GROUPS AND ORGANIZATIONAL

DYNAMICS

FINAL PROJECT

ORGANIZATION: RELIANCE DIGITAL

(RETAIL)

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Sr
Particulars Page Number
No.

1. Abstract 3

2. Introduction 4

3. Literature Review 5

4. Methodology 17

5. Findings and Analysis 19

6. Recommendations 22

7. Conclusion 23

8. References 24

9. Annexure 1: Survey Questions 25

10. Annexure 2: Photos 27

11. Annexure 3: Interview Audio 30

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 ABSTRACT
A detailed study and an in-depth analysis of organizational culture was done at Reliance

Retail showroom and in-house corporate office located in Mumbai. As part of this project, we got

certain key insights which gave us information on the kind of organizational culture, these

employees have in their company and their day to day work place. Also, we surveyed and asked

them questions along with interviews to understand the kind of relationship, these employees have

with the leadership and what are the issues that are most pressing to these employees. This also

gave us an insight into the people dynamics that are present in an organization. To draw these

analysis we used various means like interviewing the employees, getting ranking answers to

certain objective questions and also talking personally with the employees on condition of

anonymity. We recorded some interviews to carry out extensive analysis later on.

Our findings indicate that broadly, these employees were mostly satisfied and were easily

adjusting to the prevalent culture of the organization. There were very few issues related to the

overall culture of the organization, team dynamics, and work-life balance, office space (indoor and

outdoor). We got to know that there were next to zero hygiene issues or any other issues which

will make their employability not suitable. The employees even told us that there are all kinds of

festivals that are celebrated and are done in a special manner, which engages each one. We also

have photographs and audio recording of our interviews, which were conducted in a face to face

manner. We also interacted with the managers to get their perspective about the overall work

environment that exists at reliance digital. This report details the approaches, data analyzed and

recommendations for the enhancement of work culture for better future prospects.

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 INTRODUCTION
An employee in the organization does not only consider the monetary benefit but is also

looking for certain value adds in terms of the kind of the work culture, the work environment, the

complete organizational culture as whole along with quality working conditions. There is no one

size fit all value addition package that would satisfy all employees. These beliefs have been

reiterated in all our analysis throughout this report.

Organizational culture has great importance in the way that organizations operate these

days. The culture directs the way in which certain policies and practices are implemented in the

firms. Culture represents the basic beliefs that the firm has invented, discovered or developed in

response to cope with the problems of external adaptation and internal integrating. This review

focuses on various aspects of organizational culture and how it integrates with teams. It also

focuses on what teamwork is and how can we define job satisfaction. The review moves on to talk

about culture and its impact on team effectiveness.

There are three keywords that define team effectiveness, input, process and output. All of

these are talked about in detail in the review. When there are multiple teams in huge organizations,

it can also lead to certain conflicts like time zone difference, language different etc. These conflicts

and challenges are also talked about in detail. To solve these conflicts certain strategies are listed

and how the right solution be chosen is also identified. Organizational culture can have varied

types. All these types are based on two dimensions, sociability and solidarity. Lastly the review

talks about how are teams integrated within an Organizational culture and the importance of

leadership in teams. Also, stated are various characteristics of efficient leaders.

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LITERATURE REVIEW

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 ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE - INTRODUCTION

Organizational Culture is a series of basic underlying assumptions and deeply held beliefs

shared by all members of the group that operate at preconscious levels and drive in important ways

the demeanor of individuals in the organizational context. It is one of the main topics and focus of

the management of how to improve the organizational culture. There are three keywords which

define the team effectiveness:

 Organizational culture (acts as the input)

 Teamwork (acts as the process)

 Job satisfaction (acts as the output)

Organizational Learning

It is an important aspect of organizational culture and with that thought leaders can pass

through their insights and create learning opportunities for subordinates to improve organizational

learning. Culture in an organization like the character in a human being. The individuals’ behavior

in in direct alignment with the culture of his/her workplace. Organizational model of firm

performance focused on organizational factors such as human resources policies, organizational

culture, and organizational climate and leadership styles. Another study by Chien (2004) found that

there were five major factors determining organizational performance, namely:

 Leadership styles and environment

 Organizational culture

 Job design

 Model of motive

 Human resource policies

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 Organizational culture and competitive intensity in addition to organizational innovativeness

are used in the current study. Set of characteristics that an organization values:

 Individual creativity

 Risk

 Leadership,

 Integration,

 Management support,

 Control,

 Identity,

 Bonus,

 Communication pattern,

 Compromise with conflict phenomenon

There is a direct impact of organizational culture on teamwork and job satisfaction

