The relationship between Organizational Culture and Employee satisfaction and

Commitment in Egyptian Workplace.

Purpose

Descriptive study to investigate how Organizational Culture Associate with Employee

Satisfaction and Commitment in Egyptian workplace.

By
Hala Wahba
Ibrahim Elgamal
Mariam Aboubakr Ali Ghabban

Supervised By
Dr. Adel Sakr
Date
March 2021
 Abstract

Different organizational cultures affect employee satisfaction and commitment differently. The
aim of the current study was to highlight the degree of employee satisfaction and commitment in
relation to his or her organizational cultures. Research limitations: the present study is limited in
scope as research focus two private companies and one governmental agency. The sample size
was 75 employees. Questionnaire was used to conduct the current study. Other limitation that
can be considered as the below; Employees feel uncomfortable when exposed to answer critical
questions about their job aspects and this might be due to two main reasons hesitation & anxiety.
Hesitation; employees tend to avoid any confrontation that is related to their current job as they
might feel critical about what their companies should have offered them. Employees feel
uncertainty about their employer’s obligations in making them happy and satisfied. Anxiety is
another reason: People feel fear to be blamed from their supervisors if they express their
opinions openly and discuss matters that are critical to them. Culture: it affects employee’s
attitudes, norms, and beliefs and influences many parts in their lives. Some of the Egyptians were
raised up in a culture that lacks the freedom of expression. So, when they face situations that
force them to be honest with themselves and express their opinion openly, they become hesitant
of what could happen after then. It is concluded that there is a significant relationship between
positive organizational culture and employee satisfaction and commitment.

Key words:
Organizational culture, employee performance, employee satisfaction, employee
commitment, workplaces in Egypt.
Table of Contents

1 Introduction

2 Statement of the problem

3 Objective of the study

4 Research Questions

5 Literature Review

6 Conceptual Framework

7 Hypotheses

8 Research Design and Methodology

9 Data Analysis and Hypothesis testing

10 Conclusion

11 References
 Introduction

Barney (1986, 1991) cited in (Anthony et al., 2015) described three conditions that are required
for the organizational culture to have a causal impact on firm profitability; being valuable, rare,
and not easily replicated.

Using data collected from 95 franchise automobile dealerships over 6 years, (Boyce et al., 2015)
investigated the causal relationship between culture and performance in a longitudinal study.
They indicate that higher intensity of positive organizational culture traits among automobile
dealerships leads to greater customer satisfaction in later years. Moreover, culturally based gains
in customer satisfaction led to small but reliable improvements in subsequent vehicle sales.

(Chatman et al., 2014) distinguished culture content from strength and recognized two
components of culture strength: the degree of consensus about a system of cultural norms among
members and the force or intensity with which a particular norm is held. They argued that a
culture can be deemed strong simply if members interpret a broad set of norms similarly (culture
consensus) and conform to the most important norms regularly (norm intensity)- even if
conforming takes the form of divergent behaviors. They found that high-technological firms with
strong cultures performed better financially than did those characterized by lower consensus and
intensity about adaptability culture norm.

Job satisfaction is very significant & crucial as itits association with other variables affecting to
the overall organizational success such as employee productivity, organization commitment,
lower absenteeism and turnover, and above all organizational competence (Ellickson and
Logsdon, 2001).

As an example of technological companies that have strong culture, cited in (Flamholtz, 2011),
Google that created the position of chief culture officer. The mission of this position is to retain
the company’s culture as it grows and to keep the Googlers happy. Google has been able to
attract talent and reinforce their commitment “because of its culture”.
Problem Statement

The aim of the current study is to highlight the degree of the satisfaction and the commitment of
currently working Egyptian employees in different types of organizations in accordance to their
organizations widely held cultural values and beliefs.

Research Questions:

Is there a correlation between organization culture & employee satisfaction?

Is there a correlation between organization culture & organizational commitment?

