Blog Eight: CSR

Corporate Social Responsibility

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is seen within a company that understands that their business impacts on more than just internal relations and focuses on issues outside them and develops ways in which to ensure decisions they make will have a positive impact on the wider world.

According to Mullins (2010), CSR is a concept that influences how an organisation should run and behave, based on many different factors including ethics, society, social, technical and the environment, all of which have an impact on the business.

CSR involves going a step further than just meeting legal requirements, therefore some organisations may choose not to have a large corporate responsibility, whereas others will ensure it is a big part of their business and the way they operate. Furthermore, some organisations may only include CSR into their operations because they feel pressured by public opinion of the topic or because their competitors are doing so.

After carrying out both primary and secondary research, including research using the FTSE4GOOD index, into companies that display CSR within the operation of their business I have discovered that the Kellogg’s Company see CSR as a way of life and largely demonstrate it within the running of their business.

The Kellogg’s company are so passionate and determined to prove their involvement in CSR they have a section on their website specifically dedicated to explaining to their customers what they are doing within the company and the way it is run to demonstrate this. Corporate Social Responsibility will vary for different organisations and between different countries and it is therefore important for a company like Kellogg’s that trades globally to ensure CSR is implemented with the understanding of these differences.

After reading the reports on the company’s CSR, I have discovered a number of examples including:

1)

As the BBC increasly report on the matter of obesity and the increase across the UK and USA in recent years.

“Obesity is a global issue, that requires global solutions.” (BBC News, 2011)

As a global distributor Kellogg’s Company’s have seen it their responsibility to get involved within the campaign to help obesity worldwide; the company have revised the ingredients within their products to ensure they are as healthy as possible. For example they reduced the amount of sugar and sodium within their products. This modification to ingredients will continue to develop to ensure it keeps up with the growing changes within the community of its consumers. They also set up programmes within communities to educate children on physical health, fitness and nutrition in order to further help promote healthier lifestyles and the knowledge to achieve this.

2)

Kellogg’s believe that their dedication to employing a diverse, skilled and talented workforce also reflects their social responsibility. Based on their consumer demographics, Kellogg’s aim to employ people in relation to this, who have knowledge of the local community. This helps provide jobs for the local community.

3)

Corporate social responsibility largely includes the local environment and the environment as a whole and therefore environmental responsibility is another aspect of CSR that the Kellogg’s company are continually working towards within all elements of the organisation, from the product development through to distribution of the product. Their ambition is to persist with increasing the amount of recycled material they use within their packaging and also changing any currently non-recyclable materials they use for alternatives that can be recycled. This kind of change could be extremely costly for the company, however the point of CSR is for the company to make these changes in spite of any negative financial impact it may have on the business.

Overall, Kellogg’s demonstrate a number of different ways in which they support and value their corporate social responsibility both locally and globally, which is vitally important for a multi-national organisation to consider when developing their responsibilities if they are going to be seen as effective or relevant.  

References:

BBC News. (2011) Obesity: The Story so far. [online]. Available from: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health/ {accessed: March 2012}

Kellogg Co. (2012) Corporate responsibility. [online]. Available from: www.kelloggcompany.com/corporateresponsibility.aspx {assessed: March 2012}

Mullins, L.J. (2010) Management & organisational behaviour. ninth edition. Essex: Pearson Education Limited.

Blog Seven: Personality

Personality

Personality is mix or combination of an individual’s characteristics, behavioural patterns and personal qualities. There can be many different elements and layers to an individual’s personality. Some would argue that this depends on their genes, whilst others may suggest that the environment helps build someone’s personality.

Nature and Nurture

The nature/nurture debate continues through the argument of whether personality is determined by an individual’s environment or their genes.

The nature views are based around the idea that personality is fixed and defined; the individual’s personality has been inherited from their parents and has not been affected by the environment they grew up in, or currently life or work in. The nature approach is strongly linked by the nomothetic approach, in which personality traits and characteristics that can be identified, tested and measured by someone else. The approach use these clusters of traits within a personality to help predict behavioural patterns, in order to achieve the main aim.

