mpact of Employee Cultural Differences on the Performance of the Organization

Running head: DISSERTATION
Impact of Employee Cultural Differences on the Performance of the Organization:
A Case Study of Shell- Iraq
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author’s Note:

1DISSERTATION
Acknowledgement
Thank you to all of those who have helped listened and encouraged me throughout this study.
I am indebted to my supervisor ......................... whose guidance, advice and patience
have been immeasurable. My sincere thanks to all members of the............... [Mention your
university/college name], both staff and students, whose continuous support have made this
thesis possible.
I would like to thank all of the participants in the study: students, teachers and Local
Education Authorities, for the time and help given throughout. Without their participation,
this research would not have been possible. In this context, I am also thankful to them, whose
research work helped me to execute this paper well.
Finally, I thank my family, without whom this thesis would not have been started or
completed! Your encouragement and support have never faltered; thank you.

2DISSERTATION
Abstract
The aim of the research is to investigate the impact of employee cultural differences on the
performance of the business organization. For this research, the organization selected by the
researcher for investigation is Shell in Iraq. Culture is an integral part in the life of the
individuals, as this lays the foundation of what they become in their life. It is often seen that
the difference in terms of culture results in varied opinions and decisions that gives rise to
differences among the individuals. It is essential for the business organizations to develop
strategies that make the employees highly productive thereby, aiming towards improving
organizational development and growth.
Previously, extensive research has been conducted on cultural diversity but has failed to yield
any convenient results on differences among the employees due to the culture they belong to
and its impact on general performance of the employees both positively and negatively.
Positivism philosophy, deductive approach and descriptive research design. In addition to, the
researcher has used random non-probability sampling technique for selecting 260 employees
as the sample size out of which 200 employees has been selected as response of Shell Plc for
surveying them in order to determine the impact of employee cultural differences on the
performance of the organization. In addition to, the researcher will be using primary data
collection technique for collecting the data from the employees of Shell Plc. Considering the
research strategy and the data collection method, the researcher has used quantitative data
analysis technique by using SPSS.
From the co-relation analysis, it can be inferred that the organizational policies and
organizational tradition are strongly associated with the beliefs of the employees, as the co-
relation values obtained are .791 and .759 those are more than .7. Moreover, the co-relation
value also indicates strong association between morale values of the employees and

3DISSERTATION
organizational tradition, as the value obtained is .745 that is more than .7. The second co-
relation analysis indicates that the independent variables such as beliefs, language, morale
values, organizational policies and tradition is strongly associated with organizational
performance, as the value obtained is .830 that is more than .7. Moreover, the result obtained
from the regression analysis indicates that the p-value is .000 that is less than .05. Hence, it
can be said that the null hypothesis has been rejected and the alternative hypothesis has been
accepted. The result of the regression analysis is supported by the results obtained from the
second co-relation analysis that indicates strong association. Therefore, it can be said that the
existing cultural difference among the employees in Shell Plc has an impact on the
organizational performance.

4DISSERTATION
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Introduction..............................................................................................................8
1.0 Overview.....................................................................................................................8
1.1 Problem statement............................................................................................................9
1.2 Research aim..................................................................................................................10
1.3 Research objectives........................................................................................................10
1.4 Research questions.........................................................................................................10
1.5 Research hypotheses......................................................................................................11
1.6 Research rationale..........................................................................................................11
1.7 Structure of the dissertation...........................................................................................12
1.8 Summary........................................................................................................................13
Chapter 2: Literature Review...................................................................................................14
2.0 Overview...................................................................................................................14
2.1 Conceptual framework...................................................................................................14
2.2 Employee religion and organizational performance......................................................15
2.3 Factors affecting cultural differences.............................................................................16
2.3.1 Beliefs.....................................................................................................................17
2.3.2 Morale values..........................................................................................................17
2.3.3 Organizational policies............................................................................................18
2.3.4 Language.................................................................................................................19

5DISSERTATION
2.3.5 Organizational tradition..........................................................................................20
2.4 Relationship between employee value system and organizational performance...........20
2.5 Influence of employee language on organizational performance..................................22
2.6 Factors affecting organizational performance................................................................25
2.6.1 Guidance.................................................................................................................25
2.6.2 Motivation...............................................................................................................26
2.6.3 Counseling...............................................................................................................27
2.6.4 Cultural differences.................................................................................................28
2.6.5 Working environment.............................................................................................28
2.7 Theories of cultural differences.....................................................................................29
2.7.1 Cultural difference theory.......................................................................................29
2.7.2 Cultural reproduction theory...................................................................................30
2.7.3 Cultural deficit theory.............................................................................................30
2.8 Hofstede’s cultural dimensions......................................................................................31
2.9 Research gap..................................................................................................................34
2.9 Summary........................................................................................................................35
Chapter 3: Research methodology...........................................................................................36
3.0 Overview........................................................................................................................36
3.1 Research outline.............................................................................................................36
3.2 Research philosophy......................................................................................................36
3.2.1 Rationalizing for applying positivism philosophy..................................................37

6DISSERTATION
3.3 Research approach.........................................................................................................38
3.3.1 Rationalizing for applying deductive approach......................................................38
3.4 Research design..............................................................................................................39
3.4.1 Rationalizing for applying descriptive design.........................................................39
3.5 Research strategy...........................................................................................................40
3.5.1 Rationalizing for applying survey and interview strategy......................................40
3.6 Sampling technique and size..........................................................................................41
3.6.1 Rationalizing for applying non-probability sampling technique............................41
3.7 Data collection technique...............................................................................................42
3.7.1 Rationalizing for applying primary data collection technique................................42
3.8 Data analysis technique..................................................................................................43
3.8.1 Rationalizing for applying quantitative data analysis technique.............................43
3.9 Research limitations.......................................................................................................43
3.10 Ethical considerations..................................................................................................44
3.11 Summary......................................................................................................................45
Chapter 4: Data analysis...........................................................................................................46
4.0 Overview........................................................................................................................46
4.1 Descriptive analysis.......................................................................................................47
4.1.1 Demographic analysis.............................................................................................47
4.2 Inferential analysis.........................................................................................................48
4.2.1 Co-relation analysis.................................................................................................48

7DISSERTATION
4.2.2 Regression analysis.................................................................................................50
4.3 Summary........................................................................................................................52
Chapter 5: Discussion..............................................................................................................53
Chapter 6: Conclusion and recommendations..........................................................................58
6.0 Conclusion......................................................................................................................58
6.1 Liking with objectives....................................................................................................59
6.2 Recommendations..........................................................................................................61
6.3 Future scope of the study...............................................................................................62
References................................................................................................................................63
Appendix 1...............................................................................................................................72
Survey questionnaire............................................................................................................72