. 1.

1 Tall Organisation If we refer to the organisational chart (see appendices) it is obvious that BT utilises a tall hierarchical structure (Buchanan & Huczynski 2004 page 468). BT didn’t necessarily intend the organisation to be of a tall nature but it has become one because of the different sectors they have and the amount of people that work for the company. If it was a flat organisation the higher levels of management would have an extremely limited amount of time to put toward each sections needs and there could be a tendency for the managers to neglect areas they are not as strong in, leaving the workers and supervisors to run them. This obviously means that the manager’s span of control is low over the business. Being a tall organisation then poses the following advantages and disadvantages.

Advantages: The efforts of each individual or section can be focused and there is no confrontation as to who does what •It has made it easier for BT to be controlled as there are less people for each level to deal with in this situation •Because there are less people to deal with, it also means that for the management, their time can be spent more on their specific task than dealing with a wider range of employees •Employees are more specialised, only having to deal with one situation means they can focus their efforts more and have a greater understanding of their field of work •Multiple levels of control offer higher chances of promotion for employees. Within BT this has created an increase of motivation, and competitiveness between employees to increase their productivity in order to achieve promotions. This obviously decreases the workload of the business and targets are better achieved •Having smaller groups or teams means more input from employees at team meetings which wouldn’t be seen in a nationwide workforce level team Disadvantages •Though higher management are the ones making the decisions, it doesn’t necessarily mean they are the right ones as they aren’t the ones on the front line. The first example that comes to mind is the engineers work areas. If each engineer was to visit only customer premises in their own town, each engineer would spend the majority of their working day on site rather than travelling to the town it is in. At the same time another engineer in that town could be travelling to the town you live in – obvious waste of time and fuel. •There is an increased amount of admin and this auses greater overheads •With many levels in a hierarchy the same work may be passed through many hands which is wasting time •Decisions within BT usually take a long time to go into action and they are initially harder to get authorized than in flat organisations •Because workers are so specialised it would be hard for them to find work elsewhere, such as BT engineers would find it hard to get employment elsewhere as there are very few telecommunications engineering companies in the UK •Delegation of work is often inhibited which can often create more pressure for the lower levels of the hierarchy.

A great recent example of this is vehicle checks. Every engineer in BT has to carry out vehicle checks at the start of the day which takes 10 minutes, yet the working day hasn’t been made 10 minutes longer and the same amount of customers are to be visited in that day causing more pressure. It is hard for new ideas which are inventive or time saving to be implemented because it is impossible to speak to the higher levels of management which can put them in practice •Finally as mentioned in many of the disadvantage points, the communication in the company can be bad, it can be impossible to contact the higher levels of management who make things happen, and whenever the workforce has questions or suggestions it can take many weeks to get replies because of the amount of hierarchal communication involved to get them •Higher level managers are paid a great deal more than subordinates are and this costs the business a lot of money 2. 1. 2 Multidivisional matrix structure (Lisa Bolton, see app for web link) (Mullins 2005 page 618) BT shows aspects of many different types of structure yet mainly it is a multi divisional matrix one. Although most theories are branding organisations as one type of organisational structure, it can be seen within BT that many different methods of structure are adopted and an example of this is the matrix structure. There is a lot of horizontal communication between the Openreach engineering department and the BT Retail sales department. For example when an engineer must advise a customer there will be a charge for the call out to a premises for a line which is faulty due to customers fault.

The engineer will refer them to the sales department with which they were originally dealing with. The engineer’s management may also communicate with the sales department on time related charges and so on. This shows that the organisation isn’t just managed vertically but horizontally and this is usually how organisations work in practice.

Although it helps to break the departmental communication boundaries it sacrifices a rule of organisational structures, which is unity of command. When BT is thinking of creating new products and services, teams of people are put together from different departments for the purpose of that project. They are lead by project managers and often the team will only exist for the duration of that project. This can be advantageous as problems can be viewed in a different way in a new environment and those people can be chosen depending on the needs of the project. However as mentioned before in disadvantages to tall organisations, when the project ends it is possible that the project managers stay at management level pay and this is costing the business more money. It may also mean that as employees have a project manager and a line manager, disruption may be caused due to issues such as loyalty.

