CHAPTER – 1

IMPACT OF ORGANISATION CULTURE ON LEARNING

AND ATTITUDE TOWARDS CHANGE

“For an organization to survive, its rate of learning must be equal to, or

greater than, the rate of change”.

- Rosemary Hill (1996)

CULTURE AND LEARNING IN IT SECTOR:

The notions of organizational learning, organizational culture and organizational

identification are widely recognized in the management literature. This learning in turn
enables a sense of prestige and privilege, elucidating organizational identification i.e.
organizational identification is influenced by organizational learning.

The organizations need to fulfill the essential requirements for continuous

improvement like learning something new and a commitment to learn. There arises the need
to create a learning organization. The purpose of creating a learning is to enable the IT
sectors to search for new ideas, new problems and new opportunities for learning from which
competitive advantage can be culled in an increasingly competitive world.

BUILDING CULTURE IN IT SECTOR:

Culture is an important factor that differentiate the IT sector (HCL and Powerup
clouds) from its competitor. Culture is what makes their brand unique and gives it that
special edge. It puts the company's soul on display and tells the world who they are as a
brand.

When defining culture, it also defines company's values and goals. These will
contribute to the company's mission and show employees and the public what is most
important to the brand.

Companies with a strong culture have employees who like the challenges of their job,
get along well with their co-workers and enjoy the atmosphere of the workplace. Culture
gives employees a driving goal and purpose for what they do. It connects their leadership
team with the rest of the employees and binds them with a set of shared beliefs.

Culture attracts and retains talents. Hiring an employee is an investment, and they
want to make sure they invest in the right people. By ensuring each individual they hire fits
well with the company’s culture and make it more likely that they will stay with their
company long term and contribute more to the success of the organization.

CREATING AN ORGANISATIONAL LEARNING CULTURE:

A learning culture is one with organizational values, systems and practices that
support and encourage both individuals, and the organization, to increase knowledge,
competence and performance levels on an on - going basis.

The culture of the workplace also goes a long way in promoting healthy competition
at the workplace. The culture of an organization represents certain predefined policies which
guide the employees and give them a sense of direction at the workplace.

COIMBATORE EMERGING AS A PREFFERED IT DESTINATION:

The manpower advantage, availability of technology and the entire ecosystem has
positively reacted to the growth of IT sector in Coimbatore. Though International
connectivity and social infrastructure were seem to be the issues in the growth, the city made
a clear visibility for the improvement.

The embedded technology is high in the city which made a wide path for Business
process outsourcing companies in last few years. But this year, IT and ITES firms in e-
commerce and start-ups have a great opportunity for improvement in the city.

The city is the second largest software producer in Tamil Nadu, next only to
Chennai. IT and BPO industry in the city has grown greatly with the launch of TIDEL Park
Coimbatore & Wipro Software Development Centre in ELCOT SEZ, IndiaLand TechPark in
CHIL SEZ, KCT TechPark, Hanudev Infopark, Rathinam Technopark, KGISL Campus,
Span Venture SEZ and other planned IT parks in and around the city. It is ranked at 17th
among the global outsourcing cities. Companies
like Amazon, Altran, Aricent, Bosch, Cognizant, Ford, TCS, Wipro, HCL, Cameron
International, NTT DATA, Harman International, Hexaware and Deloitte having a presence
in the city. Cognizant has second largest headcount in the country with more than 12000+
employees in the city. And Bosch has Largest development centre in Coimbatore outside
Germany with 5500+ employees in the city. Software exports stood at ₹ 710.66 crores for the
financial year 2009-10 up 90% from the previous year.

Availability of quality labour is an important factor driving factor that makes

Coimbatore a preferred business destination. The low attrition rate (>10%) and limited
competition add to the positive business environment.

IT INDUSTRY PICKSUP MADURAI:

After a huge struggle IT sectors started to position its mark in Madurai. The main
reason behind the intrusion is huge talent pools and fresh graduates with high potential with
lack of soft skills. Few startups and MNC’s established their branches in Madurai. The IT
professionals found that almost 60% employees working in IT Bangalore and Chennai are
from Madurai. This made a spark to establish their branches in Madurai.

Madurai houses multi-national corporations such as Honeywell Technologies

India, HCL, Satyam , and Sutherland Global Services. Tamil Nadu government has
established two IT- Special Economic Zone(SEZ)s in Madurai.

