Adapting to Organizational Culture in a Heterogeneous Environment
Abstract
Organizational culture is paramount to ensuring there is cohesion, integration, and improved teamwork towards realizing specific goals and improving competitiveness in an organization. Despite such emphasis, workers find it challenging to match their personal cultural beliefs according to the organizational culture. Worse still, heterogeneous environments prove hard to adapt to the corporate culture, provided the differences in language, beliefs, norms, culture, religion, age, gender, and ethnic orientation. The concept is difficult for new-comer workers to integrate within such complex systems. Studies have extensively evaluated how such factors, such as culture, religion, age, and gender, affect organizational culture adaptation in a heterogeneous environment from a group and organizational perspective. Limited studies have focused on an interpersonal and intrapersonal perspective to understand how individuals conceptualize adaptation to corporate culture and how a heterogeneous environment affects it. The following research proposal seeks to address this niche information with the proposal to investigate how new-comers are affected by the need to adapt to an organizational culture in a heterogeneous environment. The proposed study design is qualitative through a structured interview that contains a 10-list of questions to be asked to a recommended 50 participant sample size.
Introduction
Whether it is deliberate or not, every business oriented organization develops a culture- this is a system of defined meaning and norms shared by its members. The influence of an organization’s culture is impactful, with members gaining individual motivation, commitment, interpersonal, and interpersonal coordination as well as group creativity and teamwork. Inherently, organizational scholars identify the importance of corporate culture in shaping its members either as groups or through organizational success (Di Foggia and Lazzarotti, 2013). As a result, organizational culture impacts on performances and resultant success. Although the definition of corporate culture is subjective, prior research indicates that organizational culture is a static construct. Thus, the emphasis is on cultural fit (EL Fasiki, 2013). A cultural fit in UAE, according to Al Jerjawi (2016), changes over time and is dynamic, especially within a heterogeneous environment. Literature suggests that culture relates to performance, including shared or diversified beliefs and norms within a functional collaboration that boosts performance (Alkaabi and Rashed, 2017). Therefore, studies have primarily focused on the influence of heterogeneous environments on organizational culture and how it impacts adaptation to either new or on-going employees.
Diverse literature on organizational culture in the United Arab Emirates provides a conflicting and inconsistent answer to understanding the adaptation of employees in a heterogeneous environment based on the corporate culture. One scholarly body suggests that employees have an informal cultural agreement to act in one manner as a means to improve performance within the business (Airan, 2016; Al Ali, 2016). It includes shared employee beliefs and normative expectations. Another scholarly body examines how demographic differences between employees (age, gender, culture, religion, and beliefs) affect the adaptation to a new environment within the business (Yousef, 2000; Naranjo-Gil, 2016). Taken together, the literature indicates an in-depth analysis of the business environment to understand the impact of cultural, social, economic, and demographic diversity in adapting to a new organizational culture based on a heterogeneous environment. There are limited studies that offer an explorative approach to understanding the interpersonal and intrapersonal aspects of adaptation within a heterogeneous environment in any organizational culture. Providing information from this perspective will provide a hands-on comprehension of how workers feel about a heterogeneous environment, its impact on adaptation and relationship with adapting to the organizational culture. Therefore, the research proposal seeks to conduct a study on the adaptation of new-comer and on-going workers on organization culture in a heterogeneous environment. Specifically, the research proposes a qualitative research design inquiring about the interpersonal and intrapersonal factors regarding adaptation in the United Arab Emirates. The limitations to the proposed research are based on the scope of the study, which may contain a sample size not ideal for translating the issue from a broader perspective.
