ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE

Organizational culture, or corporate culture, comprises the attitudes, experiences, beliefs

and values of an organization. It has been defined as "the specific collection of values and
norms that are shared by people and groups in an organization and that control the way
they interact with each other and with stakeholders outside the organization. It refers to a
system of shared meaning held by members that distinguishes the organization from other
organizations. Organizational values are beliefs and ideas about what kinds of goals
members of an organization should pursue and ideas about the appropriate kinds or
standards of behavior organizational members should use to achieve these goals. From
organizational values develop organizational norms, guidelines or expectations that
prescribe appropriate kinds of behavior by employees in particular situations and control
the behavior of organizational members towards one another".

It is basically used to refer to a system of shared meaning. In every organization, there

are systems or patterns of values, symbols, rituals, myths and practices that have evolved
over time. These shared values determine as to how the managers see and how they
respond to their world. When confronted with a problem, the organizations culture
restricts what the manager can do by suggesting the correct way-the way we do things
here- to conceptualize, define, analyze and solve the problem. For example, the
president of Honeywell Information Systems recognized the constraining role that culture
was playing in his efforts to get his managers to be less authoritarian. He noted that
organizations culture would have to become more democratic if it was going to succeed
in the marketplace.

Senior management may try to determine a corporate culture. They may wish to impose
corporate values and standards of behavior that specifically reflect the objectives of the
organization. In addition, there will also be an extant internal culture within the
workforce. Work-groups within the organization have their own behavioral quirks and
interactions which, to an extent, affect the whole system. Task culture can be imported.
For example, computer technicians will have expertise, language and behaviors gained
independently of the organization, but their presence can influence the culture of the
organization as a whole.

Though we currently have no definite method for measuring an organizations culture,

preliminary research suggests that culture can be analyzed by assessing how an
organization rates on ten characteristics. They have been identified as follows:

1. Individual Initiative
The degree to of responsibility, freedom and independence that individuals have.

2. Innovation & Risk Taking

The degree to which employees are encouraged to be aggressive, innovative and risk
seeking.

3. Direction
The degree to which the organization creates clear objectives and performance
expectations.

4. Integration
The degree to which units within the organization are encouraged to operate in a
coordinated manner.

5. Management Support
The degree to which the managers provide communication, assistance, and support to
their subordinates.

6. Control
The number of rules and regulation and the amount of supervision that is used to
oversee and control employee behavior.

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7. Identity
The degree to which members identify with the organization as a whole rather than
with their particular work groups or field of professional expertise.

8. Reward System
The degree to which reward allocations are based on employee performance criteria in
contrast to seniority, favoritism, and so on.

9. Conflict Tolerance
The degree to which employees are encouraged to air conflicts and criticism openly.

10. Communication Pattern

The degree to which organizational communications are restricted to the formal
hierarchy of authority.

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The following table demonstrates how these characteristics can be mixed to create highly
diverse organizations.
Table1
ORGANIZATION A
Both the organizations are manufacturing firms.
There are extensive rules and
regulations that the employees
are required to follow. Every
employee has specific objectives
to achieve in his/her job.
Mangers supervise employees
closely. People are allowed little
discretion in doing their jobs.
Employees are instructed to bring
any unusual problem to their
supervisors. All employees are
required to communicate through
formal channels. Because manage-
ment has no confidence in the
honesty of its employees, it
imposes tight controls. Managers
& employees alike tend to be
hired by the organization early in
their careers & rotated into & out
of various departments on a regular
basis. They are generalists rather
than specialists. Effort, loyalty, co-
4
ORGANIZATION B
Here, however, there are fewer
rules & regulations. Employees
are seen as hard working &
trustworthy, so supervision is
loose. Employees are
encouraged to solve problems
themselves but feel free to
consult their superiors when
they need assistance. Top
management downplays
authority differences. Employees
are also encouraged to develop
their unique specialized skills.
Interpersonal & interdepartment
differences are seen as natural
occurrences. Managers are
evaluated not only on their
departments performance but
also on how well their
department coordinates activities
with other departments.
Promotions & other rewards go
 operation, and avoidance of errors to the employees who make the
are highly valued and rewarded. greatest contribution to the
organization, even when those
employees have strange ideas,
unusual personal mannerisms,
or unconventional work habits.

Although organizational cultures have common properties, sub cultures cannot be over
looked.

A Dominant Culture expresses the core values that are shared by a majority of the
organizations members. It is this macro concept that gives an organization its distinct
personality.

Subcultures tend to develop in large organizations to reflect common problems,

situations or experience that members face. It will include the core values of the
dominant cultures plus additional values unique to each individual.
General Motors has been universally described as a cold, formal, risk-aversive firm. It
was that way in the 1930s and it is basically the same today. Hewlett-Packard is an
informal, loosely structured and highly humanistic organization. Both these organizations
have been essentially successful over the years.
Culture constrains choices by conveying to managers which practices are acceptable in
their organization and which are not.

Elements of Organizational Culture

G. Johnson described a cultural web, identifying a number of elements that can be used to
describe or influence Organizational Culture:

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 The Paradigm: What the organization is about; what it does; its mission; its values.

Control Systems: The processes in place to monitor what is going on. Role cultures
would have vast rulebooks. There would be more reliance on individualism in a
power culture.

Organizational Structures: Reporting lines, hierarchies, and the way that work
flows through the business.

Power Structures: Who makes the decisions, how widely spread is power, and on
what is power based?

Symbols: These include organizational logos and designs, but also extend to symbols
of power such as parking spaces and executive washrooms.

Rituals and Routines: Management meetings, board reports and so on may become
more habitual than necessary.

Stories and Myths: build up about people and events, and convey a message about
what is valued within the organization.

These elements may overlap. Power structures may depend on control systems, which
may exploit the very rituals that generate stories which may not be true.

Culture is a Descriptive Term

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Organizational Culture is concerned with how employees perceive the characteristics of
an organizations culture and not whether or not they like it. That is, it is a descriptive
term. This is important because it differentiates this concept from that of job satisfaction.
In contrast, job satisfaction seeks to measure affective responsiveness of work
environment. It is concerned with how employees feel about the organizations
expectations, reward practices, and the like. Although the two terms undoubtedly have
overlapping characteristics, keep in mind that the term organizational culture is
descriptive, while job satisfaction is evaluative.

Strong v/s. Weak Culture

Strong culture is said to exist where staff respond to stimulus because of their alignment
to organizational values.
Conversely, there is weak culture where there is little alignment with organizational
values and control must be exercised through extensive procedures and bureaucracy.