In contrast to this, the idiographic approach looks at personality more uniquely, suggesting that personality is a development process and will adapt and change depending on the environment around them, for example their work place. This approach also argues that personality is too in-depth to be calculated using simple questionnaires.

Whilst the nomothetic approach would argue that personalities of different people can be clustered together, opposite to this, the idiographic approach that personalities are unique and therefore cannot and should not be compared with others.

Personally, I feel that the idiographic approach, particularly that personality adapts and changes due to the environment someone is in, is more dominant in today’s society because people are having to cope, adapt and deal with many different issues. This kind of adapting may also cause people to change or alter their usual behaviour or characteristics and therefore their personality.

BBC’s Big Personality Test Results

After completing BBC’s online Big Personality Test, I have looked at my results and summarised them below.

Personality Traits:

These five different personality traits are have been created by clustering together specific results from the questionnaire.

Openness is scale of narrow mindedness to creativness, my results would suggest that I stick to what I know, rather than experiementing with new things or ideas. Although I feel this may be accurate to some extent, for example I tend to fear or question new things initally, however I feel that I am not totally narrow minded about trying them.

Conscientiousness is a scale from self-disiplined veruses disorganised, therefore someone with a result as high as mine, would imply that I am very organised and self-disiplined. It also highlights how hard-working and dependable an individiual is; my results displaying that I both dependable and hard-working.

Extroversion would describe the main emotions displayed by a person, someone with high results like mine would have very positive emotions versues someone who has a low result and is quiet or shy. I feel that this result accurately reflects my personality; I feel that I am very optomistic and energtic, with potential to take risks in order to achieve results, much like someone who would receive a result like mine.

Agreeableness results would indicate how straightforward, and sympathetic a person is towards others. My result implies that I have concern about others and am able to empathise.

Neuroticism relates to an individual’s personal feelings about themselves and attitudes to situations around them. For example how self-assured someone is and how they may react in tense situations. A result like mine suggests that I am confident within myself and have the ability to generally be level headed in most situations.

Conclusion

Looking at my results from the personality test, and two different approaches, I am inclined to agree more with the idiographic approach. Although the results from the Big Personality Test appear generally accurate, I feel that as a person, I adapt and change depending what situation or the environment that I am in. I also feel that this test cannot be 100% accurate because I also agree that personality traits cannot be clustered to come up with a general result. 


References:
BBC Lab UK. (2012) The Big Personality Test [online]. Available from: www.bbc.co.uk/labuk/experiments/personality/ {assessed: Feb 2012}

Blog Six: Perception & Communication

Perception and Communication

Perception

According to Positive Thinking Principles [online], perception is the process that occurs when your senses assess what is around you.

In the past I have made an initial snap judgment about a person when I first met them due to their appearance. When I was 15 I began my first job working in a pub-restaurant. When I met the Head Chef, Dave, a 6ft 3” built bald man covered in tattoos, I instantly made a judgment that Dave was a ‘thug’ like character and I assumed he would a very scary individual to work with. By the end of my first shift I realised I could have not been more wrong about him. He is extremely friendly, funny and has a heart bigger than anyone I know; there was absolutely nothing scary about him.

To avoid making another initial incorrect judgment about an individual in the future, I decided that I would not assume their character and personality due to what they looked like, and instead get to know them before creating a perception of them.

Communication

After reading Rebecca Clake’s How to… improve staff communication article in People’s Management Magazine (July 2010), I have identified three ways to help improve communication between the University and the students.

The article was written after the results from the CIPD employee outlook survey displayed results that fewer than half of the participants in the survey felt aware or informed about what was going on within the organisation or company they worked for. The article outlines a number of steps to avoid happening within organisations and to help promote communication.

