Final Dissertation

CHAPTER - I INTRODUCTION

In the current scenario, organizations operate in a very competitive global environment. The knowledge of all aspects of management is not only important but also very essential. According to Graham & Bennett (1998), one of the important areas of operation in management is Human Resource Management. Human Resources Management has mainly three functions, acquiring human resources, maintaining them, and developing them. HRM is resource centred which directs human resources and represents appropriate culture and climate for the employees in the organisations. Out of all assets in an organisation, Human Resource is the most important and dominant which give companies edge over others. Thus, organisational management is buying commitment of employees by successfully implementing motivation policies and principles.

Beside this, according to Brown (1998), there is a connection between an organisations culture and motivational factors, which are essential to achieve better performance level in any organisation. Motivation is the foundation for good performance. In order to have better performance, employees must be motivated by themselves or through external incentives.

According to Boddy (2002), over the years we have seen many organisations strive with great success, than after few years the same organisations seem to fail to produce their goods and services in the same way as they used to. Many people put the blame of such outcome on the ‘organisation culture’. This is because organisation culture is

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the largest and greatest factor that can and does influence the behaviour of the people within it. Some say that the organisation culture can be such that it encourages employees to work to great efficiency or on the other hand it can discourage people to produce effective results.

Therefore, the impact of culture can either motivate or de-motivate the people within that particular organisation. The purpose of this research is to examine whether an organisation culture of ‘SHS International Bakery’ can and does influence levels of motivation. We also do aware that culture is a very strong aspect of an organisation’s working environment and powerful enough to motivate or de-motivate staff. In this research we shall examine how Bakery unit of SHS International can motivate its staff to work harder and produce better results. This will require studying different types of organisation cultures and looking at general how organisations motivate staff in various working environments by using Herzberg’s Hygiene-Motivators factors in organisation. Structure of the Dissertation

The dissertation will be presented in six chapters. In the chapter one, we introduce the research and give a background to the research, the purpose of the research and the objectives of the research.

Chapter two, the literature review, identifies and discusses some of the relevant literature that is available on the subject matter. This will establish a solid background of information that is required to complete the research area.

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In the chapter three, Research Methodology describes how the research was conducted, in terms of questionnaires, interviews etc. There will be a detailed explanation of the usage of these methods.

The chapter four will consist of summarising the results obtained from the research methodology. By analysing the data collected it will be possible to present the findings of the research.

In the chapter five, we will draw a suitable conclusion from the findings and relate them to the original hypothesis. This section will also determine whether the research has met its objectives.

There will be a number of suitable and realistic recommendations given to organisations, on methods to improve the organisation culture to achieve a totally motivated team of workers in the chapter six.

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CHAPTER – II LITERATURE REVIEW

The purpose of this literature review is to establish a solid background of information that is required to investigate the impact of Organisational Culture on employee motivation. Various relevant theories and studies will be discussed and analysed, this will provide an insight into what is already known on the subject matter.

The role of organisational culture is crucial to understand organisational behaviour. Organisational culture has a strong influence on employees’ behaviour and attitudes. Organisation culture involves standard and norms that prescribe how employee should behave in any given organisation. According to Martin (1992), global research indicates that organisational cultures create high levels of commitment and performance. Organisational culture helps to provide stability to an organisation. This implies that organisational culture is a very useful tool for managers in managing diversified workforce in business environment.

Therefore, managers and employees do not behave in a value-free vacuum; they are governed, directed and tempered by the organisation’s culture (Brown, 1998). The above quotation provides an understanding of the characteristic that makes a culture. These include norms, sets of ideology, shared values and systems of belief and practices of the people within it. In other words culture refers to the habits and behaviour of a particular group of people, be that within a society or an organisation. However, these norms and values are very rigid and deep and more often they are not

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being taken as granted. This is because they are not always expressed and they are often known without being understood.

According to Hofstede (2001: 9) culture as “a historically transmitted pattern of meanings embodied in symbols, a system of inherited conceptions expressed in symbolic forms by means of which men communicate, perpetuate and develop their knowledge about and attitudes towards life.” This is true since the survival of groups and societies has bought about many factors that are unique to the culture that has developed in every specific organisation. Schein (1992) states this takes place because every organisation has its own set of norms and values and every member share these. For example in most developing countries it is the norm that the girls stay at home and help their mother with domestic work, whereas boys are more likely to go to school for an education or go out for work. They are known as the ‘bread winners’. The locals do not regard this as a big issue, as this is the normal way of behaviour in their society. However, this concept may be highly opposed in a Western society, as in their culture it is compulsory for both girls and boys to go to school and they have the choice to work and become ‘bread winners’.

This concept is backed by Becker & Geer adapted from Mullins (2005) who describe culture as any group, to the extent that it is a distinctive unit, will have to some degree a culture differing from that of other groups, a somewhat different set of common understandings around which action is organised, and these differences will find expression in a language whose nuances are peculiar to that group.

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On the contrary, according to Brown (1998), there is a lot more to culture then the sharing of norms and beliefs. It is based upon long-held assumptions about how things are and how they are done in a specific culture. For example, when an individual enters an organisation or industry for the first time, he/she will experience a microsociety (small groups) with its own culture, which has developed within it. The individual is required to adapt to the organisation culture and learn new sets of norms and values. The new employee must then learn to behave in ways that are acceptable within the working environment. However, these norms and values may be minor aspects, for example, wear the company uniform, be punctual, perform tasks in the correct manner or treat subordinates in a certain way, but they must be carried out in order to adapt to the organisation culture.

The culture of an organisation is influenced by many technical and social factors as well (Schein, 1992). Each person in an organisation has a role and they must understand how to complete that role effectively, in both social and technical terms. Normally a job description is given to the employee, and he or she is required to use their personal knowledge and skills to meet demands. Cartwright (1999), however, states our ability to conform is just as important as our willingness to do so. It means that as we move in and out of the organisation in the morning and evening we have to change. Cultural boundaries are defined by time, place and language, and as we move across those boundaries we automatically suspend our conformity to one culture and adopt the demands of another. In other words, he says that organisational and social cultures interact with and influence each other in very marked way.

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Organisational Culture is currently one of the major domains of organisational research, together with studies of formal structures, organisations-environment relations and bureaucracy. Research shows that environmental concerns have grown since the early 1990s. Environmental responsibility is becoming necessary in the product market. This is a feature of corporate culture to which employees will respond. Organisations have faced many problems with getting the workforce committed to a project that they regard as worthless. Bashinsky (2004) is backed this view, who claims that Senior Managers recognise that organisation culture has much influence on efficiency and effectiveness. He says that many factors influence organisational culture. These include climate or atmosphere in which workers operate, the style of leadership and management, the nature of the organisation, its technology and history.

This research will take an in-depth approach of dimensions of culture (gender, religion, and ethnicity) into the study of the impact of organisation culture on the motivation level of employees. Every organisation has its own unique culture, which includes religion, gender, ethnicity, leadership style, communication methods and so on. These factors may not seem relevant to some, however they affect others and in turn this has much impact on the behaviours of employees, in a positive or negative way. An example of such factors is listed below.

Gender

This is one dimension of culture, which causes much impact on employee behaviour. Over the years there have been numerous cases where men always get higher

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positions and better roles than women do. Till this day according to Wilson (2004) some organisations do include these equal rights policies, but they do not carry out them effectively. A personal example is when a male and female were working for the same company, doing the same job and had the same responsibilities; the male had a high increase in his salary than female. When female asked about this dissimilarity, the Manager told her that the other employees were a man and he had a family to feed and look after. When women do not get promoted or recognised for their hard work, it causes lack of job satisfaction and resentment towards their job. This can be a very big loss to the company. If women are rewarded for their contribution in the same way as men, then they will obviously want to work harder (Schoenberger, 1997).

Ethnicity

Since we are living in such a multi-cultural society, ethnical differences are very much apparent and should be well accepted by people of different ethnical backgrounds. However, according to Martin (1992) racial discrimination still remains a big issue within organisations. A personal example was when working for a travel club; a new person was employed, after two weeks of him working there, two African workers returned back from their holiday. The white man got up and said to the supervisor “I am leaving” and when he asked ‘why’, he answered, “I am not going to work along side black people.” Racial discrimination may make and employee feels inferior to the majority, resulting in poor performance and lack of confidence. Participation will not always be there, since he or she will always feel an outsider. Research shows that working together as a team not only increases staff motivation but also produces better outcome.

