H 201707006

INTERCONTINENTAL JOURNAL OF HUMAN RESOURCE RESEARCH REVIEW
ISSN: 2320-9704 - ONLINE ISSN:2347-1662 - PRINT IMPACT FACTOR:4.169

VOLUME 5, ISSUE 7, JULY 2017 - UGC APPROVED JOURNAL - S.NO:49244
NURTURING OGRANISATIONAL CULTURE ---AN EMPIRICAL

STUDY - WITH REFERENCE TO VISAKHAPATNAM PORT TRUST
Dr. SAIROOP ALLENA 1 Dr.S.RAJANI 2
1
Associate Professor, Dept. of Management Studies, Gayatri Vidya Parishad College for Degree and
PG Courses (A), Rushikonda, Visakhapatnam-45.
2
Professor & Director, School of Management Studies, Gayatri Vidya Parishad College for Degree
and PG Courses (A), Rushikonda, Visakhapatnam-45
ABSTRACT
Organisational culture refers to a system of shared meaning held by members that
distinguishes the organisation from other organisations. Just as individuals have relatively enduring
and stable traits that help us predict their attitudes and behaviours, so organisations – they may be
characterized as rigid, friendly, warm innovative or constructive. Culture is the unique dominant
pattern of shared belief, assumptions, values and norms that shape the socialization, symbols,
language and practices of a group of people. The process of formation and adaptation of culture goes
through three phases generally. They are initiation, integration and reinforcement. Therefore, the
researcher identified that an integrated study on organizational culture with reference to
Visakhapatnam Port Trust, across all functionaries and administrative divisions is found to be lacking
is desirable and concentrated on the perceptions of the different classes of employees to understand
their impact on the initiation of organizational culture.
Keywords: Initiation, Organizational culture, Chi-square test, ANOVA
Organizational culture refers to a system of shared meaning held by members that

distinguishes the organization from other organizations. Just as individuals have relatively enduring
and stable traits that help us predict their attitudes and behaviours, so organizations – they may be
characterized as rigid, friendly, warm innovative or constructive. Culture is the unique dominant
pattern of shared belief, assumptions, values and norms that shape the socialization, symbols,
language and practices of a group of people. The process of formation and adaptation of culture goes
through three phases generally. They are initiation, integration and reinforcement.
The seeds of organizational culture are laid down by the founder/leader in the organization
which are slowly percolated throughout the organization for others to evaluate. This is mainly through
stories, rituals, demonstration by leaders etc., which often dwell around the genesis of the
organization‟s good times and bad times. For new comers, introduction to organizational culture is
through the elders/seniors in the organization who take on the role of mentoring. The main activities
which comprise the process of initiation of culture in an organization include articulation of the
Founders‟ vision, statement of organizational mission, determination of long term objectives of the
organization and formulation of appropriate strategies and policies to ensure that all the above are
realized. For all of the above to be on the right track in the long run, ethics and values need to be
promoted. The process of initialisation is a very critical one since it sets the right pace for adoption of
culture in the organization.
Objective of the Study:

The present paper is an attempt to study the factors in influencing the process of nurturing
organizational culture in Visakhapatnam Port Trust by analyzing the employee perceptions relating to
initiation of organizational culture.
An Open Access, Peer Reviewed, Refereed, Online and Print International Research Journal
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Factors influencing initiation of organisational culture:
The major factors determining initiation of organizational culture and there by contributing
for growth and development of the organization are founders‟ vision, organizational mission, ethics
and values, policies and strategies adopted.
Vision and Mission
Vision is the mental perception or imagination of the future of the organization which the
founder holds for the organization. It is the big picture guiding the organizational activities. While
mission is an enduring statement which embodies the decision makers philosophy and reflects the
purpose for which the company has come into existence (the need of the society that it intends to
fulfill). Mission, therefore, implies the image that the organization seeks to project to the society.
Mission sets forth principles and conceptual foundation upon which the organization reacts
and the mature of business in which it plans to operate. While vision lays down the distinctive set of
values which the organization intends to follow, the mission statement is an attempt to define the
business in terms of products/services to be offered, customers to be served and technology to be
adopted. Thus, mission and vision together prepare the ground for the seeds of organizational culture
to be showed. They lay down the broad premises for organizational behaviour and decision making by
specifying what is acceptable and what is not by the organizational norms.
Ethics and values
Ethics is the moral code of principles and values that govern the behaviour of a person and
help him/her distinguish between right or wrong. Ethics are personal and unique to each individual
and completely depend on their attitude though there is a consensus on ethical code.
Organizational ethics and values determine the way the organization responds to external
environment and prescribe the way individuals need to behave at workplace. Shared values in the
organization create a strong sense of belongingness among the employees and help in shaping and
building a high performance organisational culture. The injected the founders of the organization and
superiors in the organization gradually transmit them to the rest of the employees. These norms
influence the psychology of the workers and gradually the culture of the organization.
Ethics can be communicated through stories, narrations, lectures (demonstration by leaders
etc.) such a value driven culture is the driving force behind the sustainable success of the
organization. This type of culture built around strong ethical principles leads to long term
competitiveness.
Values and ethics nurture an environment of mutual trust which motivates individuals to do
extraordinary things. Such a value based culture leads to increased commitment and helps to release
blocked energies, intellect, and capabilities of employees.
Policies and Strategies

