Impact of Organisational Culture and Working Practices on Business Performance: Comparative study of Vodafone Company in UK and Albania

This research focuses on impact of organisation culture and working practices on performance of the business. The main focus of the research is to conduct a comparative study between Vodafone UK and Albania. The aim of the research is to examine the impact of organisation culture and working practices on business performance. In addition, in the literature review section, secondary data sources have been reviewed. International human resource management has been reviewed along with organisational culture of the organisations.

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Impact of Organisational Culture and Working Practices on Business Performance:
Comparative study of Vodafone Company in UK and Albania
Name of the Student: ERGENA NELA
Student ID: B00744241
Name of the University: ULSTER UNIVERSITY
Author note: KHAN HAMID
August 2018

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Acknowledgement
I am thankful to all the individuals who have been my constant support to complete the research
work based on ‘Impact of Organisation Culture and Working Practices on Business
Performance: Comparative study of Vodafone Company in UK and Albania’. I would like to
share my heartfelt gratitude to my professor HAMID KHAN who has been my constant support.
I want to share my thanks to my friends and families who have been shown care all the times. I
discussed with my classmates about the topic and my classmates were my pipeline to complete
this research. I am very grateful to the employees of Vodafone who provided their valuable
responses to complete the research. Completion of the research gives me much pleasure.
Thank You.

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Abstract
This research focuses on impact of organisation culture and working practices on performance of
the business. The main focus of the research is to conduct a comparative study between
Vodafone UK and Albania. The principles of healthy organisational culture say that all
employees must be cordial among themselves, there should not be any partiality in the
organisational structure and hierarchy, and the employers must appreciate the top performers
through rewards and recognition. The aim of the research is to examine the impact of
organisation culture and working practices on business performance. In addition, in the literature
review section, secondary data sources have been reviewed. International human resource
management has been reviewed along with organisational culture of the organisations. In the
literature review section, Hofstede National Cultural Dimensions have been explained in regard
of the UK and Albania.
In the methodology section, the researcher has followed the pragmatism philosophy,
deductive research approach, mixed research design as the researcher has followed both
quantitative and qualitative research design. The researcher has collected primary data from both
survey and interviews. The researcher has prepared survey questionnaire with 12 close-ended
questions. In addition, the researcher has used SPSS version to analyse the data with descriptive
statistics. The employees get a flexible and less rigid work environment, which helps in faster
decision making and better customer service. This is beneficial for improving the business
performance. In order to improve the organisational culture and business performance, Vodafone
needs to improve the team work; Vodafone can maintain flexible working culture. Vodafone UK
and Albania can both improve the risk-taking ability along with providing employee motivation.

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Table of Contents
Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION AND CONTEXT............................................................................7
1.1 Background of research.........................................................................................................7
1.2Vodafone background.............................................................................................................9
1.3 Research aim and objectives................................................................................................11
1.4 Research questions...............................................................................................................12
1.5Significance/ importance of research....................................................................................12
Chapter 2: LITERATURE REVIEW............................................................................................14
2.1 International Human Resource Management (IHRM)........................................................14
2.2Organisational culture...........................................................................................................17
2.3 Working Practices and Business Performance....................................................................19
2.4Hofstede National Cultural Dimensions...............................................................................21
2.5Organisational cultural dimension by Hofstede...................................................................22
2.6 High and low context culture...............................................................................................25
2.7 Theoretical framework.........................................................................................................26
2.8Literature gap........................................................................................................................27
Chapter 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY.................................................................................28
3.1 Research outline...................................................................................................................28
3.2 Research paradigm...............................................................................................................29
3.3 Research approach...............................................................................................................30

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3.4 Research strategy.................................................................................................................32
3.5 Research design...................................................................................................................32
3.6 Data collection process........................................................................................................34
3.7 Sampling technique.............................................................................................................35
3.8 Data analysis process...........................................................................................................36
3.9 Ethical issues.......................................................................................................................37
Chapter 4: DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS........................................................................38
4.1 Demographic analysis..........................................................................................................38
4.2 Non-demographic factors....................................................................................................45
4.3 Paired Sample T-Test..........................................................................................................60
4.4 Discussions: Parity with the Hofstede model......................................................................64
4.5 Interview findings................................................................................................................67
Chapter 5: CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS......................................................69
5.1 Conclusions..........................................................................................................................69
5.2 Linking with the objectives.................................................................................................69
5.2.1 Linking with the first objective.....................................................................................69
5.2.2 Linking with the second objective................................................................................70
5.2.3 Linking with the third objective...................................................................................72
5.2.4 Linking with the fourth objective.................................................................................73
5.3 Recommendations................................................................................................................74

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Reference List................................................................................................................................77
Appendices....................................................................................................................................87

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List of Figures
Figure 1: Gender profile of the participants..................................................................................39
Figure 2: Age groups of the participants.......................................................................................40
Figure 3: Work experience in Vodafone UK.................................................................................40
Figure 4: Educational qualification of the participants..................................................................41
Figure 5: Gender profile of the participants..................................................................................42
Figure 6: Age groups of the participants.......................................................................................43
Figure 7: Work experience with Vodafone Albania......................................................................43
Figure 8: Educational qualifications of the respondents................................................................44
Figure 10: Vodafone UK/Albania provides supportive environment in the work place...............46
Figure 11: Communication process in the organisation is transparent..........................................47
Figure 12: Communication process in the organisation is flexible...............................................48
Figure 13: Organisational culture in Vodafone UK/Albania provides enough opportunity for job
satisfaction.....................................................................................................................................50
Figure 14: Team work is more valued in Vodafone UK/Albania than individual performance...52
Figure 15: Business practices in Vodafone UK/Albania promote risk avoidance nature.............53
Figure 16: Organisational culture in Vodafone UK/Albania enhances employee motivation......55
Figure 17: Organisational culture in Vodafone UK/Albania enhances employee productivity....56
Figure 17: Rigidity in hierarchy in the organisational culture in Vodafone UK/Albania.............57
Figure 18: Organisational culture and work practices influence the business performance in
Vodafone UK/Albania...................................................................................................................59
Figure 19: Country comparison: Albania and UK.........................................................................65

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Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION AND CONTEXT
1.1 Background of research
Workplace culture is a very important factor in any organisation that has a significant
impact on the employees. It can have both the positive and negative impact on the employees
and on their productivity. As stated by Parker (2000), the work culture of a company can not
only affect the employee happiness and productivity, but also every other factor contributing in
the effective functioning of the company. Hence, it is quite useful to understand the culture of an
organisation for the employees to perform efficiently. Organisational culture significantly
depends on the national cultural dimensions, which influences the working of the business
(Kotter, 2008). Hence, the work cultures are quite different in different countries and that gets
reflected in the business performances. The purpose of this research study is to evaluate the
impact of organisational culture and working practices on business performance in the context of
Vodafone Company, in two different locations, UK and Albania. Through this research, the
researcher is going to highlight how the organisation working practices and work culture affects
the employee productivity and organisational performance by using the case study of Vodafone
Company. The work culture of Vodafone in two different locations, UK and Albania, are
assumed to be different due to the cultural differences in two nations. Hence, these two locations
are chosen to throw a light on the organisational culture and its impact on the business
performance.
According to Shahzad et al (2012), organisational culture refers to the system of common
assumptions, beliefs and values that governs the guidelines regarding people’s behaviour in an
organisation. The shared values help the people to contribute positively in achieving the

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organisational goals and extracting the best performance of the employees and making them stay
longer in the organisation. As stated by Martin (2001), work culture refers to the concept that
deals with beliefs, attitudes and thought processes of the employees along with the principles and
ideologies of the organisation. This culture decides how the employees would interact with each
other and how they would follow the organisational functions.
The characteristics of a healthy work culture influence the motivation and job satisfaction
of the employees, which gets reflected in the increased productivity (Parker 2000). The
principles of healthy organisational culture say that all employees must be cordial among
themselves, there should not be any partiality in the organisational structure and hierarchy, and
the employers must appreciate the top performers through rewards and recognition. Apart from
these, the organisations must have employee friendly policies, participative leadership, and have
policies for encouraging team building activities. Tang, Li and Zhang (2015) stated that these
policies and principles have a significant impact on the employee motivation, which in turn
encourages an employee to give the best productivity. At the same time, the performance of the
employees influences the business performance. Hence, it can be said that work culture of an
organisation is an important factor among many other factors that can considerably influence the
business performance.
However, since there are many factors that determine the productivity and performance
of the organisations, it must also be noted that there are many dimensions of the organisational
culture that can have different impact on the organisational performance, especially, the regional
culture. According to Paijo and Vonheim (2017), the cultures in different nations are different
and that influence the nature of work in the organisation as well as the business performance. As
Hofstede model explains the different characteristics of cultural dimensions and their impact on

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the societies of a nation, similarly, Hofstede also explained a model for organisational culture,
containing six dimensions. Those Dimensions are means versus goal-oriented, internally versus
externally driven, local versus professional, open versus closed system, casual versus strict work
discipline, and employee versus work–centred (Hofstedeinsights.com 2018). These dimensions
perfectly explain the characteristics of the culture of an organisation. On the other hand, the six
parameters of the national cultural dimension model also explain the nature of people who run a
business in a specific nation. The culture of a nation influences the beliefs, norms, values,
language and habits of people, which gets reflected in the organisational behaviour. These
theories are considerably helpful in understanding the organisational culture, especially for
international businesses and its impact on the professional relationships, which influences the
performance of the businesses (Hofstede 2011).
Through this study, the researcher is going to present the evaluation of the cultural
differences of two different nations and its impact on the work culture and employee
performance, by exploring the work culture between two different locations of a same company.
The researcher has chosen same company with two different locations as he wants to explore the
differences in the work culture as well as national culture in two different countries and their
effect on the organisational performances. Keeping the company fixed is beneficial to understand
the cultural differences precisely and their effect on the productivity, nature of working and
performances of the two business units. Vodafone Company is chosen by the researcher for this
study. Two different offices located in the UK and Albania was considered for the case studies
for the research on the organisational culture and employee performance.