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Communication Methods

It is obvious that commitment will only be gained if people understand what they are expected to do. However, according to Moorhead & Griffin (1995) managers often fail to deliver the message to employees, in a clear and precise manner. In such situations Organisational Behaviour will be very poor, as individuals will be working in a confused environment where goals and objectives are unclear. Poor communication results in an unstable working environment and de-motivates employees (Hannagan, 2002). There should be minimum participation of staff particularly those who are unaware of what is going on. In order to communicate effectively, newsletters, briefing groups, notice boards and videos must be used.

Leadership Style

Leadership is the heart and sole of an organisation culture. Management determines consciously or sometimes unconsciously the form of culture, which will evolve. The type of leadership style the manager wishes to use will positively or negatively affect Organisational Behaviour. According to Schein (1992), here is no best style of leadership. What may work effectively in one company may not work in another. For example, an easygoing manager may still be able to get his/her staff to meet targets, as well as having a good relationship with subordinates. On the other hand, a similar leadership style may be taken for granted in another company and jobs may not be carried through properly. This may be very convenient for the employees at first, but there is a high risk of the company failing in the long run.

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Effective leadership should influence employee behaviour in a positive manner, as managers who can motivate staff by providing training, offering incentives and giving promotion to employees. This can obviously encourage staff to work harder and remain loyal to the organisation. This next quotation of Sieff quoted in Mullins (1993, p: 11) sums up the contribution of leaders, to the organisation culture, “Leadership is vitally important at all levels within the company, from main board to the shop floor. Leadership is the moral and intellectual ability to visualise and work for what is best for the company and its employees. The most vital thing the leader does is to create team spirit around him near him, not in a schoolboy sense, but in realistic terms of mature adults.”

The above are few dimensions of culture; this research will take an in-depth approach into the study of the impact of organisation culture on the motivation level of employees. To gain a better understanding, it is important to look into the concept of motivation and how culture has a positive or negative impact on employee motivation and performance levels.

Motivational Theory

Motivation is critical if the company wants to achieve sustained high levels of performance through its staff. This means giving close attention to how individuals can best be motivated through means such as incentives, rewards, leadership and, importantly, the work they do and the organization context within which they carry out that work. (Armstrong 2003). When one talks of ‘motivation’, we refer to the forces within an individual that account for the way in which they behave. It is

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concerned with why individuals choose a particular course of action in preference to others. Mitchell (1982) identifies four common characteristics, which underlie the definition of motivation. These are as follows.

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Motivation is typified as an individual phenomenon. Every person is unique and all the major theories of motivation allow for this uniqueness to be demonstrated in one way or another.

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Motivation is described usually as intentional. Motivation is assumed to be under the worker’s control and behaviours that are influenced by motivation, such as effort expended, are seen as choice of action.

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Motivation is multifaceted. The two factors of greatest importance are what gets people activated and the forces of an individual to engage in desired behaviour (direction or choice of behaviour).

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The purpose of motivational theories is to predict behaviour. Motivation is not the behaviour itself, and it is not performance. Motivation concerns action, and the internal and external forces, which influence a person’s choice of action.

From Mitchell’s definition it is possible to define motivation as the forces within an individual, which wants and chooses to engage in certain patterns of behaviour. It is clear to understand that an individual’s performance at work will be determined by how motivated he/she is.

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On the other hand, Mullins (1999: 15) is underlying concept of motivation as “a driving force within individuals, by which they attempt to achieve some goal in order to fulfil some need or expectation.” Motivational model provides illustration for this.

Motivational Model

It is obvious from this that an individual’s behaviour is determined by what motivates him/her. Their performance is in subject to their motivational level. Therefore, if the manager is to improve the work of the organisation, attention must be given to the level of motivation of its members. The manager must also encourage staff to direct their efforts (their driving force) towards the successful attainment of the goals and objectives of the organisation. The most important aspect is to establish this driving force. It is important to understand people needs and expectations, and how they influence the behaviour and performance of individual at work.

When we refer to the needs and expectations of individuals we are talking of Extrinsic and Intrinsic Factors of motivation. According to Naylor (2004: 370-371), extrinsic motivation is being tangible rewards provided by someone else. This could be in terms of increase in pay, job security, promotion, benefits, responsibilities and so on. Although a manager frequently provides extrinsic rewards, colleagues can also offer them through their appreciation. Intrinsic motivation on the other hand is related to psychological rewards such as the opportunity to use one’s ability, a sense of challenge, achievement, being appreciated and gaining recognition. These psychological rewards are those that can usually be determined by the actions and behaviour of individual managers.

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On the other hand, Bennett (1981) provides a broad three-fold classification for the motivation to work. First, there are economic rewards such as pay, fringe benefits, pension rights, material goods and security. This is known as instrumental orientation to work and is concerned with ‘other things’. Second is intrinsic satisfaction, which derived from the nature of the work itself, interest in the job, personal growth and development. It is concerned with ‘oneself’, called as personal orientation to work. The third is social relationships such as friendships, group working and the desire for affiliation, status and dependency. This type of orientation to work is known as relational and is concerned with ‘other people’.

The above study shows that a person’s motivation, job satisfaction and work performance will depend on these sets of needs/expectations and the extent to which they are fulfilled. Bennett provides an example, “Some people may make a deliberate choice to forgo intrinsic satisfaction and social relationships (particularly in the short term or in the earlier years of their working life) in return for high economic rewards. Other people are happy to accept comparatively lower economic rewards in favour of a job which has high intrinsic satisfaction and/or social relationship.”

Keeping in mind the three categories mentioned above, Cartwright (1999: 39) claims that the motivation to work is also influenced by the concept of the ‘psychological contract’. The psychological contract involves a series of expectations between the employees and the organisation. These expectations may not be defined in a formal manner and/or both parties may not be aware of this agreement; however it still affects the relationship between the individual member and organisation. According to Beardewell (2004), obviously if expectations are not met, this will naturally have an

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impact on motivation and in turn on performance level. According to him, the theory, especially in relation to reward and performance management, has a straightforward application because its message is clear- find out what motivates your employees at each of the levels and at which level employee is operating, and develop a reward strategy accordingly. All above given theories of motivation strive to explain how diverse factors affect the level of motivation and how motivation can be maintained or built.

However, writers such as Taylor (1947) claimed that obtaining the maximum wages through working is the most competent and productive way to motivate employees. According to him, performance was limited by psychological fatigue and motivation was increased when employers gave high wages to employees. According to Beardewell (2004), “Taylor believed that the use of money as a motivator linked to various objectives would offer the best motivation for performance.” In Taylor’s opinion money is the primary motivator.

Cowling (1992) supported the same view when he states that money and a lot more of it motivate people. The significance of pay is also explained by Torrington (2005). According to him, money is a status symbol and determinant of standards of living apart from being reward for the work. However, if we compare the above to the different school of thought who claims that people go to work to satisfy a range of different needs and not just simply for a high salary. Financial rewards are not generally sufficient to create and maintain sufficient level of motivation. They emphasised more on the importance of the social needs of individuals and gave

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recognition to the work organisation as a social organisation. In their opinion, money is not necessarily the best way of motivating people at work (Hunt, 1986).

The contingency approach to organisations takes the view that there are a large number of variables or situational factors which have an impact on employee behaviour and in turn organisational performance. According to them, there is more than one factor affecting the level of motivation in employees. According to Rollinson (2005), people are motivated by things that make them feel good about work, but have aversions to things that make them feel bad. It means people are motivated or demotivate by good or bad conditions at work. Organisations and individual managers must be adaptable and vary their behaviour according to the particular situation and the different needs and motivations of employees.

Organisation Culture and Motivational Factors

According to Management News, (1990), all managers have a duty to motivate their teams. Motivated people take more pride in their jobs and work better. But many managers don’t know how to motivate their staff.

According to Moorhead & Griffin (1995), every individual is unique and it is impossible to identify one single factor that will motivate the whole workforce. There are many motives that influence organisational behaviour in different ways and as the previous section states, an organisation’s structure and functions are the main ingredients that determine employee behaviour. It is correct to claim that an organisation culture can motivate or de-motivate employees. In other words,

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according to Hofstede (2001), some employees may work harder if they know they will get recognition for such work, others may better their performance for promotion and development reasons and on the other hand there may be some that are motivated by establishing a strong relationship between peers/subordinates. We must realise that all these elements are given rise by an organisation’s culture. This is the strongest factor of a working environment that determines behaviour patterns.

Along with this, the amazing aspect of culture according to Schein (1992) is that people do not realise how much they are influenced by it. The atmosphere is such so that employees’ see himself/herself as becoming part of a team working together to meet the company goals. In return for this strong bonding the company offers many indirect benefits, which include loans for home purchases, company holiday packages, transport to and from the workplace and so on. The fact that there are so many benefits and the importance of length of service for promotion and remuneration increases the loyalty of the employee to one company.