1)Leaders Skills:

By ensuring that all individuals who have a lead role within the University have appropriate communication skills to deliver a range of different messages using a range of communication methods will help the University effectively communicate with their students. During the University’s recruitment process a communication assessment could take place to determine the skills of each potential employee. Existing employees could be offered communication development training in order to benefit themselves and therefore the organisation.

Employees of the University should have the confidence, and access to communicate with other employees within the organisation, this includes both individuals who are ranked higher than them and also the individuals who work below them. Face to face communication with other employees is important to ensure that any information being passed on is correct before it is repeated to the students within the University. 

It is also important for people working within the organisation to communicate between other departments to ensure that any messages or information is consistent throughout the whole organisation. By ensuring effective communication between employees and the organisation itself, it will help avoid confusion and make sure that any information delivered to students is accurate, and being passed on to the appropriate people who need to hear it. 

2) Technology

Technology has created the ability to communicate using a number of different methods including, email, telephone conversations, and text messaging. However not all of these methods of communication are always appropriate, it can depend on the message that is being delivered. 

Considering the most convenient and effective method of communication relevant and appropriate to the information being communicated could benefit the organisation and how effective general communication is. It could potentially help communication between lecturers and students, for example using mass email, this is quick and useful for certain information, however face to face communication is valued and should not be replaced by technology.

Using technology to communication in some instances and situations can be very effective and useful, however some messages and information should remain to be communicated face to face.

3) Student Choice

Creating opportunities for students to have their say is important within any University because it is vital that students feel valued, listen to and important within the organisation. Any opportunities created must be maintained, an example of giving students the chance to have their say would be by developing a student voice committee that is accessible for all students to deliver their opinions, concerns, or any questions they may have to members of the committee. The committee could then pass these on to the appropriate people within the University to ensure maximum potential of something being done.

Ensuring that students feel informed is also another important factor within the organisation. The University should effectively communicate any changes, or events that are coming up within the university. They should consider the topic being communicated and who needs to hear the information. They can then consider which method of communication should be used and also who is the most appropriate employee within the organisation to deliver the message to the students. For example, a quick update of a lecture room change could be sent from the lecturer by email to the students who need to be informed, however any more important changes or information about the University or the course students are enrolled on, should be delivered in a face to face meeting by a relevant individual.  

This is important to ensure that all students feel assured and informed by the individual communicating with them.

References:

Positive Thinking Principles. (ND) What is Perception [Online]. Available from: http://www.positive-thinking-principles.com/ {Assessed: Feb 2012}

Blog Five: Conflict

Conflict at work

Conflict would usually occur between people or groups of people with different needs or goals, however it can often occur in organisations when people disagree on how to achieve the same goals. Conflict would then prevent these goals from being achieved until it has been resolved. Although conflict at work can cause stress for the people within the organisation, a small amount of controlled disagreement could also potentially be beneficial for the company because it may cause the organisation to review their method or strategy into achieving targets or goals.

According to Mullins (2010) conflict is now considered as the norm; an everyday occurrence as part of life in the 21st century, however this is in extreme contrast to how conflict was perceived in the 19th century, as something that should be avoided altogether. This change in acceptance of conflict at work and everyday life may have occurred due to other elements of life that have changed over time, including the economy, technology, society and labour market.

Personal experience with conflict

During Business A Level, part of the course involved planning, organising and staging an event to raise money for charity. A list of specific job roles were created for the group, including a Managing Director, Financial Planner and Advisor, the Promotional Team and Sales Team, to allocate people to each role, a volunteer system was put in place. One individual volunteered to take on the role of Managing Director, to oversee the work of others within the group, be available to support others throughout their tasks and ensure that deadlines are met. Everyone else within their group took on their job role and began to plan and organise the event, however it became increasingly difficult when the MD failed to support and guide other members in the group. I began to take on certain tasks and responsibility that should belong to the MD in order to ensure that everyone remained on task. After a group meeting, we decided to ask the MD if they wanted to step down from the role or needed some guidance, which they declined. This began to create tension within the group because others were getting frustrated with the lack of commitment, dedication and ability to carry out their role. Arguments broke out within the group because people felt that the MD wasn’t doing enough and therefore should forfeit the role, however others who didn’t want to get involved with the arguments simply stopped working, causing deadlines that had not been met to pass. With only 4 weeks until the event and changes that needed to be made, another group meeting was organised. I volunteered to take on the role of Managing Director if everyone else in the group voted yes. The decision was made, and everyone was now motivated to get back to work and ensure the event was a success.

