ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR OF GROUPS AND INDIVIDUALS

Table of Contents

Organizational Analysis Models 3

Organizational Analysis of FIFA 3

Individual Behavior in an Organization 4

Contrast in Group and Individual Behavior in an Organization 4

Group Behavior in an Organization 5

Management Factors of an Organization 5

Managerial Role in an Organization 7

How Culture Affects the Management of an Organization 7

SWOT Analysis of FIFA 8

Conclusion and Recommendations 9

Recommendations 9

Conclusion 10

References 11

Organizational Behavior of Groups and Individuals

Organizational Analysis Models

The analysis of an organization can be done differently depending on the type of organization being evaluated. The analysis can be conducted by using the SWOT analysis model. This model factors in the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Weaknesses of the organization (Keefer, 2017). There is also the Strategic Triangle Model which uses three key points in analyzing an organization: the guiding principle of the organization, the capacity to operate, and the ability for the environment to support the organization. The McKinsey’s 7s Model focusses on strategy, skills, structure, style, systems, staff, and the joining factor which is the super-ordinate value that is usually the center of the first six principles. There are many other models including the rational and cognitive analysis models. For the analysis of the Federation Internationale de Football Association commonly known as FIFA in the essay, the SWOT analysis will be used.

Organizational Analysis of FIFA

The organization of FIFA affects many people. For instance, when Sepp Blatter was forced to step down pending investigations, his alleged actions had affected the players under FIFA, the countries signed into the organization, more than 200 hundred countries, the sponsors of the organization, football fans across the world, coaches, and many other stakeholders. FIFA has been a giant organization in football. Brazil has been the most popular country in the football world for a long time because the country produces great players regularly. FIFA’s organization has been in the football management, sponsorship, and organization for decades. The recent scandal orchestrated by the administration led by Blatter was the biggest but not the only scandal to soil the organization’s reputation (Anon., 2016). 

Individual Behavior in an Organization

The behavior of an individual in an organization, especially the leaders, is vital to the success of the organization. This means that every person acting in whatever capacity in the organization has a role to play, and how best they play is dependent on the determination and integrity of the individual in question. For instance, taking into account the allegations that Blatter oversaw corrupt actions in FIFA during, before, and after the World Cup held in South Africa in 2010, individual behavior in an organization cannot be predicted beyond the rules and regulations, and breaking the law is an individual choice. The intensity of the behavior of an individual is usually influenced by the position they hold in an organization. A subordinate position limits the effects of actions of the individual to the organization. For instance, in the case of FIFA, a referee’s lack of cooperation will only be dealt with by replacing them. in the case of the president of the organization, however, if he boycotts duty, it will affect the whole organization.

Contrast in Group and Individual Behavior in an Organization

Group and individual behavior in an organization are different. It is because the group usually influences the individual members to act collectively in a way that they would not on their own. The number of people in a group also determines their behavior. When many workers group themselves and develop a habit, it may collectively benefit the organization or destroy it. a group of coaches may stall the activities of FIFA as opposed to when it is only one coach maybe refusing to train their team for some reason. The corruption scandal at FIFA is a good example of how groups can influence individuals to comit crimes of magnitudes that they would not manage individually. For instance; no sane individual could have thought and actually laundered money through the organization. the FIFA scandal has implicated more than ten individuals which goes to show how powerful group influence can be. Group behavior not only affects individuals but the society as well, both positively as in the environmental conservationists, and negatively as in the crime gangs.

Group Behavior in an Organization

Group behavior is even more dangerous and difficult to predict and manage. It will eventually lead to the damage of the entire organization for the benefit of a few. With reference to FIFA again, Blatter never acted alone. The corruption allegations must have had two parties, Blatter and the party bribing his team or being solicited for the bribe. The South African World Cup seemed to have opened the Pandora’s Box on the irregularities that surround the system used to select the host countries for the World Cup. Blatter headed FIFA for seventeen years. He may have cut corners along the way but his input into the organization cannot be ignored. During his time as president, football more than doubled in financial size worldwide. For it to attract investigators, it must have grown beyond the size of organizations which can easily get away with any organizational misconduct. The size of FIFA opens it up to international investigators because it is an international organization as well (Rose, 2015). It is also important to note that FIFA as it stands today is an international organization. The more the parties involved in an organization, the easier it is to get caught cutting corners, as Blatter can now attest. Overall, the effectiveness of FIFA has continuously been selective. It has not achieved the goals it out to have achieved by this time, close to one hundred years after it was formed.

Management Factors of an Organization

The dynamic process of power within an organization is important. When the head of an organization stays in power for too long, they are likely to get comfortable and start going against the policies of the organization. It is important that the organization only has a leader whose transparency and track record are not questionable (Malliris, 2015). With reference to Blatter once again, it is evident that he has been in power long enough to destroy the image of the organization without fear of international retribution (Silverman, 2015). He may have been confident that he had time and resources along with the power to cover his crimes. The politics of the management of FIFA roped in the president of UEFA who had aspirations of being elected after Blatter. He was implicated in the corruption scandal of the organization quickly dimming his vision of becoming the FIFA president. In such a situation, power and politics go together in the management of an organization of the magnitude of FIFA. The rot in football is not even close to being eliminated completely (Schwartz, 2015). The close in on Blatter was just a tip of the ice-berg. There is a conflict of interest in decision making as is evident in the FIFA case.

FIFA is an organization that has undergone changes from a struggling company to the multibillion dollar organization it is today. The changes to greatness were, however, not achieved through the misconduct elicited by the FIFA officials under Blatter. The change of the individuals was a result of these individuals feeling that they had achieved what the organization needed to and was not willing to admit it. The scandals may have been triggered by the position of power. Power changes people. The change in the organization may have been minimal in the eyes of Blatter and his colleagues who were implicated in the corruption and embezzlement scandals, but to the stakeholders, it was an indication of much more. The change in the organization was heading it to failure. The selection of the World Cup host countries was important for the officials to take into consideration. There are protocols in place. When they were violated, it was an indication of corruption and mismanagement of the organization (Culture, 2015).