Harrison (1972) adapted from Brown (1998: 66), through his study, identifies some of the best-known classification schemes of organisational cultures. These include power, role, people and task culture. However, after a few years, Handy (1982) reworked Harrison’s ideas and identifies this simple classification scheme has been extremely influential, played a primary role to understand how organisations work. His study suggests that all organisations have at least one of these cultures and these have much impact on organisational behaviour as well as employee motivation. They are as follows.

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Power Culture

A power culture, highly dependent on trust, empathy and communication, has a single source of power from which rays of influence spread throughout the organisation. According to Brown (1998), in power culture there is a strong central leadership style where members are competing with each other for better and higher positions. Procedures are disregarded and people do not follow the written rules. Here, behaviour of individual is resentment since they are continuously competing with one another. People keen to meet individual goals rather than working together to achieve company objectives. However, this type of culture can also have a positive effect by determine employees to work harder, in order to gain the rewards and incentives available. Al-Faleh, M., provides an example of an organisation in Arab, which is very much reactive and change oriented and the culture is very power oriented. Organisations seem to be at its best, where people are highly motivated by affiliation and high positions (Torrinton et al. 2005).

Role Culture

According to Brown (1998), a role culture is a bureaucracy, the organising principles of which are logic and rationality. It lays in the organisations functions or specialities like finance, purchasing, production etc. Here, the organisational behaviour is very much dominated by the job description and procedures are taken very seriously. For many individuals who value security and predictability these sorts of organisation are highly reassuring, while for those who are ambitious or power-oriented they can be frustrating. An example of this type of culture can be seen in McDonald’s. The

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restaurant employees have a set way of doing things and standards must be met. Although McDonald’s is a striving company, it also has a high rate of staff turnover. This could be a result of this type of culture, since it can be very frustrating for employees, as there is not much room for individuality. Therefore, motivation and enthusiasm may soon disappear.

Person Culture

A person culture develops when a group of people decide that it is in their own best interests to organise on a collective rather than an individual basis. Here, individuals decide on their own work allocation with rules and coordinative mechanism. Martin (2002), states that this is a culture where the needs of the individual are taken into consideration. People work in consensus and are psychologically motivated to be there and take part. For example, Marks and Spencer promotes good relations and efficient management. The implementation of a policy of good human relations at work has been an important factor in the success and profitability of the company. The organisation stresses the necessity of this policy to gain employee commitment. Therefore, Sieff (1991: 20) states good human relations involve a morale attitude, treating everyone whatever their position with respect, and caring about employees. All those down the line should do the same for those manage.

From personnel experience it is true to say that if internal customers are treated fairly they in turn will produce work to satisfy external customers. Therefore, Marks and Spencer theory is very much accurate.

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Task Culture

Here we have a culture where experts focus on particular tasks. People are committed to teamwork and individual differences are sacrificed. Depending on their expertise, most people are flexible and adaptable. At this point, behaviour of employees can be expected to be very much positive, since people are very much involved in completing the task given and teamwork provides a sense of unity. Dolores Thompson Yong studied a company in Singapore with members of various ethnical groups. The combined personalities demonstrate a strong power and task culture. Hofstede’s (2001) study (which shall be reflected on in more depth later) would define this organisation as having high power distance. However, there are some managers that are from the west, who exercise a low power distance. Along with this, in those environments where market is competitive, product life span are short, and constant innovation necessity; the task culture can be highly successful.

Purcell et al (2003) as quoted in Armstrong (2003: 4) by stating, “Intangible assets such as culture, skill and competence, motivation and social interaction between people, teams and business units, are increasingly seen as a key sources of strength in those firms which can combine people and processes together.” Along with this, a Dutch writer, Fons Trompenaars (1993: 21), has attempted direct link between cultural variance and Organisational Behaviour. However, he also shows a few aspects (which have not been discussed yet) affecting behaviour of employees in organisation.

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Firstly, people differ with regards to showing emotions publicly. Trompenaar (1993) carried out a survey in which 80 employees in each society were asked whether they think it is wrong to express ‘upset’ emotions openly at work. The results show that the numbers who thought it is wrong were, 80 in Japan, 75 in Germany, 71 in United Kingdom, 55 in Hong Kong, 20 in Italy and 40 in U.S.A. Emotional factors are likely to have the biggest impact on OB. Although it is not professional to bring personal problems into the workplace, often it is hard to hold back emotions. Obviously there may be some people who have the ability to blank things out, but generally people would perform poorly if they were emotionally depressed. Therefore, there is a need for a culture that gives consideration to employee feelings and where management are approachable so people feel comfortable to discuss their problems.

Trompenaar (1993) also talks of rules and relationships. Some organisations are such where there is minimum flexibility and behaviour is based on rules. Such rigidity in organisations develops behaviour, which is not unique, and individuality is not being offered for the future development of the company. Where much freedom is not given, employees are unlikely to participate fully to achieve organisational goals. However, in some cases people may prefer to be in a situation where they do only what they are asked to do and would rather not get too involved. Some people can demotivate or scared if they are given too many responsibilities.

The conservative approach of motivating employees was challenged by Hawthorne Studies conducted by Mayo (1932) as quoted in Buchanan and Huczynski (1997), which suggested that only monetary rewards are not enough to create sustained levels of motivation in employees. This approach is called as Human relations approach. It is

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obvious that rewards, which reinforce self-concept and self-worth and at the same time enhance an individual’s control over the working environment, are likely to provide motivation for these individuals.

Torrington et al. (2005) has also emphasised influence of social factors on employee motivation. According to him, motivation is socially or culturally determined. Human Relations School has been criticised for its unitarist viewpoint and for its methodology as given in Torrington (2005). According to Mullins (1999), the Hawthorne experiments have been criticised on the basis of tactic and failure of considering environmental factors.

On the other hand, according to Foot & Hook (1999: 277), some of the non-financial awards we have selected will also have a monetary value. According to author, such things as public recognition of their contributions, certificates of appreciation, assignment to team leader status, may be potential motivators.

In other words, working in small groups independently with some degree of autonomy is most likely to lead to satisfactory results, if higher management accomplishes the co-ordination and integration necessary. According to Foot & Hook (1999), personal contribution of an employee working in a group setting not only helps to fulfil the need for recognition but also the need to belong and control. The best way to improve overall performance of the organisations is by investing a great deal more in their employees. This could be done by offering group awards for accomplishments, giving praise to group and individuals for good work and allowing involvement in attention-getting projects.

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Beside, the rules and relationship, the concept of ‘luck’ plays an important part within culture of an organisation. According to Jackson (1995), it is a belief that much of a company’s fortunes are determined by luck rather than good management. The reason for this appears to be an acceptance that much of a company’s success appears to come from harmonious social relationship, but it cannot be described as an exact function of that social relationship. Hence, the term luck is used to explain why the inexact relationship produced a successful result. Sometimes, decision-making process can often lead to conflict situation. What generally happens is that individuals very often of different levels of seniority will argue over a particular issue until a decision is reached. However, this is highly unlikely happen in few organisations.

According to Jackson (1995), individuals in the organisations make decisions with greater seniority; others accept what has been decided. But what if the wrong decision has been made? Surely a problem must be discussed openly so that ideas are shared and the correct decision is made or are individuals in seniors’ positions always right?

Quality Control Circles (QCC) is a managerial technique introduced by the Americans, with the aim to improve productivity, quality and better relations between management and workers. QCC requires the creation of small groups of five to twelve workers, who hold regular meetings in which they discuss and make suggestions on various work related matters, such as quality control, safety, working conditions and procedures. This system has allowed group control over work pace through the presence of buffers and the absence of supervision (Berggren, 1993 quoted in Wilson, 2004).

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According to Wilson (2004), QCC was introduced to Japan’s organisations after the Second World War and over the years has achieved widespread success throughout the country. The workforce took the initial acceptance of QCC with great enthusiasm. However, the excitement did fade out a short period later. The workers claimed that they were not being rewarded sufficiently when their suggestions and ideas led to improvements. They felt they were doing the job of management but without getting paid for it. Therefore, as stated previously, people’s expectations do change and in this case the workforce became de-motivated because of lack of rewards, recognition and simply because they felt they were being suppressed. The recommendation given was that management style should take into account both culture and the level of industrialisation (Wilson, 2004).

Since we are living in such multi-cultural environment one must accept the various cultures and backgrounds people come from. Although we have discussed previously every organisation has its own distinct culture, but we must realise that individuals joining the company do bring their own culture into the workplace. Depending on how strong the culture is it may affect the way the person does his/her work and in turn this may influence the behaviour of other workers, in a positive or negative way.