Teamwork

Teamwork is the collaborative effort of a team to achieve a common goal or to complete a

task in the most effective and efficient way. Teamwork is very crucial to experience and embrace

few stated things:

 Teamwork motivates unity in the workplace

 It provides improved efficiency and productivity

 Gives great learning opportunities

 Encourages workplace synergy

 Teamwork offers differing perspectives and feedback

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 There are five teams that every organization should have for better co-ordination of the

dedicated tasks, and they are:

 Leadership team

 Stimulus team

 Health and safety team

 Welfare of employees

 Communication and culture team

Job Satisfaction

Job satisfaction has two different aspects; one is the environmental factors like supervision,

salary, interpersonal relationships, working conditions; another is the motivating factors for the job

like importance of achievement, responsibility and growth.

Importance of Job Satisfaction

For the purpose of employee satisfaction many theories have been developed. The most

important theory is Maslow’s need theory. It is based on human hierarchical needs. On the other

hand, job satisfaction relates to significant conventional views, which are formulated via Mausner

and Herzberg (1959). Maslow’s theory is based on fundamental and external element such as

accomplishment, acknowledgment, duty, pay, plan, interpersonal interaction, management, and

operational atmosphere.

The experience of job satisfaction is not only important for the individual functioning but

also for organizational functioning which refers specifically to performance, efficiency, absenteeism,

staff turnover and organizational citizenship behaviour.

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 TYPES OF ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE

A key weapon in the war for talent in the 21st century is organizational culture. In the

seller’s market for highly skilled labour, culture as a key ‘value proposition’ for talented

individuals assessing potential employers. Goffee and Jones describe organizational culture as

‘communities’. The communities to which they refer are similar to those which exist in everyday

organizations.

Cultures are dynamic. They shift, constantly and incrementally, in response to external and

internal changes. So, trying to assess organizational culture is cumbersome by the reality that you

are trying to hit a moving target. But it also opens the possibility that culture change can be

managed as a continuous process rather than through big shifts. Likewise, it highlights the idea

that a stable “destination” may never — indeed should never — be reached. The culture of the

organization should always be learning and developing.

Goffee and Johns identified four main types of organizational culture based on two dimensions:
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 Sociability – It was defined as friendliness in relationships between people in an

organization. It means that actions are taken that favour others with no expectation of

something in return. Sociability is consistent with a high people orientation, high team

orientation, and focus on process rather than outcomes.

 Solidarity – It measures the task orientation. High solidarity means that people can work

well together toward common goals, even when they have personal disputes or conflicts

and vice versa for low.

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According to this classification scheme four types of organizational cultures can be identified:

 Communal Culture - A communal culture can give its members a sense of belonging and is

also task-driven. Leaders of this culture are usually very inspirational and charismatic. The

negative side is that they often have too much influence and members are rarely vocal.

 Networked Culture - In a networked culture members are as friends and family who have

close contacts and care about each other. They are willing to help each other and share

information. The negative side is that they are so close and kind to each other that they are

reluctant to criticize the poor performance.

 Mercenary Culture - A mercenary culture focuses on strict goals. The goals should be met

and the job done quickly. Everyone focuses on goals and objectivity. The negative side is that

those with poor performance may be treated inhumanely.

 Fragmented Culture - In a fragmented culture the sense of belonging to and identification

with the organization is usually very weak. The individualists constitute the organizations, and

their commitment is given first to individual members and task work. The negative side is that

there is a lack of cooperation.

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 ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE
AND
INTEGRATION OF TEAMS

The four basic types of organization cultures tell us about the beliefs and ideologies of

organizations. The principles that drive the concept and idea of team management is imbibed as

an element in these cultures. Though studies show teams provide many positive effects to an org

but this belief does not always translate into real world scenarios. The common issues that teams

face are: Stagnated Functions, Non-Productivity, Hindrance to the ideals for which they were

formed

These real cases have confused researchers and theorists. So what are the factors that lead

these theoretically efficient groups to fail? The first thing to consider before even the inception of

a team is to understand if the organization really needs a team or not. By understanding an

organization’s culture, we can actually answer some key question important for team building.