Managerial Role in an Organization

Managerial role in employee motivation is important. It is important for the manager to understand what their employee can achieve well and how they generally perform on the job. For the case of Blatter, he was the manager of the FIFA organization. The players and coaches under his presidency may be considered his employees. He ought to have guided them towards greater performances in football and given the countries fair chances of hosting the World Cup to keep the spirit of the game alive. The shareholders at FIFA include, the sponsors and the signatory countries as well as the players. For the sponsors, the presence of corruption was a danger to their investment. It, thus, made it difficult for these sponsors to keep rewarding the other stakeholders who are players and coaches when their management is compromised. The behavior of the management at this point affected the whole system (Schwartz, 2015). The players in small teams may have been receiving very little money because their clubs were not affluent enough and the money from the major sponsors would not trickle down to the lowest level. The organizational performance eventually goes down when only the countries with connections can easily get access to the platforms offered by the system like having players in the world cup and other major tournaments. The success of FIFA can be measured by its ability to rope in as many countries as possible into the football game and internationalize the sport further beyond just the World Cup. It can integrate the game across continents beyond the usual European integration to include annual cross continental tournaments. 

How Culture Affects the Management of an Organization

The culture of the organization and what it stands for goes a long way in establishing changes as years go by. For instance, if the football game had been the culture of the United States like Rugby is, the cross continental tournaments would have begun a long time ago. This just goes to show that the society also has a role to play in the organizational roles of the managers. At the same time, if a country like the United States was a very interested party in the sport beyond the sponsorship role, accountability would have been taken seriously much earlier (Rose, 2015). This does not mean that as it stands accountability is not important. It is the one thing that has led to the president stepping down under pressure so that investigations can be conducted. This already stains the performance record of Blatter. He has been a good leader but during the last part of his term, he took part in activities that ruined his track record.

SWOT Analysis of FIFA

A SWOT analysis of FIFA given its position in the world of football alternatively referred to as soccer presents the following strengths: a huge number of member countries, has been organizing the world cup tournaments for the past eighty years, almost a century, it has made soccer popular all over the world even attracting the United States recently, the organization has access to top sponsors, and has strong advertising capabilities (Roop, 2015). Taking all these strengths into consideration, one would not expect that such an organization would be faced with organizational related scandals. However, the strengths seem to have been misused resulting in the embezzlement and corruption cases. The position of FIFA in the global sports made it easy to cover up illegal money transfers given that it is an international organization. The threats have only been known to be competition for the longest time but the recent scandals show that even the strengths can quickly turn into threats if not well monitored. The weakness of FIFA has been the lack of a strong fan base of international football where people tend to prefer the continental leagues like the LALIGA and UEFA as opposed to the world cup. The World Cup is always seen as a onetime event while the UEFA leagues always keep fans and football clubs busy throughout the year (Anon., 2017). There is also the issue of selective exposure for small teams in the international football platform. The organization has a lot of opportunities in the development and popularization of the game globally. The organization should focus on the developing countries and include them in international football instead of letting the football clubs get players while the country is left without a strong national team. FIFA has the potential to make international football great but the management and organizational systems have to be changed to make this possible.

Conclusion and Recommendations

Recommendations

FIFA took to investigating Blatter in a bid to deal with the scandals allegedly orchestrated by his team of leadership (Culture, 2015). The height of investigation was an attempt by the FIFA organization to redeem the reputation that was now being threatened. The sponsors also had to be shown that the matter was being taken seriously because the organization was their investment. The management of FIFA can be improved to ensure that there is better transparency in handling funds. This will eliminate the possibilities of fraud and embezzlement. The best way for FIFA to handle the leadership issues is to have an overhaul of the officials and refresh the guidelines that give each signatory country an equal voice in the affairs of international football. The guidelines for selecting host countries for the world cup football tournaments are one of the guidelines that is supposed to be monitored closely. The merit criteria that was used to award Qatar the slot has come under fire because the country is not well equipped to host such a game. It has led to an influx in forced labor in the country to a point that even the United Nations had to come in (Malliris, 2015). Qatar is rushing against time to ensure that by the year 2022 it will be well set to host the games. The country has been one of the most notorious in exploiting foreign workers, victims are usually Africans and citizens of other less developed countries, in a bid to have the stadiums put up (Booth, 2016). FIFA is entirely to blame for this situation because it should have granted the opportunity to countries with the capability of hosting such an event and given countries like Brazil and Qatar time to ethically earn the slots when the infrastructure is in place.

Conclusion 

FIFA as an organization has a great responsibility to the stakeholders. It is the international football umbrella. Given its position, it ought to have been more successful in popularizing football. The interest of the United States in the fraud investigations are majorly because the United States has no interest in the game. For United States, the organization is of no significance to them, therefore, it can be subjected to all kinds of investigations regardless of its status. The sponsors of the organizations are the only ones with enough muscle to force reforms into the organization. The voice has to come from the same body that has the money. FIFA as an organization has failed the signatory countries in a big way, especially the least developed countries in Africa and Asia. It has been an uphill task for these countries to put together a professional national football team because of lack of funding and proper management. Judging by the recent happenings in the FIFA management section, the problem has been with the officials. The sponsors are supposed to demand and take part in the reforms of the management of the organization (Morrow, 2015). The sponsors have a voice because it is their money that is being used. Therefore, they have a right to demand for accountability and ensure that the leaders in these positions are taking accountability seriously.

References

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