Objective of the Study:

General objective:
The research required to the association of organization culture on employee
satisfaction and commitment in Egyptian workplace.

Specific objectives:
The research required to find out the relation of the below:
1. To test the relation between organizational culture and employee satisfaction.
2. To test the relation between organizational culture and employee commitment.
 Literature Review

Egypt Culture

Hofstede (2005) cited in (Barbera and Karen, 2014) refers to culture as “software of the mind.
People are the same all across the world (the hardware), it is culture (software) that guides and
informs the behavior”.

Ali el al. (2005) identified that most Egyptians would try to avoid any kind of unstructured
situations, and tend to avoid risks. They see that there is more power with more senior
management; even though the organizational culture would have a different perception of power
distance. In addition, Egyptians show a very open attitude to accept other cultures and other
values and norms, they tend to have very warm relationships which create very tight
relationships with family and friends. As Egyptians tend to be more emotional, they are satisfied
when they feel happy and cared for, which is more related to the treatment and when they feel
that they are in some way special to the organization.

Barbera and Karen (2014) stated that just as all countries do not have the same national culture,
all companies within a nation do not have the same organizational culture. A global
organizational culture can shape behavior, but it cannot trump deeper elements of national
culture. National culture puts some limits on the range of organizational cultures likely there, but
does not fully determine organizational culture.

Organizational Culture

Organizational culture plays a significant role in providing shared outlines and perceptions of the
work environment, where every organization has its own nature and personality. This actually
affects how employees feel about workplaces.

(Flamholtz, 2011) stated that “in a very real sense, corporate culture can be thought of as a
company’s personality. It is manifested everywhere in an organization”. He added “Sometimes,
cultural messages are clear and explicit as in Johnson & Johnson Credo which is posted on the
walls of its subsidiary Neutrogena. Other times, like at Disney offices in California, Disney
characters are everywhere in pictures and on posters (which reflect the company’s identity), but
do not contain an explicit cultural message”.

Taha (2013). In this study, he mentioned that although organizational culture has impact on
employee’s performance, there are different types of organizational cultures common in Egypt
and how variables like (public & private) ownership shapes and defines employee’s performance
in all aspects. He mentioned in his theory that organizational culture is a multidimensional
consisting of four major dimensions; where each of these dimensions characterizes a different
facet of culture.

The four dimensions are: Clan (Human Relations), Hierarchy (Internal Process), Open System
(Adhocracy) and Rational Goal (Market). Where companies in Egypt adopts different
dimensions that has a direct impact on their employees. The researcher in this study used an
instrument called Organizational Climate Measure: An Egyptian/Arabic version was used in his
study and it was validated using a sample of 64 employees working in manufacturing industries
in Egypt. However, the original version of the instrument was validated using a larger sample of
more than 6000 employees drawn from different organizations across the U.K as he mentioned
referring to (Patterson et al. 2005) original study.
Furthermore, the link between organizational culture and job satisfaction, shows that staff
employed in organizations with healthy organizational culture showed higher level of job
satisfaction. Which concluded that the organization culture identity as a dependent factor either a
private or governmental organization had a direct positive relationship on independent factor like
employee performance. The researcher results drawn from his sample illustrated that Private
organizations adopts clan culture, where employees were perceived by their organizations as
more valuable than governmental employees which directly affects their performance positively.

Clan organizational culture can be described by being focused on teamwork and cares for
employees, where employee’s development are priorities. They get involved in decision making,
have relevant training programs and gets a supervisory support. In general, private organizations
were more oriented toward people development. In addition, these results in general shows that
governmental organization’s employees lack personal responsibility as they adopt Hierarchy
organizational culture which is characterized by being structure-based culture, which stresses on
official instructions and policies, firmness, and predictability which directly affect their
employee’s performance.

