Unit Number and Title Unit 20: Organisational Behaviour Management

Unit Code: R/650/2920

Type: Cor
Level: e5
Credit Value: 15
Academic Year 2024/2025
Unit Assessors Academic Team

Assignment Title Management and Personality Portfolio

Issue Date January 13th 2025

Submission Date 14th of March 2025
Submission Instruction The portfolio should be submitted on Turnitin
Learner Declaration:
I certify that the work submitted for this assignment is my own and research sources are
fully acknowledged.
Student signature: Date:

Higher National – Assignment Brief

Activity:
Submission Format

The submission is in the form of an individual portfolio of evidence. You are to produce a
portfolio of reflective evidence and take part in a simulated group activity. The portfolio
should include the following:

1.completed personality and attribute audits and a reflective statement

2.critical analysis of how employee motivation can be enhanced and maintained
by practical application of content and process theories of motivation

43.a reflective presentation that includes leading a group activity for the given
. business situation to demonstrate effective team skills, group behaviour and
dynamics.
54.a report to investigate how power, politics and culture can be used to influence
employee behaviour and accomplish organisational goals

You are required to make use of headings, paragraphs, and subsections as appropriate,
and all work must be supported with research and referenced using the Harvard
referencing system (or an alternative system). You will need to provide a bibliography
using the Harvard referencing system (or an alternative system). Inaccurate use of
referencing may lead to issues of plagiarism if not applied correctly.

Word count is 3000–4000 words, although you will not be penalised for going under or
exceeding the total word limit.

Unit Learning Outcomes

LO1 Reflect on own personality and perceptions to understand how individual difference
informs and influences management approaches.
LO2 Apply content and process theories of motivation to create and maintain an effective
workforce.
LO3 Lead a group team activity for a given business situation to demonstrate effective
team leadership skills.

LO4: Examine how power, politics and culture can be used to influence employee behaviour
and accomplish organisational goals.
Transferable skills and competencies developed

 Development and delivery of HR solutions to the business that are appropriate to the
organisational context.

 Ability to analyse facts and circumstances to determine the cause of a problem

and being able to identify and select appropriate solutions.

 Ability to lead the improvement of people capability in the business or in own team.

 Development of and building and motivating teams by identifying their

strengths and enabling development in the workplace

 Able to manage talent and performance.

 Able to reflect on own performance and working style, and their impact on others.

 Ability to plan own development and show commitment to the job and the profession.
Vocational Scenario
Primark

The organisation is a leading international clothing retailer employing more than 80,000
colleagues in 17 countries in the UK, Europe and the US – and continue growing. Founded
in Ireland in 1969 under the Penneys brand, Primark aims to provide affordable choices for
everyone, from great quality everyday essentials to stand-out styles across women’s,
men’s and kids's, as well as beauty, homeware and accessories. With a focus on creating
great retail experiences, Primark has over 440 stores globally and continues to expand with
the aim of reaching 530 stores by the end of 2026.

However, there is no other fashion retailer than Primark which has been scrutinised for
ethical practices. Throughout history, Primark has been caught in ethical scandals. Despite
its efforts to keep up with its strong supply chain policy and Code of Conduct, according to
research conducted by the Ethical Consumer Research Association in 2019, it was revealed
that there have been allegations that Primark has failed to live up to its policies. Primark
was poorly reviewed in the 2019 Tailored Wages UK report published by Labour Behind the
Label. It claimed Primark showed no evidence of workers being paid a living wage.
Consequently, Primark has struggled throughout to shake the pre-fixed consumer notion
linking cheap products with unethical sourcing. This public perception, combined with a
host of alleged human rights violations throughout the supply chain, has publicly
represented Primark as either willfully or negligently exploiting cheap labour to
maximise its profits.

Henceforth, Primark has taken all possible steps to challenge this negative image by
becoming more ethically responsible. Primark is working to make more sustainable fashion,
affordable for everyone through its Primark Cares strategy, a multi-year programme that
focuses on giving clothing a longer life, protecting life on the planet and supporting the
livelihoods of the people who make Primark clothes. As part of this, Primark unveiled nine
commitments it is working to achieve by 2030. These commitments include making all of
its clothes from recycled or more sustainably sourced materials by 2030, halving carbon
emissions across its value chain and pursuing a living wage for workers in its supply chain.
They pay well and expect their staff to work hard. Managers can expect to work in a
fast-paced environment but with a family feel and with good training and expertise on
hand for support.
Role
You are currently working as a Graduate Trainee Store Manager. You are responsible for
leading, motivating and developing the team of store employees to ensure consistent
delivery on standards, customer service and product knowledge, maximising the store’s
sales potential and profitability. You ensure that the delivery of the brand is in line with all
visual merchandising guidelines and with creative flair, you proactively drive store
performance across all departments.