These questions can be:

 Why does my organization need team management

 What are the issues/problems that introducing teams will resolve for me

 Is there any specific goal that the team needs to achieve

Another dimension to look at in order to understand the organization culture is to look at how

things are done when no one is looking. This tells us about:

 How are problems handled in the organization

 How is a crisis handled

 Is the atmosphere of crisis seeming to always be present

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 These questions tell us about the toxic organizations. Introducing teams or any other fix

would be a short term solution to their problems. As trivial as these questions may seem, an honest

attempt to answer them may reveal whether or not you and your organization can handle the

challenges presented by implementing management teams.

To make teamwork happen, these powerful actions must occur,

 Leaders set the clear expectations

 Model teamwork in their interaction with each other and the rest of the organization

 The organization members talk about and identify the value of a teamwork culture

 Teamwork is rewarded and recognized

 The performance management system places emphasis and value on teamwork

Leadership: The Final Ingredient on Organizational or Team Management

We have yet understood if the organization needs teams or not, we now need to look at

how to make these teams successful by giving them the proper direction. The traditional passive

“scholar in residence” approach to the profession and its attendant “Let them come to us”

posture toward patron populations has become an unwelcome and age old approach1d.

Functional leadership theory suggests that the leadership role is “to do, or get done,

whatever is not being adequately handled for group needs” (McGrath, 1962: 5). Put another

way, the leadership function in teams is that of “. . . leader as completer . . . the best a leader

can do is to observe which functions are not being performed by a segment of the group and

enable this part to accomplish them” (Schutz, 1961: 61). Thus, team leadership is fundamentally

oriented around the satisfaction of critical team needs. 1e

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This lays great emphasis on the importance of correct leadership in teams but what are the

characteristics of a leader?

 Leaders are able to articulate and communicate their often-original ideas

 Leaders inspire, persuade motivate, and challenge people to achieve and get results

 Leaders are willing to take risks and can turn theirs and others mistakes, conflicts and

failures into learning opportunities and focus away from blame assignment

 Leaders know how to manage money and understand the language and concepts of their

financial world

 Leaders embrace diversity and conceptually move beyond the barriers of gender, race and

social class in their recruiting, mentoring and promotion policies

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 ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE’S
IMPACT ON TEAM EFFECTIVENESS

Dr. Geert Hofstede’s research on Comparative Cultures shows 5 measurable cultural dimensions,

each with 2 distinct orientations:

 Individualism Dimension; Individual and Group Orientation: The focus of this dimension

is on the question regarding whether people prefer being left alone to look after themselves or

prefer to work in a group (‘I-help-you, You-help-me’ attitude)

 Power Distance Dimension; Hierarchical and Participative Orientation: This explains the

extent to which members who are less powerful in a society accept that the distribution of

power takes place unequally. Participative cultures work to build consensus among team

members. A Hierarchical corporate culture is an organizational model based on clearly

defined corporate levels and structures

 Certainty Dimension; Certainty and Ambiguity Tolerance Orientation: This describes the

extent to which people in society are not at ease with ambiguity and uncertainty. Some people

want more information before deciding, while others are comfortable with less or unstructured

information

 Achievement Dimension; Achievement and Quality of Life Orientation: It is the degree to

which we care for Goal achievement or caring for others. For example, in cultures with higher

quality of Life, you may find longer maternal/paternal leaves, which may cause global teams

to be dissatisfied as they may feel that they are working more.

 Time Dimension: The extent to which members are willing to adapt to reach a desirable future.

The short-term orientation focusses on profits while the Long-Term orientation focusses on

Market share.

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Some Potential Conflict Areas in a Multi-Cultural/Global Setting

 Meetings: For especially who sits where and the timing of making decisions, i.e. whether

decisions are taken before the meeting or after it.

 Time Zone Differences: If the group members are spread over larger time differences, the

potential for conflict is higher.

 Language Differences: 2 group members may not know a common language to

communicate with each other, as they stay in different areas.

 Decision Making Norms: Cultures differ enormously when it comes to decision making

and how much information is required beforehand. For e.g. American managers prefer to

work with less information while a Korean Manager would generally require a lot of

information.

Strategies to resolve Multi-Cultural Conflicts and Improve Effectiveness

 Adaptation: Adaptation will work perfectly if members are willing to accept their cultural

differences and be responsible for resolving them. It is generally the best approach in a

diversity issue.

 Managerial intervention: The manager should actively participate to resolve the

challenges that crop up, rather than leaving it to the employers themselves.

 Structural intervention: Reorganization of groups to place people in groups in which they

are comfortable to reduce interpersonal disharmony.

 The manager should track human interactions without being too intrusive to identify

potential differences that may crop up.