According to Bartlett and Ghoshal (Mullins 2005), matrix structures have proved all but unmanageable. Dual reporting leads to conflict and confusion’ proliferation of channels of communication creates information log-jams; and overlapping responsibilities result in a loss of accountability. The main reason BT has to do this is because it isn’t possible for one manager to take care of both their everyday line managing duties and the duties of project management. It happens on a larger scale across the whole of BT too, where as it is shown in the BT organisational chart that they have sections such as Global, Openreach and Exact. Each section will include some technical, accounting and sales involvement and it would be impossible for one manager to control all three, so again using the matrix structure it is sectioned out. 2.

1. 3 Formal and Informal Practices (Buchanan & Huczynski 2004 page 475)Formal and informal elements of BT’s every day work often coincide with one another. Examples of this are start and finishing times, though the laptop requires signing on at 7: 40 and off at 15: 40 (formal practice) the informal practice would be dependant on individual and circumstance, and it is possible to start and finish at alternative times.

Another would be the use of tools. Formal practice is to use them for work only (not a rule but preferred), the informal practice would be to use them for personal use also. 2. 1. 4 Centralisation (Steven Margetts, see app for web link) (Mullins 2005 page 608) BT’s practices are extremely centralised. The decisions are made by the higher management who are regarded as more experienced and they believe that the policies are then more consistent throughout the company.

It also helps in times of crisis (such as Openreach’s enormous work stack) where strong leadership is required by the central top group of managers. However it has had an effect on the line managers as it may frustrate them when they have to consult higher position employees to put decisions into action, and often good ideas have been overlooked by them, the experts in their field. 2. 2 PMF Part Motor Factors is very different from BT. The company isn’t so intensely structured, and this is because of the size.

While BT requires many different levels of management, it would be neither practical nor necessary for a smaller company like PMF to operate like this. There isn’t the massive amount of staff in the business so if we refer to the Part Motor Factors organisational chart we can see that it is only necessary for a top manager and management for the two sections of the business. It means that the running of both sections can be left to the divisional managers while the whole picture can be looked at solely by the highest management. 2.

2. 1 Flat Organisation Referring to the organisational chart for PMF (see app), the structure is the opposite of BTs Tall one, PMF operate under a Flat structure (Buchanan & Huczynski 2004 page 468). Part Motor Factors is an established business and has been running for a number of years, they haven’t expanded very far but had they chosen to they may have been moving toward a tall structure as they are on the verge of doing so now. At the moment there is no need for many levels of seniority in their hierarchy as there isn’t the great amount of employees BT has. It would cause unnecessary spending on things like increased admin and paying higher wages to the higher levels in the hierarchy. However, if it had a tall structure like BT, there would be more chance for employees to progress their career and each individual may have a more specific role, meaning their time and efforts can be concentrated on their task. The advantages and disadvantages facing a flat structured company like Part Motor Factors are listed below: Advantages: •Usually flat organisations have close knit relationships since there are fewer people and those are seen more often.

In the case of PMF, the engineers work in the same garage together day in day out and it often helps motivation to work when people are happier. •Less bureaucracy and easier decision making. Which could either be less time to put the decisions into practice or easier to pass those decisions in the first place.

•Fewer levels of management which includes benefits such as lower costs as managers are generally paid more than workers. It also may mean the manager has more idea of how the business would better run. As mentioned earlier, if engineers were kept in their area less time would be spent on travelling, this isn’t changed because higher level mangers do not realise this. •It can also be cheaper to operate because there are less admin costs.

•The workers will be more involved and see their contribution help the business succeed •The workers will also have a more in-depth knowledge of the business Disadvantages: •The function of each employee in PMF is often blurred and they may merge into the job roles of others. Perhaps an engineer working in the shop or an engineer taking more of a managing role than the engineering department manager himself. •The manager may think they are in control of the business but they sometimes may get a superficial idea of what is actually happening in the business.

The span of control is wider and this means the top manager has more to deal with, indicating there is less control of the business than in a multi layered hierarchy. •Though there are closer relationships there are less people in the business, it can be frustrating to be with the same people for prolonged periods of time •Conflicts over promotion between employees and employees to managers. There is a tendency for fewer promotions in flat organisations, as there aren’t the positions to go to. •The top manager may have a grand idea but they will often overlook the reality of things. Having less layers of management it is often hard to turn these grand ideas in operational activities. 2. 2. Client and Multifunctional based (Lawton & Rose 1994 page 49) (Lisa Bolton, see app for web link) PMF is constructed around its clients.