Therefore, according to Evans at al. (1995), the implementation of management development activities, or the evaluation of existing activities in different cultures must be undertaken with an understanding of the underlying traditions and values of that culture. This requires appreciation and knowledge of the cultural value systems of the workforce and the management, if there is a difference.

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Although, there is different school of thought who says monetary rewards are insufficient to create and maintain sufficient level of motivation. They felt that there is more than one factor affecting the level of motivation in employees. According to Kovach (1987), organisations that are following with conviction and passion the nonmonetary rewards and recognition says that recognition is a basic requirement for creating a positive work culture in the organisation. Recognition encourages and enthuses employees to believe in themselves and deliver quality and a powerful motivator that puts the recipient in the limelight, which leads to better performance. According to Mullins (1999), employees are not motivated entirely by money but there are other factors influencing the level of motivation in employees. The behaviour of the workers was influenced by social needs as well as economic incentives. Herzberg et al. (1959) expresses a similar view.

According to Herzberg, (1959) if you want people motivated to do a good job, give them a good job to do. He looked at the causes of job satisfaction and dissatisfaction in an attempt to understand what motivates people at work and from his research proposed a ‘two factor’ theory. The results were generally consistent and revealed that there are two different sets of factors affecting motivation at work.

The first set of factors are those which if absent, cause dissatisfaction. These factors are concerned with the job environment and extrinsic to the job itself. Working conditions, company procedures, money, status, quality of supervision and interpersonal relations are known as the ‘Hygiene’ factors and serve to prevent dissatisfaction. The second set of factors are those which if present serve to motivate the individual to better performance. These factors are related to the job content of the

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work itself. They are known as the ‘Motivators’ or ‘Growth’ factors. Motivators incorporate a sense of achievement, recognition, responsibility and the prospect of growth and advancement. According to Cole (2000), motivators factors appeared to be closely connected to the job, while hygiene factors are connected with environment. Motivators appeared to produce motivated behaviour. Organisations need to concentrate on these motivators to get better performance from employees.

The strength of these factors will affect feelings of satisfaction, but not dissatisfaction. The right attention given to the hygiene factors will tend to prevent dissatisfaction, but does not by itself create motivation to work (Goldthorpe, 1968). According to Fincham (2003), the opposite of dissatisfaction is not satisfaction but, simple no dissatisfaction. Managers must give great attention to the motivators and growth factors in order to be able to motivate workers to give their best performance. On the other hand, hygiene factors are also important. They are necessary to prevent unpleasantness at work and avoid unfair treatment. According to Herzberg (1959), management should never deny people proper treatment at work. The motivators relate to what people are allowed to do at work. They are the variables which actually motivate people.

Herzberg’s work has been largely criticised by many school of thoughts. According to Vecchio (1995: 210), one criticism being that the theory applies least to individuals with largely unskilled jobs, whose work is boring, uninteresting and repetitive. These people are those who are in a senior position and still they are not managers. He has also criticised the theory on the point that many of job factors are not exclusively members of one set or the other. However, results collected form Goldthorpe’s (1968)

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study of manual workers on assembly line and other factory work, showed a group of workers had adopted an instrumental orientation to their job. On the whole the workers primary concern was with economic interests like pay and security. The nature of the work or the satisfaction of social needs was not of interest. The job was a means of earning money through which to satisfy outside demands and interests.

During a participant observation as a semi-skilled fitter in a small engineering factory in Amsterdam in the 1955, Hofstede (1994) discovered a similar situation. Here almost all the workers remained at work for the salary not because of the satisfaction. He asked one employee about his job. He replied that he is not very satisfied, but not because of the work itself (although he also gets rather boring jobs), but because of the poor quality of his tools (I know by personal experience that having to work with inadequate tools is very irritating), the lack of friendship (he is rather a loner), the insufficient ‘benefits’ (I don’t know what exactly he means by this), and the fact that people talk to the boss behind other people’s backs and try to buy the boss’s favour by offering cigarettes. An employee would like to quit, but he stays for the high wages.

From this it is obvious the culture of that the organisation was not enabling. People could not stress the need for better tools or even if they did, why was their request ignored? According to Evans et al. (1995), the culture did not encourage good relationship with peers/subordinates and it did not understand or refused to appreciate the workers need for sufficient benefits. In such an environment the culture of the organisation is not satisfying the needs of employees who naturally will have low morale and will only do the necessary jobs required to get their wages. There is no

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motivation to work together and achieve greater tasks that are not in their job description.

However, in a later study conducted by Blackburn and Mann (1979), suggests that not all manual workers share an instrumental orientation to work. They gathered data from a sample of 1000 workers in relatively low-skilled jobs, they found a variety of work orientations. These included primary concerns for outdoor work or indoor work, autonomy, working conditions, promotion, rewards and so on. The study suggests that it is not possible to pinpoint any one aspect that will motivate an individual, every individual’s needs and expectations vary and therefore managers should create an organisation culture that it can meet most if not all of the needs of employees in order to motivate them to perform better.

Murice et al. (1980) concluded that similar organisations in different societies grow in contrasting ways. This could be the result of distinctive patterns in the society. Their study showed that British organisations appeared to grow laterally. In other words, they developed large numbers of specialised managers. They claim that this could be due to the nature of British education and the influence of the professions. On the other hand, Child and Keiser quoted in Mullins (1993: 13&15), provide an alternative approach. They researched into British and German organisations. Their study shows a consistent link between factors, such as size and specialisation between the two countries. However, there were some differences and they were to do with working arrangements. Managers had different views of their roles and authority. This is what we discussed earlier; leaders and leadership styles vary, sometimes to a great extent. The researchers believe that, culturally derived preferences and philosophies may

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influence the behaviour of managers in the workplace. Various cultural aspects can change the view and working environment as we can see it below in Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is being referred as a ‘classic among classics’ (Wilson 2004:146). It remains a conceptual starting point for motivation theory and it is presented as a pyramid with the more basic physiological needs lying at the base and each higher level consisting of a particular class of needs: physiological, safety, belongingness, esteem and self-actualisation. Lower order needs called deficiency needs, which must be satisfied to ensure an individual’s very existence and security. Depending on how motivated the person is he or she will behave according to that. The theory claims that people are motivated by a number of factors at work, aiming to satisfy one particular need before moving on to attempt to satisfy the next in the hierarchy.

However, Hall and Nougaim (1968) claims that Maslow’s theory lacks empirical support. Hall and Nougaim found that as manager advanced, safety needs became less important while higher-order needs become more important but this could be explained by a process of career change and advancement. He suggests a more appropriate hierarchy would be based on three need levels (for existence, relatedness and growth) instead of the five-level model. Cullen (1994) cited in Wilson (2004), says that Maslow’s methodology is suspect. It has also been accused of being occupationally biased, culturally biased and male biased.

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Vroom (1964) states that Expectancy Theory is another process of cognitive theory and can also be applied to pay and motivation. Expectancy Theory proposes that motivation and work related behaviour could be predicted if we know about workers’ strength of desire for various outcomes and probability of achieving them. Different rewards can be accrued by the individual as a result of effort or performance. The theory predicts that the person with the high effort-performance expectancy will be more motivated to perform.

According to Vecchio (1995), it is clear that organisational culture exists in all types of environments. The existing values and share beliefs are most likely to be transmitted by previous generations. This could be done through, family influence, formal education and/or the working environment. Armstorng also backs this view. Armstrong (1992:14) states, “The significance of culture arises because it is rooted deeply-held beliefs. It reflects what has worked in the past, being composed of responses which have been accepted because they have met with success.

However, with todays growing society it is quite impossible for traditional working methods to continue with the same level of success. Wilson (2004) states that nowadays organisations change, people change and most importantly people’s expectations change. As the expectation level increases it has a knock on affect on motivation (Kovach 1987).

Greet Hofstede (1991) also agrees that culture does matter when studying organisational behaviour. From 1967 to 1973, Hofstede undertook a study, which sought to discover whether differences found among employees of IBM subsidiaries

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across the world were a result of their different culture. He derived four criteria by which to compare differences among culture and behaviour patterns.

POWER DISTANCE

Schein (1992) claims that a critical issue in any new group is how influence, power and authority will be allocated. This is the extent to which a society accepts the fact that power is unequally distributed and measures the degree to which there is psychological distance among people. Appendix One shows the main differences between a high power distance and a low power distance. Lower power distance is where all members are treated fairly and high power distance is where superiors are given privileges and obviously these two practices will have different impacts on the behaviour of employees.

Hofstede (2001) argues power distance will depend upon management style, willingness of subordinates to disagree with superiors, the educational level and status accruing to particular roles. This is what we looked at earlier, when considering the research by Child and Keiser quoted in Mullins (1993). It was power distance that affected the organisational culture. When conducting his study, Hofstede also found difficult to identify any differences among German and British companies until he tested the power distance dimension. The results show that most countries fell somewhere between the extremes. Countries as diverse as Germany, Italy, Australia and the USA were characterised as low power distance societies.