 Technical jargons should be avoided to prevent miscommunication.

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Identifying the Right Strategy for a Problem

 Adaptation can be used if conflicts arise due to decision making differences or there are

misunderstandings and stonewalling due to communication differences

 Structural Intervention can be used when the team is affected by emotional tensions

related to prejudice or fluency issues or there are inhibitions due to perceived status

differences.

 Managerial Intervention should be used early in a team’s life to set norms which can help

teams start out effectively.

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 METHODOLOGY

METHODOLOGIES USED: The methodology we used for data collection process and

analysis of a few people related to organizational culture were Face to Face interviews and Verbal

Surveys. Our survey aimed to analyze the overall impact of organizational culture directly or

indirectly on employee job performance. We visited Reliance Digital, Juhu Branch in Mumbai.

The office had a total employee strength of 70. The study included collecting data in the primary

way by interviewing the workers of different age category, with different years of work experience

and varied departments within the retail outlet. The questions asked, were formed after rigorous

brainstorming in the group. We used a mix of Likert, Objective and Subjective questions.

Communication, Employee Involvement, Trust, Grievance redressal et al were some of the key

variables considered for the same. We also aimed to analyze the evolution of the culture of the

organization.

NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES SURVEYED: We randomly selected 20 employees from

the outlet for Face to Face interviews. We conducted the verbal survey amongst 20 other

employees. Auditory and visual approach was practiced while interviewing the employees.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION: Initially, when we went to the outlet, we scrutinized the working

conditions keenly with an attempt to gauge the organization’s working culture. Our interaction

with the store manager and various other employees gave us insights into the culture adopted by

the company which covered various areas like the inter-personal relationships, impact of team

synergy on productivity and employee performance, impact of organizational culture on their daily

routine at work. We have also thrown some light on various prevalent issues like activities like

sexual harassment, discrimination, bullying, inequalities et al.

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FUTURE PROSPECTS FOR METHODS OF STUDY: For future prospects of

methods of study, we aim to conduct the data collection process, via telephonic interviews and

printed surveys. Also, flyers and pamphlets can be distributed to the employees to create and

increase awareness of the organizational culture among the employees.

Mapping of Maslow’s Theory with the needs and requirements of the

employees of Reliance Digital.

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 FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS

FINDINGS

After the initial interview we brainstormed to find solutions for employee problems that

exist in Reliance digital store. We found out that majority of problems like clear communication,

constrained space in cafeteria, lack of training, minor biasness and lack of motivation etc., were

common for the services at the store. We mapped all the common problems and came up with an

action plan on how to address these problems.

Each team member contributed towards coming to the solution. Over discussion we

concluded that basic things like regular defined and clear communication need to happen regularly.

Upon looking at employees’ responses and further discussions, we found out that certain problems

needed immediate attention. Problems like employee recreational space, employee training need

to be addressed immediately.

We were also able to map the problems of employees to the Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs

as mentioned initially. This gave us insight as to how important and applicable the models are. We

could see the practical implementation. We also found out that employee engagement activities

like occasional outings are very important to keep the motivated.

We as a group could have an enriching discussion because we could see and analyze real

MNC problems and then think of ways to tackle them.

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MAJOR FINDINGS

 Lack of training facilities for employees is a concern which was preferred by the employees

otherwise, at the store.

 Lacking proper communication leads to a less friendly environment in the organization as

people are not aware of the expectations from them.

 Lack of casual team outings also causes low motivation and cohesiveness in teams

 Constrained space in cafeteria and limited food options led to employee dissatisfaction

 Employee preference for work was also an issue as they complained that they had to stick

to the work they were given.

 Suggestions from employees were taken but their implementation was at the discretion of

the managers which led to low motivation among employees.

ANALYSIS

Organizational culture is reflected in employees’ behavior. Let us discuss each problem

and analyze how those problems can cause further hindrances in the workplace.

Inadequate training: If no adequate training is provided to the employees, the production and the

efficiency of employees goes down, resulting into low confidence in front of the customers and

hence lack of satisfaction at work.

Lack of communication: At any point of time when one employee misinterprets the words

or the actions of others, the situation has a potential to create troubles and conflicts leading to

further problems like low employee morale, shoddy performance.

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 Lack of casual meet-ups: A connect only on professional front is not sufficient. An

association with each other on a personal front to know the colleagues outside work life is also

sometimes essential. This will always lead to a greater scope of open communication. Effects of

monotonous work: There are high chances of the employee getting bored of the same routine and

same job to be performed every day. There is a high requirement of dynamic allocation of work

which would also extend the skillset of the employee making him stay put in the job.