This paper agrees with the researchers’ results that there is a positive relationship between
organizational culture and employee performance. However, we believe that the organizational
culture in private organizations is nowadays a mix of the four types that the research mentioned
in his research. I believe that there are no private companies adopts a single culture; it should be
a bit of Market organizational culture where it is characterized by being results-oriented and the
leading values in the company associated with this culture are competitiveness and productivity.

Also, companies should adopt relevant hierarchy organizational culture where it should
emphasize formal rules and policies. In addition to; Adhocracy organizational culture where a
company should be vision-based and supports the values of creativity and work under the stress
of ambiguity. Finally, clan organizational culture where the company focuses on teamwork and
concern for people, where staff development are its priorities. So, a culture containing a mix of
the four cultures will positively have a positive impact on employees’ performance.

El Badawy et al. (2016) examined the association between the four types of organizational
cultures and job satisfaction in a study with cross sectional design with two samples, one of them
in Egypt and the other in Mexico. It was highlighted that in the Egyptian sample, which
consisted of 127 participants, the highest correlation was between job satisfaction and the Clan
type of organizational culture. And the lowest correlation was with the market organizational
culture. That actually supports; Taha (2013), that clan culture is dominant in Egyptian
workplaces and the involvement of the employees within the organization is highly interrelated
with the uniformity and flexibility.

Job Satisfaction

Job satisfaction is defined as “a pleasurable or positive emotional state resulting from the
appraisal of one’s job or job experience.” Locke (1976, p. 1300). Edwards and Bell (2008) found
in his study that there was a significant positive relationship between overall employee job
satisfaction and task performance. The researcher suggested that managers can improve
employees’ job performance by applying managerial strategies to increase job satisfaction that
can be concluded in (pay, coworker, supervision, and work itself). Chen and Liu (2012) found
that job satisfaction and job involvement, had positively affected work performance in Taiwan.
Hira and Waqas (2012) in their research had reached that there was a positive relationship
between job satisfaction and employee performance in a survey of 335 employee sample that
work in middle level of banking sector. Iqbal et al. (2012) also found that job satisfaction has a
positive impact on job performance in a survey of 251 respondents from various universities. All
of the above observation had shown that employee performance was influenced positively by job
satisfaction.

The paper totally agrees with all mentioned researchers as all their studies concluded that there is
a positive relation between employee performance and employee satisfaction. We This paper
also believes that these studies supported (Tarek El Badawy et al., 2016) and Taha (2013)
researches and confirmed that culture had a direct impact on employee performance. As clan
culture adopted as mentioned earlier, its emphasis on employees and that directly increases
employees’ job satisfaction. As employees feel more committed to their organizations and have a
better performance as they feel a sense of shared values with their employer who shows concern
for them.

Organizational commitment:

Organizational commitment is a measure of an employee’s identification, attitude and behavior

within his organization. It is defined as multidimensional in nature and involving an employee’s
loyalty. Organization commitment is an attitude reflecting an employee’s loyalty to the
organization, and an ongoing process through which employees can show their concern for the
organization (Northcraft, 1996).

Jaramillo et al. (2005) in this study, indicated that the relationship between organizational
commitment and employee performance is positive and stronger. Khan et al. (2010) reported a
positive relationship between organizational commitment and employees’ performance and in
the comparative analysis of three dimensions of organizational commitment. (Darolia et al.
2010), in a survey of 231 employees’ sample from various departments of National Fertilizer
Ltd., India, found a positive correlation between organizational commitment, organizational
support and their important influence in defining employee performance. Jamal (2011) revealed
that organizational commitment has a significant power on performance and it controls the
relationship between overall job stress and job performance in Malaysia and Pakistan.

Thus, we the paper expect that organizational commitment will have a significant impact on
employees’ job performance as all reaches had drawn this conclusion that will support the same
idea about culture and employee involvement.
Conceptual Framework

The conceptual framework represents the relationship between the independent variable and
dependent variable.

The researchers have developed a conceptual framework based on the literature review that has
been done.