Where culture is strongpeople do things because they believe it is the right thing to do
there is a risk of another phenomenon, Groupthink. "Groupthink" was described by
Irving L. Janis. He defined it as "...a quick and easy way to refer to a mode of thinking
that people engage when they are deeply involved in a cohesive ingroup, when members'
strivings for unanimity override their motivation to realistically appraise alternatives of
action." This is a state where people, even if they have different ideas, do not challenge
organizational thinking, and therefore there is a reduced capacity for innovative thoughts.
This could occur, for example, where there is heavy reliance on a central charismatic
figure in the organization, or where there is an evangelical belief in the organizations
values, or also in groups where a friendly climate is at the base of their identity
(avoidance of conflict). In fact groupthink is very common, it happens all the time, in
almost every group. Members that are defiant are often turned down or seen as a negative

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influence by the rest of the group, because they bring conflict, through reliance on
established procedures.
Innovative organizations need individuals who are prepared to challenge the status quo
be it groupthink or bureaucracy, and also need procedures to implement new ideas
effectively.

Whether an organizations culture is strong or weak or somewhere in between depends on

factors such as the size of the organization, how long it has been around, how much
turnover there has been among the employees, and the intensity with which the culture
was originated.

Organizational Culture Versus National Culture

The research indicates that national culture has great impact on employees rather than
their organizations culture. German employees at IBM facility in Munich, therefore, will
be more influenced by German culture rather than IBMs culture.
The preceding conclusion i.e., national culture is much more influential in shaping
employee behavior than organizations culture, has to be qualified to reflect the self-
selection that goes on at the hiring stage. A British multinational corporation, for
example, is likely to be less concerned with hiring the typical Italian for its Italian
operations than in hiring an Italian who fits with the corporations way of doing things.
We should expect, therefore, that the employee selection process will be used by
multinationals to find and hire job applicants who are good fit with their organizations
dominant culture, even if such applicants are somewhat a typical for members of their
country.

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Classification Schemes

Several methods have been used to classify organizational culture. Some are described
below:

I. GEERT HOFSTEDE

II. Geert Hofstede demonstrated that there are national and regional cultural groupings
that affect the behavior of organizations. Hofstede identified five dimensions of culture in
his study of national influences:

Power Distance - The degree to which a society expects there to be differences in the
levels of power. A high score suggests that there is an expectation that some
individuals wield larger amounts of power than others. A low score reflects the view
that all people should have equal rights.

Uncertainty Avoidance - reflects the extent to which a society accepts uncertainty

and risk.

Individualism vs. Collectivism - individualism is contrasted with collectivism, and

refers to the extent to which people are expected to stand up for themselves, or
alternatively act predominantly as a member of the group or organization. However,
recent researches have shown that high individualism may not necessarily mean low
collectivism, and vice versa. Research indicates that the two concepts are actually
unrelated. Some people and cultures might have both high individualism and high
collectivism, for example. Someone who highly values duty to his or her group does
not necessarily give a low priority to personal freedom and self-sufficiency.

Masculinity vs. Femininity - refers to the value placed on traditionally male or

female values. Male values for example include competitiveness, assertiveness,
ambition, and the accumulation of wealth and material possessions.

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 Long vs. short term orientation - describes a society's "time horizon," or the
importance attached to the future versus the past and present. In long term oriented
societies, thrift and perseverance are valued more; in short term oriented societies,
respect for tradition and reciprocation of gifts and favors are valued more. Eastern
nations tend to score especially high here, with Western nations scoring low and the
less developed nations very low; China scored highest and Pakistan lowest.

Deal and Kennedy

Deal and Kennedy defined organizational culture as the way things get done around here.
They measured organizations in respect of:

Feedback - quick feedback means an instant response. This could be in monetary terms,
but could also be seen in other ways, such as the impact of a great save in a soccer match.
Risk - represents the degree of uncertainty in the organizations activities.
Using these parameters, they were able to suggest four classifications of organizational
culture

The Tough-Guy Macho Culture- Feedback is quick and the rewards are high. This
often applies to fast moving financial activities such as brokerage, but could also
apply to a police force, or athletes competing in team sports. This can be a very
stressful culture in which to operate.

The Work Hard/Play Hard Culture is characterized by few risks being taken, all
with rapid feedback. This is typical in large organizations, which strive for high
quality customer service. It is often characterized by team meetings, jargon and
buzzwords.

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 The Bet your Company Culture, where big stakes decisions are taken, but it may be
years before the results are known. Typically, these might involve development or
exploration projects, which take years to come to fruition, such as oil prospecting or
military aviation.

The Process Culture occurs in organizations where there is little or no feedback.

People become bogged down with how things are done not with what is to be
achieved. This is often associated with bureaucracies.

CHARLES HANDY

Charles Handy(1985) popularized a method of looking at culture which some scholars

have used to link organizational structure to Organizational Culture. He describes:

Power Culture which concentrates power among a few. Control radiates from the
center like a web. Power Cultures have few rules and little bureaucracy; swift
decisions can ensue.

In a Role Culture, people have clearly delegated authorities within a highly defined
structure. Typically, these organizations form hierarchical bureaucracies. Power
derives from a person's position and little scope exists for expert power.

By contrast, in a Task Culture, teams are formed to solve particular problems. Power
derives from expertise as long as a team requires expertise. These cultures often
feature the multiple reporting lines of a matrix structure.

Person Culture exists where all individuals believe themselves superior to the
organization. Survival can become difficult for such organizations, since the concept
of an organization suggests that a group of like-minded individuals pursue the
organizational goals. Some professional partnerships can operate as person cultures,
because each partner brings a particular expertise and clientele to the firm.

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EDGAR SCHEIN

Edgar Schein, an MIT Sloan School of Management professor, defines organizational

culture as "the residue of success" within an organization. According to Schein, culture is
the most difficult organizational attribute to change, outlasting organizational products,
services, founders and leadership and all other physical attributes of the organization. His
organizational model illuminates culture from the standpoint of the observer, described
by three cognitive levels of organizational culture.

At the first and most cursory level of Schein's model is organizational attributes that can
be seen, felt and heard by the uninitiated observer. Included are the facilities, offices,
furnishings, visible awards and recognition, the way that its members dress, and how
each person visibly interacts with each other and with organizational outsiders.

The next level deals with the professed culture of an organization's members. At this
level, company slogans, mission statements and other operational creeds are often
expressed, and local and personal values are widely expressed within the organization.
Organizational behavior at this level usually can be studied by interviewing the
organization's membership and using questionnaires to gather attitudes about
organizational membership.

