AN
ASSESSMENT OF THE EFFECT OF ORGANISATIONAL CULTURE ON THE PERFORMANCE OF
QUANTITY SURVEYING FIRMS IN NIGERIA
CHAPTER
ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
Organizational culture defines the way
employees complete tasks and interact with each other in an organization. The
cultural paradigm comprises various beliefs, values, rituals and symbols that
govern the operating style of the people within a company. Corporate culture
binds the workforce together and provides a direction for the company. In times
of change, the biggest challenge for any organization may be to change its
culture, as the employees are already accustomed to a certain way of doing
things (Ojo, 2008).
The
dominant culture in organizations depends on the environment in which the
company operates the organization’s objectives, the belief system of the
employees and the company’s management style. Therefore, there are many
organizational cultures. For example, highly bureaucratic and well-structured
organizations typically follow a culture with extensive controls. Employees
follow standard procedures with a strict adherence to hierarchy and
well-defined individual roles and responsibilities. Those in competitive
environments, such as sales, may forgo strict hierarchies and follow a
competitive culture where the focus is on maintaining strong relationships with
external parties. In this instance, the strategy is to attain competitive
advantages over the competition. The collaborative culture is yet another
organizational way of life. This culture presents a decentralized workforce
with integrated units working together to find solutions to problems (Cascio,
2006).
Strong
corporate cultures indicate that employees are like-minded and hold similar
beliefs and ethical values. When these beliefs and ethical values align with
business objectives, they can prove to be effective in building teams because
rapport and trust quickly ensues. The bonds that the teams build help them
avoid conflicts and focus on task completion. Strong corporate cultures ease
communication of roles and responsibilities to all individuals. Employees know
what is expected of them, how management assesses their performance and what
forms of rewards are available.
Organizational
cultures can have varying impacts on organizational performance and motivation
levels of employee. Oftentimes, employees work harder to achieve organizational
goals if they consider themselves to be part of the corporate culture.
Different cultures operating in one company can also impact performance. For
example, if the organization maintains a reserved “talk when necessary”
culture, employees may work accordingly; however, if the organization allows
one area, say the sales team, to be outspoken and socially active, the
organization may experience rivalries among areas. Thus, allowing an area to
set up their own culture can affect the performance of the employees deployed
elsewhere in the company
(Schein, 2004).
However,
organizations must structure their recruitment processes to attract and engage
incumbents with the same beliefs and values that constitute the organization’s
culture. This ensures the new employee’s assimilation to the company and
further strengthens corporate culture. Companies should also ensure that they
align corporate culture with performance management systems. When culture and
management systems are not aligned, management must redirect them so that
employee behavior results in the achievement of organizational goals.
Organizational culture comprises the
unwritten customs, behaviors and beliefs that determine the “rules of the
game” for decision-making, structure and power. It’s based on the shared
history and traditions of the organization combined with current leadership
values. In effect, culture dictates the way we do business here and the
organizational survival tactics that facilitate assimilation and personal
success (Dave and Urich, 2011). With a strong organizational culture, employees
do things because they believe it’s the right thing to do and feel they’ll be
rewarded for their actions. However, if the leadership team lacks integrity or
squelches diversity, powerful cultures can morph into cults, cliques, castes
and insider clubs. Organizational culture can be treated as a series of
distinctive characteristics of a specific organization. Some modern definitions
of organizational culture are dynamic, directed at creativity, innovations and
entrepreneurship. Organizational culture includes; a system of ideas and
concepts, customs, traditions, procedures and habits for functioning in a
specific macro culture» (Harris, 1981). Organizational culture is a series of
values, standards and beliefs (Handy, 1986). Organizational culture is
implicit, invisible, intrinsic and informal awareness of the organization which
directs behaviour of individuals and which results from their behaviour (Scholz,
1987).
In understanding organizational culture it
is very important to know all its elements. Authors are not unanimous about
what are the elements of the organizational culture. According to Armstrong
(Žugaj, Cingula, 1992) there are four important elements of organizational
culture. These are; organization value, organization climate, Leadership style,
work processes and system. The culture of an organization refers to the
behaviour patterns and standards that bind it together Schein (2004). A
company’s culture tells the people who work for it what is right and wrong,
what to believe, what not to believe, how to react and how to feel. And its
actions speak louder than its words. However, the researcher seeks to assess
the effect of organizational culture on the performance of quantity surveying
firms in Nigeria.
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
Generally, behaviour patterns of employee
towards organizational performance are most strongly influenced by the leaders
of the organization. The words and actions of the quality control and
production managers reflect the values and beliefs of senior management.