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1.2Vodafone background
Vodafone is one of the biggest British telecommunication companies that operates
directly in 26 other countries in Asia, Europe, Africa and Oceania region, and has partner
connections in 50 other countries. The company was established in 1991. Among the global
mobile operating companies, Vodafone holds the fifth position by revenue and second position,
following only China Mobile, in the number of connections, which is 469.7 million as of 2016.
The division of Vodafone Global Enterprise provides the telecommunication and IT services to
the corporate clients in 150 nations. In 2017, the company earned €47.631 billion revenue, and
has around 111,556 employees across the global operation units (Vodafone.com 2018).
Vodafone Company has its headquarter in London. The Vodafone UK is the subsidiary of
the Vodafone Group Plc., which has headquartered in Newbury, Berkshire. As of March 2018,
the subscriber base of Vodafone UK stands at 17.5 million subscribers (Vodafone.uk 2018). The
Vodafone UK has almost 480 different retail stores across the country, selling mobile handsets
and connections, business and home landline and broadband services, mobile phone internet
service and Vodafone SIM offers and contracts. It also provides various rewards programs and
VIP memberships. The success of the company reflects its efficient business performance.
On the other hand, Vodafone expanded its operations in Albania in 2001. It has its
headquarter in Tirana, capital of Albania. It has comparatively smaller operation in Albania
compared to that in UK. The number of employees in Vodafone Albania is around 500.
Vodafone was the first company in Albania to achieve the license for providing 3G services from
the Albanian government for €31.4 million. It also provided 4G LTE services first in Tirana and
south Albania. Currently, Vodafone covers 99% of the population of Albania with its 3G
services (Vodafone.al 2018). Thus, it can be said that Vodafone Albania is one of the major

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telecom companies, which is going strong over the years, with the biggest number of subscribers.
This indicates that in both the locations, Vodafone has been successful in performing efficiently
that helped them to capture a big market.
1.3 Research aim and objectives
The aim of the research paper is to explore the organisational working practices and
culture and their impact on the performance of the business. The business performance will be
measured in terms of revenue, profit and market share of Vodafone in the two countries for the
past three years and that will be collected from the annual reports of the company. The
comparison of the figures will give an impression how the British company is performing in two
countries with different cultures. The researcher aims to study the difference in culture in the
business units of Vodafone Company in the UK and Albania and its impact on the business
performance of the two units of the same company.
The objectives of the study are as follows:
 To examine through literature review the impact of organisation culture and working
practices on business performance
 To understand the barriers / noticed barriers that Vodafone culture and working practices
bring on to the business performance
 To explore the benefits that Vodafone culture and working practices have on business
performance
 To provide the recommendations to Vodafone on how to address the challenges arising
from the difference in organisational culture in two locations
The objectives will be achieved by conducting a research on the given topic. Literature

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review will be conducted to gain knowledge on various aspects of the organisational culture and
its impact, advantages and disadvantages. Primary and secondary data will be collected on the
Company and by applying mixed research methodology, the outcomes will be obtained.
1.4 Research questions
The primary research question is:
1. What impact of international culture and the working practices in different business units
in different nations have on the business performance of a company?
The secondary research questions are:
1. What are the factors of organisational culture and work practices that can influence the
business performance of an organisation?
2. What are the barriers or challenges that organisational culture brings on to the business
performance?
3. What are the benefits that the business performance gains from organisational culture?
1.5Significance/ importance of research
As stated by Denison, Lief and Ward (2004), the relationship between the work culture
and practices is quite significant in analysing the business performance of any company. Several
studies were conducted on the organisational practices, management theories and organisational
performances, which presented the issues regarding the factors influencing the business
performances; however, methodological and conceptual deficiencies still, persist in the field (Fey
and Denison 2003). As stated by McKenna (2012), culture is a significant factor of the society,
which has a considerable impact not only on the way of life, but also on the various factors, such

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as, company work culture, way of doing businesses, political scenario etc. A strong culture of a
company is expected to determine the nature of ways of doing business, and along with that, also
brings some benefits or advantages in terms of different types of organisational relationship, such
as, cooperation, competition and empathy among the employees.
In regard to the above characteristics and benefits of the organisational culture and its
impacts, Dawson (2010) suggested that companies focus on providing a positive work culture to
maintain a harmonious and supportive environment, which can influence the employees
positively and makes a business contribute something important in the industry, as well as in the
society. Thus, the research study provides an evaluation of the various dimensions of
organisational culture and how the dimensions affect the characteristics of the business and its
outcome, in terms of performance and profitability. The purpose of the study aimed at
understanding the strategies and the limitations that exist in regard to the organisational work
practices and culture of a company and the impact that they have on the company’s performance.
The researcher has identified and explored several theories related to the research topic and
presented the gathered information in the context of two business units of Vodafone Company in
two different countries and analytical findings on the same to address the research questions in
the most logical manner.

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Chapter 2: LITERATURE REVIEW
This chapter presents the knowledge gained by the researcher through the exploration of
various literatures on the research topic and related subjects. This chapter helps to introduce the
background and contexts of the research topic to the readers. It also helps to understand the
aspects of the research topic and its implications in the light of various theories and previous
researches by other scholars. In this study, the researcher has explored many previous literatures
and gained an in-depth knowledge about the research topic, that is, organisational culture and its
effects on business functions and performances. The gained knowledge is shared in this chapter
to create a background impression for the topic.
2.1 International Human Resource Management (IHRM)
International Human Resource Management (IHRM) is a significant factor of business in
the times of globalization. When the companies are going global, the resource management also
needs to apply techniques that are suitable for international business functioning. According to
Brewster et al. (2016), IHRM can be defined as the Human Resource Management issues that
arise from the internationalization process of the business activities, and the HRM policies,
strategies and practices, which are pursued by the international firms. In other words, IHRM is
the process of understanding, analysing and applying all the human resources activities as
internal and external activities within an international business, that have a strong impact on the
business activities and outcomes (Caldas, Tonelli and Lacombe 2011). The major responsibilities
of IHRM include selection and preparation of the resources for efficient business operations in a
foreign land. It helps a company to build and develop its identity, work culture and working
practices in a different nation, where to implement a successful business establishment, it is

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necessary to adapt the policies, practices and culture of the new country (Briscoe, Tarique and
Schuler 2012).
Storey (2007) states that IHRM plays an important role in the organisation and promotion
of a company in different nation, by highlighting the role of the strategic dimension and
engagement of the employees while implementing the HR activities. IHRM is referred to as a
distinctive approach attempting to manage the benefits and the level of competition through the
strategic development of vastly skilled workforce with the use of different structural, cultural and
personnel techniques (Dowling2008).
There are some fundamental differences in IHRM and domestic HRM activities and
strategies. IHRM addresses a broad range of activities covering the international operations of
the firm, which includes dealing with employees of different nationalities. Hence, IHRM are
exposed to greater risks in the international activities. It also has to manage many external
factors, such as, foreign government regulations, foreign labour laws and employment policies
(Cascio 2018). Thus, the political, economical and cultural factors of a different country have
significant influence on the HR activities for an international business. As stated by Cascio and
Aguinis (2005), the purpose of IHRM is to gain competitive advantage in the market by hiring
and enhancing the skills, knowledge, efficiency as well as productivity of the employees through
the procedure of procurement, allocation, assign, providing the training and development, and
effective utilization of the human resources in an international environment. In the times of
growing globalization, advanced information technology and growth in the modern business
environment for creating and adopting new process and concepts of the human resources
management adopted in implementing the IHRM in the global companies (Scullion, Collings and
Gunnigle 2007). The strategies of IHRM must be specific for different countries while

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maintaining the basic principle and values of the company. The IHRM managers must possess
interpersonal skills, cultural empathy, negotiation skills, strategic thinking, analytical and
conceptual abilities to handle sensitive issues. At the same time, they must have knowledge on
international business, international finance, international labour laws, characteristics of local
labour market, cultural differences of the nations, and regulations regarding international benefits
and compensation (Boxall and Purcell 2011).
Brewster, Sparrow and Harris(2005) highlight that the aspect of HR activities is similar in
both the model of IHRM and domestic HRM, except that it has a third aspect of foreign
countries. It includes three aspects. Firstly, HR activities, that is, procure, utilize and allocate;
secondly, types of employees, that is, home or parent country nationals (PCN), host country
nationals (HCN) and third country nationals (TCN); and lastly, home, host and third countries.
According to Festing et al. (2013), IHRM was initially focused on expatriate management
and related challenges for the MNEs and international managers, however, the field of IHRM are
characterized today by three approaches, which are cross cultural management, comparative
industrial relations and HRM and aspects of the HRM in the multinational firms. The cross-
cultural management includes the examination and evaluation of the human behaviour in an
organisation from an international and specifically intercultural perspective. As per the second
approach, the HRM practices and cultures in different countries are analysed, compared and
described to understand the HRM systems of different countries. Lastly, as per the third
approach, the issue of expatriate management and the challenges of the global standardization
and local adaptation of HRM in international companies are evaluated during implementation of
IHRM. For coping with the global challenges, knowledge from all the three aspects is necessary
(Tayeb 2004).

