(study mode) Organisational Culture andMotivation

CONTENTS

Introduction and Rationale ProblemStatement Objectives IntroductoryLiterature Review Proposed MethodologyProject Plan Sources of Reading

INTRODUCTION AND RATIONALE As Desson andClouthier (2010) state, culture is animportant factor in both attracting andretaining desirable employees. The extentto which an employee’s needs andexpectations are fulfilled will determinethe motivation, job satisfaction andperformance levels (Mullins, 2005, p. 499)which would be influenced by culture. XYLtd (XY) established in 1944 has become themarket leader in sea trade in Sri Lanka atpresent with the areas shipping, marine

services and logistics being its primaryactivities among others. One of the corevalues of XY is development of loyal anddedicated staff as it is their belief thatat XY People are the most valuable asset.The effect on culture on motivatingemployees is a key concern of the HumanResource (HR) Manager of XY since he hasobserved symptoms of reduced employeeproductivity, high turnover of employeesand deterioration of sales in the recenttimes. It is considered that investigatingthe reasons behind the aforementionedsymptoms is significant for theorganisation to maintain its position inthe industry and for further market growth.Thus, this research pursues to evaluate theimpact of organisational culture of XY Ltdon the motivation of the employees.Therefore, the author wishes to devise theresearch in such a way that the followingobjectives would be answered through thestudy.

PROBLEM STATEMENT Assessing the impact oforganisational culture on employeemotivation; Case study on XY Ltd, SriLanka.

Objectives

1. To carry out a comprehensivetheoretical analysis over the coreconcepts of organisational culture,motivation and job satisfaction. 2. Tocritically analyse the impact oforganisational culture on employeemotivation at XY Ltd., Sri Lanka. 3. Toidentify the current tools of employeemotivation used by XY Ltd, Sri Lanka. 4.To provide recommendations to overcomethe issues identified and improveemployee motivation at XY Ltd, SriLanka.

INTRODUCTORY LITERATURE REVIEW Corporate

culture has been defined in numerousways in the literature relating toorganisational behaviour as the sharedattitudes, views, principles, values,morals, customs and expectations of theemployees that has been invented,developed, evolved or discovered inrelation to the specific organisation(Chatman and Caldwell, 1991; Kondalkar,2007, p.336; O’Reilly, Rowe, Mason,Dickel, Mann and Mockler, 1994; Schein,1984). Desson and Clouthier (2010, p. 1)describe organisational culture as “thepersonality of the organisation whichguides employees on how to think and acton the job”. According to Schein cultureis what organisations develop inhandling employees and promoting valuesand beliefs within the organisation(Schein, 2004 as cited in O’Donnell andBoyle, 2008, p.4). Culture in anorganisation will have differentfunctions including facilitating

cooperative commitment, promotingstability, shaping behaviour of membersand providing members an organisationalidentity and a boundary (Kondalkar,2007, p. 336). Hence, corporate cultureprovides a sense of uniqueness to anorganisation making it distinctive as tothe way things are being

done from other organisations (O’Donnelland Boyle, 2008, p.4). Motivation is whatinspires or causes somebody to behave in aparticular way or the reason why theychoose a certain course of action (Mullins,2005, p. 471). According to Maslow (1970,p.29) human motivation is influenced bysome or all the basic needs being satisfiedconcurrently rather than only one of them.Mullins ( 2005, P. 473) state that anemployee’s motivation, job satisfaction andwork performance level will be affected bythe degree to which the employee’s needs

and expectations are being satisfied orfulfilled. Consistent with researchconducted, the results have proven that

employee motivation finally leading to jobsatisfaction has not being directed solelyby pay but also other factors includingwork environment, culture, rewards, jobdesign, career advancement opportunities,

performance management, recognition andidentity in the workplace. (Lisboa, 2013,para 9; Nohria, Groysberg and Lee, 2008)Motivated employees are a great asset tothe organisation as they will be moreproductive, creative, efficient andeffective in their tasks (Business Burrito,2009, para 2) Consequently, companies thathave formed a culture and strategies toenhance employee motivation will achievethe corporate goals and objectivessuccessfully and will also be able toattract and retain the best and talented

employees by building respectful andprofessional relationships. (Desson andClouthier, 2010, p.1; Lisboa, 2013, para 4and 9) Although a substantial amount ofstudies have been conducted with regard toorganisational culture as well as employeemotivation, however

the extent of the relationship andinfluence amid commitment and

organisational culture are contrasting assome writers such as Deal and Kennedy(1982) and Peters and Waterman (1982) havesuggested that culture has a significanteffect on commitment whilst authors such asMathieu and Zajac (1990) and Lahiry (1994)have suggested that the relationshipbetween culture and motivation to be weak(As cited in Lok and Crawford, 1999).