Independent Dependent

Job Satisfaction

Organizational Culture

Employee Commitment

Hypothesis

There is a significant correlation between organizational culture and job satisfaction.

There is a significant correlation between organizational culture and employee commitment.

Variables Conceptual Definition Operational

 Dependent Values, norms, beliefs, and Culture dominant attributes as
assumptions that are widely discussed by Cameron and
shared in the organization Freeman (1991)

Organization Culture 1- Clan culture: Cohesiveness,

participation, teamwork, sense of
family

2- Adhocracy culture:

Entrepreneurship, creativity,
adaptability

3- Hierarchy culture: order, rules

and regulations, uniformity

4- Market culture:
competitiveness, goal
achievement.

Independent Job satisfaction is a function Adapted from Wright and

of the perceived relationship Cropanzano (1998):
between what one wants
from one’s job and what one 1- Satisfaction with the work of
Job Satisfaction the job
perceives it as offering”
(Locke, 1969)
2- Relationship satisfaction with
co workers

3- Relationship satisfaction with

supervisor

4- Satisfaction with the pay

5- Satisfaction with promotional

opportunities
Employee Commitment Organization commitment is The intension of the employee of
an attitude reflecting an staying at the company and
whether he or she is looking for a
employee’s loyalty to the
job outside the current
organization, and an organization.
ongoing process through
which employees can show
their concern for the
organization (Northcraft,
1996).
 Research Design and Methodology

Introduction:

Based on the conducted literature review, it was concluded that organizational culture changes in
accordance to many attributes that differ from organization to another. Hence, the researchers
find that it is beneficial to investigate the relationship between different kinds of organizational
culture and job satisfaction and commitment among employees.

Research Design:

The research design for the study was the hypothetico-deductive approach. This cross-sectional
descriptive research design was selected to study the relationship between organizational culture
and job satisfaction and employee commitment.

 Population Definition:

The study population included the currently employed Egyptians in the private or public sector,
both genders, entry level, middle and top managers.

 Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the relationship between organizational culture and employee satisfaction and
commitment.

 Unit of analysis: Individuals

 Unit of data collection: Individuals

Research Instrument:

Data Collection Methods:

The researchers used questionnaire as an instrument of data collection

Questionnaire

Variables in the study were measured using Likert scale. A list of questions drafted by the
researchers to be filled by the respondents. The questionnaire contained closed ended structured
questions.

Sample Size: 75 employees to ensure a response rate of 60 and to avoid response error. The
following table shows the number of respondents from each organization

Organization Type Number of respondents

Public Sector 20

Private Sector 40

Sample Design:

In this study, quota sampling technique is used.

Sources of Data:

Primary data source. The data collected was raw brought by the answers of the respondents in
the questionnaires.

Data Analysis:

The analysis was based on self-administered data generated from individuals working in
different organizations in different industries.

Correlational analysis was conducted using SPSS software.

 Conclusion

Managing organizational culture is vital for the success of any firm. The current study proves
that a strong positive culture (like clan culture, which highlights the important attribute of the
team work) has a significant relationship with high job satisfaction and commitment.
 References

Ali, M.,Laurence Brooks And Alshawi, S. (2005), CULTURAL DIMENSIONS AND CRM
SYSTEMS: A CROSS-CULTURAL CASE STUDY,School of Information Systems, Computing
and Mathematics, Brunel University.

ANTHONY S. BOYCE, LEVI R. G. NIEMINEN, MICHAEL A. GILLESPIE, ANN MARIE

RYAN AND DANIEL R. DENISON. Which comes first, organizational culture or performance?
A longitudinal study of causal priority with automobile dealerships. Journal of Organizational
Behavior, J. Organiz. Behav. 36, 339–359 (2015) Published online 15 January 2015 in Wiley
Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com) DOI: 10.1002/job.1985.