It is very easy to see this as they have two departments, retail and technical. This is catering for each client type they would expect to require service or goods from them and those groups are responsible for the services that affect those client groups. To cater for their customers, they have a multi functional design also. The functions are finance, sales and marketing, technical (service/repair, engineering) and some administrative. 2. 2. 3Formal and Informal Practices (Buchanan & Huczynski 2004 page 475)An example of a formal practice in PMF, which is the opposite to BT, would be the start and finish times. This would be a lot more important in PMF than BT because employees are under the nose of the management at all times, and the amount of work done is of a lot more importance because it is a small firm.

A similarity to BT is the use of tools for personal use. In BT there will always be work for the employees to do day in day out but in PMF there may not, so the employees may just clean the garage up and make an early finish for the day. 2. 2.

4 Decentralisation (Lawton & Rose 1994 page 56) (Mullins 2005 page 608) PMF is a decentralised company due to a few reasons. There are fewer staff nd levels of management, if the top management isn’t present for some reason or hasn’t the time to deal with all decision making, the “ junior” levels of management will make them (because flat organisations managers find to have a lot more work on their hands). The engineering management or shop management may also be more expert in their field to make correct decisions than the head. 3. 0 Organisational Culture For Edgar Schein, (1985) ‘ organisational culture is the pattern of shared basic assumptions that a given group has invented, discovered or developed, in learning to cope with its problems of external adaptations and internal integration, and that have worked well enough to be considered valid and therefore, to be taught to new members as the correct way to perceive, think and feel in relation to these problems’. Importance of CulturePeters and Waterman (1982) found that the ‘ dominance and coherence of culture’ was an essential feature of the ‘ excellent’ companies they observed. A ‘ Handful of guiding values’ was more powerful than manuals, rule books norms and controls formally imposed (and resisted). They commented: ‘ If companies do not have strong notions of themselves, as reflected in their values, stories, myths and legends, people’s only security comes from where they live on the organisation chart’.

Culture is important because it affects the motivation and satisfaction of employees by using guiding values instead of rules and controls. It will further an employees opinion on their value to the company, and the trust they have for it. It can aid adaptability of the organisation such as encouraging innovation (mentioned before as hard to implement due to levels in hierarchy), risk taking and embracing new technologies and methods. The last point plays a big role in BT. Having mentioned that a lot of employees have worked for BT many years, sometimes they find it hard to use new technology. The engineers in BT sometimes use old engineering equipment rather than the new just because they ‘ think’ it is better but rather they do not want to change.

Changes in engineers ‘ patch’ are never welcomed and even when they have been working on a patch for years that they originally didn’t want to, they don’t want to change to a more convenient patch later on. 3. 1 BTSee appendix for BT’s vision, strategy and values. 3. 1. 1 Networks and linkages (Edgar Schein 1985) External Adaptation Specific Goals To maintain/develop the telecommunications network effectively to compete with competitors and provide a level playing field with those competitors. Core Mission To provide services and products that customers will trust and benefit from, and to prompt customers to use those services as much as possible.

Means of Accomplishing Goals Supplying training to staff, allowing the swap of roles between staff so that they have more knowledge and there is no “ passing the book”, loyalty to employees (majority of employees work with BT for a lifetime) via rewards etc. Finally they live their brand values effectively (see app). Criteria for Measuring Results Analysing work stack such as outstanding faults/provides and comparing the amount cleared to amount expected to be cleared and comparisons to last year. Also looking at performance figures; dividends, turnover, profit, number of employees and number of UK lines. Also looking at customer feedback as customer satisfaction is also a big part of achieving wished for results.

3. 1. 2 Internal Integration Language and ways of thinking The work force usually talks in a formal manner to the first line manager and likewise with the rest of the hierarchy upwards.

Employees usually talk nformally to other employees of the same team or area with which they are regularly acquainted, however age can change this informal type of communication as a young employee would generally be expected to show more respect in the way they talk to and treat older employees even in the same team. Sector/Division also plays a big part, though working for the same company, like outside of work you generally have a more respectful way of talking to people with which you are not familiar. Finally the language used with customers is the biggest difference in the company, many abbreviations and short hand terms are simplified and jargon isn’t used when talking to customers.