Strategy is the determination of basic long term goals and objectives of an enterprise and the
adoption of the course of action and the allocation of resources necessary for carrying out these goals.
It is a course of action thorough which an organization tries to relate itself with its environment to
develop focused advantages to face challenges in the environment. It sets the pace for competition
with emphasis on developing competitive abilities.
Policies are general statements or understandings which guide or channelize thinking and
action in decision making. Policies define an area within which a decision is to be made and ensure
that the decision is consistent with or contribute to the overall objective. Sometimes policies may be
explicit and clearly stated while sometimes they are implicit and need to be interpreted from the
decisions/actions of the managers. Therefore, policies are the means of encouraging discretion and
initiative, but within limits. They may be formulated at any level and in any area. Eg. dividend policy,
recruitment policy, retirement policy, purchase policy, inventory policy etc.
Strategies and policies together encourage innovation, creativity and focus on competitiveness
and sustainability through participation by all.
Review of Literature:
Schein (1992)6 defined organizational culture elaborately. He stated that organizational

culture is a pattern of shared basic assumptions that the group experienced, its problems in external
adaptation and internal integration, which worked well enough to be considered as valid and therefore
to be taught to new members as the correct way to perceive.
Schein (1992)74, further created another model of organizational culture namely leader-
generated/leader - centered culture in which employers have a strong influence on the creation of
organizational culture through organisational values. He further stated that leaders disseminate the
prevailing culture and have tendency to change it through primary embedding mechanisms and
secondary articulation and reinforcement mechanisms.
Deal and Kennedy (1982)53 identified values, basic ideas and beliefs that are very important
and meaningful to employees and should be fixed over a period of time.
Homburg et. al. (2000)69 noted that the implementation strategy is very important and the
superiors should be very cautious, show complete dedication and allocate adequate resources in
designing and implementing the strategies.
Bates (1995)63 opined that both business strategy and organizational culture are identical.
Authors like Green (1988)64, Bates et.al., (1995), Mantere (2000)65, Van Der Maas (2008)66, Van
67
Buul ( 2010) stated that organizational culture appears to have significant influence on
organization‟s strategy. According to Van Buul (2010) in managing the strategy implementation, the
basic powerful feature is organizational culture.
Though there have been several studies on organizational culture, there has been no such
study worth mentioning is available in port sector in India and especially in Visakhapatnam Port
Trust. In the port sector, Visakhapatnam Port Trust being one of the major ports in the country is on
the threshold of a major development to meet the infrastructural needs of the nation. In this context
focus on employee performance and key determinants of their behavior assumes importance.
Organizational culture is a critical component guiding the above aspects.
Hence the researcher identified that an integrated study on organizational culture with
reference to Visakhapatnam Port Trust, across all functionaries and administrative divisions is lacking
such a study is highly desirable and hence concentrated on the perceptions of the different classes of
employees to understand their impact on the culture of the organization.
Significance of the Study:

Organisational culture is the leading force which holds the diverse elements together in any
organisation. It prescribes and promotes the behaviour required in an organisation. Visakhapatnam
Port Trust, basically a service organisation undertakes cargo handling and berthing and harbour
facility to facilitate trade operations. The performance of a port is measured in terms of the cargo
handled and the average berthing time. All the functions of the port can be accomplished effectively
only when the interpersonal relations are good and there is a strong bond between the different
members in the organisation. This is possible and can be a reality only when the organisational culture
is strong and achievement oriented. Visakhapatnam Port Trust is a public sector unit and characterized
by bureaucratic culture which is governed by formal rules and regulations. There are standard
operating procedures for most of the activities. However, with globalization and a spate of
innovations in the international trade and business environment there is an ardent need for adopting
competitive practices and strategies. This requires the culture to be more open, receptive and flexible.
Visakhapatnam Port Trust has to gradually adopt a market culture wherein values and norms reflect
the significance of achieving measurable and demanding goals especially those that are
financial/market based. This requires a lot of change to be brought in the process of formulating
strategies, policies, in decision making, in style of leadership and tools for motivation, in
communication and reward mechanisms etc. In this context it is interesting and also immensely
important to analyse the culture in the organisation and its key characteristics to identify areas for
strengthening culture to contribute to organisational development.
Methodology:
The study is based on both primary and secondary data. The secondary data has been
collected from hand book of statistics published by Visakhapatnam port trust and various reports
published by Ministry of Shipping, Govt. of India. The primary data has been collected for the factors
affecting initiation of organization culture in Visakhapatnam Port Trust through a detailed
questionnaire that has been canvassed to 228 employees out of a total 529 employees ( i.e Class I:
Employees in the senior and middle level Management, Class-II: employees at the lower level
Management, Class –III: Employees belonging to two categories A) Supervisory and skilled workers,
and B) Clerical employees, Class- IV: Semi skilled and unskilled workers). The sample employees
are selected by using stratified random sampling technique for an intensive study. As the study relates
to analysis of initiation of organizational culture of employees, a) unskilled and semiskilled
employees of Class - IV and b) clerical employees in Class - III are omitted, as culture cannot be
imposed or reflected in their performance significantly. Thus the final sample for the study is drawn
from Class-I employees, Class –II employees and Supervisory and Skilled workers of Class-III. It
may be noted that wherever Class-III is used they belong to Class-III A only.
Measurement/Scale : Questionnaires were given to Class-I and Class-II employees consisting of a set of
propositions (variables) to elicit their views on their level of awareness on initiation of organisational
culture (18 propositions), on a five point scale (1 = Strongly disagree, 2 = disagree, 3= neither agree nor
disagree, 4= agree and 5= strongly agree).
For Class-III the number of propositions were reduced and modified questionnaire was given to
Class-III employees separately to elicit their perceptions on various aspects covering eleven propositions
only. They were asked to indicate the extent to which they accept the propositions related to
organisational culture on a five point scale (1 = Strongly disagree, 2 = disagree, 3= neither agree nor
disagree, 4= agree and 5= strongly agree).
Methods of research used: In this study stratified random sampling technique has been used to
identify the respondent for analyzing the organizational culture in Visakhapatnam Port Trust.
Statistical Methods used to interpret the data collected are :
1) ANOVA, and
2) Chi – Square Test.
The responsibility of sowing the seeds of the desired culture in an organization often rests on the top
management. It is often the vision of the leader, the stated mission and the long term goals of the
organization which set the pace for the adoption of organizational culture. The shared values and the
ethics prevalent in the organization and the policies and strategies adopted by the organization play a
critical role in the nurturing of organizational culture. Therefore the study has focused on these three
major aspects.
a. Vision, Mission, Objectives/Goals

b. Ethics and Values
c. Policies and Strategies
Results and Discussions:
a) Vision, Mission, Objectives/Goals:

Mission plays a critical role in steering the organization in the right direction and communicating
the purpose of the organization to all stakeholders especially the employees. Therefore the foundation for
any organization‟s culture is laid down through the vision and mission. Together they must be a source of
motivation to the employees and define the long term perspective of the leaders. Organizations with a
culture which provides for effective linking of objectives and goals with the mission along with adequate
provision of resources is often more successful than the others. Therefore, the perceptions of the
employees on eight propositions, relating to vision, mission, objectives and goals having an impact on
initiation of organizational culture are taken up here.
 Current mission plan of the organization is communicated to everyone.
 Organization‟s effectiveness in fulfilling its mission.
 Integrating culture with organization‟s mission
 Vision creates excitement and motivation for employees
 Leaders long term perspective.
 Alignment of goals across all the levels.
 Adequacy of resources to achieve organizational objectives.
 Linking up of organizational objectives/goals, mission and the organizational strategy.
In order to study the respondents‟ behavior and bias in response to the selected propositions
among employees of Class-I, Class-II and Class-III, results of one – way ANOVA for each of the sets
examined are presented in Table-1.
It can be seen from Table-1 that there is no evidence of response bias and the mean difference
are found to be statistically significant at 5 or10 percent level for almost all except for a) vision
creates excitement and motivation for employees and b) adequacy of resources.
The mean values also indicate that the level of response of degree of awareness of
organizational vision, mission, objectives/goals of Class-I respondents in selected propositions is high
and ranges between 2.07 and 2.67 on a three point scale i.e. between 69% and 89%.
Among Class-II and Class-III respondents the mean values (views on awareness on
organizational vision, mission, and objectives/goals) indicate that Class-III employees have relatively
higher levels of awareness than Class-II employees in almost all cases except one. The level of
awareness varies between 1.42 and 2.42 among Class-II respondents and 1.73 and 2.09 among Class-
III respondents in a three point scale i.e. between 47 percent and 80 percent among Class-II
respondents and between 57 percent and 70 percent among Class-III respondents.
In order to know the association between experience and the level of awareness on
organizational vision, mission, objectives/goals, chi-square test is used.
Here it is to be noted that all respondents are assumed to be aware of the mission plan and
relatively high level of awareness is observed among Class-I over Class-II and Class-II over Class-III
respondents.
b)Ethics and Values:

Ethics and shared values are an important ingredient in the formation of culture of an
organization. They help put in place a clear set of expectations for the employees and also establish a
sense of identity. They define the subtle line between acceptable and unacceptable behaviours. Core
values laid down by the leaders/founders create premises for rituals and practices in the organization.
More over ethics often lay down a strong base for ever lasting and good relationship on the
organization which in turn contributes in weaving out a strong culture.
In order to understand the with the perceptions of the employees on the role of ethics and
values in laying the right foundation for organizational culture, their views are obtained on the five
propositions. They are :
 Clear and consistent set of values govern employees.
 Ignoring core values leads to problems.
 Great values are the base for good relationships.
 Encouragement to whistle blowing for ethical functioning.
 Shared set of values creates sense of identity and establishes expectations.
Results of one – way ANOVA for each of the sets examined are presented in Table-2.
It can be seen from Table-2 that there is no evidence of response bias and the mean
differences are found to be statistically significant at 5/10 percent level. This indicates that mean
values are significantly different among others except one.
The mean values indicate that the level of response of Class-I employees in selected
propositions regarding degree of agreement on the role of ethics and values is high and ranges
between 1.68 and 2.17 on a three point scale i.e. between 56% and 72%.
Among Class - II, the level of agreement varies between 1.83 and 2.02, among Class-III
employees it varies 1.86 and 1.98 on a three point scale i.e. between 61 percent and 67 percent among
Class-II and between 62 percent and 66 percent among Class-III.
In order to know the association between experience and the level of agreement on the role of
ethics and values, chi-square test is used and the results are presented below.
Here it is to be noted that all employees should be aware on ethics and values and relatively
high level of awareness is expected among Class – I over Class - II and Class - II over Class - III.
c) Organization Policies and Strategies:
Strategy is a predetermined course of action in a competitive environment while polices
provide the guidelines or frame work for future decision points. These are not one – time acts but are
a continuous process and need to be reviewed regularly to check their relevance in the changing
context. Clarity in strategy and policies ensures the initiation of a transparent, open, receptive and
progressive culture. To implement strategies and policies certain extent of authority also has to be
delegated to the concerned people along with fixation of responsibility. Improper delegation or
absence of responsibility often become courses for conflicts and weakening of cultural bonds. Hence
perceptions of the employees on the following aspects relating to policies and strategies adopted in
the organization for the initiation of an appropriate culture are analyzed.
(1) Organizational policies being supportive to the employees.
(2) Annual review of organisational policies to assess organizational effectiveness.
(3) Existence of a clear strategy for future
(4) Unbiased approach in implementation of rules.
(5) Delegation of authority for independent action.
Results of one – way ANOVA for each of the sets examined are presented in Table-3.
It can be seen from Table-3 that there is no evidence of response bias and the mean difference
are found to be statistically significant at 5 or 10 percent level.
Among Class-I and Class-II employees the mean values (Degree of awareness on
organisation policies and strategies) indicate that Class-I employees have relatively higher levels of
awareness in three propositions and Class-II employees have relatively higher levels of
awareness in two propositions.
The mean values also indicate that the level of response on the degree of agreement
regarding adoption of organizational policies and strategies of Class-I employees in selected
propositions is high and ranges between 1.63 and 2.18 on a three point scale i.e. between 54% and
73%.
The level of awareness varies between 1.94 and 2.19 among Class-II employees and 1.83 and
2.03 among Class-III employees in a three point scale i.e. between 65 percent and 73 percent among
Class-II and between 61 percent and 68 percent among Class-III.
In order to know the association between experience and the level of awareness on
organisational policies and strategies, chi-square test is used and the results are presented below.
Here it is to be noted that all employees are expected to be aware of the organisation policies
and strategies and relatively higher level of awareness is expected among Class-I over Class-II and
Class- II over Class-III. The analysis is done within the classes.
Summary and Conclusions
The results of the perceptions of the respondents of the three categories of employees on three
major heads namely a) vision, mission, objectives/goals, b) policies and strategies and c) ethics and
values are summarized and presented in tabular format given in Table-4.
Sl. Perception on Class Sample Mean Source of Variation F- Statistic

