Task Assignment: Organizational Culture (Portfolio Assignment)

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 the given organization of Naipaul’s Xtra Foods Limited. The company has been experiencing its existence for more than twenty years and it has successfully promoted ‘healthier lifestyle’ within the country through selling of healthy food products. The company aims at contributing towards the well-being of society with promotion of healthier lifestyle. The business firm has its position of corporate social responsibility at the middle of its operations that directs its future development. The company is said to look to enhanced and valued lives of its customers by presenting valuable food options to the society around. 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 by the method of questionnaire where employees had to give 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 conducts. The research is conducted by the method of questionnaire method which is helpful in gathering information about their opinions and feelings regarding organizational culture that exists. The company has been experiencing its existence for more than twenty years and it has successfully promoted ‘healthier lifestyle’ within the country through selling of healthy food products. The company aims at contributing towards the well-being of society with promotion of healthier lifestyle. 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 behavior of all individuals in an organization and also the meaning that they attach to their respective behavior. The concept of culture involves the organizational values, vision, systems, language, norms, symbols, beliefs, and habitual practices. Every organization strives to maintain effective organizational culture because this is said to impact upon the organizational operations, employee morale, productivity, and the success factor of the entire organization. A positive organizational culture enables organizations to achieve its objectives in the most desired manner.

Organizational Background & Problems:

The company has been experiencing its existence for more than twenty years and it has successfully promoted ‘healthier lifestyle’ within the country through 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 has its position of corporate social responsibility at the middle of its operations that directs its future development. The company is said to look to enhanced and valued lives of its customers by presenting valuable food options to the society around.

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 as well as unpleasant workplace. Such a workplace affects employee morale and they may become less loyal and committed to organizational performance. They may also cause harassment as well as bullying and finally lead to high turnover.

Literature Review:

Organizational culture is defined as the values as well as behaviors which add to the unique social as well as psychological environment in an organization. The culture comprises of organizational experiences, expectations, values, and philosophy that gives a different image to the organization altogether (Casimir, 2001). This has greater impacts upon the way the attitudes, customs, behaviors, and beliefs of organizational employees would be shaped and structured. An organizational culture reflects how all business conducts are carried out by the firm, and the ways employees, clients, and community are treated. It also reflects the extent to which an organization performs decision-making; develop innovative business ideas, also personal expression. An organizational culture is said to affect its productivity as well as performance, also providing 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. The issues that are commonly faced by organizations that fail to practice effective organizational culture are inconsistency, ambiguity, and poor communication. These problems add to the creation of hostile situations that lead to unpleasant workplace. This reduces the motivation of the workers 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 structures and administered technique of research has been utilized. The questionnaire survey method is an effective mean to assess the opinions of large number of employees. The questionnaire comprises of several questions that exclusively deals to 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 this would be an anonymous survey so as to allow all employees to express their feelings and views freely and without any fear of being intimidation. Despite its utility, the technique has some drawbacks as often biased outcome can be achieved that may deviate from 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 also in various departments (Bellot, 2011). The sample taken while conducting the research is 300 as increased sample size would result in more accuracy in 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 with several questions on organizational culture (Grey, 2014). They would need to fill it up at their desired time and submit it on time. An advantage of this technique is that it does not include traditional system of hard copy questionnaire for data collection. The online questionnaire technique allows easy fill up of the questionnaire and receives adequate employee opinions in less time.

Research Findings & Analysis:

From the conducted research in the mentioned organization, the research findings reflect that some of the problems related to organizational culture that exist in the organization are ambiguity, inconsistency, and also 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 the organizational management aims at healthy work-life balance, but in reality the organization often promotes single individual 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 (DENISON, HAALAND & GOELZER, 2004). Another problem that has been identified is inconsistency. The organizational employees are of the opinion that the organizational policies are not being evenly applied internally. The 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 queries and doubts of the employees are not satisfied and give rise to employee grievances. Another key weakness that has been identified there is ineffective communication within the organizational environment. Te employees hardly get to communicate effectively among each other and that of higher authority. Employees are not comfortable in 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 renders confusion amidst team members regarding what is expected of them. Ineffective communication in turn leads to poor leadership qualities of the organizational managers. With improper system of internal communication, the 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 in following leaders who they do not relate with. 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. An organizational culture is said to affect its productivity as well as performance, also providing guidelines on consumer service, product safety, quality, punctuality, attendance, and environmental concern (DENISON, HAALAND & GOELZER, 2004). The organizational culture is unique for every organization and change can be done in it after great efforts. Within Naipaul’s Xtra Foods Limited, the workplace rules state that the organizational management aims at healthy work-life balance, but in reality the organization often promotes single individual 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 employees of the organization are of the opinion that organizational culture is not favorable enough to motivate them to incorporate 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).