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Power distance can also affect communication in the sense that in an organisation with a large power distance, communication is formalised, channelled and always appropriate with the proper protocol. Now in a culture with a small power distance, communication will be informal, with less prescribed behaviour (Schoenberger, 1997).

UNCERTAINTY AVOIDANCE

In this context, a society is able to deal with threatening, ambiguous or unusual situations. According to Brown (1998), low uncertainty avoidance is where there is ease and minimum stress experienced and hard work is virtue. On the other hand high uncertainty avoidance is where uncertainty inherent in life is felt as a continuous threat that must be fought. Here, we have two types of behaviour, one where the individual is willing to take on a challenge and willing to strive. The second is an insecure individual who is too scared of competition and is not willing to change according to time. Organisations, which motivate and train employees to meet growing demands are likely to accept risk and are concerned with high performance. Al-Faleh provides an example of an organisation in Arab, which is very much reactive and change oriented. There is a high level of uncertainty avoidance within the company. However, Hofstede (2001) did not include Arab in his research therefore; we can only take a guess on the level of uncertainty. He said there is hope of success in low uncertainty and fear of failure in high uncertainty in the organisations.

Cultures, according to integration perspective, exist to lighten anxiety, to control the uncontrollable, to bring predictability to the uncertain, and to clarify the ambiguous.

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Barley (1983) defines culture as the product of sense-making activity that brings clarity into employees’ working lives. In other words, organisations are speech communities sharing socially constructed systems of meaning that allow members to make sense of their immediate, and perhaps not so immediate, environment. On the other hand, Cyert and March (1963) as cited in Hofstede (2001) argue that to avoid uncertainty in the organisations, organisations use technology, rules and rituals. They imposed plans, standard procedures that are being controlled properly. In a similar view, Clarke (1972) as quoted in Martin (1992) defines an ‘organisational saga’ or story as providing clarity, creating meaning out of meaninglessness and sometimes even replacing uncertainty with the conviction of a religious convert.

INDIVIDUALISM Vs COLLECTIVISM

As authors found in Buchanan & Huczynski (2004), individualism-collectivism is the most important cultural value that affected whether an employee responded positively or negatively to team working. Individualism implies to a culture where people are supposed to only take care of themselves and their immediate families. Whilst, collectivism refers to a tight social framework in which people distinguish between in-groups and out-groups. They expect to be looked after by their in-group and in return they feel they owe absolute loyalty to it (Deal and Kennedy, 1982). Appendix two presents a full picture of this dimension. From personal experience when organisations offer employees rewards and incentives, they get much commitment from them. Organisational Behaviour becomes far more motivated with the company’s goals and objectives as main priorities. However, this can have a reverse

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effect. Referring back to the ‘psychological contract’, if expectations are not met, than people can become de-motivated and performance standards can drop (Boddy, 2002).

MASCULINITY Vs FEMININITY

The final dimension deals with masculinity and femininity. Hofstede (2001) states that masculinity applies to assertiveness, the acquisition of money and things and not caring for others or the quality of life. On the other hand, femininity can be identified where there is equality between the sexes and where quality of life is important. This area was also discussed before when we spoke of ‘gender’. It can be expected that in most eastern societies, it will be men in the more dominating roles, with money as a very important element (Wilson, 2004). We discussed in the first chapter that in the most eastern countries, it is norm for men to go to work and women to have an inferior role, which is to do domestic work. Another factor is that since there is a shortage of money in developing countries, money holds much value for them. However, Hofstede (2001) through his study discovered that within nearly all societies men scored higher in terms of their values, positive sense than of their negative sense.

It can be seen that although respondents were well matched, from the same company,, job and education, but with different nationalities, the results did differ. Most countries did fall into the category of ‘large power distance and strong uncertainty avoidance’. However, we can go on and criticise Hofstede’s work, since he made no allowances for regional differences. The dimension consist of generalised categories and by concentrating on one organisation, he restricts his scope of work.

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Nevertheless, much can be understood and learnt from Hofstede’s study. Stewart (1991) suggests two advantages of studying cultural differences among organisations. This is the need to learn from others, particularly from successful foreign competitors, the other is the need to understand how to communicate and work effectively with people from other organisations. The attempt is to improve organisational performance.

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Summary of Literature Review

To summarise we can say that, organisational culture has a strong influence on employees’ behaviour and attitudes since it conveys a sense of identity and unity of purpose to members of the organisation. It is clear to understand that an individual’s performance at work will be determined by how motivated he/she is. For this purpose, organisational culture also helps shape the behaviour of people, providing guidance on what is expected and it facilitates the generation of commitment and unity, providing the culture is such that meets the needs and expectations of its employees. As we discussed earlier, we can seen that every society and organisation has its own unique culture and employee behaviour will depend on the existing norms and values of that particular culture. Extrinsic factors and Intrinsic factors are crucial to understand needs and expectations. Although, the prominence is given on the monetary rewards in creating and maintaining sustained levels of motivation in employees, financial rewards are not generally sufficient to create and maintain sufficient level of motivation. Therefore, Herzberg’s two factors theory is being discussed.

To motivate an individual means creating and environment in which his or her goals can be satisfied while at the same time the goals of the organisation are met. Hunt (1986) says that choosing people for jobs ideally involves relating two questions: what does the organisation need? And what sorts of goals in individuals are closest to those corporate goals? Not surprisingly the highly motivated individual is found in a job where the two goal sets are closest. If the demotivated person is found in situation, the goal congruency is worst. Various cultural aspects can change the view and

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working environment as we seen in Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. Theory claims that people are motivated by a number of factors at work, aiming to satisfy one particular need before moving on to attempt to satisfy the next in the hierarchy. Organisations change, people change and most importantly people’s expectations change. In other words, management must be fully aware of what aspects within the working environment encourage people to perform better.

As we have seen in the studies presented in this chapter, most people are motivated by factors such as high salary, recognition, responsibilities, good relationship with peers and or a good benefit package. In the next chapter research methodology will be carried out to test what factors generally motivate people to perform better and whether most organisations do go out of their way to accommodate for employees needs and expectations.

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Company overview

SHS International Bakery started in the coeliac market in 1991. In the beginning of the business they supplied in U.K. and Ireland. Since last few years, the market grew all over in Europe with 40 different products of Glutafin and Juvela. All the products are available on prescription for people who have special dietary needs. Company’s vision for the bakery is home of world class specialized clinical nutrition…working together as lives depends on them. As it operates in highly competitive market over the last few years, company is facing continuous improvements and changing culture within organisation.

SHS International Bakery is rapidly growing high-technology manufacturing company. Its founders who began the bakery before 15 years ago, manages it, the founder has strongly held beliefs and values. SHS International operates in several critical and coordinated assumptions. Individuals are assumed to be the source of innovations and productivity. Company will not implement any ideas unless everyone involved in implementation process has been convinced. Individuals must think for themselves and will “do the right think” even if that means violating the company policy. The company members are one big family will take care of one another in the high conflict environment. The company takes care of its employees considering monetary and fiscal policies, as staff being paid rewards and bonuses if targets achieved. The bakery works in three different shifts with 48 people together. The bakery environment is quite friendly, as the general view appears to be that hard work; innovation and rapid solutions to problems are essential to this rapidly growing high-technology company.

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CHAPTER – III RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

To make the research successful and meet its objectives, it was essential to plan the study within the given time scale and word limit. Obviously, all research creates its own risk and uncertainty; this is where it was important to keep a personal diary, which kept account of what was to be done, by when and how. The research is organisational culture powerful enough to motivate or de-motivate employees. Since such a link between organisation culture and employee motivation has not been made before or if it had than the author was not aware of it, therefore it was a challenge making connection between the two.

Sources of Information

In such a research obviously there needs to be a wide range of material studied. Relevant data needs to be collected and analysed in order to gain an insight into the subject area. Below is a list of the sources of information and methods used to carry out the investigation into the impact of organisation culture on employee motivation.

Journals

These included,

Journal of Management Development,

Project Appraisal,

International Journal of Human Resource Management and many others. They were quite helpful in gaining a background understanding of the subject matter. The

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journals did provide useful examples of different types of organisation cultures and also factors that motivate people at work.

Computerised Technology

The Internet was another useful source, which provided examples, which were relevant for the research topic. However, the connection between organisation culture and employee motivation had limited capacity, may be because this concept had not been linked before.

Library Facilities

This was excellent in obtaining much literature material. From the books studied it was possible to gain a greater understanding of the research.

