MBA Research Proposal 16/01/09

Working Title
“The Influence of Organisational Structure on Organisational Culture”

1. Abstract
The organisational culture intends to understand the positive attitude towards the works
and processes within the organisation. The top management in today’s world is keen to
make the changes because of dynamic environment and this lead to affect somewhere
the organisational culture overall. Hence, they have to draw a pattern of division of
work as in organisation structure in order to ensure that no discrepancy could take
place. Top management attempt to encourage a more reflective understanding of
culture in organisation research by challenging some of the assumptions and emphasis
on mainstream studies.
According to (Schneider and Barsoux, 2003) Diverse perception and assumptions about
cultural phenomena say that they are linked with history and tradition, have some depth
and are difficult to adopt or to be understand. Because culture is collective and is shared
by the members of groups in any organisation have to deal with values, understandings,
beliefs, knowledge and other intangibles (Schneider and Barsoux, 2003).
Managing culture is frequently equated with changing culture while introducing
organisational structure. Organisation structure includes providing a sense of identity to
members of the organisations, facilitating commitment to a larger whole, enhancing
system stability and serving as a sense making device which can guide and shape
behaviour, as well as motivating employees to do the things in an efficient manner.
Ouchi and Wilkins, (1985) cited in Wilkins and Dyer, (1988) define organisational
culture as a rational instrument designed by top management to shape the behaviour of
the employees in a purposive ways.
Leadership plays a vital role to make proper coordination between Organisation
structure and organisation culture plays a vital part although organisational culture has
produces some new insights about the long neglected, subjective or soft side of
organisational life, many aspects of it that might be explored from a cultural
perspective have not yet received much attention.
In order to develop an in-depth understanding of the organisation structure affects the
organisational culture. I have decided to deal with qualitative data. My findings will
contribute in understanding the effects of organisation culture on the structure of the
organisation.

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3. Research Question
The guiding principle of my research is as follow:
How Organisational Structure affects the Organisational Culture?

In order to draw the most accurate picture, I will particularly examine the
following issues:
• How Top Management adopt the organisational structure in terms of its
values, mission and objectives?
• How employees perceive Organisational Structure related with the
Organisational Culture?
• How can Leadership motivate proper execution of Organisational
Culture in terms of Organisational Structure?

4. Research Rationale
Organisational structure is much more about defining the rules, procedures and the
methods of working in terms of the physical and financial resources provided. The area
of my interest has been the working patterns of organisations and the perception of
employees within the organisational environment. Thus, a much more work about
describing the relationship and especially the influence of organisational Structure on
Organisational Culture will let me explore the things in a more wider and vital context.
In today’s world, I observed that emergence of transformation appeared due to the
global corporate pressure and dynamic customer needs that lead to new opportunities
and challenges for the companies to act upon to be survived in future. I would say that
to decide or to demonstrate the organisational structure for any company is affected by
the nature of industry in which it lies. The market players in a same industry constitutes
a set of understandings, beliefs and perception in order to achieve specific task or
motive individually just by the binding efforts of Organisational Structure together with
its Culture.
For long term, the organisation develops a framework in order to achieve all its
objectives by taking together all its resources and thus to get the competitive advantage,
and this can be achieved by the effective and efficient efforts of its people.

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Organisational Culture represents a flexible approach to organisation structure that

optimises manpower skills across the enterprise. It also represents centrally based
people as a source to achieve the organisational effectiveness.

5. Research Purpose
Based on the literature provided and the theories existed by several authors on
Organisational Structure and Culture and their relationship, I would seek to perceive the
factors that influence the decision making process of top management of any
organisation to adopt a specific type of Structure.
Culture is what naturally emerges as individuals transform themselves into social
groups and thus I would explore the degree of motivation adopted by the top
management to understand the behaviour of the employees in a distinct observable
forms.
Besides, I would examine the efforts taken by the employees for proper coordination
and cooperation to succeed the organisation Structure in order to achieve the overall
perceived performance.