As part of your graduate training, Primark provides ‘Master Class’ management training
sessions led by the Executive Team. In each session, you will carry out individual and group
activities with your peers. You are to record what you do and use the information gathered
to reflect on your contribution and make justified improvements for self and towards
creating an effective workforce.

Furthermore, the central office has raised concerns with you that organisational power and
politics are negatively influencing the culture of the business. This is preventing some
stores from achieving set business goals. As a Graduate Trainee Store Manager running an
operation, you must be commercially aware and be responsible for delivering on-sales
targets while delighting your customer at every
interaction.

Hence, you have been asked to investigate how power, politics and culture influence
employee behaviour and impact customer satisfaction and sales. Your investigation will
be presented as a report in your next Master Class training session and will focus on
driving performance and productivity.

Assignment activity and guidance

Your ‘Master Class’ training session focuses on different aspects of leadership and management and
involves different activities.
Master Class 1 – Personality and Perceptions

Complete a personality and attribute evaluation that audits your skills and personality traits.
Discuss whether they are positive or negative in terms of management approaches. Reflect on
personality and perceptions of self in terms of your own performance. This includes challenging
your perspectives and individual traits and attributes to influence and improve managerial
relationships; while adapting personal perspectives, traits and attributes to justify how such
improvements enhance employee motivation and effectiveness.

Master Class 2 – Motivation

The Central Office has raised concerns of low morale, lack of focus and low productivity of
employees on the shop floor. Staff work long shifts, are often dealing with challenging
customers and work can be repetitive. They often work in isolation. As part of the training,
you have been asked to provide solutions for addressing these workforce issues. You have
been asked to critically assess to which extent employee motivation can be enhanced and
maintained by the practical application of content and process theories of motivation.

Master Class 3 – Group Behaviour

You are to lead a small group of your peers to discuss and brainstorm their ideas for ‘Primark
Cares’ strategy, in terms of protecting employee rights and the planet and upholding product
quality. You must effectively relate the team activity to the goals and objectives of Primark and
explore the relevance of group behaviour and team theory in the creation and management of
effective teamwork. You must reflect and revise personal contributions and skills in effectively
leading teams to make justified recommendations for own improvement.
Master Class 4 – Power, Politics and Culture
You are to evaluate a variety of different organisational examples of how organisational, power,
politics and culture
affect employee behaviour.

You should make recommendations on how organisational power, politics and culture could be used
to encourage and guide employee behaviour to help achieve sales and target goals, improve
interaction with customers, and with visual merchandising and stock presentation.
You should consider:

• different perspectives of power

• the occurrence of organisational politics
• levels of culture and how national culture can influence management and employee behaviour
• the combined effect of power, politics and culture on behaviour and the
accomplishment of organisational goals.
Recommended Resources
Please note that the resources listed are examples for you to use as a starting point in your
research – the list is not definitive.
Weblinks
BBC News (2018). Personality Tests.
Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/newsbeat-

45561194 Practice Aptitude Tests. Free aptitude tests.

Available at: https://www.practiceaptitudetests.com/free-

aptitude-tests/ Forbes (2019) Six Strategies to Maintain

Employee Motivation.

Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/rebeccaskilbeck/2019/02/12/six-

strategies-to-maintain- employee-motivation/?sh=738b01481d35
www.businessballs.com “Management – Leading people – Organisational
Culture”
www.hrzone.com
www.managementstudyguide.com “Library – Organizational Behaviour”
(General Reference)
www.managementtoday.co.uk
HN Global
HN Global (2021) Reading Lists. Available at:
https://hnglobal.highernationals.com/learning- zone/reading-lists
HN Global (2021) Student Resource Library. Management Today “Leadership
Lessons”

Available at: https://hnglobal.highernationals.com/subjects/resource-libraries

HN Global (2021) Textbooks. Available at:
https://hnglobal.highernationals.com/textbooks
Textbooks

Brooks, I. (2018) Organisational Behaviour: Individuals, Groups and

Organisation. 5th Ed. Harlow: Pearson.
Buchanan, D.A. and Huczynski, A.A. (2019) Organizational
Behaviour. 10th Ed. Harlow: Pearson.
Carbery, R. and Cross, C. (2021) Organisational Behaviour: An Introduction.
2nd Ed. London: Red Globe Press.

Mullins, L.J. (2023) Organisational Behaviour in the Workplace . 13th Ed.

Harlow: Pearson. Wilson, F.M. (2018) Organizational Behaviour and Work: A
Critical Introduction.
5th Ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Learning Outcomes and Assessment Criteria