No Size value Within Between
Samples
Samples
Vision, Mission, Objective/Goal
1 Current mission plan of the C1 72 2.67 2.30 0.52 4.39*
organization is C2 53 2.15
communicated to everyone. C3 103 2.01
Grand 228 2.25
2 Organizational effectiveness C1 72 2.42 2.00 0.60 3.52**
in fulfilling its mission. C2 53 1.89
Grand 125 2.19
3 Integrating Culture with C1 72 2.07 1.57 0.55 5.48**
organization‟s mission. C2 53 1.75
C3 103 1.89
Grand 228 1.92
4 Vision creates excitement C1 72 2.39 1.93 0.68 2.84ns
and Motivation for C2 53 1.57
employees. Grand 125 2.04
5 Leaders long Term C1 72 2.18 3.31 0.61 5.41*
Perspective. C2 53 1.81
C3 103 2.09
Grand 228 2.05
6 Alignment of goals across all C1 72 2.07 3.50 0.64 5.50*
the levels. C2 53 1.77
C3 103 2.02
Grand 228 1.98
7 Adequacy of resources to C1 72 2.35 1.76 0.69 2.57ns
achieve organizational C2 53 1.42
objectives. Grand 125 1.95
8 Linking up of organizational C1 72 2.23 2.54 0.52 4.90*
objectives / goals, mission C2 53 2.42
and the organizational C3 103 1.73
strategy. Grand 228 2.05
*significant at 5% level, ** Significant at 10% level and ns not significant.
Table-2: ANOVA test values for response bias for selected perceptions (variables)
Sl. No Perception on Class Sample Mean Source of Variation F-

Size value Statistic
Within Between
Samples Samples
Ethics and Values
9 Clear and consistent set of C1 72 1.68 2.09 0.54 3.85**
values govern employees. C2 53 1.83
Grand 125 1.74
10 Ignoring core values leads to C1 72 2.17 2.71 0.46 5.89*
problems. C2 53 1.94
C3 103 1.92
Grand 228 2.01
11 Great values are the base for C1 72 2.01 2.19 0.58 3.75**
good relationships. C2 53 2
Grand 125 2.01
12 Encouragement to whistle C1 72 1.85 3.00 0.51 5.88*
blowing for ethical C2 53 1.98
functioning. C3 103 1.86
Grand 228 1.86
13 Organizational values create C1 72 1.81 3.07 0.53 5.78*
sense of identity and clear C2 53 2.02
expectations. C3 103 1.98
Grand 228 1.94
*
significant at 5% level,** Significant at 10% level and ns not significant
Table-3: ANOVA test values for response bias for selected perceptions (variables)
Sl. Perception on Class Sample Mean Source of Variation F-

No Size value Statistic
Within Between
Samples Samples
Organisational Policies and Strategies

14 Policies are Supportive to C1 72 2.17 2.65 0.48 5.51*
the employees C2 53 1.98
C3 103 1.91
Grand 228 2.01
15 Annual Review of Policies C1 72 2.18 3.01 0.51 5.93*
to assess organizational C2 53 1.98
effectiveness. C3 103 2.03
Grand 228 2.07
16 Existence of a clear C1 72 2.47 2.55 0.50 5.04*
strategy for future C2 53 2.19
C3 103 1.83
Grand 228 2.11
17 Unbiased approach in C1 72 1.63 2.16 0.58 3.73**
implementation of rules. C2 53 1.94
Grand 125 1.77
18 Delegation of authority for C1 72 2.125 1.69 0.45 3.77*
independent action. C2 53 2.132
Grand 125 2.128
*significant at 5% level, ** Significant at 10% level and ns not significant
Table-4: Perceptions of respondents on initiating actions for Organisational culture – A
Summary
Sl. Perception on Sample mean of Class F χ2 Value ( Association