At the third and deepest level, the organization's tacit assumptions are found. These are
the elements of culture that are unseen and not cognitively identified in everyday
interactions between organizational members. Additionally, these are the elements of
culture which are often taboo to discuss inside the organization. Many of these 'unspoken
rules' exist without the conscious knowledge of the membership. Those with sufficient
experience to understand this deepest level of organizational culture usually become
acclimatized to its attributes over time, thus reinforcing the invisibility of their existence.
Surveys and casual interviews with organizational members cannot draw out these

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attributes--rather much more in-depth means is required to first identify then understand
organizational culture at this level. Notably, culture at this level is the underlying and
driving element often missed by organizational behaviorists.

Using Schein's model, understanding paradoxical organizational behaviors becomes more

apparent. For instance, an organization can profess highly aesthetic and moral standards
at the second level of Schein's model while simultaneously displaying curiously opposing
behavior at the third and deepest level of culture. Superficially, organizational rewards
can imply one organizational norm but at the deepest level imply something completely
different. This insight offers an understanding of the difficulty that organizational
newcomers have in assimilating organizational culture and why it takes time to become
acclimatized. It also explains why organizational change agents usually fail to achieve
their goals: underlying tacit cultural norms are generally not understood before would-be
change agents begin their actions. Merely understanding culture at the deepest level may
be insufficient to institute cultural change because the dynamics of interpersonal
relationships (often under threatening conditions) are added to the dynamics of
organizational culture while attempts are made to institute desired change.

Organizational Culture
Evolution

Arthur F Carmazzi states that the dynamics of organizational culture are an

evolutionary process that can change and evolve with the proper Psychology of
Leadership.

Foundations of Culture Evolution

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At each level of Organizational Evolution, people will be working, acting, thinking, and
feeling at different levels of personal commitment. Carmazzis Directive Communication
psychology classifies these levels commitment as:

1. The level of Individual

People rely on personal skill and the direction from Leaders. When working on the plane
of SKILL people work at the level of Individual. They work because it is required
and use and develop their skill because it maintains the security related to their job.

2. The Level of Group

People have an emotional connection to their work. This has further developed their
attitude for success. They thrive on an environment of personal growth and others who
have the same Attitude. When working on the plane of ATTITUDE, people work at the
level Group. They take on additional tasks and even apply more effort to their job.
Unlike those working at the level of Individual, they do not need to be told what to do,
only to be guided to a direction.

3. The Level of Organization

The Pinnacle of greatness comes when individuals see their work as their purpose. People
see a greater purpose to the work they do, something greater than the individual, or the
group. The organization is the vehicle to doing and becoming something greater than
themselves. When working on the plane of SELF ACTUALIZATION, people work at
the level of Organization. At this level of commitment, an individual will do for the
organization the same he would do for himself. The individual and the organization (and
all its components and people) are one.

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Insights on Evolving Corporate Culture

According to Carmazzi, each culture affects the effectiveness and level of commitment
of the people within that culture. And that perpetuates the psychology that creates the
culture in the first place. In order to break the cycle and evolve a culture and the
commitment of those in it, leaders need to understand their role in the psychological
dynamics behind the culture and make adjustments that will move it to the next level.
Carmazzi has stated 5 levels of Organizational Culture.

1. The Blame culture

This culture cultivates distrust and fear, people blame each other to avoid being
reprimanded or put down, this results in no new ideas or personal initiative because
people dont want to risk being wrong. The majority of commitment here is at the level of
Individual

2. Multi-directional culture
This culture cultivates minimized cross-department communication and cooperation.
Loyalty is only to specific groups (departments). Each department becomes a clique and
is often critical of other departments which in turn create lots of gossip. The lack of
cooperation and Multi-Direction is manifested in the organizations inefficiency. The
majority of

personal commitment in this culture borders on the level of Individual and level of
Group.

3. Live and let live culture

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This culture is Complacency, it manifests Mental Stagnation and Low Creativity. People
here have little future vision and have given up their passion. There is Average
cooperation and communication and things do work, but they do not grow. People have
developed their personal relationships and decided who to stay away from, there is not
much left to learn. Personal commitment here is mixed between the level of Individual
and level of Group.

4. Brand Congruent Culture

People in this culture believe in the product or service of the organization, they feel good
about what their company is trying to achieve and cooperate to achieve it. People here are
passionate and seem to have similar goals in the organization. They use personal
resources to actively solve problems and while they dont always accept the actions of
management or others around them, they see their job as important. Almost everyone in
this culture is operating at the level of Group.

5. Leadership Enriched Culture

People view the organization as an extension of themselves; they feel good about what
they personally achieve through the organization and have exceptional Cooperation.
Individual goals are aligned with the goals of the organization and people will do what it
takes to make things happen. In this culture, Leaders do not develop followers, but
develop other leaders. Almost everyone in this culture is operating at the level of
Organization.

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Culture Maintenance

Once an organizational culture has evolved to a higher level, the challenge lies in
maintaining it. To continuously develop an organizations people -as well as new staff,
there are practices within the organization that act to maintain it by giving employees a
similar set of experiences. Three forces play a very important role in sustaining culture:
selection practices, the actions of top management, and socialization methods.

1. Selection

The explicit goal of the selection process is to identify and hire individuals who have
knowledge, skills and abilities to perform the jobs within the organization successfully.
Typically, more than one candidate will be identified who meets any given job
requirements. When that point is reached, it would be nave to ignore that the final
decision as to who is hired will be significantly influenced by the decision makers
judgement of how well the candidates will fit into the organization. This attempt to
ensure a proper match, results in the hiring of people who have values essentially
consistent with those of the organization. Also the candidates can self select themselves
out of the applicant pool in case there is a conflict between organizational values and
theirs.

2. Top Management

The actions of top management have a major impact on the organizations culture.
Through what they say, how they behave, senior executives establish norms that filter
down through the organization as to whether risk taking is desirable; how much freedom
managers should give their employees; what is appropriate dress; what actions will pay
off in terms of pay raises, promotions, and other rewards; and the like.

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 3. Socialization

Socialization refers to the process that adapts employees to the organizations culture.
Since the new employees are unfamiliar with the organization, they are potentially likely
to disturb the beliefs and customs that are in place. Thus, socialization becomes
important.

E.g. All new employees at Starbucks, the large coffee chain, go through 24- hours of
training. Classes are offered on everything necessary to turn the new employees into
brewing consultants. They learn the Starbucks philosophy, the company jargon and even
help customers make decisions about beans, grind, and espresso machines. The result is
employees who understand Starbucks culture & who project an enthusiastic and
knowledgeable interface with customers.