PROPOSED METHODOLOGY The research will be acomparative study of the correlation

between the organisational culture,employee motivation and job satisfactionwith regard to XY. Research design is thegeneral blueprint of how the researchquestions will be answered (Brown andPatterson, 2012, p. 98). This research willanswer the research objectives via a mixedstrategy using both quantitative andqualitative data but however will be moreinclined to the qualitative side. This willenable a wide coverage and enrichment ofdata of the case study. As Greener (2008,p.36) suggests questionnaires will allowthe author to map out a broad viewinitially and also to provide areas for indepth investigation through interviews. Theextent of researcher interference will bemoderate as the author is expecting toemploy a convenient sample of managerialemployees. According to Brown and Pattersonsampling process is carried out due to theresource restrictions of cost and time(2012, p. 252). Thus the author will

extract a sample of 10 out of thepopulation of 50 managerial employees inthe shipping unit. The tentative time fordata collection would be in early June asindicated in the project plan. In assuringthe ethical aspect of the study in primarydata collection, the author will requestfor the approval of the senior managementin order to carry out the research.Furthermore at the stage of request, theauthor will clearly explain the purpose ofthe research, the voluntary nature ofparticipation and how the confidentialityand the anonymity of the participants willbe assured to the subjects through acovering letter. In terms of secondary datasources the author will utilize relevantcompany literature as well as an array ofbooks, journals, web pages and et

http://www.asaecenter.org/Resources/whitepaperdetail.cfm?ItemNumber=12154

The cover of The Economist for the week ofNovember 27, 1999 is simple and clear: apicture of a hurricane from space is shownwith three words in large print - "Stormover globalization."

The recent flurry of activity over theWorld Trade Organization (WTO) meetings inSeattle, WA was as much about globalizationand presidential politics as it was abouttrade. It was as much about fear of lossand the erection of cultural barriers as itwas about reality. Regardless of the focusof the protest, the meeting itselfunderscored the reality that businesses,both large and small, are increasinglyglobal-whether they like it or not-and thatHR professionals are increasingly requiredto deal not only with the plethora ofdomestic diversity issues that arise in ourworkplaces, but also with cross-border andmulticultural issues as well.

Yet, the structural approaches toglobalization taken by many corporationstend to neglect culture as a key variableor treat it superficially. International HRpractitioners typically address globalcompensation, sourcing, relocation issuesand even cultural adaptation at itssimplest-but often there is a gap betweendomestic diversity practitioners and thosedealing with the complexities of the globalbusiness. Often, the work of diversityprofessionals and international HRpractitioners is not coordinated orsynergistic. And in many organizations,global diversity and cultural differencesare seen as obstacles to be overcome ratherthan as tools to be leveraged for businesssuccess.

Although more than 75% of major Americancompanies now focus on diversity as astrategic advantage and business leveragein the U.S., there is minimal carry over

internationally. These companies findthemselves in the perplexing position ofattempting to "roll out" overseas thosediversity initiatives that were designedfor a domestic workforce-in many caseswithout knowing why or, more importantly,how. What are the issues and questions thatemerge when organizational and nationalcultures come into contact and when theneed to capitalize on diversity posessignificant dilemmas? Four key issues arisefor

HR professionals: 

1. What is the business case for globaldiversity and how is it different fromthe domestic business case fordiversity?

2. How do American value statementsunderlying domestic diversity effortsneed to be altered to have meaning andrelevance outside the U.S.?

3. How well are we applying ourlearning in the domestic diversity arenato our efforts globally-or are wereinventing the wheel?

4. Are we actively learning from othercultures or are we simply attempting tomake them "more like us?"

It is vital to note that companies do notneed to do business outside the U.S. toface global diversity issues. Immigrationto the U.S. is at its highest point in 50years-and the face of immigration haschanged dramatically-bringing globaldiversity to our own backyards andproviding significant challenges andopportunities to U.S.-based businesses aswell.

The Business CaseThe U.S. has more than $600 billion ofdirect investment in foreign markets.Global labor mobility continues to increaseexponentially. A survey by the National

Foreign Trade Council (NFTC) notes that thenumbers of Americans working abroad jumped30% in 1997. A more recent survey by theLondon-based Employment Conditions Abroadreported that two-thirds of companies hadincreased their expatriate population inthe past five years and two-thirds expectto increase the population further over thenext five years. Sixty percent ofrespondents in the Global Relocation TrendsSurvey (1996) increased their expatriatepopulation since the previous year, and 62%increased their number of non-U.S.expatriates. Since the cost of placingemployees on expatriate assignment istypically almost two and one-half times asmuch as a local national, their success inforeign cultures is financially importantfor the company as well. But global issuesfor corporations are not limited to theranks of their expatriate population-or tocultural norms-any longer.