Employee Survey Feedback

10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
Strongly
Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree
Disagree
Open communication 0 3 2 7 8
Employee involvement in Decision
2 8 3 6 1
Making
Trust on management 0 1 6 9 4
Employee friendly policies 1 2 8 7 2

Employee Survey Feedback

10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
Strongly
Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree
Disagree
Mission & Vision communication 0 1 4 6 9
Personal accomplishment 1 4 5 7 3
Grievance Redressal 0 1 3 9 7
Inspiration 2 1 8 9 0

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 RECOMMENDATIONS

We learnt about organizational culture, how an individual behaves, how certain minor issues fade

away without discussions, how people step back so that a hassle is not created during work and of

course, how the issues are entertained which keep the working environment healthy.

After analyzing the problems as a group we discussed and came to certain solutions which could

be practiced in the store to improve the overall health of the organization:

 Indoor sports facility for carom, chess and foosball to be provided so as to enable people

across multiple verticals to interact with each other.

 Outbound activities to nearby hill stations and picnic spots such as Lonavala / Matheran /

Mahabaleshwar to take place.

 Conduct formal sessions to extensively discuss and motivate employees’ aspirations to

grow in the organization thereby harmonizing the goals of individuals with that of the

organization.

 Events such as Secret Santa, Know Your Team-Mates, Twin Days, My Best Buddy to be

held year round.

 Larger space could be chalked out for brunch and lunch breaks in the organization and also

better variety menu could be served in the canteen.

 Clear communication can be emphasized in the organization through installation of

instruments like walkie talkies and more.

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 CONCLUSION

Management to a large extent shapes the culture of an organization and majorly decides

how effective will the implementation of the culture be in an organization. Thus it is imperative

that the management itself is strong on culture and values and it ensures that the culture is

embedded even at the lowest rung of the organization.

Having followed the questionnaire method to survey employees of Reliance Digital, we

found out that there was lack of communication, training and motivational activities in the store

and this created a major gap and led to lessening of productivity among the employees. In order to

address those issues, we suggested various short term and long term plausible solutions which can

be implemented in the near future.

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 REFERENCES

Book:
Fred Luthans, Organizational Behaviour (10th Ed.), Tata McGraw Hill Publication,
MsShane, S.L., Glinow, M.A. and Sharma, R. (2008) Organizational Behavior (4th Ed.). New
Delhi: Tata McGraw Hill
Office:
Reliance Digital

Website:
https://www.reliancedigital.in/

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 ANNEXURE 1

ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE

 Communication between departments is very open.

 Communication channels are very open here among employees.

 Communication channels are very open here among management and workers.

 Management actively solicits input from employees before major decisions are made.

 I can trust our management and believe what it says.

 Management seeks input from employees on major decisions.

 Most projects designed to make things better in this organization have been successful.

 The number of changes that we go through here is "about right."

 This organization is very supportive of change.

 It is "easy" to get things done here.

 Most management changes make my job easier.

 Most people in this organization are encouraged to make suggestions for improvement.

 Changes suggested by employees are usually implemented.

 Employees agree with the Company's goals.

 The department is free from "red tape."

 The department values its people.

 Compared to other companies that I know about, is one of the best companies to work for.

 My immediate supervisor respects me as an individual.

 My supervisor is open to constructive criticism.

 My immediate supervisor listens to what I have to say.

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 My supervisor deals fairly with me.

 The department deals fairly with everyone--it doesn't play favorites.

 My immediate supervisor encourages my suggestions for improvement.

 My immediate supervisor has effective interpersonal skills.

 People trust one another in this company.

 Most managers here have effective interpersonal skills.

 People work well together in this company.

 The department is well respected for dealing fairly with employees.

 The current management team is highly respected.

 Everyone knows the goals of the department.

 Our supervisors have done a good job of translating the organization's objectives into

meaningful assignments and goals for their employees.

 Employees are encouraged to take initiative and make decisions on their own.

 Employee problems and complaints are effectively handled.

 The department is open to suggestions.

 I understand the goals and purpose for the continuous improvement project.

 I fell there is a need for the continuous improvement project.

 The continuous improvement project will make things better.

 I feel that some positive changes may come out of this continuous improvement process.

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 ANNEXURE 2

PHOTOS

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 ANNEXURE 3

AUDIO FILE

The interview audio file has been sent as an attachment, inside the report folder.

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