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2.2Organisational culture
As stated by Cameron and Quinn (2011), organisational culture is the main aspect of the
organisational environment and is a major driving force of the way of working in an
organisation. The work culture helps in creating an identity for any organisation, domestic or
international. The values, beliefs and principles of the organisations represent the culture of the
organisation. Organisational culture is referring to the emergence, which is an extremely
complex and incalculable state resulting from the factors, such as, employees, the work and the
customers (Parker 2000). On the other hand, organisational culture is defined by Ogbonna and
Harris (2000) as the set of assumptions and guidelines that define the happenings and the
behaviour in an organisation. It also determines the perception of employees as well as the
customers regarding a company. Denison (1990) highlighted in his paper that four concepts can
be used for evaluating the impact of organisational culture on the effective performance of the
businesses. Those four concepts are based on the involvement of the members, adaptation
capacity for responding towards new circumstances, while maintaining the fundamentals, a
consistent and strong culture and a properly defined mission for a direction as well as meaning.
Schein (2010) denotes that organisational culture heavily depends on the leadership. How
the organisation will function, how the employees will behave each other, the level of
coordination, cooperation and support within the organisation, the values and principles are
significantly influenced by the leaders in an organisation. The leaders play a major role in
shaping the work environment; hence, command and control are implemented by the leaders
with the aid of new and advanced technologies. On the other hand, Alvesson (2012) state that
organisational culture management is essential so that the personal interest of the employees do
not conflict with the organisational interest. However, the national culture influences the

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corporate culture in a significant way and the nature and behaviour of the people in the
organisation reflect that. The effects of the corporate culture and business practices on the
individuals is an important determining factor of the performance and the HR managers are
responsible for effective and efficient implementation of the strategies to motivate the employees
and bring out the optimum outcome (Homburg and Pflesser 2000). Kusluvan (2003) argued that
corporate culture plays a fundamental role as a social controller and brings a direct impact on the
behaviour and attitude of the employees through the beliefs, values and principles of the
company. Choi and Scott (2008) site another important impact in their paper, that employee
involvement level will increase and positive relationships will be built in organisation provided
there is a flexible, progressive and cooperative working environment.
According to Schein (2010), the word ‘culture’ in regard to the corporate world implies
the interactions and influences of the company and the environment where they are located. The
culture of the region or nation determines the characteristics of the corporate culture, which is
reflected through the business and HR activities and the norms (Yasin, Alavi, and Zimmerer
2002). It is highly important in case of multinational companies or any business that operates
globally. The cultural elements often indicate about how the business will be conducted and what
could be the possible outcome. Since, every nation has different and unique culture, the
organisations also need to act and perform according to that culture and else they would be
driven out of the market eventually. The annual report of Great Place to Work shows that the
employees, who consistently experienced a caring workplace, 44% more likely to work for a
company with above average revenue growth (Greatplacetowork.com 2017). Along with many
other influential factors, the intentions for providing a caring work environment, with healthy

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competition works as a motivational factor for the employees and encourage them to perform
their best.
2.3 Working Practices and Business Performance
The term ‘work practices’ is interpreted as the representative of the new techniques
developed in the field of HRM, through which the employers implement a structured way of
working with the aim of achieving positive outcomes for the company (Gould-Williams and
Davies 2005). This concept explains and positions the work practices as a factor to deter the
employers from having their employees checked, helping them to perceive and consider the
employees as valuable asset to the company (Brown and Duguid 2000). This aims to encourage
and motivate the employees to exploit their potential capacity and knowledge about the work and
responsibility in performing the business activities. Wright, Gardner and Moynihan (2003) argue
that organisational work practices are those activities that bring a sustainable competitive
advantage for the companies. Ryan and Deci (2000) define the term ‘performance’ as the level of
achievement of the goals and objectives. In regard to the concept of business performance,
various scholars used this term to establish the effectiveness and efficiency of an organisation.
According to Camisón and Villar-López (2014), organisational performance represents the
ability of the organisations for achieving the goals in a more efficient and productive manner
with optimum allocation of available resources. This version henceforth focuses also on another
determining factor, that is, the availability of the resources. However, in many scholar papers,
the emphasis is also put on the structure of the organisation, which includes the hierarchy,
technologies, processes etc. along with the wider participation of the employees in decision
making. All these factors have important roles in shaping the organisational work practices.

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Kroon, Van De Voorde and Timmers (2013) show in their paper that high performance
work practices (HPWPs) are different types of HRM practices, which are aimed at stimulating
the employee as well as the organisational practices. However, small organisations cannot
always apply the HPWPs and the authors found through their study that, the lack of available
resources, size of the organisation and owner’s attitude, knowledge, expertise, experience and
strategic decision-making ability play a significant role in implementing the HPWPs in the small
organisations. The bundles of HPWPs can be found in the smaller companies provided the
above-mentioned factors are present.
Tamkin (2004) showed in the paper that, the HPWPs include the practices and strategies
on implementing the training and development programs, participation of all the employees,
communication, compensation, recognition, which help the employees to enhance their skills and
feel motivated to enhance their productivity. However, the improvements are difficult to measure
as the size and nature of the companies are different. In case of multinational companies, HPWPs
are designed by considering the specific norms of the host countries.
Yen, Wang and Kao (2015) show in their paper that, in the context of Chinese culture,
interpersonal relationships, or guanxi is quite significant in determining the impact of the
organisational culture on the business productivity. They highlighted that HPWPs consist of
various cross-departmental education and training, performance oriented evaluation, salaries,
morality, teamwork and long-term client relationships. They also suggested from the findings
that the guanxi or interpersonal relationships include inter-organisational, intra-organisational,
and external. The intra-organisational guanxi affected the HPWPs directly while the inter-
organisational guanxi had impact on the organisational performance directly. The external
relationships moderate the relationship between the organisational performance and HPWPs.

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Hence, it can be said that, there are various dimensions that affect the work practices and
organisational performances.
2.4Hofstede National Cultural Dimensions
Professor Geert Hofstede conducted a study on how cultural features affect the values in
the workplace. As stated by Hofstede (2003), culture represents a set a collective programming
of the human mind, distinguishing the members of one category or group of people from the
others. National culture refers to a distinctive set of values, beliefs, and norms followed by the
members of national groups. Hofstede categorized these cultural features on the basis of 6 unique
characteristics or dimensions. Those dimensions are: power distance index (PDI), individualism
versus collectivism (IDV), masculinity versus femininity (MAS), uncertainty avoidance index
(UAI), long term orientation versus short term normative orientation (LTO) and indulgence
versus restraint (IND).
In terms of PDI, higher score indicates that people in the society tend to accept the
hierarchy in the society and power is not equally distributed, while countries with a lower score
tend to distribute the power equally. Regarding the IDV score, the countries with a higher place a
high value to the individualism and pay respect to the right for freedom and privacy, and
individuals are more inclined towards personal benefit while, a lower score indicates that the
countries place more importance on tightly-knit group frameworks and maintaining harmony
among the groups (Marcus and Gould 2000). MAS score is a measure for the attitude of the
countries towards achievement, competitiveness, assertiveness and material rewards. A higher
MAS score indicates masculine dimension of culture, which pushes a country to giver higher
preference towards competitiveness, accomplishments, material rewards etc. On the other hand,
femininity stands for the preference for modesty, cooperation, quality of life and caring nature.

