A Report Analysis on Organizational Culture
Research Topic:
A critical investigation of the organizational culture at Naipaul’s Xtra Foods Limited: Description of problems with work ethics linked to organizational culture
Abstract:
The purpose of the report is to analyze the organizational culture at Naipaul’s Xtra Foods Limited. The company has existed for more than twenty years and has successfully promoted a ‘healthier lifestyle’ within the country through the sale of healthy food products.
The company aims to contribute to society’s well-being by promoting healthier lifestyles. The business firm’s position of corporate social responsibility is at the center of its operations and directs its future development.
The company is said to look to enhance and value the lives of its customers by presenting valuable food options to society. This report reflects upon the aspects of organizational culture at the organization and identifies several problems associated with it.
It also provides certain recommendations to mitigate the identified problems. The analysis is conducted using a questionnaire, where employees gave their opinions anonymously to assess internal issues. Some theories are also highlighted to make this research more relevant.
Introduction:
The report analyzes the organizational culture issues within the organization Naipaul’s Xtra Foods Limited. It reflects upon the key issues related to internal organizational culture, what problems exist within and how these can be rectified at the earliest without affecting organizational conduct.
The research is conducted using a questionnaire, which is helpful in gathering information about respondents’ opinions and feelings regarding the organizational culture that exists.
The company has existed for more than twenty years and has successfully promoted a ‘healthier lifestyle’ within the country through the sale of healthy food products.
The company aims to contribute towards the well-being of society with the promotion of healthier lifestyles. The business firm has its position of corporate social responsibility at the middle of its operations that directs its future development.
Organizational culture refers to the behaviour of all individuals in an organization and also the meaning that they attach to their respective behaviour. The concept of culture involves organizational values, vision, systems, language, norms, symbols, beliefs, and habitual practices.
Every organization strives to maintain an effective organizational culture because this is said to impact the organization’s operations, employee morale, productivity, and overall success. A positive organizational culture enables organizations to achieve their objectives in the most desired manner.
Organizational Background & Problems:
The company has been in existence for more than twenty years, and it has successfully promoted a ‘healthier lifestyle’ within the country through the selling of healthy food products. The company aims at contributing towards the well-being of society with promotion of healthier lifestyle (Casimir, 2001).
The business firm’s position of corporate social responsibility is at the middle of its operations, directing its future development. The company is said to look to enhance and value the lives of its customers by presenting valuable food options to society.
The research that is conducted is to identify the problems that are related to organizational culture within the mentioned organization. Common problems related to organizational culture may include ambiguity, inconsistency, and poor communication (Muchtar & Qamariah, 2014).
These add to the negative experience of hostility and an unpleasant workplace. Such a workplace affects employee morale, and they may become less loyal and committed to organizational performance. It may also cause harassment and bullying and finally lead to high turnover.
Literature Review:
Organizational culture is defined as the values and behaviours that contribute to the unique social and psychological environment in an organization. The culture comprises organizational experiences, expectations, values, and philosophy that give the organization a different image (Casimir, 2001).
This has greater impact on the way the attitudes, customs, behaviours, and beliefs of organizational employees are shaped and structured. An organizational culture reflects how the firm conducts all business and how employees, clients, and the community are treated.
It also reflects the extent to which an organization makes decisions, develops innovative business ideas, and allows for personal expression. An organizational culture is said to affect productivity and performance and provide guidelines on consumer service, product safety, quality, punctuality, attendance, and environmental concern.
The organizational culture is unique for every organization and change can be done in it after great efforts (Chen & Silverthorne, 2005). When any problem occurs within organizational culture, it impacts upon every aspect of business operation.
Inconsistency, ambiguity, and poor communication are common issues faced by organizations that fail to practice effective organizational culture. These problems contribute to hostile situations that lead to unpleasant workplaces, which reduces workers’ motivation considerably.
Research Questions:
The research is conducted based on some of the important research questions that are as follows-
- What is meant by the concept of organizational behavior and its elements?
- How important is organizational culture in the organizational success?
- What are the strengths and weaknesses of the existing organizational culture at Naipaul’s Xtra foods limited? (Chen & Silverthorne, 2005)
- How the issues related to the organizational culture within Naipaul’s firm can be mitigated?
Research Objectives:
The research is conducted with some definite objectives that are mentioned below –
- To identify the type of organizational culture that exists at Naipaul’s Xtra foods limited.
- To determine the strengths and weaknesses within the organizational culture.
- To propose various recommendations for adjustments to the organizational culture that might lead to improved work ethic (Casimir, 2001).
