Organizational Culture and Climate at HCT - Case Study Example

Organisational Culture at HCT Student Name Tutor: Subject & Code: Date: Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Introduction 3 An overview of organizational culture and climate 4 Organization culture at HCT 4 Findings and its analysis 6 MBNQA Descriptive Results 7 Leadership 7 Strategic Planning 7 Student Focus 8 Knowledge Management 8 Staff Focus 8 Process Management 9 Conclusion and Recommendation 9 Works Cited 11 Introduction The ability of the employees to coordinate their efforts and skills depends on the organisational context, which in return is dependent on the organisation’s culture. The report seeks to submit that HCT’s management is centred in the correlation between organisational culture and quality management. Hence, to effectively implement its quality educational management programs, HCT’s organisational culture has to align the needs of the quality education program and that of the quality management methods. It also needs to shape the organisation’s culture to integrate its quality management programs. Indeed, studies have established a strong correlation between organisational culture and quality, and that quality management concept offers a structure for institutional actions and behaviours (Vettori et al. 2007). The purpose of the report is to understand the culture of Higher Colleges of Technology (HCT) and to capture the opinions of the employees on the same. An overview of organizational culture and climate Culture is defined as an arrangement of divergent attributes that portrays the values, practices and attributes of an entity, as well as distinguished the entity from the other. Aycan (1084-1085) described culture as the collective thinking of minds that create a difference among particular group of people. According to Nyambegera et al. (640-642), culture is a set of behaviours and values that are regarded as capable of guiding success. Taking on this perspective, organisational culture is seen as consisting of an organisation’s norms and values that characterise members of the organisation and the organisation itself. Overall, the employees’ ability to synchronize their efforts and skills depends on their interpersonal skills. However, it may also depend on the organisational context. The organisational context in return is dependent on the organisation’s intangible resources such as the organisation’s culture (Shahzad et al. 976-980). Overall, organisational culture broadly consists of the traditions, norms and values of an organisation. It defines the traditional and customary conducts and practices that are shared to a less or greater extent by all members of the organisations and which the new staff have to learn and adopt, so as to be accepted mentally or physically within the organisation (Shahzad et al. 976-980). Organization culture at HCT The culture at HCT is based on cognitive systems that define employees’ values, overall attitudes, as well as how they make decisions. HCT’s organisational culture is generally a developmental culture, as framed by Denison and Spreitzer‘s (3-7) in classifying forms of organisational cultures and controls within institutions. The developmental culture is relatively externally-oriented and flexible. Additionally, it is focused on creativity, growth, and innovation. HCT is relatively flexible in its approach. Similarly, it is externally oriented towards the larger society and business community. Three other forms of organisational culture that characterise that of the institution include the rational culture, group culture and hierarchical culture, as indicated in Figure 1. Figure 1: Forms of organisational culture at HCT A study conducted by Al-Hammadi (112-124) showed that developmental culture and group culture are essential for quality management in education. Irani et al. (643-644) also established that hierarchical culture and rational culture have significant influences on the implementation of quality practices, specifically those related to the application of tools for quality control and quality management methods. However, since HCT is more focused on ensuring quality assurance rather than quality control, the hierarchical culture and the rational culture have no influence on the implementation of quality educational practices employed by HCT. Using the research conceptual model, called Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (MBNQA), it is evident that the organisation shows high MBNQA practice (See Figure 2). The model is made up of seven groups, namely strategic planning, leadership, student focus, market focus and stakeholder focus, knowledge management, analysis, measurement, process management, workforce management and results. These are applied in defining the organisational culture at HCT (Baldrige National Quality Program). Figure 2: HCT systems operation based on Baldrige Education Criteria for Performance Excellence Framework Findings and its analysis This section presents the analysis of the quantitative data gathered from the HCT staff using the framework questionnaire. Sixteen members of staff were interviewed through the questionnaire. Semi-structured interviews with the HCT staff were conducted using research questionnaires. A questionnaire was designed with questions that marched the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (MBNQA) criteria. 20 questionnaires were distributed to a sample size of 20 employees. 16 responded showing a response rate of 80%. MBNQA Descriptive Results The response patterns to the questionnaire are analysed and discussed through the seven Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (MBNQA) criteria. Leadership From the questionnaire results, it is clear that the HCT senior management maintains a systematic approach in integrating the vision’s quality values and expectations on performance. The findings suggest that the senior management seeks to improve leadership system, through staff feedback and employee performance in its evaluation processes. Majority of the respondents acknowledged that they can communicate effectively with senior management.56.3% stated that they could 'most' communicate effectively with the senior leadership. 31.3% stated that they could moderately' communicate with the senior management. Majority of the respondents have confidence in their co-workers. 87.5% of the respondents had either ‘most’ or ‘moderate’ confidence in their co-workers. 75% said they are mostly or moderately treated with respect by the management. Strategic Planning The findings suggest that HCT emphasises on building an organisational culture that is centred on ensuring competitive environment, long-standing organisational sustainability and learning-centred education. Majority of the respondents acknowledged that Resources are freely shared throughout the company. Results show that 12.5% said that resources are 'most' shared freely throughout the company while 68.8% stated that resources are 'moderately' freely shared in the company, while 12.5% did not accept that resources are mostly or moderately shared effectively in the company. Majority of the respondents acknowledged that people in their department work well together. 31.3% acknowledged that the people, in their departments, 'most' work well together. 