A STUDY ON HRD CLIMATE AND CROSS CULTURAL ISSUES IN LANSON

TOYOTA

By

VIKRAM SINGH SHAHI

(Reg No: 12008631056)

A PROJECT REPORT

Submitted to the

FACULTY OF MANAGEMENT SCIENCES

In partial fulfillment for the award of the degree

of

MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

VELAMMAL ENGINEERING COLLEGE

ANNA UNIVERSITY

CHENNAI 600 025

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July 2009

BONAFIDE CERTIFICATE

Certified that this project report titled, ‘A STUDY ON HRD CLIMATE AND CROSS CULTURAL

ISSUES IN LANSON TOYOTA’, is the bonafide work of Mr VIKRAM SINGH SHAHI (Register

No: 12008631056) who carried out the research under my supervision. Certified further, that to

the best of my knowledge the work reported herein does not form part of any other project report

or dissertation on the basis of which a degree or award was conferred on an earlier occasion on

this or any other candidate.

Project Supervisor Head of the Department

Submitted to Project and Viva Examination held on ____________

Internal Examiner External Examiner

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DECLARATION

I hereby declare that the project entitled “ A STUDY ON HRD CLIMATE AND CROSS

CULTURAL ISSUE IN LANSON TOYOTA” submitted for the MBA Degree is my original

work and the dissertation has not formed the basis for the award of any degree associateship,

fellowship or any other similar titles.

VIKRAM SINGH SHAHI

(Reg No.12008631056)

PLACE : Chennai

DATE :
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ABSTRACT

A STUDY ON HRD CLIMATE AND CROSS CULTURAL ISSUES IN LANSON

TOYOTA

A strong Organizational climate which is a set of characteristics of an organization which

are referred in the descriptions employees make of the policies, practices and conditions which
exist in the working environment is very important to every organization. Here people hold
beliefs, knowledge, attitudes and customs. The focus of HRD in Indian organizations is on the
development of the competencies of people. Organizational culture represents the values,
underlying assumptions, expectations, collective memories and definitions present in an
environment. The climate may result in part from senior management beliefs or from the beliefs
of employees which can be supportive or unsupportive, positive or negative. It can affect the
ability or willingness of employees to adapt or perform well within the organization. A
productive and supportive environment is essential for effective learning and development in
organizations.

This project, a study on HRD climate and cross cultural issues in Lanson Toyota is done
mainly to analyze how is the relationship between company’s HRD climate and the prevailing
cross cultures. The factors that are considered in this study are company’s culture, work
environment, HRM policies, management and colleague’s role, cultural empathy etc. By
identifying the various factors and its influence, cross cultural issues in the organization can be
controlled by framing effective strategies. The influence of various demographic factors like age,
experience, department and languages known by employees are also studied. It is found from the
study that there is less relationship between company’s HRD climate and employees own
culture. But all respondents think that company can achieve its mission and vision amidst these
cross cultures. Therefore this project can help the organization to work on the various factors and
successfully adopt a more stronger HRD climate amidst various cross cultural issues.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I convey my sincere thanks to the management. I express my gratitude to our respected Chairman
Thiru M.V.Muthuramalingam, CEO Thiru M.V.M. Vel Murugan and Principal Dr.J.Shanmugam for
providing an excellent ambience, infrastructure and support for pursuing my course at Velammal
engineering college.

I wish to express my special gratitude to Prof.M.P.Kaliaperumal. Head of the Department of

Management Science, for his constant support and guidance.

I am extremely thankful to Mrs. N Shanti, Senior Lecturer of the Department of Management

Science, for her constant support, effective guidance and continuous encouragement as my guide.

I wish to express my deep sense of gratitude to Mr. Balakumaram D, HR Executive, HR

Department in Lanson Toyota at Chennai for his valuable suggestions and guidance throughout this
project.

Last but not the least I thank my parents, friends, well-wishers and every other who directly or
indirectly contributed their time and suggestion to complete my project.

Place: Chennai VIKRAM SINGH SHAHI

Date:
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LIST OF CONTENTS

S.NO TITLE PAGE NO.

CHAPTER I
1.1 Introduction 1
1.2 Scope of the study 4
1.3 Statement of the problem 4
1.4 Objectives of the study 5
1.5 Research methodology 6
CHAPTER II
2.1 Industry profile 9
2.2 Company profile 12
CHAPTER III
3.1 Conceptual review 15
3.2 Research review 21
CHAPTER – IV
4.1 Data Analysis I 26
4.2 Data Analysis II 76
CHAPTER – V
5.1 Results and Discussions 80
5.2 Directions for further research 82
5.3 Limitations 83
5.4 Conclusion 84
5.5 Suggestions 85
BIBLIOGRAPHY 86
APPENDIX
89

LIST OF TABLES

TABLE NO. PARTICULARS PAGE NO.

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3.2.1 Department of the employees 24
3.2.2 Age of the employees 26
3.2.3 Gender of the employees 28
3.2.4 Marital status of the employees 30
3.2.5 Educational qualification 32
3.2.6 Experience of the employees 34
3.2.7 Awareness of company's mission and vision 36
3.2.8 Maintenance of culture and reputation 38
3.2.9 Satisfaction level with the company's HRM policies 40
3.2.10 Religion of the employees 42
3.2.11 The languages employees can speak 44
3.2.12 Ability of employees to work in a team 46
3.2.13 Employees getting help from colleagues in problem 48
3.2.14 Exchange of lunch with colleagues 50
3.2.15 Employees talking with colleagues on caste, religion, education, linguist 52

3.2.16 Conveying challenges to supervisor 54

3.2.17 Factors which make employees dissatisfied 56
3.2.18 Employees getting all relevant information’s 58
from the management regarding work without discrimination
3.2.19 Reflecting culture and tradition in office hours 60
3.2.20 Interpretation of work and behavior by management 62
cultural background

3.2.21 Employees offended by someone while practicing their culture 64

during job
3.2.22 Employees respect to others culture 66
3.2.23 Seeking cultural empathy from others 68
3.2.24 Linkage of company's HRD climate with employees culture 70
3.2.25 Company's achievement of its mission and vision amidst 72
cross cultures

LIST OF CHARTS

CHART NO. PARTICULARS PAGE NO.

3.2.1 Department of the employees 25
3.2.2 Age of the employees 27
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3.2.3 Gender of the employees 29
3.2.4 Marital status of the employees 31
3.2.5 Educational qualification 33
3.2.6 Experience of the employees 35
3.2.7 Awareness of company's mission and vision 37
3.2.8 Maintenance of culture and reputation 39
3.2.9 Satisfaction level with the company's HRM policies 41
3.2.10 Religion of the employees 43
3.2.11 The languages employees can speak 45
3.2.12 Ability of employees to work in a team 47
3.2.13 Employees getting help from colleagues in problem 49
3.2.14 Exchange of lunch with colleagues 51
3.2.15 Employees talking with colleagues on caste, religion, education, linguist 53

3.2.16 Conveying challenges to supervisor 55

3.2.17 Factors which make employees dissatisfied 57
3.2.18 Employees getting all relevant information’s 59
from the management regarding work without discrimination
3.2.19 Reflecting culture and tradition in office hours 61
3.2.20 Interpretation of work and behavior by management 63
cultural background

3.2.21 Employees offended by someone while practicing their culture 65

during job
3.2.22 Employees respect to others culture 67
3.2.23 Seeking cultural empathy from others 69
3.2.24 Linkage of company's HRD climate with employees culture 71
3.2.25 Company's achievement of its mission and vision amidst 73
cross cultures
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