Boundaries and Inclusion Human Resource in BT has been outsourced to a company called Accenture, this is because it removes the requirement to employ/retrain staff for the roles of a new sector. In telephone exchanges there has recently been a wave of contracted engineers to work on the network frames due to an increase in customers for broadband on other competitor’s lines, such as TalkTalk’s free broadband. The cleaning and security staff has also been outsourced and security equipment on buildings is also provided from external businesses. Status, Power and Authority Promotions based on time of service, requirements of company, results of employee and their suitability for the role wanted. Work Relationships and Friendship Enhancement in relation and friendships are made by swapping roles in departments, meeting new people and learning new things. Team Christmas Do’s such as go-carting and an email sent out recently to our team inviting us to a Territorial Army leadership and teambuilding weekend.

Reward and Punishment AllocationRewards may be given to individuals such as increased annual leave for time of service, pay rise or bonus for year’s performance or a team reward such as the ? 500 for a team activity. Punishment is disciplinary. 3. 2 Culture Type 3. 2.

1 Role Culture This is the most applicable type of culture to BT, and this is what Charles Handy (1993) had to say about the Role Culture: Typically found in bureaucracies, these structures are based on logic and rationality. They are called role cultures because the positions in the organisation are more important than the individuals who fill them. In this way, a company can survive over time. It exists beyond the contributions of particular individuals and successively recruits people into preset roles. Given this, position power is the main power source rather than personal power and the main source of influence are the rules and procedures. The image of a Greek temple best shows a role culture, the pillars are the functions such as Retail, Wholesale, Openreach and Exact, and the relations between them are controlled by roles, rules and procedures. The roof is the senior management. Temples become unstable when the ground shakes and they are only safe and successful in a stable environment.

3. 3 PMF 3. 3. 1 Networks and linkages (Edgar Schein 1985) External Adaptation Specific Goals To provide services and products to the local community and providing those services and products at rates which are competitive in some way to their rivals. Core MissionProviding services and products which the local community will trust and rate highly, in order to keep hold of those customers and entice new ones. Means of accomplishing goals Employing fully trained mechanics only except for school leavers and training those as apprentices, they become future staff who haven’t had their frame of mind set by another company’s ways already, however they only employ a few apprentices due to the size of the firm. They also force training in store for the mechanics as to cover for the shop assistants when not in work.

Criteria for measuring results Turnover, profit and customer feedback on satisfaction. 3. 3. 2 Internal Integration Language and ways of thinkingThere are not many levels in the hierarchy in PMF and because the management often do the same job as the staff, the communication is always informal to all levels and both departments. The departments are linked closely and things such as Christmas Do’s are for both teams together. The only time there is formal communication is at disciplinary and in front of customers, to portray a professional look, as this can contribute to a customer’s perception of a company. Again similar to BT, no jargon or technical talk/terms are used to customers unless they are knowledgeable in mechanics and it is appropriate.

Boundaries and Inclusion Human Resources and accountancy has been outsourced in PMF and cleaning is hired from a local company. Status, Power and AuthorityPromotions are not often seen in PMF because there just aren’t the positions to be promoted to. However authority can often switch hands depending on availability of managers and so on.

More responsibility is put onto each employee too because there are not so many levels of management, and everything cannot be handled by the manager due to time. Work Relationships and Friendship Relationships in PMF are closer than in BT, they are with the same people all the time and there isn’t competitiveness for promotions, because they aren’t there. People do not have hidden agendas because of this and none needs to be wary of others actions. Enhancements in relationships are made via Christmas do’s. Reward and Punishment Allocation Rewards are pay rises and individual bonuses.

Punishment is the same as BT, Disciplinary. 3. 4 Culture Type 3. 4. 1 Power Culture This is the most appropriate model for PMF and this is what Charles Handy (1993) had to say about the Power Culture: Typically found in small entrepreneurial organisations dependant on a single power source this may be either one individual, or, more usually, a core group.

Its structure is best pictured as a web (below) with rays of influence spread out from the centre. There is little bureaucracy, and unencumbered by formal structures and systems, reactions to opportunities and threats can be quick. Success, however, hinges on the quality of the power source and whether or not the power holders make the right decisions. Power cultures place much faith in individuals; but they judge by results, so life within them can be tough for the individual. If those outside the ‘ power source’ fall out of line with ‘ official’ thinking and make a ‘ wrong’ decision, they will be pushed out of the organisation. Organisations are likely to grow and so this kind of culture is difficult to emulate in large firms. 4. 0 Individual Behaviour 4.