Overall when working within a group, communication, both before during and after, is vital. If not everyone in the group is happy or pulling their weight, it will result in conflict that can be resolved only through further communication and agreement.

French and Raven (1959)

This theory has been developed on the basis that power within the work place can be linked with conflict. French and Raven believe that there are different types of power, and with that they have divided them into five sources of power.

Five sources of power:

Coercive

The aim of this kind of power is to create order within the work place. A controlling power, often including threatening or punishing behaviour, especially if an individual is not carrying out their job role. Alternatively this type of power can be used to reward individuals that do comply within the work place, for example offering promotional opportunities to those who work hard, whilst others get punished or threaten with disciplinary action.

Reward

Most people work for reward, with the main reward being money, however money is not the only reward that can be seen within a work place. Reward could also include recognition and opportunities. Individuals that are aware that meeting goals and objectives could lead to some kind of reward are more likely to work harder and conform within the work place. For example, if a manager offered an individual a cash bonus in return for reaching certain goals by a given deadline. This arrangement helps both parties get what they want.

Expert

Having expert knowledge in a specific field can come hand in hand with power. This is usually because people are likely to trust and follow people who have a large amount of knowledge on a topic, especially if it is information they require. For example when someone visits a doctor, who is an expert in that field, they would usually trust what the doctor tells them, because they do not know themselves.

Legitimate

This power is related to job role or title; it is the power and responsibility that comes with certain roles, for example a managerial role automatically creates a level of power over the individuals under that management. The power is linked to the position and not the individual within that position, and therefore if the person is to no longer carry out that job role, they would also loose that specific level or amount of power.

Referent

Certain characteristics within an individual can have this type of power, for example a strong personality can often be linked with power. Referent power is also seen when a person is idolised or followed by others who respect them, creating power for the individual being followed over the people following or wanting to be like them. For example a celebrity has the power to influence their fans fashion sense simply by wearing certain clothes.

Work related stress

An article within the Guardian has looked at how longer working hours is having a direct impact on long-term work related illness. Work related stress is likely to increase greatly, especially within the over 65 generation due to retirement age being withdrawn. Older people are likely to put themselves under more stress at work because they are now expected to work until they are older.

This will have a negative affect on workplaces, having staff taking time off to recover from work-related stress and illness can cost companies an extremely large sum of money each year. This figure will increase with the increase of working hours and workload.

Work related illness could be a vicious circle for some individuals, particularly if the individual has money worries. They may need to take time off work for stress, however whilst they are away from work they are becoming more stressed about nor earning money whilst they are not at work; this could lead to needing more time off work. 

With the cost of living so high, the lack of job opportunities, and low interest rates, the economy is not helping the situation. Both people and organisations are trying to survive, and for this reason everyone is working harder for anything they can get. But without having specific help, or plans in place for staff within organisations, the problem is only likely to get worse with the economy.

References

Crush, P. (2011) Is your work place making you unwell? [Online]. Available from: http://www.guardian.co.uk/worklifeuk/workplace-stress-unwell-related-illness?CMP=KNCMICTXT4764 {assessed: 01/12/11}

Mullins, L. (2010) Management & organisational behaviour, ninth edition, Essex: Pearson Education Limited.

Blog Four: Leadership

Leadership

Leadership and management are often perceived to be the same thing, however the roles of a manager and a leader can differ greatly. Although some characteristics and roles of managers and leaders can cross over, for example communication skills, there are also many separate qualities between the two roles.