Methodology

There are many ways to undertake research methodology. However, the approach proposed by Saunders et al. (2003) seems very logical. Saunders et al. (2003) compare the research process to an onion by highlighting the layered approach to research depicted in figure.

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Research Philosophy (Realism/Positivism) Research Approach (Deductive) Data Collection Methods (Secondary research/ interview) Research Strategy (Case Study)

Time Horizon (Cross sectional)

(Adopted from Saunders et al. 2003)

Among the various possible research strategies, this particular research is most likely to be classified as a case study research. This research concentrates on a particular section of an organisation (organisation culture). According to Morris and Wood (1991), a case study is most suitable to gain a deep insight into the context of the research and the processes. According to Saunders et al. (2003), case study involves observation of a single group or event at a single point in time, usually subsequent to some phenomenon that allegedly produced a change. Despite of being criticised by Jankowicz (2002), the method of case study is the best for management purpose.

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This research is exploratory and a cross sectional study. Due to the time and resource constraints involved, conducting a longitudinal research would not be feasible. The research however, involves the analysis of historical data. Even though it is crosssectional, the study would be able to provide a fair amount of insight into the research question. According to Hussey (1997), A sample is made up of some of the members of population. It is representative of the population from which it is drawn. According to Bryman and Bell (2003), there are two types of sampling: probability sampling and Non-probability sampling. According to Saunders et al. (2003), heterogeneous nonprobability sampling (convenience sampling, snowball sampling, purposive sampling and quota sampling) is best for case study research. On the contrary, Bryman and Bell (2003) said that the greater the heterogeneity of a population, the larger a sample will need to be. The homogeneous, instead of heterogeneous is relatively good for the members of a company where the amount of variation is less. The research will be based on the convenience sampling of ten people working in different backgrounds from sales advisor to HR manager in organisation, which is simply available by virtue of its accessibility.

The primary data and secondary data have been used to get all necessary information for this research. As a secondary data, author has used books, journals, Internet and literatures. For the primary data there are lots of sources like interview, survey, questionnaire, protocol analysis, observation, diaries and so on (According to Gill & Johnson, 2002). According to Saunders M. et al., (2003), an interview is a purposeful discussion between two or more person. The use of interviews helps to gather valid and reliable data that are relevant to the research questions and objectives. However, interviews particularly unstructured and semi-structured are very time consuming,

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expensive. Questions should be open ended. According to Hussey (1997), as the whole process can be very time consuming and expensive, in some cases a short questionnaire may be more appropriate.

Questionnaires are a popular method for collecting data. It is cheaper and less time consuming than interviews and very large samples can be taken. This questionnaire contends questions intended to asked cover various aspects of our research about organisation culture is powerful to motivate employees. However, on the contrary, According to Gill & Johnson, (2002), the questionnaire is based on more closed questions, whereas interviews would give room for more open answers. Interviews would allow the respondent to give a more complete answer rather than just a ‘yes’ or ‘no’. For the research purpose, researcher has conducted interviews with 10 employees of SHS International Bakery. Although the sample size is small in interview, it was decided that results obtained would produce a truer picture for the purpose of the research.

Data Collection

In quantitative analysis, data can be measured. In other words, numbers and what they stand for are the material of analysis. We can make direct comparison between two organisations through valid sampling and techniques and it is also useful to conduct exploratory data analysis (Hussey, 1997). However, by contrast, according to Saunders et al. (2003), quantitative analysis is less reliable than qualitative analysis as qualitative analysis deals in words and standardized procedures than statistical analysis. Qualitative analysis provides shared ground rules for drawing conclusions

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and verifying their sturdiness. According to Saunders et al. (2003) there is relative lack of standardization in quantitative analysis, which focuses considerable misunderstanding. The method used in research will be qualitative analysis as it is related to complete and detailed description of the research topic.

Ethical Issues

Confidentiality is of primary importance throughout this research and very crucial in terms of gaining access to organisations and individuals. Once promises about confidentiality have been made it is of great importance to make sure that these are maintained (Saunders et al, 2003). In almost all cases, the data collection would be on the condition of secrecy. Keeping the sensitivity of the information collected in mind, this research will not be disclosed names of people. A sincere effort would be maintain throughout the research stick to these ethical concerns.

Scope and Limitations

The interviews will be conducted with various people from different working backgrounds in the organisation to obtain a comprehensive feedback. Realistic future recommendations will be given to organisation on how to improve their culture and in turn increase staff motivation. The research will concentrate only on ‘organisation culture’ and not on national or regional culture. It is arguable that organisational culture has become the single most active research arena. The research will not go into much depth due to word, cost and time limitations.

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CHAPTER – IV FINDINGS

A steady progression of the research was being made, up until the designing of questions to ask participants. This was very time consuming and took longer then expected. At first, questionnaire is being created which would help to obtain the type of information necessary to complete the research. It can be seen in Appendix attached. However, after a long consultation, it was decided that it would be better and more sufficient information would be obtained if a small sample of ten people were interviewed rather than 100 questionnaires sent out.

The people to be interviewed were from different working backgrounds, from a sales advisor to a human resource manager. The idea was to understand how motivated people in different positions and jobs are and what the connection with organisation culture was. The questions asked in the interview are shown in Appendix attached. It was decided to have a small number of questions for the interviews, as it may put people off and they may not take part. Only the most crucial questions required for the purpose of the dissertation were included in the interviews. Although they were kept to a minimum, it was still difficult to make people participate. Respondents made numerous excuses for not taking part; therefore this part of the research really did slow down the speed of completing the dissertation. Obviously to meet the aim of the research it was important to continue approaching people for interview purpose. Since most people were interviewed at their workplace, they were not able to give as detailed answers as expected due to time constraint. Also even though participants

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were told that the information received would be totally confidential, people still did not seem to open up.

The results show that the initial factor that attracts the employees to the organisation is the company’s reputation. People prefer to work for an organisation with a high profile/status. Although there were a couple of people who made it clear that they were only interested in getting a wage packet at the end of the week. For these people the status of the organisation is not of importance since they are attracted to the salary. One individual was attracted to the part time hours offered by their workplace. This is because not all companies provide flexible working hours, an employee who can only work certain hours may find himself/herself working for an organisation that they may not like but due to circumstances they may have to seek employment there.

Apart from salary/wages, the interviewees receive rewards and incentives such as discount on company products, bonus if they reach to their target, training in their particular area of work. It must be noted that most interviewees worked on performance related pay. This must obviously be a successful system since when the participants were asked to describe their relationship with their boss, subordinate and peers, the majority was very happy with their working relationships. This goes to show that there is no competition amongst employees and there is no resentment towards management for setting targets. However, the interviews do show that it was the female interviewees that claim to work together as a team with excellent communication. The male participants were found to be working in a not so friendly environment, where people are there for just one purpose-to makes money.

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One male participant stated that he was working in a very false environment. A difficult situation was also found in a sales department, where a sales manager claimed that the constant change of management made it hard to establish good relationships. This type of environment is not healthy, because by the time the employees get used to the manager’s leadership style there is a change of management. Too many changes can de-motivate employees as they may not be able to cope with constantly changing demands. However regardless of the answers obtained from the previous question, when asked whether it is important to have a good relationship with boss and peers all participants thought it was necessary to have good relationships with all workforce.

Participant believed that they do need to support each other for effective work. One individual said, “If the manager is not good at his job then I would not perform my best.” It shows the need for total commitment and teamwork in the workplace. All the people who being interviewed stressed the importance of a good working relationship, because you can build up a team spirit and it makes it easier to solve problems and resolve any conflicts. A female supervisor said, “a good working relationship makes my job easier.” If all participants recognise the importance of having good relations at work that why are they working in environments where this strong relationship is not visible?

Question seven on the interview also got a very similar response from everyone. People believe that if training is given then you hold the company’s interest at heart. The interviewees tend to believe that training will encourage people to work harder

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and employees may be able to reach their target. The results of the interviews were very much similar to the studies examined previously in literature review. For example, in Hofstede’s study in Amsterdam it was discovered that unskilled workers were the least motivated in the workplace and it was managers and other skilled workers that were more motivated. All participants made it clear that training is important to remove employee’s weaknesses and improve on their good points. It is obvious that people can progress in the company through training. But do all organisations want to invest in the training of all employees’ especially unskilled workers?

When asked about the importance of salary it was interesting to know that supervisors and managers claim that a high salary is as important as job satisfaction. On the other hand people with not so high positions value a high salary more than anything else. An union leader states that, “if you are master in the job then a good salary is really important.” This is a fair comment, however some people interviewed were working on part time bases or in an unskilled job, to them they need the job for an income not for a career. This is apparent in the study carried out by Hofstede (2001) in the factory in Amsterdam, where the workers only came to work for a salary and they were very dissatisfied with their job, but their need for money kept them in the job. This was also identified in Taylor’s research when he suggested that performance was limited by physiological fatigue and motivation was increased when employers gave employees high wages.