No Value between Experience and
degree of awareness )
I II III I II III
1 Current mission plan of the 2.67 2.15 2.01 4.39** 4.75 ***
7.24 **
7.01**
organization is communicated to
everyone.
2 Organizational effectiveness in 2.42 1.89 - 3.52*** 6.57** 3.58ns -
fulfilling its mission
3 Integrating culture with 2.07 1.75 1.89 5.48** 5.01*** 7.62** 6.82**
organization‟s mission
4 Vision creates excitement and 2.39 1.57 - 2.84ns 5.24*** 7.58** -
Motivation for employees.
5 Leaders long term Perspective. 2.18 1.81 2.09 5.41** 6.99** 4.99*** 9.23*
6 Alignment of goals across all the 2.07 1.77 2.02 5.50** 5.47*** 5.70*** 5.20***
levels.
7 Adequacy of resources to achieve 2.35 1.42 - 2.57ns 6.70** 5.70*** -
organizational objectives.
8 Linking up of organizational 2.23 2.42 1.73 4.90** 5.63*** 5.22*** 9.90*
objectives / goals, Mission and the
organizational strategy.
9 Policies are supportive to the 2.17 1.98 1.91 5.51** 10.21* 6.75** 14.90*
employees
10 Annual review of policies to 2.18 1.98 2.03 5.93** 4.91*** 5.15*** 6.11**
assess organizational
effectiveness.
11 Existence of a clear strategy for 2.47 2.19 1.83 5.04** 6.03** 7.66** 11.08*
future
12 Unbiased approach in 1.63 1.94 - 3.73*** 4.72*** 5.31*** -
implementation of rules.
13 Delegation of authority for 2.125 2.132 - 3.77*** 4.76*** 9.13** -
independent action.
14 Clear and consistent set of values 1.68 1.83 - 3.85*** 5.77*** 4.84*** -
govern employees.
15 Ignoring core values leads to 2.17 1.94 1.92 5.89** 4.70*** 5.07*** 11.3*
problems.
16 Great values are the base for good 2.01 2.00 - 3.75*** 5.15*** 5.46*** -
relationships.
17 Encouragement of whistle 1.85 1.98 1.80 5.88** 8.72** 4.67*** 5.21***
blowing for ethical functioning.
18 Organizational values create sense 1.82 2.02 1.98 5.78** 4.92*** 4.95*** 6.33**
of identity and clear expectations.
* denotes significant at 1%, ** denotes significant at 5%, *** denotes significant at 10% levels
Variations in the levels of Awareness of programmes relating to initiation of organizational
culture
It can be seen from the Table-4 that, awareness of Class-I employees in initiation of
programmes relating to organisational identity varies between 1.63 to 2.67 in a three point scale i.e.
from 54 to 89 percent reflecting a very high and encouraging attitude of top personnel in
Visakhapatnam Port Trust. Further among the eighteen perceptions studied, strength of the Class-I
category is identified through their awareness on a) current mission plan of the organization is
communicated to everyone, b) existence of a clear strategy for future, c) organizational effectiveness
in fulfilling its mission and d) vision creates excitement and motivation for employees and their
relative weakness is found in respect of a) unbiased approach in implementation of rules, b) clear
and consistent set of values govern employees c) shared set of values creates sense of identity and
establishes expectations, and d) encouragement of whistle blowing for ethical functioning.
It can also be seen from the table that, awareness levels of Class-II employees on the select
parameters varies between 1.42 and 2.42 in a three point scale i.e. from 47 to 81 percent reflecting a
moderate level of awareness among Class-II employees in Visakhapatnam Port Trust. Further among
the eighteen perceptions studied, high level of involvement in the organization is observed in the case
of a) linking up of organizational objectives / goals, mission and the organizational strategy, b)
existence of a clear strategy for future, c) current mission plan of the organization is communicated
to everyone and d) delegation of authority for independent action and their relative weakness in
parameters like a) Adequacy of Resources to achieve organizational objectives, b) vision creates
excitement and motivation for employees, c) integrating culture with organization‟s mission and d)
leaders long term perspective.
It can also be observed from the table that, awareness levels of Class-III employees on
selected parameters varies between 1.73 and 2.19 on a three point scale i.e. from 58 to 70 percent
reflecting a moderate level of awareness among Class-III employees. Further among the eleven
perceptions studied, high level of involvement in the organization is observed through relatively
higher level of awareness in respect of a) leaders long term perspective, b) annual review of policies
to assess organizational effectiveness and c) alignment of goals across all the levels and their relative
weakness is observed with the notion that they still believe a) linking up of organisational objectives /
goals, mission and the organisational strategy, b) encouragement of whistle blowing for ethical
functioning and c) existence of a clear strategy for future.
Variations in the levels of association between experience and initiation of policies relating to
organizational culture
Interesting results can be drawn from chi-square values given in above Table. Chi-square is to
find the association between experience and a) degree of awareness among Class-I,II and -III
category of employees in initiation of programmes relating to organizational culture. The level of
significance is 1 % in some cases 5% or 10 % in most of the cases and insignificant in very few cases.
Experience and level of awareness among Class-I employees is found to be significant at a)
1% for the perception on Policies are supportive to the employees and b) 5 % for the perceptions on i)
encouragement of whistle blowing for ethical functioning, ii) leaders‟ long term perspective iii)
adequacy of Resources to achieve organizational objectives, iv) organizational effectiveness in
fulfilling its mission, and v) existence of a clear strategy for future. In all other cases significance is
found to be at 10 % level.
Experience and level of awareness among Class-II employees is found to be significant at a)
1% for the perceptions on awareness of i) linking up of organizational objectives / goals, mission and
the organizational strategy, ii) Vision creates excitement and motivation for employees, iii) Existence
of a clear strategy for future and iv) delegation of authority for independent action and b) 5 % for the
perceptions on awareness of i) delegation of authority for independent action, ii) existence of a clear
strategy for future, iii) integrating culture with organization‟s mission, iv) vision creates excitement
and motivation for employees, v) current mission plan of the organization is communicated.
In all other cases significance is found to be at 10 % level. Thus good awareness levels are
found in six out of eighteen parameters among Class-II employees.
Experience and level of awareness among Class-III employees is found to be significant at a)
1% for the perceptions on awareness of i) policies are supportive to the employees, ii) existence of a
clear strategy for future and iii) ignoring core values leads to problems and b) 5 % for the perceptions
on awareness of i) current mission plan of the organization is communicated to everyone, ii)
integrating culture with organization‟s mission, iii) annual review of policies to assess organizational
effectiveness and iv) organizational values create sense of identity and clear expectations. Thus good
awareness levels are found in eight out of eleven parameters among Class-III employees.
Hence, it can be concluded that from the study on awareness of policies initiated by the
organization, it is clearly observed that Class-III employees have relatively better awareness on the
concepts of vision, mission, objectives/goals, organizational policies and ethics and values than Class-
II.
Suggestions for improving the Organisational Culture.
Among all the employees, Class-I and Class-II category of employees are evinced strength in
27 propositions and were found to be weak in 15 propositions. The eight propositions where in
awareness levels are less ad need to strengthened are:
 Integrating Culture with organization‟s mission.