6. Literature Review
6.1Mapping Relevant Literature
The literature will be generally concerned with the relevant aspects of organisational
structure and how does it affects the overall functions in any organisation. It will give
an outlook towards perceiving the individual behaviour and how the employees
determine their roles in accordance with Organisation Structure. The organisational
culture literature commonly assumes the presence of a local culture covering the entire
organisation that is independent, logical, unique, and strongly influenced by the
management ideas towards the division of work.

6.2Literature Review
According to Peng, (2002) cited in Thomas, (2008) management institutions are presented
a border concept than culture, that its influence on business. The nature of the task and
the structure of the organisation is influenced by the extent to which the cultural
composition of the organisation affects its out comes (Thomas, 2008)
Every organisation faces a degree of complexity and dynamism among the different
stages of its life cycle (Schneider and Barsoux, 2003).

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In a prevailing organisation environment, there are numerous factors that need to be

taken into the account while making decision for introducing organisational structure
(Peterson, 2004). (Earley, Ang and Tan, 2006) in a dynamic environment, changes in the
size and scope of an organisation’s objectives, values and mission can often lead
towards radical rethinking in the structure of the business. Some organisations opt for a
new and more flexible structure to grow well and expand in future while some sticks to
the old one. According to (Sutherland and Canwell, 1997) cited in (Philip and proctor, 2001)
organisation structure helps the management in implementation of the process of the
management. It also helps the management in creating a framework of order and
command through which the activities of the organisation can be planned, organised,
directed and controlled. According to (Blau and Schoenberr, 1973) the power of the
organisation is linked with its structure, “no individual has it”, individuals only make
decisions through which this power is exercised. (Bartlett and Ghoshal, 2002)The
emergence of new forms of organisation will help to make the cultural dimensions
more salient. The increasing interest in organisation culture is some extent a
consequence of the way in which the innovative ideas are marketed. The concept of
organisational culture is solely depending upon the one’s point of view (Alvesson, 1993)
cited in (Wilson, 2001). Employees perceive organisational culture as to analyse
organisation’s symbols, rituals and ideologies. A symbol could be a name that conveys
an organisation’s image, the physical environment and the general atmosphere that
reflected in people’s behaviour, energy, coordination, cooperation and team work
factors. (Uher and Loosemore, 2004)
(Higgs, 1996) employees sometimes remain suspicious of any sudden change in
working conditions. Joynt and Warner, (1996) the closer the staffs become actually
involved in hammering out the details, the greater the chance that the structure will be
succeeded for efficient working processes and conditions. (Schneider and Barsoux , 1997)
the main responsibility lies for top management as they have to make sure that the
problem of work- structuring is thrashed out up and down the line so that everyone
knows what has to be done and what benefits can be expected. Tayeb, (1996) the
management’s job is a difficult as to ascertain that the jobs of its staff are secure and
that their specialised knowledge and expertise are still needed and that they can play a
vital although slightly different role in making the structure work efficiently and
effectively.

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Edgar Schien says: “A pattern of basic assumptions- invented, discovered or developed

by a given group as it learns to cope with its problems of external adaptation and
internal integration- that has worked well enough to be considered valuable and
therefore, to be taught to new members as the correct way to perceive, think, and feel
in relation to those problems.” schien, (1985) cited in Hollway, (1991)
The culture of an organisation is the set of core values and beliefs of the people in the
organisation. It is usually maintained by the management during decision making
process (Lewes, 2006). The environment that boost positive and amiable environment
in respect of shared traditions and customs, particular code of conduct, ethics, beliefs
and values that empower the organisation to lead to a specific and growing path.
Luthans, (1995) cited in (Senior and Fleming, 2006).
Every individual has an identical cultural knowledge. This difference, perhaps due to
geographical differences, educational differences and micro social context leads to intra
cultural discrepancy. Hence, form the level of understanding of this study one cane say
that differences exist with culture or even subculture groups Kippenberger, (2000).
Thus, leaders introduce new ways of structuring call for employees to think differently
about the way they work and what they are responsible for. They let others to think
beyond their own interests and to emphasis with the interests of other parties
particularly in collaborative and cooperative arrangements Sutherland and Canwell,
(1997) cited in (Philip and proctor, 2001).
While introducing a specific structure to the organisation, the management as well as
the employees should believe that success can only be achieved by co-operation and
communication; there must be a kind of willingness to accept change, to experiment, to
try up new methods and procedures and to have confidence in the organisation’s values,
objective and mission (Thomas, 2008). To get the sustainable growth overall, values,
beliefs, assumptions, norms and ways of interpreting meaning has to be shared on
numerous levels. Prudent managers change structure only in response to a performance
downturn but it should not be so as it affects the whole functioning of the organisation
overall. Managers should keep a watchful eye on structure in relation to strategy and
make the changes accordingly if needed (Evans, 2006).
Failure to align structure in accordance with organisational culture leads to the
organisational extinction sometimes. Thus, it is only employees who breathe life into
new structure and managers must not lose sight of the personal and professional
development that new structures need to make them work.