From the literature we have studied, it is clear that increased responsibility can also motivate people to work harder, since they feel that their contribution makes a

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difference. Most participants did prefer to have a high level of responsibility since it gave them a sense of ownership. However, not everyone responded to responsibility in such a way. A person from Human Resource Department claimed that when he did not have many responsibilities he felt useless and then when his level of responsibilities was increased he found it difficult to deal with the pressure. A similar view was expressed by a supervisor of the company who claimed that having responsibility is good as long as there is someone else to fall back on. It is obvious that the issue of responsibilities depends on the individual whether he/she can cope with so many responsibilities and work under pressure. Question ten on the interview was one of the most vital questions. As expected the answers varied from person to person. As mentioned before different aspects in the workplace motivate different people. When they being asked that what motivate you at work, the answers were as follows, “I am motivated when I get praised for my work and the fact that my manager is good and he treats me as I am a team leader. Some people were motivated by selling products to customers and by meeting new people through their job. A general feedback from managers and supervisors show that they are most motivated when they get a positive feedback from customers and staff. Working in a friendly and pleasant environment is also a motivator for few of them. The most common motivators identified were a high salary, promotion and recognition.

When interviewees were being asked what motivate their colleagues at work, the general reply was ‘high salary’. A finance manager said that recently lots of staff has left to work for another organisation but doing the same job only because the salary is better in the new employment. A sales consultant said that his colleagues were

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motivated when they knew they had come to the end of their working contract and would be leaving work soon. It is obvious that salary is not only of great value to the interviewees but also to their colleagues.

Interviewees’ mostly described their organisation culture as collectivist. People work together as a team in a friendly and enabling environment. Although two people out of ten claimed to be working in an environment where there is no commitment from managers. People are there to do their job and get their wages at the end of the week. This type of culture has come about due to lack of commitment from senior managers has brought about a culture which is considerate to employees and enabling. As mentioned in literature review, managers and personnel specialists are in the business of influencing behaviour in directions that will meet the needs of the enterprise. Therefore, it is in their hands to create an appropriate culture that will meet the needs of the organisation as well as the workforce.

The response for question fourteen was a mixture, a few people were not too happy with the working environment and they were only there until a better job opportunity came along. Four people were quite content. They claim that a friendly environment encourages people to work harder and when a strong management team is around it allows a smooth running of the business. Two participants claimed that it makes them happy to know that the organisation invests a lot of money and time in training them. It shows they have a keen interest in people.

As expected all interviewees do agree that there is a connection between organisation culture and motivation. If the culture is people oriented, committed and there are good

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communication channels then naturally people will be motivated. However, some people have been in the same job for the last seven to eight years and never been promoted, these are the least motivated people. This suggests that an organisation culture should be considerate towards its people and offer them training, benefits and promotion that will motivate them in the workplace to perform better. A manager’s view on this matter is that if culture creates a negative atmosphere and keeps management detached from staff then employees will feel de-motivated.

Therefore, to increase motivation, there should be competition between departments to beat targets. They are likely to be motivated if they achieve their goal. On the other hand those who do not beat the other department will naturally be de-motivated, as they may have worked to the best of their ability. This can bring about a power culture as Harrison mentioned earlier, where people are more interested in meeting individual goals rather than working together to achieve company targets. People can become motivated if they are working along side a motivated team. However, if managers are not keen then employees are not likely to be keen, resulting in a de-motivated workforce.

One employee from an organisation suggested, in order to improve organisation culture and increase staff motivation, the company needs to review the company standards. This is because people are leaving the company so often; therefore it is important for management to discuss development opportunities with staff to find out what they want. If employees well-being is taken into consideration then they are likely to be motivated on the other hand if employees are neglected then they will be de-motivated.

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Summary of Findings

On the whole the interviews produced some results that were expected and others that were not predicted. It is very much clear that most people are motivated with a high salary. However, there were others who were motivated by recognition and by establishing good relationships within the workplace. People did stress that the culture of an organisation is created by management and they need to establish an environment that is people friendly, approachable and committed in order to have a motivated team of workers, who will perform their best.

Chapter five draws conclusion from the findings and relates them to the original hypothesis.

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CHAPTER – V CONCLUSION

The initial research was based on the impact of organisation culture on employee motivation. However since the research area was too wide, it was decided to change the dissertation title to ‘is organisation culture powerful enough to motivate or demotivate employees. The conclusion aims to identify the relevant findings, made in the previous chapter and draw conclusion from the original hypothesis made.

Relating the findings to the hypothesis

To discuss the findings relating to the hypothesis it is necessary to review the hypotheses. The objective of the research was to investigate the impact of organisation culture on employee motivation. The hypothesis being, ‘that although organisation culture has been the main component of a business, most companies till this day do not believe that the culture of an organisation can influence the behaviour of the employees. It is claimed that the culture of an organisation is one of the most important factors within the working environment to have an impact on the motivation of people within it.’

The results of the research support the hypothesis, in that organisation culture is the main component of a business and it has a most significant impact on the motivation of the employees in the workplace. Although people from various working backgrounds and different positions were interviewed it was possible to identify some common features among all participants. For example most people wanted to work in

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an organisation, which had a high profile. However, there were some that were just interested in a high salary. Does that mean that those who were interested in an organisation’s reputation were not interested in the salary? In the middle of interviews it became obvious that all participants were attracted to a good income.

Another motivator was very common among people of good relationships at work. As Harrison mentioned ‘people culture’ is important to establish in order to get the most out of their employees. If management build strong relations with their workforce it will help them understand each other and bring about effective teamwork. Training was an area, which almost all participants felt sturdily about it. This requires a culture where there is continuous interest in the personnel growth of an employee. An area, in terms of responsibilities, the response got never being expected. From the interviews it was discovered that most people became de-motivated when placed with a lot of responsibilities. Even managers and supervisors claimed to get very stressed when given too many responsibilities. Recognition was another area for what some people were not bothered if they will get it or not as long as they got their wages.

Thus, the factors found to be most important motivators were high salary, staff development and good relationships at work. Obviously people have to be catered these things otherwise these could have a negative impact on the business. The more de-motivated staff becomes, the more performance level will fall. In terms of suggestions for a planned change, participants stressed the importance of a good, approachable management team, an environment that was enabling, a competitive salary, and staff development opportunities. Though the interviews it was possible to see the relevance of Bennett’s (1981) three-fold classification for the motivation to

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work. Participants were motivated by economic rewards, intrinsic satisfaction and/or social relationships. Management must understand the needs of their employees and make changes according to that. Even if all needs of the workforce are not met, they must be assured that the organisation is trying its best for employee’s satisfaction. As organisation culture has much influence on efficiency and effectiveness, it is necessary to create a culture that meets the needs of internal customers, who will then meet the needs of the external customers by performing to their best.

Has the Research met its Objectives?

The research has highlighted many key factors in the area of study. It concentrates on a mixture of perceptions that were gathered from people in different fields of life and of varying backgrounds. The investigation conducted on employee motivation raises two questions, either management are not aware of the impact an organisation culture has on its employees motivation level or organisation’s are not willing to spend the time, effort and money to establish a culture that will achieve the best results for the organisation and the people within it. The objective of the research was to identify and discuss factors in the organisation culture that would affect employee motivation in a positive and negative way. Although sample size was small it is still possible to see a continuous pattern and the connection between culture and employee motivation. Therefore it can be said that the study undertaken has met the objectives of the research. Chapter six will provide some recommendations that organisations should consider, in order to motivate their employees and in turn enhance their customer strategy and corporate image. As stated previously if the internal customer is happy then the external customer will be happy to.

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CHAPTER – VI RECOMMENDATIONS

Every business needs timely, actionable information to thrive. To measure demands on resources, to identify customer needs and trends, to predict future requirements and to plan ahead to make optimum use of resources, requires much dedication from the workforce. This research is not only beneficial for the author but also throws light on critical decisions about managing people at work, including how to: •

Make organisations aware of where they are going wrong.

•

Make management aware of areas in which employees are unhappy.

•

Improve the organisation culture to meet the values of the employees.

•

Provide a better working environment with motivated staff that meets a high level of performance.

Management must realise the importance of the connection between organisation culture and motivation, if they want to be successful in their day-to-day operations. As we identified in literature that Mitchell (1982) claims motivation is multifaceted. It is important to understand the factors that get people activated and the forces of an individual to engage in desired behaviour. Only then an organisation can establish a culture, which is ‘employee friendly’.