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The UAI expresses the extent of risk aversion nature of the nation in the cases of ambiguity and
uncertainty. A higher score indicates that the country maintains rigid behaviour and is intolerant
towards unorthodox ideas and behaviours. Regarding the LTO score, a higher score reflects a
pragmatic nature of the society and places high value to education and thrift. People are more
inquisitive and have long term perspectives. On the other hand, a lower score indicates a
normative and short-term approach, and preference for short term gains and faster results. Lastly,
regarding the IND score, higher score refers to the preference for indulging to enjoy life and
have fun, while on the other hand, lower IND score indicates preference for restraints in the life
by implementing social norms.
These dimensions are important to explain the nature of culture followed in every field in
a country or society. As stated by Altaf (2011), the pattern of behaviour of people and the
organisations in a society often can be explained by applying the Hofstede’s cultural dimensions
model. An organisation in any nation will follow these cultural dimensions in their work
practices and in case for multinational companies; they need to consider these dimensions while
establishing their business units in another foreign country.
2.5Organisational cultural dimension by Hofstede
Geert Hofstede also introduced 6 dimensions of organisational culture. This model is
more focused on the corporate or work culture. It is aimed to help the organisations to assess
their values and principles and make strategies to be more efficient in its functioning. Hofstede
designed this model framework to provide in-sights on the level of fit between the actual culture
of the nation or society and the strategic direction taken by an organisation in its business
(Hofstede 2011). The organisational dimensions are as follows:

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 Means oriented versus goal oriented: This focuses on the effectiveness of the
organisation. The means oriented organisations put more emphasis on how the work to be
done, while the goal oriented organisations focus more on what needs to be achieved that
is, they emphasize on achieving specific milestones or goals, even if it involves risk risks.
Hence, people go out of the way to achieve a goal in goal oriented organisations while
people in means oriented organisations put limited effort on the work.
 Internally driven versus externally driven: Highly internally driven organisations put
emphasis on perceiving at what would be best for the customers. However, in case of
externally driven organisations, they put emphasis on meeting the requirements given by
the customers. Results are more pragmatic in nature in this case.
 Easy going work discipline versus strict work discipline: This explains the extent of
internal structuring, discipline and controlling. An easy-going culture allows for a
flexible structure, lack of predictability, and less discipline and control. It also encourages
improvisations and innovations. On the other hand, in a strict work culture, employees
are very punctual and cost conscious and provide less scope for creativity and
innovations and improvisations (Hofstede and McCrae 2004).
 Local versus professional: In a local organisation, the employees are internally focused
in the local working unit, while in the professional culture, the identity of the employees
are determined by the profession.
 Open system versus closed system: This indicates the level of accessibility of a
company. In the open culture, the system is willing to provide a welcoming and
comfortable environment to the new and existing employees while in a closed system, the
new employees find difficulties to fit in.

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 Employee oriented versus work oriented: This dimension focuses on the management
philosophy of the organisations. The employee oriented organisations take into account
the personal matters of the employees and take responsibility for the employee welfare.
On the other hand, the work oriented organisations put high pressure to get the work done
at any cost (McSweeney 2002).
These dimensions help in understanding the organisational structure and their principles in the
business. Combined with the national cultural dimensions, the organisational cultural dimensions
are useful in explaining the nature and intention of the business activities performed by the
organisations. Both of these cultural dimensions are interconnected and in case of the
multinational business operations, these factors play a major role in determining the culture to be
followed in the workplace. Minkov and Hofstede (2011) showed in their study on comparative
analysis of national versus organisational culture in the context of two organisations in UK and
Sweden, that the national cultural dimensions shape and influence the organisational culture.
Hence, it is necessary to have a cultural awareness, especially in the business of multinational
organisation, so that cultural clashes can be avoided and effective communication can be
established within the organisation among the people belonging to different cultures.
In times of globalization and rapid and extensive global expansion of businesses, the
cultural awareness is extremely necessary. Fang (2003) showed in his literature that unless the
organisation know and understand the cultural differences, it can never establish a successful
business in a foreign country (Paijo and Vonheim 2017). At the same time, organisational culture
affects the employee motivation, job satisfaction, encourages individual learning, affects internal
and external communication, effectively influences decision making, solving clashes and
conflicts, and helps in improving organisational values. Regarding the international businesses,

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the organisational culture must be aligned with the national culture for effective and efficient
functioning (Kaynak 2003).
2.6 High and low context culture
Edward T. Hallprovided an important insight on understanding the cultural differences
between countries. This concept explains the cultural differences by introducing high and low
contexts. These indicate the norms, which are followed while exchanging messages and how
much the contexts mean in certain conditions. As per Hall, the messages in high context culture
often carry implicit meaning with more information than what is actually spoken, while in the
low context culture, the messages are quite explicit and have clear meaning, without having any
implied meaning (Dahl 2004). Thus, in a higher context culture, people focus more on the way
the message is conveyed than the message itself, and on the context of the moment while in the
lower context culture, the words carry major implications and hence, people need to put forward
the message clearly and explicitly without having any implied meaning.
Wood and Wilberger (2015) highlighted in their literature that in regard to the
international business operations, people need to consider the cultural context of the nations.
While expanding the business in a foreign country, an organisation must create the cultural
awareness about the new country, which includes the research and understanding about the
context of culture. Effective communication can take place when the cultural contexts are known
by the business. It is necessary to incorporate necessary changes in business strategies, activities
and communication while setting up a subsidiary business unit in a foreign country. Würtz
(2017) shows in her study that the application of websites are different in high and low context
cultures. She found that people in high context culture prefer to use visual communication
methods and visual effects in the websites for conveying the messages efficiently and effectively

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than their low context counterparts. Hence, this creates a big difference in communication
methods, which can pose challenge for the companies which originally belonged to low context
countries and expanded their business in high context countries (Collings, Scullion and Morley
2007). This creates an impact on the business interactions and dealings. The organisations need
to change their communication strategies as per the high or low context of the culture.
2.7 Theoretical framework
Zheng, Yang and McLean (2010) showed in their study that knowledge management acts
as a bridge in building relationships between organisational culture, strategy, structure and
effectiveness. Data was collected from 301 organisations and it was found that knowledge
management fully mediates the effect of organisational culture on the organisational
effectiveness and partially mediates the effect of organisational strategy and structure on the
organisational effectiveness. Thus, it can be said that, the relationship between organisational
culture and organisational performance and effectiveness. Hence, while studying the impact of
work culture on the business performance, the researcher must consider the effect of knowledge
performance.
Naranjo-Valencia, Jiménez-Jiménez and Sanz-Valle (2011)showed the impact of
innovation in attaining competitive advantage for the organisations. They showed that
organisational culture and innovation in a company are closely related. The organisations, that
encourage innovation are most likely to sustain in the industry, while, the organisational culture
that puts limitations in the business functioning, will mostly lead to setbacks for the company.
Thus, considering these studies, the researcher will focus on exploring the research topic in a
new angle.

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2.8 Literature gap
Although there are numerous studies on various aspects of work culture and work
practices and business performances, there is no evidence on how the same parent organisation
might have different organisational culture in different business units located in different
countries. It can be expected that since the parent organisation has already formulated a business
strategy for the home country and that helped them to capture a market share, they might apply
the same formula in the expanding business units. However, as seen from the above discussion,
the countries have different cultural dimensions as well as contexts. The interpersonal
relationships within an organisation depend on many factors, which influence the work culture
and practices. The employee performance is influenced by all these practices. Hence, through
this study, the researcher will be exploring the situations that can arise when a company operates
in two different countries. How the different cultures impact the organisational culture and the
work practices and how that is reflected in the performance of the organisation will be examined
by the researcher to contribute a significant finding in the literature on this topic.

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Chapter 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
This chapter presents the research methodology for the study on organisational culture
and performance of the business. Research methodology refers to the general plan of the
researcher about approaching the research topic and addresses the research questions (Saunders
and Lewis 2012). This represents the stages and framework for data collection, sampling and
data analysis to fulfil the research objectives in the most logical and unambiguous manner. The
researcher illustrates the research outline, research paradigm, research approach, strategy design,
data collection, sampling and the process of data analysis, adopted for this given study. Those are
explained below.
3.1 Research outline
The impact of organisational or workplace culture on the organisational performance is
the topic of this research study. To get a clearer view on this subject, the researcher has chosen to
conduct a comparative study on organisational culture in the context of a single company, with
office locations in two different countries. This type of study is beneficial in case of the research
studies that revolve around any comparison. Since, the researcher planned to study the impact of
culture on the business performances; it is beneficial to study the same cultural parameters in two
different locations for the same company to maintain the parity in the study. Thus, the research
objectives and questions were framed in a manner that could bring out specific information on
the topic. The researcher has started out with an all-inclusive literature review to present an idea
about the research topic. In the next step, the researcher chose to collect primary data on the
topic through a survey and interviews. After the data was collected, the researcher applied mixed
methodology for data analysis. Quantitative method of analysis was applied on the survey

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responses and the interview responses were analysed using thematic analysis under qualitative
data analysis process.
3.2 Research paradigm
Research paradigm represents the set of beliefs and assumptions that the researcher
would follow in conducting the research study. This helps the reader to comprehend the direction
of the study and vision and thought process of the researcher. The source, nature and
development of the information create the foundation for choosing the research philosophy or
paradigm (Wahyuni 2012). There are many research paradigms, among which four research
philosophies or paradigms are most commonly used, namely, positivism, interpretivism, realism
and pragmatism (Marczyk, DeMatteo and Festinger 2017). Positivism allows the researcher to
analyse the data using scientific method under quantitative research process. Interpretivism
allows the researcher to apply the cognitive skills of observation and interpretation while
analysing the data (Ormston et al. 2014). Under this philosophy, the researcher follows
qualitative research and analysis method to get to the conclusion. Under realism, the researcher
follows the approach of independence of the reality from human mind (Hughes and Sharrock
2016). Vision of the researcher is very crucial in this case. A scientific approach is necessary for
developing the knowledge in this philosophy. Lastly, pragmatism allows the researcher to apply
both the qualitative and quantitative research method in the study (Goldkuhl 2012).
According to Goldkuhl (2012), the essence of pragmatism lies in the actions and the
change and the practical consequences of the concept or idea are the actions taken by those.
Hence, this research philosophy accepts the concepts to be appropriate only if they support the
actions. As stated by Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill (2012), pragmatism recognises the concept
that there can be many ways to interpret the research phenomenon and not one particular