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7. Role of Theory
While structure seems likely to have an influence on every area of organisation but it
seems equally plausible that corporate cultures will have a big effect on the
development of moral reasoning among employees. The literature reveals that
management uses practices to foster good behaviour by making commitment to
corporate social responsibility objectives, setting out codes of ethics and establishing
commitments to have the organisational progress.
By reviewing various concepts, theories on the given topic, I would wish to develop an
analytical framework to examine the validity of several approaches in a wider context. I
would through my research and findings make relationship based on several
parameters, principles and approaches to identify the constraints faced by the
management while introducing organisation structure.
The theories especially on different structure as matrix entrepreneur, bureaucratic
structure etc. would help me to make hypothesis in a concrete order. The extension of
work through interaction with employees and managerial expertise in any company will
let me able to make relationships of various factors clearer, more vital to describe the
perspectives of others.

8. Methodology and Method

8.1 Methodology
My interest is focussed upon the understanding the organisational life and to look
towards the dynamic changes in the business environment. I keen to see the functioning
of any organisation after introducing a specified structure and its relationship amongst
groups of individuals and the resulting perception on Organisational Culture. I,
therefore, shall assume that the piece of work will reflect the subjective views of
individuals by their experiences and references.
I aim to make the relationship among various factors that influence the decision making
process of top management to adopt a specified structure keeping in mind its perception
its employees.
My research strategy is Interpretative and Qualitative. I aim to complete my research
over a period of six months on influence of Organisation Structure on Organisation
Culture.

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8.2 Level of Analysis

The main focus of my study is to analyse the ever changing dynamic environment that
stress any management to alter or change its organisation structure. The second most
concerned area of my study is to consider the perception of employees towards their
over all impact on the organisation. My focus would be on individual basis as a unit.

8.3Method
8.3.1 Data Collection
The Qualitative approach will be used to get the primary data. I will design a
questionnaire covering verity of areas to support my study. I will also conducted
interviews of individuals acknowledged as the managerial expertise and employees
form different working group or the members associated with it. The interviews will be
structured in a way that it covers all the relevant areas required for the study and can be
modified if necessary in accordance with the validity of the research. The Questionnaire
will be structured in a similar way but mainly used to collect the general point of views
of peoples in accordance to support the piece of work. The number of interviews to lead
has not been decided yet. Number of questionnaire will be approximately 50 .The stage
of data collection would be in India and UK. Secondary data will be collected from
Reports, articles, journals and previous research on the related topic.

8.3.2 Data Analysis

I will use qualitative data analysis methods since I aim to explore perceptions that
cannot be quantitatively assessed. I shall try to avoid bias in the analysis by only
confronting the collected perceptions amongst themselves, without drawing any
conclusions on the value of perceptions.

8.4Reliability and Validity

While interviewing various individual’s form various levels of the organisations I will
confined to minimise the subject error. The external and internals environment itself
will affect the result of my research. I may have to take into consideration about
relative participant bias as, at the time of my data collection.
Being as the observer, I will minimise the risk of error and imaginary data by
structuring as much as possible and will try to avoid interpretation during the interviews
so as to gather data the most accurately. I will draw conclusions from my research but I

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will justify the choices as precisely as possible in order to keep the findings reliable for
further studies.

