An Assessment of the Effect of Organizational Culture on the Performance of Quantity Surveying Firms in Nigeria

An Assessment of the Effect of Organizational Culture on the Performance of Quantity Surveying Firms in Nigeria

Chapter One of  An Assessment of the Effect of Organizational Culture on the Performance of Quantity Surveying Firms in Nigeria

INTRODUCTION

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.

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.

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:

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

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

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:

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.

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