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approach or point of view can fully explain it and there could be many realities and views on it.
While positivism and interpretivism focus on a particular aspect to describe the research topic,
pragmatism allows the researcher to apply both the philosophies to present the topic in broad
manner. The research question plays the role of determinant of the research method to be
applied. As stated by Morgan (2014), there are many situations where the researcher needs to
explain the research topic by using scientific knowledge as well as using interpretation.
Pragmatism allows the researcher to choose either qualitative or quantitative research strategy or
both depending on the nature of the research question. Hence, pragmatism creates the scope for
using both types of research method; however, which method is most suitable needs to be
determined by the researcher. In the given research, the researcher followed the pragmatism
philosophy or paradigm of research, that is, both the quantitative and qualitative research
methods were applied. This philosophy allowed the researcher to explore the research topic from
both the angle to make the horizon of the findings broad. Primary data was collected through a
survey and interview. There was a research hypothesis, consisting a dependent and an
independent variable and the condition was tested using scientific, that is, statistical tools. The
survey responses were converted into quantitative data to perform the statistical operations. On
the other hand, the interview responses were analysed using qualitative method. The researcher
applied his interpretation skills and analysed the data using thematic analysis.
3.3 Research approach
Research approach illustrates the line or direction of the study that the researchers adopt
to collect data and analyse those to answer the research questions. Research approach is
generally categorised into three sections, namely, inductive, deductive and abductive. As stated
by Knobe and Nichols (2013), under inductive research, the topic is narrowed down as per the

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research questions and the researcher explores a new phenomenon or addresses the phenomenon
from a different and new perspective. This approach mainly deals with qualitative study. The
researcher must be free from any preconceived notion while following this approach of research
(Gray 2013). On the other hand, under deductive approach, the study starts with a research
hypothesis, which is usually examined against established theories using quantitative method.
However, this method can be applied for qualitative study also. Lastly, as pointed out by Hughes
and Sharrock (2016), under abductive research, the researcher needs to find out the most
appropriate solution from a set of potential solutions to the research problem.
In the given research, the researcher chose to apply the deductive research approach to
examine the relationship between the organisational culture and work performance of the
Vodafone Company in the UK and Albania. According to Sekaran and Bougie (2016), deductive
research approach allows the researcher to develop a research hypothesis or research questions
and design a research strategy to examine the hypothesis or answer the questions on the basis of
existing theory. Through this approach, the researcher makes inferences about the research
problem supported by established theories, hence, from a particular theory, a general observation
is described. As stated by Fetters, Curry and Creswell (2013), when a particular case implies any
causal relationship, between the variables, then deductive research approach would enable the
researcher to test if that holds for general circumstances also. Thus, deductive approach creates
the scope for deducting the conclusions from the propositions or premises. Marei et al. (2017)
stated that, deductive approach has few benefits, such as, it is less time consuming, suitable to
explain the causal relationships between the variables and the concepts, and it provides
opportunity to measure the research issue quantitatively and sometimes qualitatively. On the
other hand, this approach is quite passive and mechanical, in which the researcher only tests the

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hypothesis using scientific tools. To overcome this problem, the researcher applied the
qualitative method by conducting interviews and applying interpretation skills to analyse those.
Hence, in this research study, the researcher tested the causal relationship between the variables,
that is, organisational culture and business performance, against the findings from various
organisational culture theories and previous research works.
3.4 Research strategy
Creswell (2014) highlights that research strategy exhibits the plan of the researcher in the
process of conducting the study. This is the fundamental plan adopted by the researcher to
answer the research questions, and determines the way that the researcher would be taking to
fulfil the research objectives. There are various types of research strategies, such as, case studies,
experiment, survey, grounded theory, action research, archival research and narrative inquiry
(Brannen 2017). In this research study, the researcher applied the case study strategy. Vodafone
Company has been chosen as the case study company. This strategy is beneficial to narrow down
the research topic and examine the research topic in the context of real life scenario (Hancock
and Algozzine 2016). On the other hand, this makes the study quite specific. To overcome this
disadvantage, the researcher should support or validate the primary data findings with
information from secondary data. Hence, the researcher chose the case study strategy among the
others.
3.5 Research design
According to Myers, Well and Lorch Jr. (2013), research design is based on the approach
of the research and it determines the structure of the study. There are various types of research
design, such as, descriptive or observational, correlational, experimental and quasi-experimental
(Mitchell and Jolley 2012). Descriptive research design allows the researcher to describe the

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research phenomena with the aid of data collected. It does necessarily require any research
hypothesis. Correlational design allows the researcher to examine if there is any correlation or
cause and effect relationship between the research variable. This requires a hypothesis and the
data is analysed using statistical analytical tools. Under experimental and quasi-experimental
study, the researcher applies scientific tools to perform an experiment to study the relationship
between the variables. Under quasi-experimental design, randomized sample groups are not
used. These research designs are part of quantitative research design. Under quantitative research
design, the data is analysed using scientific method or statistical tools. The numbers or facts are
more important and logical outcomes are obtained through scientific calculations. Based on the
statistical result, the decisions regarding the research problem are taken (Marczyk, DeMatteo and
Festinger 2017).
The other type of research design is the qualitative research design. According to
Ormston et al. (2014), qualitative research design focuses more on the words spoken than the
numbers. In this design, the involvement of the researcher with the study is more than in the
quantitative design. The observational and interpretation skills of the researcher are highly
important in this type of research design. Thematic analysis is most commonly used under
qualitative study.
In the given research, the researcher applied mixed research design, that is, both the
qualitative and quantitative research design. Correlational research design under quantitative
study was applied to get the answers to the research questions. In the study, the researcher tried
to find out if there is any relation between the variables, that is, organisational culture and
organisational performance and for that, a research hypothesis was formulated to examine the
relationship. The critical analysis approach is also used by the researcher to conduct the literature

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review. In this paper, the researcher has formulated the research questions in a manner that
requires critical research on the topics. The critical analysis was conducted on the literatures to
gain knowledge about the research questions. Qualitative method was applied for analysing the
interview responses, while quantitative research method was applied for analysing the survey
response.
3.6 Data collection process
The researcher has collected primary data to conduct the research study. There are two
types of data, primary and secondary. The data, which is obtained directly from the field of
study, through surveys, interviews, focus group and observations, is called primary data and the
data, which is collected from authentic published sources, such as, books, journals, newspaper
articles, official websites, government reports, annual reports of companies etc. is called
secondary data (Beer and Faulkner 2014). Primary data helps to get a first-hand overview
regarding the research topic and its implications on the people directly affected or associated
with the research issue. On the other hand, secondary data is helpful in validating the findings
from the primary data analysis. Based on the nature of the study and its requirement, the type of
data to be used is determined by the researcher (Savin-Baden and Major 2013).
The researcher collected primary data through questionnaire and interview for this study.
Both of these methods of data collection were used to get quantitative as well as qualitative data.
However, primary data was chosen for this study as that would help in getting the perceptions of
the employees of Vodafone in the UK and Albania regarding the cultural differences and its
impact on the work culture and business performance.

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The researcher used a survey questionnaire and interview questions as research
instruments. The survey questionnaire was made in a simple and easy language so that the
participants can understand the research issue and also do not feel forced or obliged to answer
the survey questions. The questionnaire was prepared using Google form and circulated to the
participants personally. Employees of Vodafone UK and Albania participated in the survey and it
took place over a period of four days. The survey questionnaire contained 12 close ended
questions and was divided into demographic and non-demographic parts. The demographic
section collected data on age, gender, years of association with the company and educational
qualification of the employees, while the non-demographic section focused on research topic
oriented questions. The responses were extracted in MS Excel file. The researcher prepared very
specific interview questions to find out specific answers on the cultural differences between the
two countries and its impact on the organisational work culture and business performance. The
managers of the company were chosen for the interview to get a detailed overview on the
research questions. The interview was conducted personally where the questions were asked to
the managers and the responses were recorded and later on analysed to get the findings.
Secondary sources were consulted for literature review for the study.
3.7 Sampling technique
Sampling is very essential in case of data collection. Sampling refers to the drawing of a
smaller section of the larger population. A sample is a subset of the large population which bears
the same characteristics. There are different techniques of sampling under two broad categories,
namely, probability and non-probability sampling. Under probability sampling, each sample has
an equal chance of being chosen and it is random. Simple random sampling, cluster sampling,
stratified sampling etc. are probability sampling. This type reduces the sampling error and

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biasness in the data (Lane 2014). On the other hand, non-probability sampling is not random and
each sample does not have equal chance of being selected. The judgment of the researcher plays
a major role in this. The most commonly used non-probability samplings are purposive
sampling, quota sampling, snow ball sampling etc. Purposive sampling is based on the
researcher’s judgment regarding the sample and it helps in reducing uncertainty in data
collection (Reid 2013).
In the given research, the researcher applied simple random sampling to choose the
employees for the survey. Both the locations of Vodafone Company have quite a large number of
employees. The researcher made a sample of 25 employees in each of the locations by using
simple random sampling. On the other hand, 2 managers in each location were chosen using
purposive, that is, non-probability sampling. This was done to get a more focused and in-depth
knowledge about the organisational culture and its impact.
3.8 Data analysis process
The researcher applied mixed methodology for data analysis. The survey responses were
collected using five-point rating scale, such as, the Likert scale. Those responses were converted
into numeric scores, in which 1 denotes strongly disagree and 5 represents strongly agree. These
values were analysed using SPSS version 20. Descriptive statistics, reliability test, correlation,
regression, cross tabulation was performed accordingly to get the relationship between the
dependent and independent variables. Tools such as, charts, graphs and tables were used for
visual representation of the data. The interview responses were analysed using thematic analysis
under qualitative data analysis process.