50% acknowledged that the people 'moderately' worked well together, while 12.5% said that employees in their departments work well together. Student Focus HCT is focused on building relationships with the staff to satisfy and retain students and to increase loyalty. Findings suggest that the organisation has built a culture where the voice of the staff is heard with focus on meeting student expectations. Majority of the respondents acknowledged that they have the resources they need to perform the tasks effectively. 25% had high confidence, 43.8% had moderately high confidence, while 24% did not have very high or moderate confidence. Knowledge Management The organisation used reviews to examine whether the employees are aligned to the organisational values and improve its values and performance. HCT maintains an information and knowledge management culture. For instance, majority of the respondents acknowledged that the organisation communicates its strategies to employees. 75% stated that information on strategic planning is 'mostly' or ‘moderately’ shared freely throughout the organisation. Staff Focus HCT has formed a culture where the workforce capability and capacity are effectively assessed with focus on building workforce environment that accommodates high performance. The organisation maintains workforce practices focused on creation and maintenance of high-performance workplace. The results of the survey show that 18.8 percent accepted that diversity is ‘mostly’ appreciated in the company. 50% acknowledge that diversity is ‘moderately’ appreciated in the company, while 25% acknowledge that diversity is appreciated. Majority of the respondents also acknowledged that the work environment is efficient. 18.8% were of the view that the company is ‘mostly’ efficient while 62.5% were of the view that the company is ‘moderately efficient’ in that regard. 25 percent did not acknowledge that the work environment is mostly or moderately efficient. Process Management HCT has formed an organisational culture where the organisation’s core competencies and work systems are effectively designed, managed and improved and where employees take part in decision-making to deliver staff and student values. This implies that the organisation has efficient work process management, focused on value creation. As indicated in the results, majority of the respondents acknowledged that working conditions in the work environment is either mostly or moderately continually improving. 43.8% stated that the work conditions are ‘mostly’ improving while 37.5% stated that the work conditions are ‘moderately’ improving. Majority (75%) of the respondents also acknowledged that the company encourages them to help in developing improved work processes. Additionally, majority of the respondents either mostly or moderately acknowledge that the company does a great job of preventative maintenance, replacement and upgrading of work equipment. 18.75 said the company is ‘mostly’ doing the great job in the area, while 50% said the company is moderately doing a great job in the area. 25% did not acknowledge that the company is doing a great job. Conclusion and Recommendation Using the research conceptual model, called Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (MBNQA), it is evident that the organisation shows high MBNQA practice, which defines effective and constructive organisational culture at HCT. Leadership is HCT’s key driver for quality assurance. Without the HCT’s leader’s commitment and involvement, the organisation’s quality management becomes difficult. The senior leaders have formed a culture where they seek to serve as roles models, through personal involvement in positive communication and planning and staff and faculty recognition. Frequent communication with the staff is used in the organisation to promote high organisational performance. In respect to strategic planning, HCT seeks to sustain marketing changes and needs, through launching advanced programs and using advanced technology. The learning-centred organisational culture promotes the real learning needs of the students. It also emphasises constant improvement. HCT also stresses a culture that is more student-focused. Here, the organisation promotes a culture where the needs, requirements, and expectations of the students are constantly met. It further involves how HCT creates and sustains relationships with the student body to ensure improved educational services. When it comes to Knowledge management, it describes HCT’s culture in determining, selecting, collecting and organising information and knowledge resources, through organisational culture. HCT maintains a culture where there is free flow of information, from the employees to the senior management and vice versa. Overall, HCT needs to develop a culture for better performance measurement system that can be used to effectively collect, analyse and report information on HCT performance. The HCT senior leadership should develop a culture where the staff is involved more in decision-making. It can achieve this by promoting down-top flow of information to assist the leadership in making decisions on quality improvement. In regards to strategic planning, the senior management should sustain a culture of involving the employees in strategic development processes that relates to the staff resource planning, colleges, as well as student and staff needs. In regards to student focus, a culture should be developed where process that can determine the long-term and short term students’ expectation and preferences are intermittently realised. Works Cited Al-Hammadi, Abdulrahman. An Investigation into the Effectiveness of the Higher Colleges of Technology Quality Programme in the United Arab Emirates. Colleges of Technology Quality Programme in the United Arab Emirates. University of Glamorgan, 2010. 12 June 2014, < http://dspace1.isd.glam.ac.uk/dspace/bitstream/10265/542/1/alhammadiphd.pdf> Aycan, Z. “The interplay between cultural and institutional/structural contingencies in human resource management practices”, International Journal of Human Resource Management 16.7. (2005): 1083-1119. Viewed 12 June 2014, Baldrige National Quality Program. Education Criteria for Performance Excellence. Gaithsburg, USA: U.S. Department of Commerce Technology Adminustration. National Institute of Standards and Technology, 2008. 12 June 2014, Denison, D. and Spreitzer, G. “Organizational culture and organizational development: a competing values approach.” Research in Organizational Change and Development 5.1 (1991): 1-21. viewed 12 June 2014, Irani, Z. A. Beskese and P.E.D. Love. “Total quality management and corporate culture: constructs of organisational excellence.” Technovation 24 (2004): 643–650. Viewed 12 June 2014, Nyambegera, S. Sparrow, P. and Daniels, K. “The impact of cultural value orientations on individual HRM preferences in developing countries: lessons from Kenyan organizations.” Int. J. of Human Resource Management 11.4 (2000): 639–663. viewed 12 June 2014, < http://www2.hs-fulda.de/fb/sw/profs/wolf/One%20Culture%20Nation%20Leadership%20Studies/kenyan/HRM%20in%20kenyan%20organization.pdf> Shahzad, Fakhar, Rana Adeel Luqman and Ayesha Khan. "Impact of Organizational Culture on Organizational Performance: An Overview." Interdisciplinary Journal Of Contemporary Research in Business 3.9 (2012): 975-985. Viewed 12 June 2014, < http://www.journal-archieves14.webs.com/975-985.pdf> Read More