A leader is someone who should inspire, motivate, and create enthusiasm within a team. A leader should also be passionate enough about what they do in order to create ideas and share visions with others in the group, because this will further help to motive the team they are leading. Someone who leads a team is not necessarily in charge or at the top of the hierarchy within the organisation, but holds the characteristics and skills required to drive a team.

On the other hand, a manager is likely to fit in a hierarchy, usually at the top, or near the top, depending on the organisation. The role of a manager would include being in-charge and control of a group of people lower down the hierarchal scale. A manager plans, delegates and enforces rules and procedures in order to reach goals and objectives and also achieve results required by the organisation. This is a clear difference between a manager and a leader because managers are results driven, whereas leaders are usually more passionate driven. (Forrest & Tolltree 1996)

Mullins (2007) suggests another clear difference between managers and leaders. He suggests that leaders are more personal and involved with the team they work with, whereas a manager is more impersonal and less involved emotionally.

Key Leader

I attended The Beaconsfield School for my entire secondary education, including A Levels. Throughout my time at the school I had a number of different year, and key-stage leaders, however only one of them left a positive lasting impression. She was the head of sixth form, and therefore was the leader for all sixth formers within the school.

As a leader she was very passionate about education and achieving, whilst also inspiring the people around her. Her determination and drive was always passed on to the students she taught and mentored, creating a positive environment throughout the sixth form.

She was also very hands-on and involved in sixth form life and her positive energy reflected on the rest of the sixth form.

Her ability to adapt, and change depending on what situation she was in and who she was working with made her a good leader. For example is she was working with students who struggled to concentrate or stay on task, she would find a way to motivate them and come up with a different way to approach and take on the task.

Fig 1: A diagram of Adair's Theory

I feel that this relates back to Adair’s theory of the contingency approach to leadership; he believes that a leader who is able to adapt and change depending on the task, the team and needs of the individuals is an effective leader.

Conclusion

Overall, I feel that a leader is more involved with a team, both emotionally and physically, whereas a manager will delegate, oversee and control and team.

After looking over the characteristics roles of a leader and manager, I have come to the conclusion that a leader is part of a team, and a manager is head of a team.

References:

·      Simpson, M. (2011) Leadership [PowerPoint]

·      Fig 1;

o   Google images – ‘Adair’s theory’ [online]. Available from: http://www.google.co.uk/search?pq=leadership&hl=en&sugexp=kjrmc&cp=25&gs_id=1k&xhr=t&q=leadership+and+management+advisory+service&gs_sm=&gs_upl=&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.,cf.osb&biw=1277&bih=679&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi#um=1&hl=en&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=adair%27s+theory&pbx=1&oq=adair%27s+theory&aq=f&aqi=&aql=1&gs_sm=e&gs_upl=5625l8177l0l8504l10l7l0l0l0l0l585l585l5-1l1l0&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.,cf.osb&fp=f13d44a992964251&biw=1277&bih=635 [assessed: October 30^th 2011]

Blog Three: Organisational Culture

Visible Culture

The visible aspects of culture that can be seen within an organisation are the elements of it that can be seen by an, ‘outsider’, or someone who is not involved with the company, for example a customer.

Culture within an organisation could be described as an iceberg, where only a small portion of the culture is visible, whilst most of it remains hidden.

 Fig.1; Cultural Iceberg (thecrossculturalconnector.com)

French and Bell (1990) developed the ‘ice berg’ theory that outlines the fact that some elements that make up culture are visible, although there are many factors that are harder to identify. They believe that there are two contrasting factors, the visible being formal, identifiable and public, whereas the second is hidden, but has been created because of the visible formal structure, for example the values within a company or their leadership style.

The Waitrose and John Lewis Partnership have a number of visible aspects of culture that are well known by public. The dark green colour that is used within both partnerships is extremely recognisable to the public and therefore it makes up part of their visible aspects of culture. Using one colour between the Partnership creates and shows a proud link that they want to ‘show off’. 