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For the literature review, the researcher also used thematic analysis. By studying various
literatures, the researcher addressed the primary and secondary research questions. For example,
through critical analysis of the literature, the researcher enlightened various aspects of the
international cultural dimensions and different styles of work practices, as well as, potential
challenges or barriers, influential factors and the benefits gained by the organisations from the
organisational culture. These findings were tested by analysing the primary data collected
through the survey.
3.9 Ethical issues
Since the research study involved employees of the Vodafone Company in the UK and
Albania, there are few ethical issues regarding involving participants, which was addressed
beforehand. Informed consent was taken by the researcher before conducting the survey and
interview. None of the participants were forced or bribed to answer the questions. Moreover,
anonymity of the respondents was maintained by not collecting their names and employee IDs.
Confidentiality of the data was also strictly maintained and it was assured that the data will only
be used for academic purpose.

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Chapter 4: DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS
This chapter presents the analysis of the data and the findings obtained from the analysis.
Data analysis is done to get the logical findings from the information collected to conduct the
research. In this study, the researcher collected primary data through survey and interview. 25
employees and 2 managers, each from the two Vodafone locations in the UK and in Albania
were chosen for the survey and the interview. Thematic analysis and reliability test were
performed on the survey responses while thematic analysis under qualitative research method
was applied on the interview responses. SPSS version 20 was used for quantitative analysis. The
survey questionnaire contained 15 close ended questions and the researcher framed few very
simple questions for the interview, which addressed the research topic in a comprehensive
manner. In both the locations, the researcher used same questionnaire to make the comparison of
the responses easier. The findings are described below.
4.1 Demographic analysis
Demographic analysis is based on the demographic factors, which depict the socio-
economic features of the sample. In this study, the researcher collected data on age group,
gender, educational qualification, and working experience with the Vodafone Company in
respective countries. These factors are important to get an idea about the socio-economic
background of the people who participated in the survey. These questions were categorized
under Personal Details section for the participants.

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Vodafone UK
Figure 1: Gender profile of the participants
It is seen that the number of female participants are almost half of the male participants in the
Vodafone UK.

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Figure 2: Age groups of the participants
The researcher made four age groups to make clusters. The respondents belonged to different age
groups and this was assumed to be beneficial as senior people would have a better knowledge
about the culture and its impact than the younger people. The age group started with 21 years as
there are very few employees below the age of 21 years and those are mostly part time workers,
and are students. Hence, there are very less chances that those employees would continue longer
for the company. Majority of the respondents belonged to the age group of 41-50 years (36%),
followed by 31-40 years (32%) and 21 – 30 years (28%).
Figure 3: Work experience in Vodafone UK
Regarding the work experience with the company, majority, that is, 9 (36%) of the 25
participants have been working with Vodafone UK for 6 to 10 years, followed by 6 (24%)
working for 1 to 5 years and equal number of employees was working for 11 to 15 years. Only 4
(16%) participants were working for Vodafone UK for less than 1 year.

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Figure 4: Educational qualification of the participants
It is seen that 40% of the respondents hold the graduate degree, while 32% are post graduates
and 28% are diploma holders.

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Vodafone Albania
Figure 5: Gender profile of the participants
It is seen that the number of male and female participants in Vodafone Albania is exactly similar
to that for the Vodafone UK.

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Figure 6: Age groups of the participants
Among the 25 participants, equal number, that is, 8 (32%) individuals belonged to each of the
two groups 31 – 40 years and 41 – 50 years, followed by 5 (20%) people in the group of 21 – 30
years and 4 (16%) people in 51 – 60 years. This pattern of age group of the participants is similar
to that in the UK.
Figure 7: Work experience with Vodafone Albania
32% of the participants were working for 6 to 10 years in Vodafone Albania and 24% of the
respondents worked for 1 to 5 years, while an equal number of people (24%) also worked for 11
to 15 years. 3 respondents were working for less than 1 year and only 2 participants are quite
senior with more than 15 years of association with the company.

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Figure 8: Educational qualifications of the respondents
44% of the respondents are graduates in Vodafone Albania, followed by 36% post graduate and
20% are diploma holder.
From the demographic study, it can be inferred that, the ratio of female participants to
male participants is similar in both the UK and Albania. There are mostly senior members in
both the locations of Vodafone, with a significant number of years of association with the
company, which helped them to gather a considerable amount of knowledge on organisational
culture and work practices as well the business performance of the company in both the
locations. Most of the respondents in both the countries are graduates, with almost similar
number holding post graduation and diploma. Thus, it can be inferred that the educational
qualifications of the employees are almost similar among the two locations.

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4.2 Non-demographic factors
The following 11 questions addressed the non-demographic factors of the study. The
questions were framed in a manner so that they focus on different culture and work practices to
examine the impact on the business performance in two different locations of the Vodafone
Company as well as if there is any significant difference in the culture. Since, the study aims to
explore the impact of organisational culture and work practices on the performance of the
organisation; hence, the researcher included factors like supportive work environment, flexible
and transparent communication process, scopes for career growth, job satisfaction, valuation of
team and individual performance, attitude towards risk for business growth, encouragement
towards employee motivation and productivity, hierarchical rigidity, and perception of the
employees regarding impact of work practices on organisational performance in the survey
questions. The findings from the survey are as follow.

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Figure 10: Vodafone UK/Albania provides supportive environment in the work place
Vodafone UK
Vodafone Albania
As per the findings, it is seen that, 32% the respondents in the Vodafone UK office have agreed
and 28% strongly agreed that the organisation provides supportive work environment, only 12%
disagreed and strongly disagreed and 16%, that is, 4 people answered neutral. On the other hand,

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in Vodafone Albania, 32% agreed and very few, that is, 8% strongly agreed, while 32% of the
respondents answered neutral on that, 28% disagreed and 8% strongly disagreed. Thus, it can be
understood from the responses that there is a difference in the working environment in UK and
Albania. Majority of the respondents feel that the working environment is supportive in the UK
location while the perception is slightly different in Albania.
Figure 11: Communication process in the organisation is transparent
Vodafone UK

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Vodafone Albania
Figure 12: Communication process in the organisation is flexible
Vodafone UK
Vodafone Albania

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The researcher categorized the characteristics of organisational communication into two
aspects, flexibility and transparency. Regarding the communication process, the difference in
two locations is apparent from the responses. While 20% strongly agreed and 40% agreed in the
UK location that they have a transparent organisational communication, there are 32%
respondents, who agreed, 32% answered neutral and 28% disagreed in the Albania location.
Regarding flexible communication process, in the UK location, 44% agreed to this question,
20% strongly agreed, and very few respondents disagreed and strongly disagreed, while, in
Albania, majority of the respondents (32%) disagreed, 28% answered neutral and 28% agreed.
The overall perception is that the organisational communication is more flexible, transparent and
convenient in the UK than in Albania.
Figure 12: Organisational culture in Vodafone UK/Albania provides enough opportunity
for career progress
Vodafone UK

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Vodafone Albania
Figure 13: Organisational culture in Vodafone UK/Albania provides enough opportunity
for job satisfaction
Vodafone UK

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Vodafone Albania
The opportunity for career progress and job satisfaction works as a motivational factor
for the employees of any organisation. The researcher again categorized these aspects into two
parts for the convenience of data collection and interpretation. Regarding career progress, 40%
of the respondents in Vodafone UK agreed that they get career growth opportunities in the
organisation, followed by 24% who strongly agreed. On the other hand, 40% respondents in
Vodafone Albania answered neutral, while 24% disagreed and 24% agreed. Hence, it can be said
that, the respondents in the UK location enjoy more opportunities for career growth than in
Vodafone Albania.
Regarding the job satisfaction, 40% of the respondents in Vodafone UK agreed and 24%
strongly agreed, and only while 16% answered neutral, 8% disagreed and 12% strongly
disagreed. On the other hand, majority (36%) of the respondents in the Tirana location of
Vodafone Albania answered neutral, while 28% disagreed and 24% agreed. Thus, it can be said

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that according to the respondents, Vodafone office in the UK provides more opportunity for job
satisfaction and career progress, which is relatively lower in Albania.
Figure 14: Team work is more valued in Vodafone UK/Albania than individual
performance
Vodafone UK

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Vodafone Albania
The researcher has included this question on the importance of team work and individual
performance based on the individualism versus collectivism cultural dimension of the Hofstede
model. Since, the study would explore the cultural impact on the organisational environment;
this cultural dimension would help to understand the influence of this factor on the work culture
and how that contributes in the business performance. As seen from the survey responses, it can
be found that, individual performance is more valued in the UK than the team work. The
situation is opposite in Albania. In Vodafone UK, 44% disagreed, 20% strongly disagreed and
28% answered neutral, while only 8% agreed to the question of whether team work is given
more importance than the individual performance. This follows from the cultural dimension
explained by Hofstede in his model. While Albania scores only 20, UK scores quite high, 89 in
this dimension (Hofstede-insights.com 2018). Hence, the group is more important than the
individuals in Albania, while in the UK, individualism is more valued. This is also reflected in
the survey results. 56% of the respondents agreed, 12% strongly agreed, 20% answered neutral
and 12% disagreed that team work is given more value in Vodafone Albania.
Figure 15: Business practices in Vodafone UK/Albania promote risk avoidance nature

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Vodafone UK
Vodafone Albania
This aspect was also followed from the uncertainty avoidance index from the Hofstede
cultural dimensions model. Albania scores 70 while UK scores 35 in this model (Hofstede-
insights.com 2018). Thus, people in UK have an open attitude towards taking risks while, people
in Albania are risk averse. From the survey results, this aspect is evident. In Vodafone UK,
majority (44%) of the participants disagreed, 20% strongly disagreed, 28% answered neutral and
only 8% agreed that the company promotes risk taking or uncertain attitude. This indicates that
the employees and management in Vodafone UK are not afraid to take risk in their business
operations and performances. On the other hand, a similar number of people in Vodafone
Albania agreed (56%) to this. 12% strongly agreed, 20% answered neutral and 12% disagreed to
this question. Thus, this indicates a sharp contrast in the behaviour of people in the two
countries, which follows from the cultural background.