IMPACT OF CULTURE IN IT SECTOR:

 Culture has become a factor of economic progress, in line with labor, capital and
technological factors.

 Culture brings together the implicit and explicit reward systems that define how an
organization works in practice, no matter what an organizational chart, business strategy, or
corporate mission statement may say.

 Culture impacts how employees are best managed based on their values and priorities.

 In today’s highly competitive business environment, everything from sales to

recruiting becomes more challenging. One way to make it all easier is by being a company
that people want to do business with and work for. Smart organizations know that a strong,
positive company culture is one of their most important assets.
LEARNING IN IT SECTOR

There are a number of skills that make a person employable, yet one of the most
important is the ability to learn. While we are naturally able to learn from birth, we can
sometimes forget how important it is for our personal and professional development.
Learning is, in fact, a valuable skill, and it is particularly vital in the ever changes landscape
of the technology industry.

According to a study, 84 per cent of executive are recognising the importance of

learning in their organisation. Because the market is constantly shifting with new innovations
and consumer demands, all companies, but especially those in the IT sector, need to develop
their expertise to ensure they can stay competitive.

As a result, a strong learning ability is a highly sought-after skill for jobseekers in the
technology industry to have, as it means that employers can make a long term investment in
their talent. IT professionals must be able to have the skills necessary to adapt to new
technologies, as they are often the leaders of technological innovation in an organisation.

LEARNING AS A PRIORITY

 According to research, an increase in skill levels linked to business value can result in
$70,000 in annual savings and a 10% increase in productivity when teams are well trained.
 Effective learning can also lead to greater employee motivation and satisfaction as
employees feel valued and able to grow and develop throughout their careers. And
importantly, learning and change are interlinked because it enables organizations to respond
to changes and adapt to an increasingly competitive market.

THE RISE OF LEARNING CULTURE:

To better respond to a more complex and less predictable business environment, more
organizations are prioritizing learning and agility as core cultural traits.

Businesses everywhere are facing unprecedented change and myriad threats from
technology innovation and business-model disruption to new sources of competition and
changes in consumer behaviour. Leadership teams are under constant pressure to hit their
numbers and to stave off the threat of activist investors looking to exploit signs of
vulnerability. The pace of all this change demands a level of responsiveness and agility that
has not typically come naturally to most companies. Increasingly, successful organizations
and their leaders are defined by their capacity to learn, adapt and innovate at speed.
Out of eight possible organizational culture styles, a learning orientation
appears first or second in only 7 percent of companies. The other 93% risk having insufficient
capacity to adjust to the changes taking place around them. We believe that developing a
culture that emphasizes flexibility and learning will be a critical element in future-proofing an
organization.

LEARNING CULTURE:

Organizational learning is hard to achieve from a culture standpoint. First, the need to
change and do things differently has to be clearly communicated and constantly reinforced by
the senior leadership team, and especially the CEO. Second, leaders must embody and
exemplify the open-mindedness, inquisitiveness and inclusivity they wish to see at all levels
in the organization. Third, barriers between functions and divisions need to be dismantled
along with many of their systems, processes and norms to enable groups that have not
encountered each other to work together toward a common goal, exploring new solutions and
learning from each other.

A culture of learning is an environment that supports and encourages the

collective discovery, sharing, and application of knowledge. In this kind of culture, learning
is manifested in every aspect of organizational life. Staff and volunteers are continuously
developing new knowledge together and applying collective knowledge to problems and
needs.

It is hard for an individual to adapt and change and even harder for an entire
organization. It requires relentless, concerted effort and committed leadership. People look
for excuses to avoid change. They often prefer the comfort of tried-and-tested routines and
are quick to point to contradictions or inconsistencies rather than seek out opportunities to
reappraise and revise their ways of working.

In a learning culture, people are inquisitive about how their work aligns with overall
thinking and make choices that are consistent with strategy. Individuals need a high level of
self-awareness (even detachment) to acknowledge what they do not know, enough humility
to shed their preconceptions, and a deeply held curiosity about what they might discover.
Above all, they need to be forward-thinking, viewing the future with a sense of optimism and
possibility.

COLLECTIVE LEARNING IN WORKPLACE:

A major source of competitive advantage for companies is knowledge. To be able to

access and use the best knowledge assets wherever they reside in the world, employees must
be able to work together within groups, networks, and with the collective.