Socialization can be conceptualized as a process made up of three stages:

i. Pre arrival Stage: the period of learning in the socialization process that
occurs before a new employee joins the organization.

ii. Encounter Stage: the stage in which the employee sees what the
organization is really like and confronts the possibility that expectations
and reality may diverge. Where expectations and reality differ, the new
employee must undergo that will detach him from the previous

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 assumptions and replace them with another set that the organization
deems desirable.

iii. Metamorphosis Stage: the stage in which a new employee changes and
adjusts to the job, work group, and the organization.

Pre arrival
+
Encounter
+
Metamorphosis

Productivity Commitment Turnover

A SOCIALIZATION MODEL

Organizational culture and change

STRATEGIES FOR CHANGING AN ORGANIZATION'S CULTURE

When one wants to change an aspect of the culture of an organization one has to keep in
consideration that this is a long term project. Corporate culture is something that is very

19
hard to change and employees need time to get used to the new way of organizing. For
companies with a very strong and specific culture it will be even harder to change.
Cummings & Worley give the following six guidelines for cultural change.

1. Formulate a clear strategic vision.

In order to make a cultural change effective a clear vision of the firms new strategy,
shared values and behaviors is needed. This vision provides the intention and direction
for the culture change.

2. Display Top-management commitment.

It is very important to keep in mind that culture change must be managed from the top of
the organization, as willingness to change of the senior management is an important
indicator.

3. Model culture change at the highest level.

In order to show that the management team is in favor of the change, the change has to be
notable at first at this level. The behavior of the management needs to symbolize the
kinds of values and behaviors that should be realized in the rest of the company.

4. Modify the organization to support organizational change

The fourth step is to modify the organization to support organizational change.

5. Select and socialize newcomers and terminate deviants

A way to implement a culture is to connect it to organizational membership, people can

be selected and terminate in terms of their fit with the new culture.

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 6. Develop ethical and legal sensitivity

Changes in culture can lead to tensions between organizational and individual interests,
which can result in ethical and legal problems for practitioners. This is particularly
relevant for changes in employee integrity, control, equitable treatment and job security.

THE FOUR COMPONENTS OF EVERY ORGANIZATION

Organizations are comprised of four major components:

i. Physical (the visible aspects of the organization)

ii. Infrastructure (the systems and processes for directing and managing work)
iii. Behavioral (the daily actions and reactions of employees), and
iv. Cultural (the underlying assumptions, values, beliefs and norms that shape daily
behavior).

While implementing change at the "higher" levels is possible, as the following graphic
suggests, the durability of the change is short-lived without change at the underlying
cultural level.

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22
 LITERATURE REVIEW

According to Azhar (2003) organizational culture is the combination of important

assumptions that are shared in common by each members of an organization and are
often unstated. Organizational culture is basically made up by two major common
assumptions: values and beliefs. Values are the assumptions that have been forwarded by
the leaders of the organization and considered to be ideals that are desired by all the
members of an organization. Beliefs on the other hand are the assumptions about the
reality and created by experience.

Robbins (1986) on the other hand, defines organizational culture as a uniform perception
of an organization which has common characteristics. Organizational culture, according
to the author is something descriptive and effectively it can distinguish one particular
organization from another. It can also integrate individuals and groups of organization
systems.

Organizational culture is also defined by Rousseau (2000) as a set of commonly

experienced stable characteristics of an organization which shows the distinctive features
of an organization which differentiates it from others. Similar to the definitions of Azhar
(2003) that has been stated above, Rousseau (2000) also define the organizational culture
as set of norms and values that are shared by individuals and groups across the
organization. Organizational values and beliefs refer to the common ideas about what the
shared goals of an organization are, what types of behaviour should the members of an
organization follow in order to achieve the common goals of an organization. These
organizational values in turn form out the standard norms and guidelines for the
organization that makes it distinct from others.

Organizational culture is also defined by Schein (2004) as a pattern of shared

assumptions that have been accepted by a group of individuals as they solve their
problems. Because they have used these assumptions to solve their problems and it
worked effectively they accepted these assumptions as valid and thus they teach these

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assumptions to the newly joined members of the organization as standard ways of
thinking, perceiving and approaching towards the problems. Organizational culture is a
phenomenon that is shared by the members of an organization and operates
unconsciously.

In order to understand the full complexity of organizational culture, a number of

researchers made attempts to recognize and examine the components of the
organizational culture. One of the inseparable components of organizational culture is the
values that are shared and held by the individuals of an organization. Hofstede (2006) on
the other hand explains the organizational culture in the form of onion that contains a
number of layers and values that make the core of the organizational culture.

Importance of organizational culture to the success of the organization has been stressed
by numerous researchers. For instance, according to Azhar (2003) corporate culture can
determine the success of the organization, in other words, good companies are
distinguished from bad ones based on their corporate cultures.

The author further states that successfully managed companies usually have distinctive
cultures based on which they are responsible for successful implementation of their
strategies. Each organization has its unique culture that has powerful influence in the
employees of the organization and the management team and therefore, it can be one of
the most effective means of improving the overall performance of the organization.

Although it is something intangible, it plays a significant role in the shaping the success
of the organization and has great influence on the employees. It is difficult to say that the
organizational culture guarantees the success of the company but the companies with
strong corporate culture always have more chances to become successful than their
competitors (Jarratt and ONeill (2002).

The importance of the organizational culture is also highlighted by Schein (2004) who
stated that the culture can serve as strength as well as weakness to the organization. For
example, if it serves as strength then it facilitates communication among the members of
the organization, facilitates the process of decision making and control and creates

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commitment and cooperation within the organization. On the other hand, when there are
many subcultures exist in an organization and only few values and behavioural norms are
shared across the organization and the traditions are rare. In organizations that are
characterized with these traits the employees are more likely salary earners rather than
being members of the organization and therefore, they have less commitment and
responsibility in their performance.

The elements of the organization that have weak corporate culture include: bureaucracy
instead of entrepreneurship and creativity, unwillingness to adapt best practices from
outside of the organization, politicized organizational environment and hostility to change
(Kotter and Heskett, 1992). In addition to that, Rousseau (2000) also states that it is
important for the organization to recognize the fact that the organizations do not improve
in a vacuum environment and they need human interaction to support the improvement
and development which can be achieved only by following the effectively accepted and

equally shared values by each individual members of an organization .