1 Personality (Mullins 2005) There are a number of ways in which individual’s behaviour at work is affected. Those include personality, perception, attitude, ability and in some instances atmosphere/surrounding area. Individual Behaviour has been touched upon throughout the report, instances such as promotions effecting relationships and pressure by management. A definition of personality is: Personality refers to the psychological qualities that influence an individuals characteristic behaviour patterns, in a distinctive and consistent manner, across different situations and over time. Individuals have a unique set of characteristics that will make them behave in a certain way, there is a debate to whether heredity or environment influences personality.

To me a combination of the two seems most likely as two people in the same environment may act differently. Because of these influences, two approaches to studying personality have been put together, those are: 4. 1.

Nomothetic (Mullins 2005, page 343 onwards) This approach to personality study suggests that personality is almost fixed and that various elements or traits (characteristics) are common to all individuals. It is the combination of these traits which culminates in the personality being determined. The main aim of this approach is to predict behaviour, those in favour of this approach would argue that it is possible to measure and predict the ways in which personality types would behave given certain circumstances. The influence of environmental and social factors are seen as minimal, personality is viewed as consistent and largely inherited. BTHans Jurgen Eysenck’s trait theory applies to BT somewhat when choosing employees, looking for a particular type of trait that would suit the job best, since all traits pose advantages and disadvantages. If we look at the customer service engineer position within BT as an example, we can see that BT requires the ‘ Stable’ trait of hans’ four examples. In a perfect world the best traits from each of hans’ four examples would be desired by any company, but this is obviously impossible.

The role requires an employee to be self confident to tackle new challenges in hundreds of different atmospheres, optimistic and easy going as the job has its low points and most importantly be able to solve their own problems. When entering a customer premises, whether residential or business, the atmosphere will be somewhat different each time, being able to tackle nerves of such a big job and think clearly to complete the job alone without help is a great advantage to the engineer, as pestering their coach all day everyday is not convenient for either of them. Confidence also plays a big part in being able to solve their own problems, you have to be confident enough to carry out the task required of you, there are risks, but you must be confident that you will perform correctly. BT employs people on the basis that they have hans’ ‘ Stable’ traits but often what is portrayed by people in interview is often not what they are like in practice. This is because people make an effort to portray themselves the way they think is wanted, and working in BT’s customer service engineering department there can be seen employees who have the ‘ Neurotic’ traits but mostly the ‘ Extrovert’ traits rather than what was initially wanted. Though this is fooling the company it is not always a bad thing, each trait cluster offers different advantages and disadvantages, and BT line managers often accommodate for these traits by the roles each engineer plays in the team. People who crack under pressure like neurotics are often put inside the telephone exchange away from the customer premises where pressure is low and life is much easier performing tasks inside out of the rain and cold in winter. On the other hand people’s good traits are exploited and the ones who are extremely confident will be allocated the more difficult tasks.

Those being multi span poles (where a telephone wire is carried over multiple telegraph poles) being erected or in massive warehouses like the one that was recently visited, Tremco. PMF Many of the implications of the Nomothetic approach on BT also apply to PMF, however the difference is that different trait clusters may be looked for (unintentionally) to fit specific roles, in a smaller business. It is to be expected that different types of personality cluster will be seen in a wide scale business such as BT, but in a small one like PMF there will be stricter and more rigorous employing techniques to find an exact fit for the job. A shop assistant would probably be best suited by an Extrovert because there isn’t too much paperwork and communicating with customers on a daily basis is part of the job. Being friendly with a customer is necessity for building relationships and this is often easy for Extroverts to do. On the other hand they may want some of the aspects of the stable cluster in engineers, as practical work often requires personal quick judgments which can be important, so they obviously need the confidence in themselves, like BT engineers, that they are competent. The worrying aspect of choosing your employees in this way is that some clusters clash with others.

This is avoided, thankfully, in PMF because the personality types that are needed for different roles aren’t performed in the same places. So any personality types that wouldn’t be good together are avoided anyway, thus a manager has had no requirement to highlight and fix compatibility issues. This isn’t possible in BT, so they try and relocate engineers in different patches as to avoid each other if necessary. It can be avoided without change as the engineers work alone, so are not with the others often. Last resorts to clashes in personality would be to remove the cause of the problem. 4. 1. 2 Idiographic (Mullins 2005, page 346 onwards) With this approach personality is expressed through personal experience and development.