Barbera, Karen M.. The Oxford Handbook of Organizational Climate and Culture, edited by
Benjamin Schneider, Oxford University Press, Incorporated, 2014

Flamholtz, Eric, and Yvonne Randle. Corporate Culture : The Ultimate Strategic Asset, Stanford
University Press, 2011

JENNIFER A. CHATMAN, DAVID F. CALDWELL, CHARLES A. O’REILLY AND

BERNADETTE DOERR. Parsing organizational culture: How the norm for adaptability
influences the relationship between culture consensus and financial performance in high-
technology firms. Journal of Organizational Behavior, J. Organiz. Behav. 35, 785–808 (2014)
Published online 11 April 2014 in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com) DOI:
10.1002/job.1928.

Tarek A. El Badawy, Juana Cecilia Trujillo-Reyesm, Mariam M. Magdy (2016). Exploring the
Relationship between Organizational Culture, Organizational Citizenship Behavior and Job
Satisfaction: A Comparative Study between Egypt and Mexico. International Journal of
Management and Administrative Sciences (IJMAS) (ISSN: 2225-7225) Vol. 4, No. 06, (01-15)

https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/05cb/6267d673e3e5389e6b21ac53a92aa5bbbd81.pdf

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0007681317300113

https://jces.journals.ekb.eg/article_51974_cdf8b28918e8d057fb0132e978b8a15d.pdf

https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s10551-013-1876-y.pdf

Ellickson, M & Logsdon, K. (2001), "Determinants of job satisfaction of municipal government

employees", State Local government Review, Vol. 33 No. 3, pp173-84
 Appendix

Survey Questions

The purpose of this questionnaire is to test the effect of organizational culture on employee
satisfaction in Egyptian workplace; focusing on two variable job satisfaction and organization
commitment. This research is part of MBA program and all information will be provided will be
confidential and used for research purpose only.

A. General
Please circle your gender Male:
- Female
- Male

Please circle your years of experience

- 1-3 years
- 4-6 years
- 7-15 years
- 15-20 years
Please circle your employment level
- Junior
- Senior
- Supervisor
- Manager.

B. Organization culture.
1. My organization is a very personal place. People seem to share a lot of themselves
☐ Strongly disagree ☐ Disagree ☐ Agree ☐ Strongly agree
 2. My organization is very production oriented. Its major concern is getting job done,
without much personal involvement.
☐ Strongly disagree ☐ Disagree ☐ Agree ☐ Strongly agree

3. The head of my organization is generally considered to be a mentor.

☐ Strongly disagree ☐ Disagree ☐ Agree ☐ Strongly agree
4. The glue that holds my organization together is loyalty. Commitment to this firm is high.
☐ Strongly disagree ☐ Disagree ☐ Agree ☐ Strongly agree

5. I enjoy my coworkers
☐ Strongly disagree ☐ Disagree ☐ Agree ☐ Strongly agree
C. Job Satisfaction.
6. I feel I am being paid a fair amount for the work I do
☐ Strongly disagree ☐ Disagree ☐ Agree ☐ Strongly agree

7. There is really too little chance for promotion on my job

☐ Strongly disagree ☐ Disagree ☐ Agree ☐ Strongly agree

8. When I do a good job, I receive the recognition for it that I should receive
☐ Strongly disagree ☐ Disagree ☐ Agree ☐ Strongly agree

9. There are few rewards for those who work her

☐ Strongly disagree ☐ Disagree ☐ Agree ☐ Strongly agree

Organization commitment.
10. The benefits we receive are as good as most other organizations offer
☐ Strongly disagree ☐ Disagree ☐ Agree ☐ Strongly agree

11. I would consider leaving my job for a position within the salary range or slight increase.
 ☐ Strongly disagree ☐ Disagree ☐ Agree ☐ Strongly agree

12. I plan to stay at my company the next 5 years.

☐ Strongly disagree ☐ Disagree ☐ Agree ☐ Strongly agree

13. I will properly not be looking for a job outside of this organization
☐ Strongly disagree ☐ Disagree ☐ Agree ☐ Strongly agree