Statement of the Problem
Organizational culture is a concept that is considered necessary and pivotal to a company’s success. Accordingly, workers within an organization can influence the success of the business or its failures. Studies suggest that such success is reliant on the adaptation of the members to the organizational culture greatly influenced by the heterogeneous environment. Studies also indicate that culture heterogeneity can influence the success and productivity of a business. Therefore, it is vital to understand the importance of cultural integration and adaptation by newcomers and on-going newcomers within a business. Despite the extensive literature on heterogeneous environment and its impact on workers, there is limited conceptualization from an interpersonal and intrapersonal perspective. Previous literature focuses on cultural identity, demographics factors, and how organizational culture impacts adaptation to a heterogeneous environment. In general, literature has focused on cultural impact, including language, religion, and demographics on age, gender, and race, culture, and beliefs from a group perspective. Lack of knowledge from an interpersonal and intrapersonal perspective limits the knowledge regarding worker factors on adaptation to an organizational culture, which in turn affects company success and performance profitability.
Justification
Integrating insights from an interpersonal and intrapersonal perspective will promote knowledge that is missing from a scholarly viewpoint. Ideally, there is a need to have consistent knowledge of organizational consequences from cultural strength. To achieve this, it requires coordination of knowledge factors, including comprehending how differences within individuals and not necessarily groups, impacts on the performance of a business. Studies have concentrated in the past on group dynamics and not on interpersonal and intrapersonal heterogeneity. Decomposing the individual characteristics may provide knowledge in understanding the differences in adaptation dynamics among workers with a special interest in new-comers and on-going workers.
Research Objectives
Primary Research Objective
To evaluate new-comer workers on adaptation to an organizational culture in a heterogeneous environment.
Specific Research Objectives
- To evaluate new-comer interpersonal, cultural heterogeneity on adaptation to an organizational culture in a heterogeneous environment in Dubai
- To evaluate new-comer intrapersonal cultural heterogeneity on adaptation to an organizational culture in a heterogeneous environment in Dubai.
- To evaluate the impact of new-comer interpersonal and intrapersonal heterogeneity on team dynamics in adaptation to an organizational culture in Dubai.
- To evaluate the impact of new-comer interpersonal and intrapersonal cultural heterogeneity on creativity and innovation in adapting to an organizational culture in a heterogeneous environment in Dubai.
Research Questions
- Does new-comer interpersonal, cultural heterogeneity impact the adaptation to an organizational culture in a heterogeneous environment?
- Does a new comer’s intrapersonal cultural heterogeneity impact the adaptation to an organizational culture in a heterogeneous environment?
- Does a new-comer’s interpersonal and intra-personal cultural heterogeneity impact on the team dynamics in the adaptation to an organizational culture in a heterogeneous environment?
- Do new-comer interpersonal and intrapersonal cultural heterogeneity impact on creativity and innovation dynamics in adapting to an organizational culture in a heterogeneous environment?
Research Hypothesis
Hypothesis 1 {H1}: New-comer interpersonal, cultural heterogeneity does not impact the adaptation into an organizational culture in a heterogeneous environment.
Hypothesis 2:{H2} New-comer intrapersonal cultural heterogeneity does not impact the adaptation into an organizational culture in a heterogeneous environment.
Hypothesis 3: {H3} New-comer interpersonal and intrapersonal cultural heterogeneity does not impact the teamwork dynamics in adapting to an organizational culture in a heterogeneous environment.
Hypothesis 4: {H4} New-comer interpersonal and intrapersonal cultural heterogeneity does not impact the creativity and innovation in adapting to an organizational culture in a heterogeneous environment.
Literature Review
Organization Culture
Culture is understood from a scholarly point of view as the ‘system of public and collective accepted meaning’ in which a group develops in response to the challenges of external adaptation and integration (Thomas and Anderson, 1998). Accordingly, an individual within a business environment has to learn to recognize, internalize, and conform to the organizational cultural code as an ongoing process of socialization and enculturation (Srivasta et al., 2018). Therefore, Allen (2006) elucidates that the content of cultural beliefs, values, and norms are significant as they influence new-comer’s work in accomplishing tasks. The present research acknowledges that organizational culture is an important facet in organizational success with particular emphasis on cohesion among workers. Nevertheless, the present research would like to focus on heterogeneity and the variation in beliefs, ideas, and norms within new-comer workers in the UAE. The focus, therefore, is on the heterogeneous environment is based on the perspective that culture’s role plays a significant role in organizational success and improved competitiveness.