 Policies are supportive to the employees.
 Unbiased approach in implementation of rules.
 Clear and Consistent set of values to Govern employees.
 Ignoring core values leads to problems.
 Great values are the base for good relationships.
 Encouragement of whistle blowing for ethical functioning.
Employee belonging to Class – I category and Class – II category are usually in leadership
roles and hence must play a „critical role‟ in not only finalizing the mission but also educating other
employees about it.
 In order to lay the right cultural foundations they need to align goals across the levels by
linking up the goals at each level with the higher and lower level goals.
 With regard to policies and strategies, appropriate policies need to be frames in all functional
areas to encourage individuals at lower levels to take initiative, garner enough courage to be
innovative and enterprising.
 Biases of any kind must be discouraged while implementing rules and regulations to develop
mutual trust and cooperation. Transparency in policies and implementations of
rules/regulations has to be stepped up.
 Whistle blowers need to be encouraged by acting upon the information revealed/passed on by
them. This will discourage the temptation to adopt unethical practices. Core values need to be
continuously endorsed especially among the new employees by supporting ethical acts and
penalizing unethical actions. Efforts must be made to change the mindset of the employees to
adopt core values more sincerely and enthusiastically.
Further Class-I employees are observed to be weak in two more propositions. They are :
 Delegation of authority for independent action

 Shared set of values creates sense of identity and establishes expectations.
Further Class-II employees are weak in nine propositions relating to organizational culture.
The propositions are :
 Organization is effectiveness in fulfilling its mission.

 Vision Creates excitement and Motivation for employees.
 Leaders Long Term Perspective.
 Adequacy of Resources to achieve organizational objectives.
 Policies are supportive to the employees
 Annual review of policies to assess organisational effectiveness.
 Ignoring core values leads to problems.
 Shared set of values creates sense of identity and establishes expectations.
 Therefore it is recommended that vision must be displayed more prominently throughout the
organization and disseminated across the different levels. It may be presented in a language/manner
easily understood by employees at lower levels. This creates and sustains the necessary excitement
and motivation to inspire employees for higher performance.
 Relevant changes in policies should be suggested in all functional areas especially in human
resources management to suit the requirements of the changing business scenario. Leadership
development must be taken up seriously for enhancing leaders competencies at the top level.
 The linkage between the organisational mission and objectives and the long term strategy of
the organization for the future has to be clearly communicated and demonstrated to the Class-II
employees. This can be done through published literature, posters, video shows, organizing various
programmers to celebrate achievements. Lot of internal marketing has to happen.
 Continuous activities should be taken up to strengthen the core values of the company and
ensure these values creates sense of identity and commitment.
All the above suggestions will help to build team culture driven by innovation and passion to grow.
Propositions in which Class – III Employees are Weak
In Class-III employees are weak in four propositions, they are :