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Figure 16: Organisational culture in Vodafone UK/Albania enhances employee motivation
Vodafone UK
Vodafone Albania

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Figure 17: Organisational culture in Vodafone UK/Albania enhances employee
productivity
Vodafone UK
Vodafone Albania

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Employee motivation and productivity are again two related concepts and thus, the
researcher addressed this aspect in two different questions. In the question of whether
organisational culture increases employee motivation, 48% of the employees in Vodafone UK
agreed and 16% strongly agreed, while 36% in Vodafone Albania responded neutral, 28%
disagreed and 24% agreed.
Regarding the employee productivity, 44% in the Vodafone UK agreed, 16% strongly
agreed, 24% answered neutral, and in Vodafone Albania, 32% responded neutral, 32% disagreed
and 28% agreed. Thus, it can be said, the employees in both the locations, especially in the UK,
feel that the organisation provides opportunity to enhance the motivation for the employees and
that helps to increase their productivity and performance.
Figure 17: Rigidity in hierarchy in the organisational culture in Vodafone UK/Albania
Vodafone UK

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Vodafone Albania
The question on hierarchical rigidity also followed from the power distance index of the
Hofstede model. The more is the score for power distance, the more is the hierarchical rigidity
and power inequality in the society (Hofstede-insights.com 2018). Albania scores 90 in PDI
while UK scores only 35. Thus, it can be said that Albania has a rigid hierarchical structure
compared to the UK. The response patterns also show the similar aspect in the organisation.
While 32% of the respondents in the UK disagreed and 32% strongly disagreed, 20% responded
neutral and very little percentage of respondents agreed; the pattern of response is different in
Vodafone Albania, where 32% strongly agreed and 40% agreed and only few people disagreed
on the question whether there exists hierarchical rigidity in the organisational structure.

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Figure 18: Organisational culture and work practices influence the business performance
in Vodafone UK/Albania
Vodafone UK
Vodafone Albania
In the last question, the researcher asked the opinions of the respondents in both the
locations on whether work culture and practices influence the business performance. In

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Vodafone UK, 44% agreed, 12% strongly agreed and 24% answered neutral. On the other hand,
in Vodafone Albania, the responses are quite similar indicating the importance of organisational
culture on the business performance. In Albania, 40% agreed, 8% strongly agreed, 20%
disagreed and 28% responded neutral. Thus, it can be said, that, people in both the countries have
a general perception that organisational culture and work practices have a direct influence on the
business performance.
4.3 Paired Sample T-Test
The researcher has compared two groups of individuals to evaluate the cultural
differences and its impact on the business practices and growth. The groups are related groups in
regard to the continuous dependent variables, namely, Hofstede dimensions, organisational
culture and productivity of the employees as a parameter of the organisational growth. To
compare the cultural aspects of the groups, the researcher computed the median of the survey
variables to for groups related to the cultural aspects and business growth and performed the
paired sample t-test using SPSS Version 20. To conduct the statistical calculation, the researcher
formulated the following hypotheses. These hypotheses are designed in a manner so that those
could address the research questions in the most relevant and appropriate manner.
Hypothesis 1
1H0 (Null hypothesis): there is no significant cultural difference between UK and Albania as per
Hofstede’s cultural dimensions.
1H1 (Alternate hypothesis): there is significant cultural difference between UK and Albania as
per Hofstede’s cultural dimensions.

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Hypothesis 2
2H0 (Null hypothesis): there is no significant difference between organisational culture in the
UK and Albania.
2H1 (Alternate hypothesis): there is significant difference between organisational culture in the
UK and Albania.
Hypothesis 3
3H0 (Null hypothesis): there is no significant difference between employee productivity due to
organisational culture and work practices in the UK and Albania.
3H1 (Alternate hypothesis): there is significant difference between employee productivity due to
organisational culture and work practices in the UK and Albania.
Results
The researcher conducted three paired sample t-test for evaluating the hypotheses. The
findings are as followed.
Paired Samples Test
Paired Differences t df Sig.
(2-
tailed)
Mean Std.
Deviatio
n
Std.
Error
Mean
95%
Confidence
Interval of the
Difference

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Lower Upper
Pair
1
HofstedeDimensions_UK
–
HofstedeDimensions_AL
-
1.44000
1.15758
.2315
2
-
1.9178
3
-.9621
7
-
6.220
24 .000
In the above table, it is seen that the t-value is -6.220, which is less than the critical value
for two-tailed test at 95% confidence interval level, that is, -1.96, at 24 degrees of freedom.
Although the significance level is less than 0.05, yet due to the negative t-value, the first null
hypothesis is rejected, that is, there is significant difference between the cultural aspects in the
UK and Albania, in respect to the cultural dimensions highlighted by Geert Hofstede.
Paired Samples Test
Paired Differences t df Sig.
(2-
tailed)
Mean Std.
Deviatio
n
Std.
Error
Mean
95%
Confidence
Interval of the
Difference
Lower Upper
Pair
1
OrganisationalCulture_UK
–
OrganisationalCulture_AL
.40000 1.50000
.3000
0
-.2191
7
1.0191
7
1.333 24 .195

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The researcher performed another paired sample t-test on the variables denoting the
aspects of organisational culture and work practices, and those are, the supporting work
environment, communication process and influence on business growth. The test result showed
that the significance value is 0.195, which is greater than the critical value of 0.05. For a
hypothesis to be accepted, the p-value should be less than 0.05, which is not the case regarding
the second hypothesis. Thus, the second null hypothesis was also rejected. This indicated that,
in Vodafone UK and Vodafone Albania, there is significant cultural differences.
Paired Samples Test
Paired Differences t df Sig. (2-
tailed)Mean Std.
Deviation
Std.
Error
Mean
95% Confidence
Interval of the
Difference
Lower Upper
Pair
1
Productivity_UK
-
Productivity_AL
.52000 1.53758 .30752 -.11468 1.15468 1.691 24 .104

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Regarding the third hypothesis, the researcher grouped those variables, which addressed
the aspects of career progress in the company, employee motivation, job satisfaction, and
employee productivity in both the locations of the Vodafone Company. These variables were
taken to explore the impact of work practices on the employee motivation and job satisfaction,
which in turn affect the employee productivity as well as organisational productivity and growth.
From the above table, it is seen that the significance value of the paired sample t-test, that is, p-
value is 0.104, which is again greater than the critical value of 0.05. The t-value is also
insignificant at 95% confidence level with 24 degrees of freedom. Thus, the third null
hypothesis is rejected as well, that is, there is significant difference between the employee
productivity due to organisational culture and work practices in Vodafone UK and Albania.
From the above analysis, it can be said that there is differences in the organisational
culture and work practices, in the two locations of the company, which influences the
organisational productivity and growth of the company. As the employee motivation and job
satisfaction are affected by the work culture, it is reflected in the business performance. Thus,
organisational culture reflects the traits of the national culture and that influences the work
practices, which in turn affects the business growth. Through this research study, the researcher
found that cultural differences could affect the business performances in two different countries
even if the parent company remain same.
4.4 Discussions: Parity with the Hofstede model
Hofstede model of cultural dimension is a famous model that explores and evaluates the
differences of the national cultures based on 6 dimensions. These aspects explain the traits of the
cultural features of the nation and based on the scores of the 6 dimensions, the cultural
differences of different countries are measured. In the given study, the researcher applied the

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Hofstede cultural dimension model to assess the differences in the cultural aspects of Albania
and the UK. Among the 6 dimensions, the researcher applied three aspects, namely, the power
distance (PDI), individualism versus collectivism (IDV), and uncertainty avoidance (UAI).
Considering the research topic, these three cultural dimensions were mostly suitable to address
the organisational culture and work practices and their impact on the growth of the company.
The country scores on the 6 cultural dimensions are as follows.
Figure 19: Country comparison: Albania and UK
(Source: Hofstede-insights.com 2018)
As seen from the above image, UK scores much higher in individualism aspect in
comparison to Albania, while it scores much lower for the power distance and uncertainty
avoidance. The researcher implemented these three aspects in the survey questions, whose
findings are aligned with the country comparison scores.