Collective learning is the constant updating and upgrading of the knowledge base
through the acquisition of external knowledge, the creation and dissemination of new
knowledge. In other words, it is a range of collective knowledge behaviours as browsing,
finding information and resources, communicating with others, information gathering and
housekeeping and transacting with others.

INDIVIDUAL LEARNING IN WORKPLACE:

Individual learning aims to improve students’ learning and achievement and build
students’ capacity to learn. To be effective, individual learning activities in the workplace
require information, of course, but also the proper synchronization of this information. Good
synchronization will achieve a flow of information capable of delivering exactly what an
individual wants to learn, precisely at the time and place where it is needed. The
organisation’s structure is the mechanism used to achieve such synchronization because it
coordinates individual activities across all levels of the hierarchy through approved internal
communication lines, defined responsibilities, and clear internal policies, processes and
procedures. In fact, the whole organisation can be considered a synchronizing body, and
learning and the flow of information are two activities that need synchronizing through the
appropriate structure.

Each organisation develops its own pattern of learning practices which should provide
individuals with the learning necessary to get their job done in an efficient manner.
Organisational practices can even go a step further and transform individual learning into
shared learning by encouraging co-participation and collaboration among individuals
working in the same organization.
PROBLEM STATEMENT:

1. Automation and Technology forces the IT companies to change their business model.

2. According to a survey, 87% of workers are in a need to adapt new learning skills
throughout their work life in order to keep up with the changes in the workplace.

3. Digital transformation makes the IT companies shift to high productivity labors. This
disruptive change leads to employee lay-off and slow revenue growth.

Source:

■ https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/blogs/et-editorials/indias-it-sector-change-not-
crisis/

■ https://www.forbes.com/sites/schoolboard/2017/10/09/the-future-of-your-career-
depends-on-lifelong-learning/#1bdc8b501bd7

■ https://www.talentinternational.com/learning-is-a-lifelong-skill-in-the-it-industry/

NEED FOR THE STUDY:

1. To find whether change in culture influences the employee behavior.

2. To find whether organizational learning is supportive for the change.

3. To find how the employees could adapt the changes in the workplace.

4. To know the impact of organizational culture on learning.

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY:

1. To explore organisational culture (Task Orientation and Relationship Orientation),

Organisational learning and Employee attitude (satisfaction with information,
satisfaction with the leadership, organisational commitment and job satisfaction and
benefits of change) in IT sector.

2. To study if organisational culture (Task Orientation and Relationship Orientation),

Organisational learning and Employee attitude(satisfaction with information,
satisfaction with the leadership, organisational commitment and job satisfaction and
 benefits of change) vary across the Demographic profile of the employees (like age,
gender, education and year of service).

3. To study the direction and magnitude of relationship between organisational culture,

Organisational learning and Employee attitude.

4. To study the impact of organisational culture (Task Orientation and Relationship

Orientation) on Organisational learning and

5. To study the impact of organisational culture (Task Orientation and Relationship

Orientation) on Employee attitude(satisfaction with information, satisfaction with the
leadership, organisational commitment and job satisfaction and benefits of change).

6. To build and test a hypothetical model using Structural equation modelling.

HYPOTHETICAL MODEL:
Organisational Learning

Individual
Learning

Organizational culture
Collective
Learning

Task
orientation
Employee Attitude

Relationship Satisfaction with

orientation information

Satisfaction with
leadership

Job Satisfaction

SCOPE OF THE STUDY:

Benefits of
change
 1. It is necessary for any management to ensure that employees are satisfied with their
job, for the benefits of the organization.

2. A study of organization culture Impact on change and learning will help the
organisation to understand the attitude of employees towards their job.

3. It tells how the employees feel about the relationship with in organization, and their
welfare of job. It scientifically contribute towards employee productivity and morale

4. The present study has made an attempt to measure the organization culture In Power
up cloud and HCL. This study has been conducted with 150 employees in the study
area. The study mainly concentrates on organization culture Impact on change and
learning and attitude towards change on employees.

5. The study can be further related to measure organization culture, Task Orientation,
Relationship orientation, Employee attitude, Organization learning –Individualism,
Collectivism of the organization. So the study finds out organization culture change
how it affects employee attitude in the job

LIMITATIONS:

1. The study is restricted to two IT companies (Power up cloud, HCL).This could have
given rise to a unique perception of the culture of organization.

2. The findings might not accurately reflect the future attitudes and change of
employees, as these could change over time.

3. The survey is based on the employees perception, which may be biased.

4. Period of the study is too short and hence it is a major limitation.