It is seen as the product of the interaction with the environment and other people. In this approach it’s assumed that individuals have unique traits that are not directly comparable with those of others. Another assumption is that hereditary factors are only part of our nature, and experience, reflection and reasoning are also contributing influences on our behaviour. It also works on the basis that we behave according to self image and that personality is susceptible to change because of social interaction and experience. A definition of personality from the idiographic perspective, has been described by Mead (1934) as: ‘ A person is a personality because he belongs to a community, because he takes over the institutions of that community into his own conduct’ 4. 2 PerceptionPerception is something relating to everyone, so the discussion about it for BT and PMF is the same.

There are managers and the workforce in every business and this means there will be different perceptions in each worker and workers to managers. There may be illogical thinking by workers because their perception of situations such as vehicle checks in a morning. They will see it as added pressure where as the manager will see it as another ‘ pass the book’ so that the workers are to blame if there is a fault with their vehicle. These kinds of issues are clashes between managers and the workforce and are the most common type, because they are experiencing the work in a different way. This is because managers don’t always see everything and know all the implications of the jobs and are demanding more of the workforce, and there is a typical attitude of the workforce thinking ‘ he does nothing but sit at his laptop and mess about on the internet all day’ meaning the manager.

Managers have to consider whether things are being misinterpreted in situations and in order to avoid this, they could get those involved together to define the situation as they see it. This happens on a regular basis in BT. when engineers require assistance each engineer might have a different opinion as to what the fault on a line is or what the best route for running cable is. They may often misinterpret a buildings size or lay out and this can cause problems when they begin the work, if they do not discuss it. There are different departments in both BT and PMF and in each department it is likely that a different culture is in place. This culture affects the perception of the workers, as an environment which isn’t stressful and everyone relies on each other for different things may contribute to people perceiving their work as pleasant or unpleasant.

4. 3 Attitude (Mullins 2005 page 355 onwards) Attitude towards a task will greatly influence our behaviour and response to it. From a management perspective then, an understanding of worker attitudes should lead to the ability to predict possible behaviour. Individual Behaviour at work in BT and PMF is influenced by the attitudes towards work but are those are very different.

The individual’s way of thinking is the random factor and it is based on their perceptions and personality. The conditions are where the attitudes toward their work change, and the rules and procedures are different. They are two different companies with different goals and are of different sizes and structure types. Because BT is so large there seems to be less urgency to get work done, employees aren’t under the nose of the manager all the time and their job is more secure than in a small company like PMF, employees tend to take more laid back approach to working because of this, and although they have these advantages they still look at the negative sides such as the procedures as mentioned earlier (one engineer in town your going to, he is sent to the one your working in) and this can hamper their motivation to work efficiently, as the system isn’t efficient itself. Its already been mentioned that there are chances for promotion, and this creates motivation to impress managers. It causes friction between the workforce and in a company like PMF promotions would be a talked about subject, where as in BT it is more for a taboo because they are sought after.

This shows that there may be less co-operation between employees in BT and communication between them and on an organisational scale may be less. Finally there is no doubt that there is varying degrees of commitment, it has been mentioned that BT is a Role Culture and because of this positions are available to whoever tries to get them. This is where you see the engineering staff putting less effort into their working life than the managers, who became managers because of the attitude they have toward work, which is of high commitment. PMF workers may dislike working more than BT employees (though their relationships with colleagues are better) because there is more emphasis on performance and targets on a smaller scale, where one slip up could be drastic for a company of its size. There is more of a ‘ us vs them’ situation in a small organisation like PMF too, similar to that on coronation streets Baldwin factory. Uncontrollable factors are those attitudes employees bring with them to the job such as people, politics, religion etc and are the same in any organisation. 4. 4 Ability Different jobs require different skills, competencies and abilities.

It is also true that we as individuals vary with regard to mental abilities and the extent to which they are applied at work. Ability can be defined as something that an individual can do, or is good at. This can be confused with an aptitude which is slightly different in that it is capacity to learn develop skills and abilities.

An example of this in BT is when employing apprentices. They must take aptitude tests and an interview. Though the work isn’t extremely technical they try to match the abilities needed to perform the engineers role, to that of the individuals skills and abilities. The interview is to determine whether that individual has a willingness to perform those tasks and whether the conditions they will perform the tasks in are suited to t