Keeping in mind the feedback received from the interviewees the following recommendations have been suggested. These can positively influence the future of any organisation, making it a strong committed culture with highly motivated employees.

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Increased Salary

The importance of a competitive salary cannot be stressed enough. Obviously this does not mean paying people a huge sum of money, when their job is not worth all that money. But in order to gain some form of loyalty businesses are going to have to set wages in relation to achievable targets that employees believe are fair and realistic.

Good Relationship

The culture of the organisation can only be pleasant if people are friendly with one another. This requires much attention on teamwork, staff appraisals, and as mentioned in chapter two, quality circles, all of which can potentially allow people to confront their problems and understand each other better. Line managers and supervisors should communicate with employees regularly. This should be both on one to one bases and in groups. The aim is to enable the company to be more aware of any problem that employees put forward. Here, remedy can be provided for situations almost immediately.

Training/Staff Development Opportunities

Management should offer staff development opportunities, since people are more motivated to work harder when they know the organisation is investing in them. Having increased knowledge in their particular area of work also increases their morale. Therefore, all employees should be given training to improve their knowledge, skills, attitude and give the opportunity for promotion.

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Effective Management

Management must have to understand members at work. One way to obtain feedback from employees is by giving ‘employees cards’ to fill out. Here the workforce can give their viewpoint on certain aspects of the business. This method is very effective when aiming for total employee satisfaction within the organisation. Employees can tell management the problems they are facing at present and even if they cannot meet all the demands of the employee they should explain the constraints to the employee. If the workforce is aware that the organisation is trying its best to meet their needs then they in turn will do their best to meet the organisation goals. A dissatisfied employee should be acknowledged and attended without delay. Employees must always be dealt with in a polite and helpful manner and their complaints will receive immediate action.

Recognition

As we have seen from the interviews both managers and staff are motivated if they receive praise for their work. This means giving employees recognition for good work. Positive feedback is likely to encourage people to perform better. If people know their work is appreciated they will naturally want to create more good work.

Responsibilities

As we have seen earlier that some people prefer to have a high level of responsibilities, it gives them a sense of ownership. It is important to find out what

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employees want from an organisation rather than delegating tasks. People who enjoy a high level of responsibility should be given the chance to carry out such tasks, being more involved will make a person feel naturally motivated. Those who cannot cope with so many responsibilities should be given training, which will help them, overcome the pressure of stress.

Recommendations for Further Research

This research lacked depth, due to several reasons. Therefore, a much-detailed study is required to gain a better understanding of the subject matter.

In the case of further research, a much larger sample size should be interviewed. It is necessary to obtain a much wider view on the dissertation topic. Here, the sample size is too small to obtain a wide and varied feedback, which is not biased. People from different cities and towns should be interviewed, since cultural variance in different regions can have an influence on motivation. It would be interesting to concentrate on the organisation culture of two or more companies and look at the impact of that particular culture on the motivation of different social groups in the workplace. For example are young people more motivated at work than the older workplace, or is the culture of the organisation more male oriented than female oriented. This type of research would give much depth to the study.

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APPENDIX - I The Power Distance Dimension

Small Power Distance •

Inequality in society should be minimized.

•

All people should be interdependent.

•

Hierarchy means an inequality of roles, established for convenience.

•

Superiors consider subordinates to be “people like me” and vice versa.

•

Superiors are accessible.

•

The use of power should be legitimate and is subject to the judgement as to whether it is good or evil.

•

All should have equal rights.

•

Those in power should try to look less powerful than they are.

•

The system is to blame.

•

The way to change a social system is to redistribute power.

•

People at various power levels feel less threatened and more prepared to trust people.

•

Latent harmony exists between the powerful and the powerless.

•

Cooperation among the powerless can be based on solidarity.

Large Power Distance

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•

There should be an order of inequality in this world in which everybody has a rightful place: high and low are protected by this order.

•

A few people should be independent: most should be dependent.

•

Hierarchy means existential inequality.

•

Superiors consider subordinates to be a different kind of people and vice versa.

•

Superiors are inaccessible.

•

Power is a basic fact of society that antedates good or evil. Its legitimacy is irrelevant.

•

Power holders are entitled to privileges.

•

Those in power should try to look as powerful as possible.

•

The underdog is to blame.

•

The way to change a social system is to dethrone those in power.

•

Other people are a potential threat to one’s power and can rarely be trusted.

•

Latent conflict exists between the powerful and powerless.

•

Cooperation among the powerless is difficult to attain because of their low faith in people norm.

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APPENDIX - II

The Individualism/Collectivism Dimension

Collectivist

•

In society, people are born into extended families or clans who protect them in exchange for loyalty.

•

“We” consciousness holds sway.

•

Identity is based in the social system.

•

There is emotional dependence of individual on organizations and institutions.

•

The involvement with organizations is moral.

•

The emphasis is on belonging to organisations, membership is the ideal.

•

Organisations and clans to which one belongs invade private life opinions are predetermined.

•

Organization or clan provides expertise, order, duty, and security.

•

Friendships are predetermined by stable social relationship, but there is need for prestige within these relationships.

•

Belief is placed in-group decisions.

•

Value standards differ for in groups and out groups. (Particularism).

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Individualist

•

In society, everybody is supposed to take care of himself/herself and his/her immediate family.

•

“I” consciousness holds sway.

•

Identity is based in the individual.

•

There is emotional independence of individual from organizations or institutions.

•

The involvement with organizations is calculative.

•

The emphasis is on individual initiative and achievement: leadership is the deal.

•

Everybody has a right to a private life and opinion.

•

Autonomy, variety, pleasure and individual financial security are sought in the system.

•

The need is for specific friendships.

•

Belief is placed in individual decisions.

•

Value standards should apply to all universalism.

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The Motivation Context Questionnaire

1.

Are you MALE or FEMALE? (Please make a circle)

2.

State your ethnic origin? (Please tick one option) European Asian African Other…………………..

3.

Are you employed FULL-TIME or PART-TIME? (Please specify) ………………………………………….

4.

Please state your job title,……………………………………………………

5.

How long have you been working for this organisation? Less than 1 year

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1 year to 3 years 3years to 5 years More than 5 years 6.

What attracts you to the company you are currently working for? (Please tick) Reputation Job satisfaction Salary/Benefit Package Convenience

7.

What is your Punctuality like? (Please tick as appropriate) Good Satisfactory Average Poor

8.

In the last six months how many times have you been absent from work? Once Twice Three Times More than Three Times

9.

What was the reason for absent? …………………………………………………………………………

10.

Do you get rewards or incentives for achievements? Always Sometimes Rarely Never

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11.

Do you think a company should offer rewards and incentives? Yes No If yes, than which kind of rewards and incentives does company offer? ………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………

12.

How important is it for you to have a good relationship with your peers/subordinates? (Please tick one option) Very important Not so important Not important at all

13.

Do you think a company should offer staff development opportunities? Yes No

14.

How important is a high salary to you? Very important Not so important No important at all

15.

Do you like to have responsibilities at work? Yes No

16.

Do you have many responsibilities in your present job? Yes No

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17.

Number in order of preference what factors motivate you, with 1st the most and 4th the least. Job satisfaction High level of responsibilities High salary/benefit package Staff development opportunity Good relationship with peers/subordinates

18.

Are you happy with your working environment? (Please state the reason) Yes No ………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………..

19.

To you what is value feedback to motivate or de-motivate a person? ………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………

20.

Have you ever complained about anything in your workplace? Yes No

If yes, What was it? Who did you complain to? What was done about it? ………………………………………………………………………. ………………………………………………………………………. ……………………………………………………………………….

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Thank you for taking part in this questionnaire.

Interview Questions 1.

What is your job title?

2.

What attracts you to the organisation you are currently working for?

3.

Apart from salary/wages what are the rewards and incentives of this job?

4.

How would you describe your working relationship with your boss, peers and subordinates?

5.

Do you think it is important to have a good relationship with peers and subordinates? Give reason.

6.

Do you think a company should offer staff development opportunities? Give reason.

7.

How important is a high salary to you?

8.

What sort of responsibilities do you have in your job? Do you like to have a high level of responsibility at work?

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9.

What motivates you in the workplace?

10.

Do you know what factors motivate your colleagues?

11.

How would you describe the ‘culture’ of the organisation you work for?

12.

How did this ‘culture’ come about?

13.

Are you happy with your working environment and how do your own values about the workplace fit in with your organisation culture?

14.

Do you think there is a connection between ‘culture’ and ‘motivation’ and if so how does the former affect the latter?

15.

Is it possible to think of a planned change in culture affecting the level of motivation? What sort of change would increase it?

Thank you for taking part in this interview.

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