Another visible characteristic within the organisation is the formal uniform worn by all ‘Partners’, otherwise known as staff. A uniform not only creates a team-like atmosphere but it also creates a level of professionalism within a company, clearly distinguishing customers and staff. ‘Partners’ are always presentable, professional and approachable and this reflects the company’s goal to provide customers with the best service.

The JLP also ensures that the goals, aims, targets and approaches within the organisation are assessable and visible to the public, by making them available online. By making these goals so visible it shows a level of confidence and determination within the organisation to achieve these goals. This generates a good image of the Partnership to ‘outsiders’.

Four types of Culture

Handy (1993) suggested that there are four different types of cultures that can be seen in different organisations, these include Power culture, Role culture, Task culture and Personal culture. He believes the way an organisation is managed and run has an effect on the culture within.

Power culture would usually be found in smaller businesses and organisations, where there is only one central person with the power to make the important decisions.

It is described as the power culture because the individual in the centre of the organisation has the ability and power to make fast, quick and significant decisions that will affect the company. An organisation with a power type culture is usually run with a large amount of authority, although there may lack systems because there is only one person in control who may not be interested in systems or rules.

Role culture is a type of culture seen in a large number of retail; there are a many different laws, regulations and rules when it comes to retail that must be followed. This type of culture suggests that work and tasks carried out are decided by the different rules and regulations that must be followed, for example abiding by Sunday trading regulations. Role culture can also be seen when power or responsibility is linked to different levels or job roles within a hierarchy, for example a sales assistant many not have the authority to give refunds, whereas a team leader may be able to due to being higher in the job role hierarchy. Individuals who work within this culture will usually work to their job description. Marks and Spencer’s would fall into the role culture category because they divide up roles into many different positions, within a level of hierarchy, for example a sales assistant is at the bottom of the hierarchy and they will work within their section, for example frozen food, there will then be a section co-ordinator who oversees all the work being carried out by sales assistants in their section. 

The underlying rule of role culture is that the role is more important than the person carrying out the role.

Task culture is usually seen in the building or construction sector, this is because it is usually found around project-based activities. Task culture involves working as part of a team, to complete the same task or project.

Individuals may not usually work together, but could come together, to achieve and complete the task in hand.

For example, building the Olympic Stadium, many different workers, with different and varied skills have come together in order to build, develop and complete the stadium in time for the Olympics. The culture found amongst the works would be the task type because the task is the key common factor within the team even if nothing else is.

Once the task has been complete the team may separate and continue with other tasks, this creates free and flexible atmosphere within the culture.

Person culture revolves around people as individuals, making them central. 

"...people are the main resource of any organisation. Without its members, an organisation is nothing" (Mullins, 2010, pp.3)

An organisation with this type of culture will usually have a main goal to serve the interests of the individuals within it. People who work within this type of culture have usually come together as part of a team in order to form an organisation, but will remain working individually and not together. There is no hierarchy within this kind of organisation because everyone is an equal part working individually. This can commonly be found in organisations such as Doctors.

Like most theories, this theory of only four different, specific, types of culture could be disputed. It may be difficult to place some organisations into just one type of culture, because it may cross between two or more of the types of culture Handy outlined. These four types of culture are very specific and therefore is it likely that some organisations will not be a simple or exact fit.

There is a very broad and varied spectrum of different organisations, and while many of these are likely to be covered by the four types of culture, there will be some that aren’t. This could be due to the management style of the organisation, rules and regulations surrounding it, or the people within it.

To conclude, there are four main types of culture within organisations, power, role, task and person. These are all made up of different specific elements outlining each culture and therefore creating an understanding of where it might be seen. However due to the specifics within the cultures, it could be difficult to place every organisation easily into one of the four categories. Therefore although the types of culture can be related to most kinds of organisations, there may be some that cannot be placed. This does not mean that these are not the main four types of culture, but it would suggest that more flexibility would be needed between the cultures.