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Research Report

Having undertaken a project on Organizational Culture, we thought the best possible

learning could come through industry visits. We tried to narrow down our perspective by
comparing organizational cultures between a bank and a travel & tourism agency. As
such, we undertook our research at Axis Bank, Model Town and Cox & Kings,
Connaught Place.

Through the medium of questionnaires and interviews with the employees, we acquired
valuable insights into the cultures and strict business philosophies these organizations
propound.

Our broad areas of research were:

Need Domination
To study the applicability of Maslaws Need Hierarchy in the current scenario
and thus, the graduation to ERG theory.

Influence of External Factors on Organizational Behavior

An organization does not exist in vacuum. External Factors play a very
important role in determining its success story.

Motivation Factors
In this regard, an implicit reference to intrinsic and extrinsic factors has been
made. The applicability of Porter-Lawler theory could be challenged.

Preference for the Culture

Based on different parameters, the preference of the employees for a particular
type of culture was assessed in order to determine the Person-Culture Fit.

Importance of Recreation Facilities in the Work Setting

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 An analysis on the importance of recreation needs was included to determine
the sensitivity of the management towards the social needs of its employees.

Cautious from?
The need to include such a question was felt in order to find out what exactly
makes the employees work-Is it expectations from superiors or competition
from peers? This could again be directed towards intrinsic and extrinsic
motivation plus the degree of authority or freedom employees expect.
Satisfaction Level
The effectiveness of an organization depends upon the level of satisfaction of
its employees. Thus, questions to determine the satisfaction levels of the
employees and their suggestions for improving the work environment formed
an important part of our study.

The following pages contain the sample questionnaire and interviews that facilitated our
research on organizational culture.
Questionnaire

Name-_____________________
Position-____________________
How long have you been working for this company? _________________

Rank from 1-4 in order of preference from most important (1) to least important (4)

1).The needs you value the most

Growth Needs
Esteem Needs
Relatedness/Social Needs
Existence Needs

27
2). Importance of External Factors in the work environment influencing your
performance.
Superior
Subordinates
Recreation Facilities
Authority

3).The thing you appreciate more-

Consistent Performance
Achievement
Recognition
Reward

Tick the appropriate option

4). How do you perceive your current organizations culture?

A collective belief that in turn shape behavior
Based on a foundation of historical continuity
Based in part on emotions which are particularly conspicuous when change is
threatened.
Cultures are more probabilistic than deterministic.

5). In what kind of an organizational culture you prefer to work

The organization promotes from within and highly values seniority
There is stable environment in which employees can develop and exercise
their skills
The skills of the employees are highly prized
There exists an organizational culture with a commitment to decentralization

28
6). How often do you indulge in recreational activities?

_______________________

7).What alerts you more meeting your superiors expectations or competition from
peers?
____________________

8).What counts more experience or exposure?

_______________________

9). Overall, how satisfied are you with working for the company?
Very Satisfied
Satisfied
Dissatisfied
Very Dissatisfied

10).The best part about working for this company is

The management upholds the values it propounds
All my needs are satisfied and taken care of
The management entrusts me by giving me challenging jobs and there is
openness to suggestions from all
All employees are treated equally and the management is fair
Others ________________________________________

29
11).What areas of the company do you feel need improvement?
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________

Interview

The following questions were posed before the employees and the management. The
interview was done with a purpose to identify different cultural perceptions of the
organization across time, geographic location, business units, staff groups, or for
comparison with a benchmark organization. It also provided us a useful means to interact
with the people working in the organization and assess their take on different issues.

Q1. What is the USP of your company/ one thing that makes your company different
from others?

Q2. What kind of rewards and punishments does the company give to shape behavior and
make employees conform to its values and norms?

30
Q3. What kind of recreational activities does the organization promote?

Q4. When dealing with a customer making an unrealistic demand, what

belief or attitude governs your behavior?

ResearchResults

Q1) The needs you value the most: Growth, Esteem, Social or Existence Needs.

ANALYSIS:

31
INTERPRETATION

At axis bank, the employees rank their growth needs holding prime importance as their
existence needs are being met appropriately by the organization. The esteem and social
needs are almost equally important while the existence needs take a back seat.

CONCLUSION

Maslaws need hierarchy theory holds good here as well. As the existence needs of the
employees are met, they move up the level of hierarchy. For an employee, who has joined
the organization lately, satisfaction of social needs hold more significance than the
contentment of esteem needs, for an employee who has been working with the
organization for quite some time.

The ERG Theory plays quite a pivotal role. The employees seek to satisfy a number of
needs at the same time.

32
Q2) What is the relative importance of External Factors in the work environment
influencing your performance i.e. Superiors, Subordinates, Recreational Facilities
and Authority?

ANALYSIS:

33
INTERPRETATION

For more than 40% of the people, superiors expectations and the recreational activities
hold equal importance for effective performance. For people who are the higher in the
chain of hierarchy, authority is of utmost importance while for others, it is the influence
of their peers and colleagues which drives their behavior.

CONCLUSION

There is a mix and match of all the factors influencing the behavior of an employee. No
factor affects employees behavior in isolation. The main driving factors influencing
work performance are recreational opportunities and the influence of the superiors over
the subordinates. The organization uses decentralization to allow discretion in some
matters, while saving on time.

Q3) What is the thing you appreciate more- consistence performance, achievement,
recognition or rewards?

34
ANALYSIS

INTERPRETATION

Consistent performance is the most appreciated by the employees while recognition is

also a key motivator that influences the employees to work hard. For more than 70% of
the respondents, achievement of rewards was least important.

CONCLUSION

The employees believe that a good and consistent performance can get them a sense of
achievement and hence recognition and rewards. Thus it is performance that matters and
also the recognition of work by superiors by drives them to perform more consistently.

Q4) How do you perceive your current organizations culture?

35
ANALYSIS:

A majority of the population perceives their organization culture to be a stable

environment in which employees can develop and exercise their skills.

INTERPRETATION & CONCLUSION:

An appropriate organizational culture encourages the development of an entrepreneurial

orientation among employees and an ability to change the culture as necessary.

Organizations operate in all areas through people and it is their contribution which
determines success. Their skills and knowledge need to be cultivated and then leveraged
to create competitive advantage.

The organization sees to it that its employees are highly skilled and will stay in the
organization while working their way up the ranks.

Q5) In what kind of an organizational culture you prefer to work?

ANALYSIS:

An organization where there is a stable environment in which employees can develop and
exercise their skills is the culture which is preferred by more than 85% of the employees.
Only 15% are in favor of a culture which has high commitment to decentralization.

