Transition to an Organizational Culture Based on Value and Its Impact on Employees - Research Paper Example

?Changing to a Value-driven Organizational Culture and its Effects on Employees The effect of a change to value-driven organizational culture on the employees of that organization has been studied through this research study. Two different companies have been chosen for the study, one that has value driven organizational culture (US based conglomerate) while the other lacking a value driven culture (UK based IT software). Two staffs who had worked in both the types of organization were interviewed each with two different questionnaires, one obtaining verbal responses and the other being a likert scale questionnaire. The results obtained have been related and studied to make a detailed analysis on the effect that value-driven organizational cultures may have on employees. Change is needed in every organization, particularly after learning from the past scenarios. For examples if the phase of recession is considered, learning from the mistakes and changing towards better performances provide greater values. High performance is highly related to an organization’s capability to change by getting the right people focused at the right place, the right procedures of management, and the right cultural administration within the organization. Specifically, it is “all about building a new employment deal for a new era” (Holbeche, 2009, pp.254-256). In today’s world organizational values are highly significant because rapid changes are occurring in the contexts of human resources and the environment in which a business organization is running (Jimenez, 2009, pp.7-8). Values are thus important to an organization’s society, shareholders, and employees. Studies reveal that organizational performance to a great extent depends on employees’ level of satisfaction. The motivations of different employees may be able to be understood by realizing their mental and spiritual motivation factors. Thus creating a corporate culture that aligns with the values of all stakeholders as well as the employees of the company is a vital issue for the businesses in the current world. According to Kotter and Hesket companies having strong cultures that are focused on “shared values” have proven to perform better than other companies. A similar view has also been provided by Collins and Porras (Barrett, n.d., pp.1-3). Past experiences clearly reveal that organizations may have better and improved ways to place themselves in the current century. Every organization has a character of its own but the major factor is that it is comprised of people. Human resources “drive” an organization and its culture. The culture of an organization is thus also formed by the individuals forming it. Values that are shared by such individuals create the cultures within different organizations. However there is always a tendency among human beings to stick to old thoughts and not accept new changes that may create several problems. Creation of value-driven organizations and integrating “organizations and individuals” would thus play a major role in the success of a firm (Pohlman & Gardiner, 2000, pp.5-15). Creation of a value-driven culture where employees can experience an association between “their personal values and the organization’s values” is a major step towards organizational success (Barrett, n.d., p. 4). Realizing the importance of a value-driven organization, this research study has mainly been conducted to understand the effects of value-driven organization on the employees of a firm. A hypothesis that has been considered for the study reflecting that a value-driven organization has positive effects on the employees. The study would thus bring about an analytical outcome to the hypothesis mentioned. Results: Based on the research objectives and the hypothesis of the research study, two questionnaires were formed and two staffs were interviewed. The results thus obtained have been studied. From the responses of the individuals it can be understood that a value driven organization is more supported than a non-value driven organization. As one respondent mentioned about the value driven company that such a company focuses more on staff and is more customer centric, a view that has also been supported by the other respondent. In this context, one of the participants stated with respect to Company B, “Customer service, doing right by the customer which is closely aligned to my character and how I want to do the best and be the best to the customer, showing integrity on all levels” The responses made it clear that a value-driven organization would be supported by both the respondents as in the competitive world, values are getting lost and that every company should try to regain those values. Values affect every member of an organization. Also as said by one of the respondents, “people are important if not more important than the product – people are the product, give staff every opportunity to succeed”. The satisfaction level has been more supporting in case of a value-driven organization. With a value driven organization, the personal goals of the respondents have been found to go well together with the organizational goals, as per the responses obtained. The organizational culture prevailing in a value driven organization has been supported by the responses and has been mentioned as more satisfying than a non value driven organizational culture. According to the responses, values are very important factors for organizational members. The respondents believe as they said that values prevailing within an organization directly affect the performances of the employees as their performances are also affected. Value driven organizations according to them “instill belief in and ownership of the organization”. Mindset of people is highly related to organizational success and as such value driven organizations are expected to play a major role in this respect. Discussion: The main purpose of this study has been to find whether value driven organizations have positive impacts on the employees of a firm. As have been obtained from the review of literature as well as by directly interviewing staffs who have worked in both value driven and non driven organizations, the importance of values in organizational culture have been realized. The literature study has clearly given views on the significance of values within organizations as with changing business environment firms requires values for high level performance of the employees. The responses of the respondents have equally held such views and have clearly supported that value driven organizations would positively affect all employees. They were themselves more satisfied with value driven organizational culture than non value driven organizations. Knowledge of cultural values as recognized by Hofstede and others can help managers to understand such cultural issues (Murray, Poole & Jones, 2006, p.50). Managers are needed to provide better leadership to their employees and thus focus on value congruence (Goodenough, 2008, p.1). From the interviews conducted it can be realized that congruence of personal goals with organizational goals is a huge requirement for every employee and it is provided by a value driven organization which also provides its employees with autonomy. As human resources are a major part of any organization, their well being, motivations, and levels of satisfaction are significant for an organization to keep in focus. It is the performance of the employees at the end that leads a company to its success. Hence, value driven organizations are mostly needed to improve the performances of the employees as according to this research study it has been obtained that employees greatly require this motivation. Thus, from the research study conducted it can be realized that the hypothesis that had been considered at the beginning of the study has been proved to be correct supported by the reviews of literature done on the concerned topic and direct interviews with staffs who have worked on both types of companies- value driven and non value driven. The study has clearly revealed the importance of values within organizations particularly in the present world where increasing competitions and globalization are leading companies to lose their internal values. The interviews have been conducted with employees such that actual responses could be obtained and their personal views were collected which significantly threw light on the outcomes of the study. Reference 1) Barrett, R. (n.d.). Building a Vision-Guided, Values-Driven Organization, Power Projects, Retrieved on: August 10, 2011 from: www.power-projects.com 2) Goodenough, P.L. (2008). Ethical leadership, values congruence, and work place deviance: An exploratory study, Michigan: ProQuest 3) Holbeche, l. (2009). Managing Change in Difficult Times, Legal Information Management, 9 (2009), pp. 253–256 4) Jimenez, J.C. (2009). The Significance of Values in Organization, Venezuela: Cograf Comunicaciones 5) Murray, P. Poole, D. & G. Jones (2006). Contemporary issues in management and organisational behavior, Australia: Cengage Learning 6) Pohlman, R. & G. Gardiner (2000). Value driven management: how to create and maximize value over time for organizational success, New York: AMACOM Div American Mgmt Assn Read More