Most theories have minor expectations and types of culture would appear to be the same. 

References:

• Mullins, L. (2010) Management & organisational behaviour, ninth edition, Essex: Pearson Education Limited.
• Simpson, M. (2011) Organisation culture (powerpoint) 
• Fig 1 sourced:
• Sall, A. (2010) The Cultural Iceberg [online]. available from: http://thecrossculturalconnector.com/?tag=the-cultural-iceberg [Assessed: 22/10/11] 

Blog Two: Improving Staff Performance

There are two types of motivational theories, Content and Process, the difference being that content theories focus on what motivates an individual, whereas process theories concentrate on how an individual is motivated.

‘Content’ is based around the theory that individuals have a natural drive to pursue certain ‘needs’, and as a result meeting those needs is motivating. Contrasting to the Content theory, the Process theory believes that an individual will set goals and will work out how to achieve those goals.

The relationship between an employer and their individual employees will have an impact on how employees feel and how motivated they are. If someone feels they are not able to reach their potential, goals have not been set, or they are being treated unfairly, this is usually down to the employer. In order to improve staff performance an employer should look at process theories to gain an understanding of how to motivate their employees.

An example of a Process theory is Adam’s Equity Theory. This theory is largely based around personal and therefore individual perception. Being equal would mean being fair to everyone within the company, however not everyone would perceive ‘fair’ as the same thing, causing the theory to differ for each person. The equality theory states that someone is likely to make a number of different comparisons in order to evaluate their position within the company. These comparisons may be made between a variety of different things including, social groups, financial position, past experiences or positions and colleagues. 
The theory also outlines how someone who feels inequity is present may deal with it, for example changing the input, output or changing their perception of themselves or others around them. 

(Fig 1: Input & Output balance; Dreamstime.com )

Easy Jet

Easy Jet are a budget airline, in a very competitive market. As a result they must ensure they motivate their staff in order to retain them and encourage potential employees to join their expanding company instead of a competitor. After carrying out some primary research on the company’s website, I discovered how they motivate their staff. 

“Our Values underpin this and form 5 core principles you can observe in everything we do:

Safety - Our number one priority, no compromises

Teamwork - We'll get there faster together

Pioneering - Breaking the mould to find new ways and new opportunities

Passionate - We're ambitious to be the best we can be

Integrity - We mean what we say and we do it! ” 


(easyjet.com)

According to a number of different theorists, including Maslow and Herzberg, ‘Safety’ is a vital element of motivation. This is Easy Jet’s first principle and they have stated that it is their ‘number one priority’ (easyjet.com). This is a basic element within many motivation theories and Easy Jet have seen this and met this.

Easy Jet have also focused in on teamwork, another important element of motivation. Teamwork can make an individual feel valued, whilst also helping ensure that all employees are treated fairly. If an individual is working as part of a team they should feel equal and socially involved, relating back to both, Maslow’s need to be socially integrated within the work environment and Adam’s theory of individual’s desire to be treated equally.

In conclusion, it would appear that process theories could also be related to current organisations and how they motivate people.

The process theories look at personal goals; although the theories are generic they differ for each person because they can be largely down to personality, personal preference, and personal drive, setting goals, reaching targets and feeling motivated will depend on how an individual feels about themselves and the people around them.

I feel the process theories will have a more positive affect on an individual that is passionate, ambitious, and driven because I feel these are the people who will react if they are not being pushed to reach full potential, or feel as if they are not being treated fairly.

References:

• Simpson, M. (2011) Motivation [PowerPoint]
• (2010) Easy Jet Careers Culture, vision & values [online] Available from: http://www.easyjetcareers.com/life-on-board/ [Assessed: 14/10/11]
• Fig 1 sourced:
• [online] Available from: http://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-photography-equity-theory-business-diagram-image11849007 [Assessed: 14/10/11]