Methodology:
In this research analysis, a well-structured and administered research technique has been utilized. The questionnaire survey method is an effective means of assessing the opinions of a large number of employees. The questionnaire comprises several questions that exclusively highlight the ways employees perceive their own organizational culture.
Opinions from numerous employees would enable us to identify the true problems that persist within the organizational culture (Cho, 2014). The questionnaire would be sent to all employees online, and it would be an anonymous survey so as to allow all employees to express their feelings and views freely and without any fear of intimidation.
Despite its utility, the technique has some drawbacks as often biased outcomes can be achieved that may deviate from the original outcome. The advantage of using this technique is that it is helpful in obtaining authentic data from the employees (Javadi & Ahmadi, 2013). This helps is assessing the key organizational culture at the organization.
Sampling:
All employees of the organization Naipaul’s Xtra Foods Limited are provided with a questionnaire by formal as well as informal means (PRICE, 2007). They would also be provided with adequate information about what is expected of them, the research objectives and how desired outcomes can be achieved.
The research is conducted at various levels of the organization and in various departments (Bellot, 2011). The sample taken while conducting the research is 300, as an increased sample size would result in more accurate research outcomes.
At the beginning, sampling interval K is identified as per the formula, total sample frame units/300. Every unit is then assigned a specific value, and randomly first unit is chosen in first K cases. Every Kth unit from the list is chosen.
Data Collection Method:
All 300 employees would be provided with the questionnaire, which includes several questions on organizational culture (Grey, 2014). They would need to complete it at their desired time and submit it on time.
An advantage of this technique is that it does not include the traditional hard copy questionnaire system for data collection. The online questionnaire technique allows easy questionnaire filling out and receives adequate employee opinions in less time.
Research Findings & Analysis:
The research conducted in the mentioned organization reflects that some of the problems related to organizational culture that exist in the organization are ambiguity, inconsistency, and an ineffective system of communication (Cho, 2014).
Ambiguity is said to exist as organizational employees often fail to understand what is expected of them. They often feel that the prescribed policies of the organization are contradictory to that of actual practices. An instance can be given in this regard.
Within Naipaul’s Xtra Foods Limited, the workplace rules state that organizational management aims at a healthy work-life balance, but in reality, the organization often promotes single individuals who are willing to work for long hours voluntarily.
It also claims that the firm is family-friendly, but according to the organizational members, it is not so (DENISON, HAALAND & GOELZER, 2004). Another problem that has been identified is inconsistency. The organizational employees believe that the organizational policies are not being evenly applied internally.
Organizational employees are penalized for some acts for which managers are not penalized. This seems to be an unfair practice. Besides, all departments are not treated equally, and partiality exists in departmental operations. Organizational resentment occurs whenever the employees’ queries and doubts are not satisfied and give rise to employee grievances.
Another key weakness that has been identified is ineffective communication within the organizational environment. Employees hardly communicate effectively with each other and with higher authority. Employees are not comfortable approaching their superiors regarding suggestions, views, and ideas (Grey, 2014).
The firm fails to articulate important information, including aims and objectives, from the top-down structure of the organization. This often creates confusion among team members regarding what is expected of them. Ineffective communication, in turn, leads to poor leadership qualities of organizational managers.
With an improper system of internal communication, leaders fail to implement effective leadership styles and qualities at the right time to realize the most desired outcomes. Individuals often tend to have reluctance to follow leaders they do not relate to.
The supervisors at the mentioned organization fail to meet with the team members at the right time on a regular basis to discuss important organizational matters (Bellot, 2011).
Conclusion & Recommendations:
The report analyzes the organizational culture issues within the organization Naipaul’s Xtra Foods Limited. It reflects upon the key issues related to internal organizational culture, what problems exist within and how these can be rectified at the earliest without affecting organizational conducts.
Organizational culture is said to affect productivity and performance and provide guidelines on consumer service, product safety, quality, punctuality, attendance, and environmental concerns (DENISON, HAALAND & GOELZER, 2004).
Every organization’s organizational culture is unique, and change can be made with great effort. Within Naipaul’s Xtra Foods Limited, the workplace rules state that organizational management aims at a healthy work-life balance, but in reality, the organization often promotes single individuals who are willing to work for long hours voluntarily.
It also claims that the firm is family-friendly, but in fact, it is not so according to the organizational members. Another problem that has been identified is inconsistency (Javadi & Ahmadi, 2013). The organizational employees are of the opinion that the organizational policies are not being evenly applied internally.
After careful analysis of the research questionnaire, it was identified that most of the organization’s employees believe that the organizational culture is not favorable enough to motivate them to achieve effective performance.
The organizational managers must work cohesively to develop positive work environment. This is the first step to organizational culture development (Rafiq Awan & Mahmood, 2010).
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