As noted by Nancy Adler, author ofCompetitive Frontiers: Women Managers in a GlobalEconomy (Blackwell Publishers, 1994), thereare two big shifts away from the past.First, previously only a very small portionof people in the enterprise neededinternational expertise, while "now almostevery manager needs at least some veneer ofinternational, cross-cultural competenciesbecause they're dealing with suppliers,clients, and colleagues from variouscountries and cultures around the world."Second, organizations used to focus ongetting a small cadre of people to learn alot about a particular place. Now, saysAdler, "you're on multinational task teams,on multinational projects...companies needglobal representation, people from multiplecultures who can work in multiculturalteams talking about strategy, and thatstrategy has to be global in content."

Andre Laurent makes the followingobservation based on his study ofmultinational organizations: "Multinationalcompanies do not and cannot submerge theindividuality of different cultures. Thatis, strong as a corporate culture may be,the template for behaviors isn't from thecompany-but from the national culture."("The Cross-Cultural Puzzle of HumanResource Management," Human ResourceManagement 25, no. 1, Spring 1986, pp. 91-102).

Robert Reich writes in his 1991 book, TheWork of Nations, that "we are living through atransformation that will rearrange thepolitics and economics of the comingcentury. There will be no national productsor technologies, no national corporations,no national industries." All this points toan increasingly complicated diversity"mixture" that American companies, theirexecutives, and their employees are facing.

In addition, American corporationsincreasingly feel pressure to export theirfocus on diversity because it has become socentral to the fabric of theirorganizations domestically. Key to thisprocess is the need for HR professionalsand other business leaders to ask twoquestions: why is the diversity initiativebeing exported and, secondly, how should itbe exported, depending on the nationalculture involved.

Philosophical Underpinnings May BeDifferent"When in Rome, do as the Romans do" as thefamous saying goes. But, while we mayespouse that belief, Americans are oftennot culturally sophisticated or humbleenough to really do as the Romans do. Moreoften, we will work hard to convince theRomans that they have got it all wrong. Weare a powerhouse of a nation, ready to showthe rest of the world how business-and

human rights-should work. Yet we often doso without a full understanding of thebeliefs underlying our behaviors.

Before attempting to conduct diversityinitiatives outside the U.S., it is vitalto first understand the basic beliefs andassumptions underlying diversity work inthe U.S. They include, but are not limitedto, the following list:

Human rights should be universal 

U.S. approaches to civil and humanrights are more advanced o Diversity andthe ability to harness different talentsand strengths adds value

Paying attention to and allocatingresources for diversity affects thebottom line

All people should be treated with equaldignity and respect

Business has the resources andresponsibility to increase justice and

equality and strengthen the socialfabric

An inclusive climate/environmentincreases productivity and profits

Legal compliance is mandatory and,therefore, helps to create a compellingcase

Individual needs, preferences, andperspectives are of primaryconsideration

There may be other philosophicalunderpinnings unique to your organization'sculture and diversity focus-for eachassumption, several questions must beasked: How might a different nationalculture respond to each statement? In whatway, if any, would the religious, cultural,and social norms of another culture comeinto conflict with this U.S.-centricapproach? How might we imaginativelymediate between local cultural norms and

our corporate expectations, values, andnorms? On which assumptions is there noroom for variation?

Learning from Our Domestic DiversityExperienceDiversity "business" in the U.S. is a well-established one. Diversity initiatives haveevolved over the past 20 years from aconfrontational "do-the-right-thing" modelto a much more ROI-focused business model.Each step in that evolution must beexamined to ensure that as we addressglobal diversity issues, we are not simplyreliving that historical process.

Outlining the U.S.-focused experience ofyour corporation may prove useful inoutlining the major learnings from theprocess: What has worked well, and what aresome of your failures? What are the majorsteps of your diversity process in theU.S.? How do you measure results and how

might those measures need to change in non-U.S. locations?

Learning from EverywhereAccording to data from the global, four-year research project that is outlined inGlobal Literacies, the most globally successfulcompanies are clearly those that havelearned to be culturally confident enoughto teach the world and culturally humbleenough to learn from the rest of the world.These are companies actively searching theworld for better practices and suspendingjudgment on "difference" in order to learnfrom it rather than try to overcome it. Inaddition, successful global leaders measuresuccess in this area of cultural learningas they measure other business factors.

For example, the CEO of Switzerland-basedNovo Nordisk requires his managers to "buy"and "sell" three best practices to managersin other parts of the world each year on

their corporate Intranet. In such a way, heis underscoring three valuable lessons:

1. We must use technology to moveinformation around the company;

2. We must learn from our colleaguesaround the globe and share informationwith them; and

3. We must measure these "soft" skillsas we measure "hard" business returns,and hold people accountable for them.

In that way, his lessons are not thatdifferent from the lessons of our domesticdiversity work: Culture Matters.