ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE AND SOCIETAL CULTURE

Many questions have been raised as whether there is a relationship between the organizational culture, societal culture and the leadership styles in an organization. All of the above factors are very important as far as the running and success of any given organization is concerned especially in terms of fulfilling its goals and objectives as well as being effective and efficient in the achievements. The leadership styles used by a certain organization represent part of the culture of that organization and then the culture of the society influences the culture of the organization as well as the leadership styles that the organization should use. For example for any organization to have a culture of using any charismatic, participation, situational, transactional, transformational, the quiet or servant style of leadership, then the societal culture must be put into consideration (Chandler, 1992).

Background of the study

In order for any manager to maintain a smooth and a good organizational culture, he or she should adopt some very important organizational cultural practices. The cultural practices that any organization will adopt must provide a strong link between the employees and the management as well as the leadership styles, organizational culture and the societal culture (Finlay, 2000). This means that they have to be structured in such a way that they provide great motivation and courage to the employees for improving their working skills and productivity to satisfy the needs of the customers. In addition, the cultural practices also must infuse some aspects of the organization like values, experiences attitudes, and beliefs. This is because these organizational cultural practices are the instrument that every organization uses to cause motivation among all of its workers and employees (Geert & Gert, 2005). These cultural practices comprises of beliefs and ideas of which each member of that organization must comply with to achieve the objectives and the goals of that particular organization. This then means that the cultural practices must be made in such a way that they are acceptable to all the members of the organization whether in the management or employee level (Hannagan, 2005).

Research problem

Due to changes in the technologies as well as the rate at which the people all over the world are embracing innovations, there is a great need for any given organization to align its organizational culture and leadership styles to be able to fit in the societal culture, which is in actual sense changing on daily basis (Hill & Jones, 2007).

Research questions

What is the association between the organizational culture, societal culture and the leadership styles in an organization?

How does the leadership style affect the relationship between the societal culture and the organizational culture?

How does the societal culture influence the leadership styles used in an organization and the organizational culture and the leadership styles in an organization?

How does the organizational culture influence the leadership styles used in an organization?

Research goals and objectives

To find out the association between the organizational cultures, societal culture and the leadership styles in an organization.

To find out the leadership style affects the relationship between the societal culture and the organizational culture.

To find out the societal culture influence the leadership styles used in an organization, the organizational culture, and the leadership styles in an organization.

To find out the organizational culture influence the leadership styles used in an organization.

Research hypotheses

There is no significant relationship between the organizational culture societal culture and the leadership styles in an organization

Significance of the study

the study will be very significant in the following ways

The employees will be able to understand what is required of them as far as the culture of the organization is concerned.

The management’s main objective is to ensure an organization succeeds in meeting its mission, objectives and goals and so the study will show the performance of an organization in comparison to other organizations.

The shareholder who are supporting the organization will be aware of the risks they are being exposed to as well as the effectiveness of the organization

The customers or the clientele will be able to determine the reliability of the organization’s service as far as meeting their needs is concerned

The evaluators will be able how the level of efficiency, effectiveness and compliance with the law requirements.

CHAPTER II

2.1 Literature review

One of the most important aspects that should be considered in implementing organizational theory is the issue of behavior patterns in the organization (Hisrich, 2000). This is the reason as to why most of the organization organizes for seminars and workshops for their employees so that they can be informed about the organizational cultural practices the organization implements; this is a great advantage because it enables the workers to change their behavior accordingly to be in line with the organizational goals and objectives (James, 2007). This also enables their behavior to add much credibility to their work as well as increase ethical value of the organization hence adding its popularity hence giving it a platform for competition. It should be noted that any theory that an organization opts to implement, must be thoroughly scrutinized by the professions before critical decision about its creation is made (Paauwe, 2009). This is to ensure that it works for the betterment of that particular organization. A better strategic vision is therefore very important to ensure that all the cultural changes that are made are geared towards the wellbeing of that organization. Another importance of organizational cultural practices is that it brings understanding between the employers and the employees. As a result, it then leads to development of loyalty and trust within the organization (Peter, 2007). If for example in a particular organization the team leader in a department does not cope well with the rest of the employees, then it means that there is need to investigate and find out the root cause of the problem. By doing this, the organization will be ensuring that the cultural practices that have been set do not just benefit the organization but also are taking care of the welfare of the employees (Salder & Craig, 2003). There are many cultural practices that are used by the organizations to achieve the above benefits and especially the issue of creating a good relationship between the employer and the employee.

The relationship between leadership styles and the organizational culture and societal culture

Organizational culture refers to the norms, shared values, and expectations that determine the governing of a certain organization. It actually describes the manner in which people interacts as well as approach the work. Societal culture defines the norms, expectations, and shared values of a society or a group of people living in a particular place governing them. For any given organization to run well, there organizational culture, societal culture and the leadership style must be in harmony. There are seven leadership styles used that can be used in the running of an organization and each of them depends on the organizational culture and the societal culture of where the organization is set.