Heterogeneous Environment
Organizational studies indicate that cultural heterogeneity and company performances have a direct correlation. Ideally, cultural heterogeneity impacts the performance of a business in a negative manner (Simmons-Welburn and Welbum, 2003; Firth et al., 2014). It is argued that cultural heterogeneity from a personal perspective can impact diversification, erode internal cohesion, and impact overall, the performance of an organization. The premise of this argument is interpersonal coordination can fulfill goals and behavioral consistencies according to the Fusion Theory discussed by Croucher and Kramer (2017). On the other hand, without such coordination, failures abound.
In contrast, Ashforth et al. (2007) show that interpersonal, cultural heterogeneity can offer organizational performance conceptualized from members deploying to the adaptation to external changes and competitive pressures (Holton et al., 1999). Therefore, Bauer and Erdogan (2014) point out that the core to its view, the ideologies on interpersonal and intrapersonal concepts, are paramount to encouraging creativity, innovation, and teamwork amid competitive pressures and external changes (Bauer and Erdogan, 2011). As such, on the one hand, cultural heterogeneity in the United Arab Emirates study by Riel (2010) and Jaffar et al. (2007) show it can be beneficial to a business through the encouraged fusion of diverse schema and interpretive understandings on the differences among workers and on the other hand, it can be detrimental. The detrimental aspect is that it can lead to lowered productivity, as Romaithi and Abdulla (2011) explain. It may explain why studies have focused on cultural differences ascribed traits including gender, race, age, educational factors, linguistics, and education levels on group tenure.
Interpersonal and Intrapersonal Cultural Heterogeneity
Scholar information regarding cultural heterogeneity identifies merits, including creativity and innovation, which are ideal for problem-solving. However, the potential to achieve such success comes at a price (Korte, 2009). The reason is that studies have primarily focused on the dynamics of cultural heterogeneity from a group dynamic and overall organizational viewpoint (Korte, 2009; Corritore et al., 2019). There are limited studies regarding the impact of cultural heterogeneity within new-comer employees, according to Corritore et al. (2019). It leads to psychological, emotional, and psycho-social impacts that greatly impede the performance of a business and its overall success of its workers.
The positive effects of the heterogeneous environment in new-comers are the promotion of creativity and problem-solving. For instance, studies show that there is an emergence of a combination of disparate beliefs that otherwise are distributed among workers (Oijako et al., 2015; Tsai et al., 2016). Therefore, studies primarily focus on cultural consensus among new-comer workers with existing paradigms of organizational culture (Tsai et al., 2016). There also exists cultural consensus and dynamics within individuals. Cultural heterogeneity does not only evolve from a group of people or differences between them, but it also emerges from within individuals (Oijako et al., 2015). The proposition is that differences emerge from two aspects. The first is the cultural misalignment between organizational members, and the second is within a person (Richard, 2000). In most cases, businesses often encourage workers to adopt values and beliefs inconsistent with their own.
Sociologists dictate that individuals are equipped to internalize and select as well as deploy multiple cultural frames. The approach is based on the cognitive and cultural psychology understanding of inconsistent cultural identities (Oijako et al., 2015; Srivastava et al., 2018). In modern-day societies, people have to conform to pluralistic cultural lenses, which could mean that people do not necessarily subscribe to a single coherent cultural order. As such, the pluralistic cultural identities require people to expose themselves to multiple and incongruent institutional orders (Yousef, 2000). Inherently, institutional plurality brings about friction and fragmentation among workers, including new-comer workers who have to subscribe to the distinct institution organizational cultures.
To identify the difference in cultural adaptation in a heterogeneous environment, assessment of language used by workers is a premise well described. The relationship between culture and individuals is unique yet, distinct from a cognitive and behavioral dimension. Understanding how new-comers conceptualize organizational culture within a heterogeneous environment may disclose why effects on organizational performance could be dual- either positive or negative.