36
INTERPRETATION & CONCLUSION:

An organization that addresses the need for skill development goes down well with the
employees. More than anything else, they look forward to a culture that provides them
autonomy and freedom to hone their skills and prepare themselves for higher ranks.

Such an organization will be more effective in terms of delivering its goals and satisfying
its employees because at no point of time will there be an employee crunch. Any position
can be provided for from within the organization if the employees are encouraged to hone
their existing skills and explore newer avenues.

Q6) How often do you indulge in recreational activities?

ANALYSIS:

The employees indulge in recreational activities quite often, namely, every week.

INTERPRETATION & CONCLUSION:

37
The organization is catering well to the social needs of the employees through the
medium of weekend parties. Axis Bank even comes up with contests solely for the
employees to reward them time and again.

38
Q7) What alerts you more meeting your superiors expectations or competition
from peers?

ANALYSIS

INTERPRETATION

For all the employees, meeting expectations of their superiors was the most important.
This reflects clearly on the values, the skill set of the employees and the management of
Axis Bank.

CONCLUSION

There is lack of competition spirit among the employees. They strive to perform better in
order to meet the expectations of their superiors. The work environment is extremely
cohesive.

39
Q8) What counts more experience or exposure?

ANALYSIS

INTERPRETATION

A majority of the employees said that exposure matters more to them while only 14%
employees believed that its experience that counts more. 14% of the employees gave
equal weightage to both experience and exposure.

CONCLUSION

It is exposure i.e. the changes and challenges faced by an individual that hone his skills
better and make him better as an employee.

40
Q9) Overall, how satisfied are you with working for the company?

ANALYSIS

INTERPRETATION

Most of the people are satisfied working for the organization. There are 20% who are
very satisfied. However there were 9% of the employees who felt dissatisfied for working
for the organization.

CONCLUSION

The organization offers a good culture and environment to its employees to working as
the most of the employees are satisfied. The ones who are dissatisfied are working only
because the organization satisfies their existence needs, while their growth and social
needs remain unattended.

41
Q10) What is the best part about working for this company?

ANALYSIS

The reactions to this question were mixed. The management entrusts the employees by
giving them challenging jobs and there is openness to suggestions from all. All
employees are treated equally and the management is fair. The management upholds the
values it propounds. Also mentioned by an employee are the ESOPs offered to the
employees.

INTERPRETATION & CONCLUSION

The organization has a dynamic culture. On the whole the culture satisfies the diverse
needs of all the employees.

Q11) Which areas of the company do you feel need improvement?

42
ANALYSIS

Though satisfied, the employees offered various suggestions to improve the organization.
They emphasized upon developing better interpersonal relationship.

More training should be given to the employees and there should be continuous exposure
to new way of doing things i.e. by using innovation and lateral thinking so that
performance can be improved.

A small percentage even stressed upon the fact that there should be more transparency in
gender based work allocation and less reshuffling.

9% were disappointed over the fact that they had to work at the 11th hour. Any last minute
work had to be delivered.

INTERPRETATION & CONCLUSION

Though the bank adheres to its policies and values of customer satisfaction, it must be a
little more sensitive towards the needs of its employees.

Implementation of the suggestions offered by the employees will work wonders in further
reducing the already low attrition rates and enhancing employee commitment.

Interview Analysis

43
Q1. What is the USP of your company/ one thing that makes your company different
from others?

RESULT

The USP of Axis bank lies in their core value of customer satisfaction. Every product is
designed and provided for keeping in mind the needs of different customers in order to
suit every purse, purpose and personality. Axis Bank boasts of the fact that it fills the gap
between the high end banks and the low end banks. The philosophy propounded by the
bank while dealing with customers is Smile, it enhances your face value.

Q2. What kind of rewards and punishments does the company give to shape
behavior and make employees conform to its values and norms?

RESULT

Based on performance, a number of incentives are offered to the employees. The name of
the employee is highlighted in the mails which are sent to every employee right from the
branch head to the VP of the company.

Apart from this, promotions are based solely on the basis of performance. There is scope
for promotion even within 2 years, based on the performance in the last years.
Punishments are seldom given and are restricted only to non performers, particularly
employees who are not matching the expectations continuously for a period of 3 to 6
months. Such employees are not sacked but transferred to remote areas.

Axis Bank is well using the Carrot n Stick Policy. The bank ensures rewards (carrots) for
high performers while it uses the Stick to set straight the non-performers.

44
Q3. What kind of recreational activities does the organization promote?

RESULT

The organization is catering well to the social needs of the employees through the
medium of weekend parties. Axis Bank even comes up with contests solely for the
employees to reward them time and again.

With the heavy banking service provided to customers, the bank is exploring avenues to
cater to the recreational needs as much as possible.

Q4. When dealing with a customer making an unrealistic demand, what belief or
attitude governs your behavior?

RESULT

The company is driven by a mix of customer satisfaction and profit maximization values.
The mangers weigh the cost of delivering the desired level of service with the returns
expected. If the returns are higher they deliver the services. Rightly concluded by the
Operations Manger, Banking is Our Business, after all!

45
Q1) The needs you value the most: Growth, Esteem, Social or Existence Needs.

ANALYSIS:

INTERPRETATION

There is low preference for existence needs, because people are not working solely for
their daily bread, instead they strive for growth. It is observed that those who are at a
higher position in the hierarchial order have a desire to satisfy esteem needs. The social
needs hold equal importance as growth needs.

CONCLUSION

As concluded by Malsow, we see the applicability of the need hierarchy theory. The
satisfaction of lower level needs i.e. the existence needs leads the path for the fulfillment
of higher level needs i.e. growth and esteem needs. However the social needs do not fit in
the hierarchy, as a person whether craving for existence or growth or esteem needs,
wishes to accomplish his social needs always. Truly, human being is a social animal.

46
Q2) What is the relative importance of External Factors in the work environment
influencing your performance i.e. Superiors, Subordinates, Recreational Facilities
and Authority.

ANALYSIS:

INTERPRETATION

At COX & KINGS, meeting the expectation of the superior is of utmost importance for
every employee. While for a manager or an employee at higher position, authority is of
primary importance. The support of subordinates and co-workers, for accomplishment of
tasks lies on an equal footing. The importance of recreational activities is rated low and
the significance of authority for the employees is almost negligible.