Servant leadership refers to the leader ship in which the responsibility of the followers is in the leader. The leader serves the juniors for helping them achieve their goals (Woodward, 1998). This helps them to grow as individuals, be transformed, trust the leaders and helps in team building. The quiet leadership style is in such a way that the success of the organization is based on the thoughts as well as actions rather than the egocentric nature of the leaders (Thompson & Martin, 2005). They are not bully leader but are very charismatic in the accomplishment of their roles. The transformational kind of leadership involves the leaders who put all of their passion as well as energy in all that they are doing. They are very vision oriented and convert their employees to potential contributors to the organization and they transform the organization. The transactional leadership style is the one that the leaders ensure the employees are motivated by the rewards as well as they make it clear what the employees must do to get the reward. The leadership is based on the contingency theory (Thad, 1992). Situational leadership is the one that leader makes decisions depending on the prevailing situations like the capacity of followership and the motivation. This is also affected by the behavior of the leaders since the leaders’ perceptions about themselves as well as other factors as if stress determines the success of this leadership style (Terence, 1984). Participative leadership is the one a leader involves the other people in the process of decision making like the peers, and subordinates. It helps the managers to consult, be empowered, and engage in joining decision-making and exercise democracy. Finally, the charismatic leadership uses w wide range of ways to deal with management. It is very similar to transformational (Thompson, 1997).

CHAPTER III

Methodology

This section involves the real planning of the study. This is whereby all the methods of data collection are identifies, the design of the research is also determined, the sample size is calculated, and the population under study is defined, methods of data analysis are also given and finally the study limitations and ethical considerations are given (Welman & Kruger, 2000). The main aim of the research or its priority is to develop a detailed discussion that will provide conditions that are favorable to the research process and results in efficient and effective research design or strategy. The aim of research methodology is coming up with the appropriate research process accompanied by the appropriate tools and procedures that will ensure that the entire process is successful (Welman & Kruger, 2000). Some of the factors that this chapter will discuss are the research sample, the target population, research methodology, research design statistical test, and data collection. The samples that have been used were selected from different organizations. (Welman Kruger, 2000)

Research design

The study is a cross sectional descriptive study. This is because it involves a lot of observation and it does not involve any control sample (Welman & Kruger, 2000). It involves a section of the population since not everyone in the organization, customers or employees shall be used as a study sample. It will also measure the current and the past situation. It will enable the study accomplish the specific objectives.

Population

The population under study includes employees, managers and customers associated with different organizations both males and females.

Sampling

The sample of the research shall be obtained through a random selection. This is whereby, managers, employees and regular customers for different organizations shall be picked by names in a random manner (Yin, 1994). This means that the research shall involve people of all ages and demographic attributes. This is to avoid biasness through using people of the same attributes.

The formulae for finding the sample size is as follows when using the 95%

ss =

Z 2 * (p) * (1-p)

c 2

Where:

Z = Z value (e.g. 1.96 for 95% confidence level)

p = percentage picking a choice, expressed as decimal

(20%) used for sample size needed)

c = confidence interval, expressed as decimal

(e.g., .05 = ±4)

In the case of the research, p is 20% or 0.2. , Therefore, the sample size shall be 50 people.

Methods of data collection

Data shall be collected using two main methods. There shall be administration of the questionnaires (Yin, 1994). This is whereby the some set up questions shall be given to the managers, customers, and employees under study to fill up. Then also, an interview shall be carried out mainly to them. Finally, data shall also be retrieved from the secondary sources like the internet and books.

Methods of data analysis

Data shall be analyzed using a statistical tool known as Microsoft Excel. Then the results shall be presented using a range of presentation tools specifically the charts and graphs (Yin, 1994).

Scope and limitations

There are number of limitations that are likely to affect the study. One of the main predicted limitations includes the issue of time. This is because much time is needed for the data collection, filling in of the questionnaires, the process of interviewing as well as reviewing some secondary data storage as well as for me to move around to collect information (Sekaran, 1992). Another predicted form of limitation is finances. This is due to the expenses to be incurred in travelling and purchasing some materials for the research. It may be hard obtaining particular data that is secondary in nature.

Ethical considerations

A number of ethical considerations shall be taken to ensure that the study will be legally carried (Sekaran, 1992). First and fore most consent shall be sort from the organizations, which the research will be carried. This is whereby; the management shall be presented a letter to seek permission to carry out the research. Another very important precaution is to get consent from the individual people on which research shall be carried. They shall be clearly informed about the research, the benefits, and their responsibility. Finally, before, any information is retrieved from either any institution or the government then permission shall be sort.