Research Method
Study Setting
The proposed study will be conducted in the United Arab Emirates, specifically in Dubai. The setting of the study will include businesses within governmental and non-governmental institutions. Governmental institutions have a standard operating culture, which is ideal for comparison within this study. On the other hand, non-governmental institutions have a dynamic yet, a standard operating culture, which is also ideal for comparison. The proposed non-governmental organization includes (1) financial institution, (2) tourism sector, and (3) manufacturing sector.
Study Design
The study proposes the use of a qualitative research design. A qualitative research design entails the retrieval of information from in-depth interviews with participants. Qualitative research design offers advantages of using a small population for the study (Maxwell, 2012). The research design also offers a first-hand association with the participants through data collection methods, including interviews and observations.
Sample Size and Population
The sample size proposed for the present research is 50 (n=50). The sample population will encompass citizens living in Dubai. The population ought to work within the proposed industries within a period of one month and as far as five months. Details of the employment records about the employment period shall be shared on authorization from the supervisors and managers. The population will be diverse regardless of demographic factors such as age, gender, religion, ethnicity, and race, and employment tenure. The scope of the research is to comprehend if interpersonal and intrapersonal factors affect adaptation to organizational culture in a heterogeneous environment. However, the participants should be fluent in English for purposes of data collection and be above eighteen years of age.
Sampling Procedure
The random sampling method will be used for this research (Turner, 2010). The initial phase of sampling shall entail determining employees who are newly hired with each business in each sector and category. The maximum hiring period should be five months, and the least is one month. Demographic factors will not be used. From this approach, random sampling will be used. Random sampling is ideal for minimizing biasness and reducing the influence of the researcher in data collection.
Variables and Measurements
The proposed measurement instrument for the present research will be interviewed. An interview is a structured conversation between the researcher and the participant. The types of questions to ask will be structured to provide a non-biased and standard data analysis of the information retrieved from the participants (McLellan et al., 2003). To this, the proposed interview type is structured interviews that strictly adhere to the use of interview protocol suggested by the interviewer. The merit in using a structured interview is that it will present opportunities for the researcher to probe further about specific topics of interest during each interview (Griffee, 2005).
Additionally, the researcher will have prepared enough lists of questions with a specific target towards the scope of the study. The proposed list of questions is 10, with each interview predicted to last 10 minutes to 15 minutes per participant. The list of questions is attached in Appendix 1.
Ethical Considerations
The ethical considerations to be determined in the present research abide by the University regulations. These include an informed consent from the participants with advice on the rights and privileges accorded to each participant. Additionally, each participant will be informed about the scope of the research, what the researcher aims to achieve, and what impact the data from each participant would bring to the study. Factors regarding ethical standards of operation shall have adhered to the researcher consulting with the supervisor at every stage of the research, storing data in multiple packets, and allowing participants to answer to the best of their ability.
Data Collection and Analysis
Data will be collected using a voice recorder using the mobile phone application, Voice Recorder 2.0. The software is ideal as it is linked to a cloud application, which ensures that even if data is lost on the mobile device, it can be retrieved for future use. Data will be analyzed based on the research questions, objectives, and hypotheses.
Conclusion
The proposed study seeks to evaluate the impact of interpersonal and intrapersonal factors regarding the adaptation in an organizational culture within a heterogeneous environment. The proposed study design will be qualitative with interview questions about 10, will be addressed to 50 participants.
References
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Appendix 1
Interview Questions
Introduction: Hello, My name is { }. I will be interviewing you based on the research I am conducting regarding the adaptation of new-comer workers to an organizational culture in a heterogeneous environment. These are the questions:
- How long have you been working for the company? (please specify).
- What is your perception of the organization’s culture? Based on values and norms.
- How can you describe the organizational culture based on your understanding?
- Do you think the organization you work for has acceptability for a heterogeneous environment?
- What do you describe as a heterogeneous environment?
- Do your personal beliefs and values match or contradict the organization’s culture you work for?
- Does the alignment of your cultural working beliefs and values align with the organization’s culture?
- Do you think they work well with the heterogeneous environment within your organization?
- Does this affect how you work with others within this heterogeneous environment, given the mandatory organization culture you have to follow?
- Does it affect creativity and or innovation in your perspective?