 Encouragement of whistle blowing for ethical functioning
 Annual review of policies to assess organisaitonal effectiveness.
 Current mission plan of the organization is communicated to everyone.
Therefore it can be suggested that clear, consistent and unbiased rules must be spelt out to encourage
employees in these cadres to work unhesitantly towards the organisational goals. Maximum level of
transparency should be practiced.
This helps in to develop a strong sense of belongingness and ownership among employees which
fosters higher levels of performance. This will help Visakhaopatnam Port Trust strengthen its
organsiational culture and march ahead on its path of development and growth.
To maintain the strength of the organizational culture it can be suggested that the employees
involve more in their work and maintain good interpersonal relationships amongst themselves. Thus
would contribute to the development of the organization.
References :
1. Schein (1992): “Organizational culture and leadership” (2nd ed.), San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
2. Deal, T.B., & Kennedy, A., (1982): “Corporate Culture: The rites and Rituals of corporate Life”,
Addison - Wesly; London.
3. Bates, K.A., Amundson, S.D., Schroeder, R.G. and Morris, W.T. (1995), “The Crucial
Interrelationship between Manufacturing Strategy and Organizational Culture”, Management Science,
Vol. 41, No. 10, p.p. 1565-1580.
4. Green, S. (1988), “Strategy, Organizational Culture and Symbolism”, Long Range Planning, Vol.
21 No. 4, pp. 121-129.
5. Mantere, S. (2000), “Sensemaking in Strategy Implementation”, Master Thesis, Helsinki university

of technology, Finland.
6. Van Der Maas, A.A. (2008), “Strategy Implementation in Small Island Community”, PhD Thesis,
Erasmus University of Rotterdam, Netherlands.
7. Van Buul, M. (2010), “Successful Strategy Implementation: A job for the internal Auditor”, Master
Thesis, University of Amsterdam, Netherlands.
8. Regina. M, Hechanova. M, Benedicto. Roman, Alampy. A & Francio.P.Edna (2006) “

Psychological empowerment, job satisfaction and performance among Filipino service workers”,
Enhancing, Construction and Architectural Management, Vol.12, No.3, p.p. 570- 582.
9. Lachance, J.R. (2000), „„International Symposium of the International Personnel Management

Association‟‟, Public Personnel Management, Vol. 29, No. 3, p.p. 305-13.

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INTERCONTINENTAL JOURNAL OF HUMAN RESOURCE RESEARCH REVIEW

ISSN: 2320-9704 - ONLINE ISSN:2347-1662 - PRINT IMPACT FACTOR:4.169

NURTURING OGRANISATIONAL CULTURE ---AN EMPIRICAL

Dr. SAIROOP ALLENA 1 Dr.S.RAJANI 2

Organizational culture refers to a system of shared meaning held by members that

Objective of the Study:

Vision and Mission

Policies and Strategies

Schein (1992)6 defined organizational culture elaborately. He stated that organizational

Significance of the Study:

a. Vision, Mission, Objectives/Goals

Results and Discussions:

a) Vision, Mission, Objectives/Goals:

b)Ethics and Values:

Sl. Perception on Class Sample Mean Source of Variation F- Statistic

*significant at 5% level, ** Significant at 10% level and ns not significant.

Sl. No Perception on Class Sample Mean Source of Variation F-

Sl. Perception on Class Sample Mean Source of Variation F-

Organisational Policies and Strategies

*significant at 5% level, ** Significant at 10% level and ns not significant

Sl. Perception on Sample mean of Class F χ2 Value ( Association

Suggestions for improving the Organisational Culture.

 Integrating Culture with organization‟s mission.

 Delegation of authority for independent action

 Organization is effectiveness in fulfilling its mission.

Propositions in which Class – III Employees are Weak

In Class-III employees are weak in four propositions, they are :

5. Mantere, S. (2000), “Sensemaking in Strategy Implementation”, Master Thesis, Helsinki university

8. Regina. M, Hechanova. M, Benedicto. Roman, Alampy. A & Francio.P.Edna (2006) “

9. Lachance, J.R. (2000), „„International Symposium of the International Personnel Management

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