Performance management is the process of creating a work environment or setting
in which people are enabled to perform to the best of their abilities.
According to Cascio (2006) performance is
the degree of an achievement to which an employee’s fulfill the organizational
mission at workplace. He continues to say that the job of an employee is build
up by degree of achievement of a particular target or mission that defines
boundaries of performance. According to Ojo (2008) despite the plethora of studies on organizational
culture in the last few decades, the empirical evidences emerging from various
studies about the effect of organizational culture on performance have so far
yielded mixed results that are inconclusive and contradictory. He further
states that researchers concur on the fact that there is no agreement on the
precise nature of the relationship between organizational culture and
performance.
Because of these results the question of
whether organizational culture affects employee performance is however worthy of
a further research. Hence, this study seeks to analyze the effect of
organizational culture on the performance of quantity surveying firms in
Nigeria.
1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The general objective of this study is
to analyze the effect of organizational culture on the performance of quantity
surveying firms in Nigeria and the following are the specific objectives:
1. To
examine the effect of organizational culture on the performance of quantity
surveying firms in Nigeria
2. To
identify the type of organizational culture that existed among the quantity
surveying firms in Nigeria
3. To
identify factors hindering the performance of quantity surveying firms in
Nigeria.
1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
1. What
is the effect of organizational culture on the performance of quantity
surveying firms in Nigeria?
2. What
are the types of organizational culture that existed among the quantity
surveying firms in Nigeria?
3. What
are factors hindering the performance of quantity surveying firms in Nigeria?
1.5 HYPOTHESIS
HO:
There is no significant relationship between the organizational culture and the
performance of quantity surveying firms in Nigeria
HA:
There is significant relationship between the organizational culture and the
performance of quantity surveying firms in Nigeria
1.6 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
This
study on the effect of organizational culture on the performance of quantity
surveying firms in Nigeria is significant in the following ways:
1. It
will enlighten quantity surveyors and other stakeholders in Nigeria on the need
for better organizational culture as the result from this study will guide them
in selecting and adopting better organizational culture in the organization for
better performance.
2. This
research will be a contribution to the body of literature in the area of the
effect of organizational culture on the performance of quantity surveying firms
in Nigeria, thereby constituting the empirical literature for future research
in the subject area.
1.7 SCOPE/LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY
This study on the
effect of organizational culture on the performance of quantity surveying firms
in Nigeria covers all the quantity surveying firms in Nigeria by carefully
examining their organizational culture and its effect on organizational
performance. The study will also cover an overview of factors hindering
organizational performance.
LIMITATION OF STUDY
Financial constraint– Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the
researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information
and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview).
Time constraint– The researcher will
simultaneously engage in this study with other academic work. This consequently
will cut down on the time devoted for the research work.
1.8 DEFINITION OF TERMS
Culture:
the arts and other manifestations of human intellectual achievement regarded
collectively.
Performance:
The accomplishment of a given task measured against preset known standards of
accuracy, completeness, cost, and speed. In a contract, performance is deemed
to be the fulfillment of an obligation, in a manner that releases the performer
from all liabilities under the contract.
Organization:
A social unit of people that is structured and managed to meet a need or to
pursue collective goals. All organizations have a management structure that
determines relationships between the different activities and the members, and
subdivides and assigns roles, responsibilities, and authority to carry out
different tasks. Organizations are open systems–they affect and are affected
by their environment.
REFERENCES
Cascio W. F. (2006). Managing Human Resources: Productivity,
Quality of Life, Profits. McGraw-Hill Irwin.
Dave Hofferberth and Jeanne Urich (2011). The Effect of Culture
on Performance SPI Research, 2011
Handy C. B. (1986): Understanding
Organizations, 3rd ed. Penguin Books, Harmondsworth
Harris P.R., R. T. Moran (1981): Managing Cultural, 2nd ed.,
Gulf Publ.Co. Huston
Ojo O. (2008). Organisational Culture and
Performance: Empirical Investigation of Nigerian Insurance Companies, Manager
Journal, No. 2, pp. 118-127.
Schein, E.H. (2009) Organizational Culture
and leadership, Jossey Bass, New York.
Schein, Edgar. (2004) Organizational Culture and Leadership.
(3rded.) San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Boss
Scholz, Z. (1987): Corporate culture and
strategy – problem of strategic fit, Long Range Planning, Vol. 20, No. 4
Žugaj, M., M. Cingula (1992): Temelji organizacije, FOING,
Varaždin