8.5 Ethical Issues

While fabricating my research work, I will confine in using theories, articles, journals
work material and information forms other sources in defining my piece of work.
Organisational structure together with organisational culture and will produce the task
accordingly.
Besides, I will pledge to provide the validate data and the proximity of data with the
research title. I will produce my work using several sources and references along with
that. I shall elaborate a code of conduct that will assert my integrity as a researcher and
contribute to assess the validity of my findings.

9. Discussion
This work will review the substantial literature surrounding the issue of organisational
structure together with organisational culture. The main point to emerge, however, is
that there is no one best way to implement the organisational structure concerned with
perception of employees. Instead, inherent values, a concrete mission and objectives
and team work has to be performed in terms of organisational complexity.
My work assesses that organisational success id dependant on a thoughtful approach to
organisational structure when it meets and interacts with organisational culture.
Top management and especially functional leaders should also recognise that any
system is only good as the people within it. The key to success is getting good people
and encouraging them to believe in the organisation’s goals and means of attaining
them.

10. Provisional Work Schedule

The due date for the dissertation is October 8th 2009. I already have planned to spend
sufficient time in any organisation to make my piece of work worthwhile. The Gantt
chart below illustrates the provisional work schedule for the completion of my research.

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Time March April May June July Aug Sep

Action 2009 2009 2009 2009 2009 2009 2007
Read Literature
Finalise Objectives
Writing Literature
Review
Reading and
Writing
Methodology
Design
Questionnaire
Primary Research
Questionnaires
Findings
Recommendations
Conclusions
Final Correction
Reviewing
Dissertation
Print and Bind
Completion of
Dissertation

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REFERENCES
Blau, P.M. and Schoenberr, R.A.(1973) (2004) HR research paper 10 Hrodc Post Graduate
Training Institute London UK. [online]Available http://www.hrodc.com/ResearchPaper10.htm
[Access on 21th sep 2008].

Bartlett, C.A. and Ghoshal, S. (2002) Managing across borders -The transactional solutions. 2nd
edition: London. Harvard Business School press.

Evans, D. (2006) Creating value from cross-cultural teams. Cross Cultural management: An
International Journal. 13 (4), pp. 316 – 329.

Earley, P.C. Ang, S. and Tan, (2006) Developing Cultural Intelligence At Work.1st edition.
Stanford university press.

Hollway, W. (1991) Work Psychology and Organizational Behaviour: Managing the Individual
at Work. London: Sage

Higgs, M. (1996) Overcoming the problems of cultural differences to establish success for
international management teams. Team Performance management: An international Journal. 2
(1), pp. 36 – 43.

Joynt, P. and Warner, M. (1996) Managing Across Cultures: Issue and Perspective. London:
International Thomas Business Press.

Lewis, R.D. (2006) When cultures collide: Leading across cultures. 3rd ed. Boston, London:
Nicholas Brealey International.

Philip, J.K. and Proctor, T. (2001) The Informed Student Guide to Marketing 1st edition:
Cengage Learning EMEA

(Peterson, B. 2004) Cultural Intelligence: A Guide to Working with People from Other
Cultures. 1st edition. Intercultural press.

Schneider, S.C and Barsoux, J.L. (2003) Managing across cultures. 2 nd Edition.Hemel
Hempstead: Prentice Hall.

Schneider, S.C and Barsoux, J.L. (1997) Managing across cultures. Hemel Hempstead:
Prentice Hall.

Senior, B. and Fleming, J. (2006) Organizational Change. 3rd Edition: Peterson Education

Uher, T.E.and loosemore, M. (2004) Essentials of Construction Project Management. 1 st

edition: UNSW Press
Thomas, D.C. (2008) Cross Culture Management: Essential concepts: 2nd edition. London:
Sage.

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Tayeb, M.H. (1996) The management of Multicultural workforce. Chichester: John-

Wiley & Sons.
Wilson, E.M. (2001) Organizational Behaviour Reassessed: The Impact of Gender. 1st Edition.
London: Sage

Kippenberger, T. (2000) Getting International teams to work. The Antidote. 5 (2), pp. 33 – 35.

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