47
CONCLUSION

COX & KINGS is a highly centralized organization whereby the authority and discretion
rests mainly with the top management. Employees performance is based on the
prescribed norms and work procedures. Therefore, we see the dominance of, the impact
of superiors, on work performance and least influence of authority, because of
centralization. Since there arent many recreational opportunities available, their
influence is also less.

48
Q3) What is the thing you appreciate more- consistence performance, achievement,
recognition or rewards?

ANALYSIS:

INTERPRETATION

Achievement is what matters for 67% of the respondents. What follows next is consistent
performance and recognition. Rewards are of least importance to all.

CONCLUSION

49
According to Porter Lawler theory, it is performance which leads to satisfaction. But for
the employees at COX & KINGS achievement is what matters. Consistent performance
would automatically lead to achievement but ultimately it is achievement which matter,
which would then be followed by recognition and rewards.

The Pinnacle of greatness comes when individuals see their work as their purpose. Now
this is called Selfless Service!!

50
Q4) How do you perceive your current organizations culture?

ANALYSIS:

COX & KINGS is the best brand for over 249 years and been operational since 1758.
There is a collective belief that in turns shape behavior. Everything is governed and pre-
described by the management. Every product is designed and provided for keeping in
mind the needs of different customers in order to suit every purse, purpose and
personality. Therefore culture is more deterministic than probabilistic.

INTERPRETATION

Cox & Kings is the longest established travel company in the world with an organization
culture based on a foundation of historical continuity.

51
Q5) In what kind of an organizational culture you prefer to work?

ANALYSIS:

An organization where there is a stable environment in which employees can develop and
exercise their skills is the culture which is preferred by more than 50% of the employees.

INTERPRETATION & CONCLUSION

Accordingly, we classify and define different organizational cultures as:

Academy Culture
Employees are highly skilled and tend to stay in the organization, while working their
way up the ranks. The organization provides a stable environment in which employees
can development and exercises their skills. Examples are universities, hospitals, large
corporations, etc.

Baseball Team Culture

Employees are "free agents" who have highly prized skills. They are in high demand and
can rather easily get jobs elsewhere. This type of culture exists in fast-paced, high-risk
organizations, such as investment banking, advertising, etc.

Club Culture
The most important requirement for employees in this culture is to fit into the group.
Usually employees start at the bottom and stay with the organization. The organization
promotes from within and highly values seniority. Examples are the military, some law
firms, etc.

Fortress Culture

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Employees don't know if they'll be laid off or not. These organizations often undergo
massive reorganization. There are many opportunities for those with timely, specialized
skills. Examples are savings and loans, large car companies, etc.

Q6) How often do you indulge in recreational activities?

ANALYSIS:

Occasionally and never were the responses which were common with all. Employees
at Cox and Kings are not encouraged to indulge in recreational activities. Nearly 80% of
the people said that its only on occasions that they take up recreational activities like get-
togethers and informal meetings. And for the rest 20% it wasnt even occasionally.

INTERPRETATION & CONCLUSION

Since recreational opportunities are limited or almost insignificant for the workers, there
impact is less. Yet, people are very satisfied working at COX & KINGS. On questioning
the HR Manager, we discovered that Cox & Kings offered rewards and incentives based
solely on performance. These incentives include vacations and holiday packages, which
in turn act as recreational opportunities for the employees. Therefore, ultimately it is the
performance, driven by achievement of goals and targets, which governs employees
behavior.

53
Q7) What alerts you more meeting your superiors expectations or competition
from peers?

ANALYSIS:

INTERPRETATION

For more than 57% of the people, meeting superiors expectations was the guiding force
for effective performance. On the other hand, there was not even a single respondent for
whom competition from peers was an alerting factor. Though these were not mentioned
in the question but for some, meeting the targets was a vigilant force. While for others, it
was personal skills that mattered.

CONCLUSION

54
The organization has a stable work environment with no sense of competition or rivalry
among the employees. Employees learn culture by interacting with other employees.
Superiors expectations to achieve the targets are important for achievement of goals.

55
Q8) What counts more experience or exposure?

ANALYSIS:

INTERPRETATION

56
Experience and exposure both are equally important for work. 55% said exposure to
different situations is more important, whereas for the remaining 45% it was experience
which reckons more.

CONCLUSION

Experience comes through exposure, hence they both go along.

Q9) Overall, how satisfied are you with working for the company?

ANALYSIS

57
INTERPRETATION

Respondents answers ranged from satisfied to very satisfied. There were no traits of low
satisfaction or dissatisfaction in the organization.

CONCLUSION

Cox & Kings has been able to recognize the needs of its employees and serve them well.
No wonder, the company has low attrition rates!! Why, with employees working for as
long as 27 years!

58
Q10) What is the best part about working for this company?

ANALYSIS

Majority of the respondents felt that practical applicability of the Equity Theory is the
best part about working for COX & KINGS, while there were others who felt that their
satisfaction came from the fact that there esteem needs were met by facing challenging
job assignments.

CONCLUSION

A work environment based on trust, understanding, and equitable treatment met to all and
a system that is open to suggestions goes down well in enhancing the loyalty to the
organization.

Q11) Which areas of the company do u feel need improvement?

Since the employees are already satisfied and all their needs are taken care of, majority of
the people came with a NO COMMENTS & NO SUGGESTIONS answer. However, a
few of them also suggested that the HR department needs a little more improvement.

59
Interview Analysis

Q1. What is the USP of your company/ one thing that makes your company different
from others?

RESULT

Cox & Kings is Indias market leader in destination management, with substantial
competitive advantage in this business segment.

India is one of the largest potential outbound tour markets in Asia. In 1995, Cox & Kings
began full-fledged in house tour operating activity by designing its own brochure product
under exclusive arrangements with direct suppliers and local agents across the globe. Cox
& Kings has been undertaking path-breaking initiatives to reach out to the travelers
through innovative products.

It is a brand image for about 250 years, which offers different services under one
umbrella i.e. packages, tickets, travels, accommodations etc.

Q2. What kind of rewards and punishments does the company give to shape
behavior and make employees conform to its values and norms?

RESULT

Rewards are prescribed the HR department on the basis of performance. There is slow
growth of the employees, but the incentives and cash rewards are many and on yearly
basis. There are yearly appraisals and promotion opportunities based on work
performance. When an employee does not abide by the norms or shows an unsatisfactory

60
behavior consistently, punishments are imposed. There is a 3-6 months prohibition
period, where the performance of the employee is under surveillance. If the employee
continues to show negative behavior or poor performance, he may not be promoted and
even suspended or terminated as per orders from the Head Office.

Q3. What kind of recreational activities does the organization promote?

RESULT

The informal Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions act as recreational

opportunities for the employees. There in once in six months out of Delhi tour for the
employees along with occasionally put up carnivals. The management organizes parties
for all occasions. The operational department organizes monthly get-togethers and
informal sessions.

Q4. When dealing with a customer making an unrealistic demand, what belief or
attitude governs your behavior?

RESULT

Customer is the KING. We cater to all their needs, through our well diversified products.
In case of an unrealistic demand, every employee has the right to say no with a smile. All
the employees and management work under the framework of policies provided by the
Head Office.

61
Analysis Report

Comparison of Cultures at Axis Bank and Cox & Kings

Axis Bank was the first of the new private banks to have begun operations in 1994, and
with a span of just 14 years it has positioned itself as the 3rd most powerful private bank
after ICICI and HDFC.

On the other hand, Cox & Kings is the longest established travel company in the world.
Its distinguished history began in 1758 and has been operational for 249 long years.

From our practical understanding if organization culture is to be described in one line,

then that would be organizational culture is the personality of the organization. Like
each individual differs in personality, and is a mix of different personality traits, same is
the case with organizations.

At Cox & Kings the culture as perceived by the employees was of historical continuity,
changing and adapting to the needs of the customers and environment over time.
However, Axis bank has a culture where collective beliefs in turn shape behavior. They
are a form of a shared paradigm.

In Specific

At AXIS BANK, the majority of the employees were very satisfied while only a few
were dissatisfied. The management entrusts the employees and staff with decisional
powers and authority. That is to say, the organization is familiar with decentralization.

62
The management entrusts the employees with challenging job assignments for
contentment of their esteem needs. There is realistic allocation of resources (human and
material) to support management, monitoring and backstopping.

Since the banking sector is booming , the scope for growth and promotion is very high.
This, however, is solely based on performance and merit. The managerial staff lays strong
emphasis on maintaining inter-personal relationships.

The company aims for sales & profit maximization.

At COX & KINGS, we found that employees were very satisfied with the work
environment and management. All the decisional authority rests with the top
management. That is to say that the organization has not tasted decentralization. There is
clear definition of roles and responsibilities regarding overall project management,
accountability, implementation and achievement of results. Achievement of goals which
is followed by rewards and recreational opportunities leads to satisfaction.

The managerial staff is well diversified in terms of religion and region, thus catering and
relating to the well diversified customer segments. Customer is the king, and all the
services are moulded according to the needs of customer.

The company aims for profit maximization through customer satisfaction.

Cox & Kings Axis Bank

Basis

63
 Domination of growth needs at all levels of the
Need Domination organization
Satisfaction of Esteem needs very significant for
people at higher levels of hierarchy
Social Needs require satisfaction at all levels,
irrespective of ones position in the organization

Influence of External Along with the influence of

Factors on The influence of superiors superiors, employees are
Organizational Behavior has a major impact on the highly social & rate the
effectiveness of work on recreational opportunities
subordinates equally important for
effective work performance.

Motivation Factors Achievement Consistency in Performance

Need for Recreation Occasional Very Often

Alerting Factor Meeting the targets Superiors Expectations

Level Of Dissatisfaction 0% 14%

Reasons for Equity: All employees are Employees are given

satisfaction treated equally and challenging jobs and there is
management is fair openness to suggestions
from all

64
 Experience and Exposure both are equally
Experience or Exposure? important for effectiveness in performance and
learning

Experience comes from exposure

Degree of dispersal of
authority Highly centralized Relatively Decentralized

Conclusions and Findings

Organizational culture is a complex system of organizational values, from which, develop

organizational norms, guidelines or expectations that prescribe appropriate kinds of
behavior by employees in particular situations and control the behavior of organizational
members towards one another.

Organizational Culture covers a vast area of research. It stems from the shared values
within the organization and extends right uptil the customers outside the organization. We
wish to conclude on the basis of indices like:

Organizational Culture Analysis

Critical Incident Analysis
Culture Gap Analysis

Having carried out a detailed analysis and a comparison of the organizational culture in
the two organizations, we derived the following conclusions:

65
ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE ANALYSIS

Key values and behaviors are assessed for work units and the overall organization.
Results show which values are held by your various work units and how strongly those
values are held. Relationships between work values and organization outcomes are
identified. Action planning follows the Organizational Culture Analysis to produce a high
performance culture for your organization.

In the light of the given substrates i.e. Axis Bank and Cox & Kings, the values
emphasized and reiterated are strongly upheld.

Both the organizations are service based and seek to provide quality service Attention to
details is their top priority. They have especially designed products to suit the needs of
every customer.

Low price policy is another common feature to both these organizations.

Encouraging social activities, Axis Bank ensures success through teamwork, integrity and
people.

Both companies fair well on the Organizational Culture Analysis dimension.

CRITICAL INCIDENT ANALYSIS

Critical events in your organization's day-to-day operations are captured, as offered by

your employees, customers, or other stakeholders.

These methods produce categories of organizational values and effectiveness ratings

based on the nature of incidents occurring in those categories.

66
For example, Customer Service may be one of your resulting categories. However, if the
stories offered here are mostly negative, the effectiveness rating will be low.

Therefore, Customer Service will show up as a key value, but one that needs
improvement. The incidents provide concrete data for improving behaviors related to
customer service.

With respect to Axis Bank, the Critical Incident Analysis dimension is well applied. The
insights provided into the services rendered by the bank bear testimony to the fact.

In case of a customer making any unreasonable demand, the bank may, for once refuse
the customer. But if an agreement means huge business, the bank can overlook the
unsound demand. For Axis Bank, Banking is Business.
An incident cited to us about the PMS (Portfolio Management Service) provided by the
bank, clearly indicates that the bank is mindful of its customers needs and seeks to
deliver value satisfaction.

As for Cox & Kings, the company holds strongly onto its values. Customer satisfaction
is the crux for all their activities. As such, the level of customer complaints that Cox &
Kings receives is very low.

In order to satisfy the customer, the company goes out of its way. Complaint about any
guide leads to expulsion of the guide. Any complaints about the facilities at a hotel or
resort might even end their term with Cox & Kings.

Critical Incident Analysis ends on a positive high for Cox and Kings with Axis Bank
trailing behind very closely.

67
CULTURE GAP ANALYSIS

Culture Gap Analysis examines not only the actual values being put into practice, but also
the desired values of the work unit and organization.

Both the organizations score low on this dimension. Both Axis Bank and Cox & Kings,
adhere to the values they propound. The desired values are equal to the practiced values.

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