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Power distance measures the attitude towards the inequalities of the individuals in the
society. A higher score indicates that the hierarchical rigidity is more in the society. In other
words, a higher PDI index represents people’s acceptance of the power inequality in the society.
In the comparison of the UK and Albania, the PDI score for Albania is 90, while for the UK it is
35. This explains that the society in the UK is more in the favour of minimizing the inequality
among the people while it is highly opposite in Albania.
Regarding the dimension of individualism, UK scores 89 while Albania scores 20. There
is a sharp contrast in this aspect. The UK is an individualistic society while Albania is a
collectivist society. The loyalty towards a group or team is quite high in Albania than in the UK,
and thus, the team work in any organisation is highly valued than individual performance in
Vodafone Albania. On the other hand, the British are highly individualist and even in the work
place, they prefer to maintain the ‘Me’ culture. Thus, the individual performance is more
important in the British organisations.
The uncertainty avoidance index (UAI) score is 70 for Albania and its half of 70, that is,
35 for the UK. This aspect deals with the nature of people regarding handling the uncertain
situations and whether they try to accept the ambiguity or avoid those situations are explained
through this score. While the UK is quite flexible regarding communication, planning and
uncertain end results, Albania is quite opposite in nature. Thus, the company in Albania is rigid
towards unorthodox and unconventional attitude and ideas, innovations are resisted, and security
is required in the organisations. The decision-making process is also long and only after careful
analysis, any decision is taken. Rules are more important in this country compared to the UK.

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All the survey questions and their responses are aligned with the dimensions by Hofstede
in this research study. In regard to the other dimensions, that is, masculinity, long term
orientation and indulgence, Albania is found to be more aggressive and competitive in nature and
prefers to go for long term goals compared to the UK. On the other hand, the indulgence towards
life is more in the UK than in Albania. While addressing the cultural differences in Vodafone
UK and in Vodafone Albania, it is observed that, the cultural aspects often guide the way to
people while working in an organisation and those affect the performances. At the same time, the
work practices in any organisation are often followed from the cultural dimensions of the country
and those influence the employees. Work practices in any organisation, such as, the
communication process, rules and regulations, long term and short-term planning, group work
and attitude towards the outcome are all influenced by cultural aspects and those affect the work
performance of the employees as well as of the organisation. Hence, it can be inferred from the
survey response analysis that there is significant cultural difference between Vodafone UK and
Vodafone Albania and those affect the business performance.
4.5 Interview findings
The researcher approached two managers from each of the Vodafone offices to conduct
the interviews. The managers received the interview form in their emails and they responded in
the same manner. 5 questions were asked to both the managers in both the locations. The first
question addressed whether the managers have visited the office in the other country and if they
had found any differences in the organisational culture and work practices. This question had 3
sub-parts, which aimed to find out the differences in the two locations in a more detailed manner.
All the four managers have travelled to the other country due to different conferences. According
to the marketing managers and HR managers of Vodafone in both the locations, there is a

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difference in the organisational culture in the two countries. Employees face much more relaxed
and casual environment in the workplace of the UK location than in Albania. The organisational
hierarchy has more rigidity in Albania and the employees get more opportunities in the UK
location. They are able to take challenging decision more easily for the benefit of the
organisation. Regarding the second question, both the managers in the two locations emphasized
on the facts that the organisations have introduced various training programs, rewards and
recognition programs, and benefits, which motivate the employees and increase the job
satisfaction of the employees. The business performance is highly dependent on the motivation
and job satisfaction of the employees and both the locations try to ensure that the employees
remain loyal to the organisation. They also arrange various entertainment events and CSR
activities that keep the employees engaged and happy. Thus, from the summary of the interview
responses, it can be inferred that although there are cultural differences in the two locations of
Vodafone and there is difference in organisational hierarchy, yet both the offices focus on
improving the performance of the employees to improve the organisational productivity by
arranging various types of programs and benefits. The flexibility in the work culture is more in
the UK location and the rigidity in the hierarchy is less. Thus, the employees of Vodafone UK
enjoy more freedom and more recognition of the individual contribution than in Vodafone
Albania.

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Chapter 5: CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
5.1 Conclusions
The researcher presents the concluding remarks regarding the research study and also
presents some recommendations based on the issues found through the study. The findings of the
data analysis show that there is a significant difference between the cultures of the two countries
in the discussion, that is, the UK and Albania and this difference in national culture affects the
organisational culture of the Vodafone offices. To study the cultural differences and its impact
on the business performances, the researcher selected one multinational company with offices in
two different countries. From the research, it is found that although the parent company is same
since the office locations are in two different countries, the national culture had cast a significant
impact on the organisational culture of the company and that gets reflected in the business
performance. Although the population of Albania is lower than that in the UK, the number of
market competitors of Vodafone is also less in Albania than in the UK. For example, there is
hierarchical rigidity in Vodafone Albania, which makes the working process time consuming and
sometimes less flexible during the decision-making process.
In this chapter, the researcher establishes a connection between the objectives of the study and
the findings.
5.2 Linking with the objectives
5.2.1 Linking with the first objective
The first objective of the study was to examine the impact of the organisational culture
and working practices on business performance. Based on the primary data collected through the
survey, it is found that, according to the perception of the employees of the two office locations,

70DISSERTATION
there are significant cultural differences in the offices. These differences can be explained to
some extent with the help of the cultural dimension model, developed by Geert Hofstede.
According to the annual report of Vodafone Group Plc, it is seen that Albania is a very small
market in Europe, while Vodafone UK is one of the biggest markets of the company. In the UK,
there are 17.5 million mobile customers with a 22% market share in the mobile revenue.
Vodafone UK contributes around €6.1 billion in the total revenue from the Europe market, while
the share of Vodafone Albania is very much less compared to that of the UK. Vodafone Albania
acquired 50% of the total spectrum given by PLUS while exiting from the telecom market of
Albania in March 2018 and thereby increased its market share. However, it can be said that, as
the employees in the UK location enjoy more relaxed work environment and there is less rigidity
in the organisational hierarchy, the work practices are more focused towards expanding the
business, which is reflected from its market share. The scope for career growth, supportive work
environment, transparent and flexible communication process in the UK locations influence the
employees to enhance their skills and improve their performance, in terms of operations and
customer services, which is reflected in the business performance. Thus, it can be said that the
first objective is fulfilled.
5.2.2 Linking with the second objective
The second objective of the study was to understand the barriers / noticed barriers that
organisational culture and working practices bring on to the business performance. There are
many types of barriers that are created due to organisational culture. For example, the non-
inclusive and non-supportive organisational environment, unequal opportunities for growth and
development, gender discrimination, extreme work pressure, lack of work-life balance and pay
discrimination are few most common barriers to the better employee as well as organisational

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performance that originate from cultural differences. This is a risk factor especially in the
business operations of multinational companies and mergers and acquisitions. If two cultures are
not flexible enough to accept the differences, then there is a high chance that the merger will fail.
One of the biggest examples of the failed merger is the Daimler-Chrysler deal. Due to the huge
cultural differences between the German and American way of doing business and work
practices, the merger faced the loss of productivity and profit and finally, it was called off.
Cultural dimensions influence the communication process, hierarchical systems, support and
coordination, value for teamwork, recognition in the company and that affect the motivation and
job satisfaction of the employees. This leads to an impact on the profitability of the business.
The researcher collected and analysed the data from the survey and found the factors that
influence the organisational culture and work practices in the company. From the findings, it is
seen that these factors have both positive and negative impact depending on the organisational
environment. The inclination towards uncertainty avoidance also sometimes creates barriers for
Vodafone Albania during any long-term planning for business expansion. On the other hand, the
more focus on the individual performance sometimes creates barriers for Vodafone UK,
especially during any group project. People often do not want to take responsibility for the
teamwork as the individualism cultural dimension is very high in the UK. Thus, it can be said
that the cultural factors play a different role in different countries. Those creating barriers to
performance in Albania may not create barriers in the UK. It is also found from the study that;
career growth opportunities also play a major role in influencing the employee as well as
business performance. As seen from the survey response, the career growth opportunities are
higher in the Vodafone UK compared to Vodafone Albania. The employee motivation level is
also higher in Vodafone UK, which helps the employees to enhance their skills and improve their

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performances. This, in turn, pushes the organisational growth further ahead. However, lack of
growth opportunities and motivation are a barrier for the company in Albania. Thus, it can be
inferred that the second objective of the study is fulfilled.
5.2.3 Linking with the third objective
The third objective of the study is to explore the benefits that organisational culture and
working practices have on business performance. As obtained from the earlier studies,
organisational culture has a significant impact on the work practices and employee
performances. A positive organisational culture helps to boost the morale of the employees. The
culture also affects the recruitment and selection process, supply chain activities, employee
motivation, change management activities, employee involvement and leadership styles, faster
work culture, cooperation and good teamwork, employee retention, absenteeism, satisfaction and
happiness, union-management relationships and many other functions of a business. A
supportive work environment or work culture primarily influences the employees' job
satisfaction and motivation, which in turn leads to happiness and higher job productivity. This
also helps in reducing the attrition rate and retention of productive employees. If the employees
of an organisation are motivated and want to improve their productivity, it helps to improve the
business performance of the organisation also. According to many prior research works and
articles, the well-developed national culture encourages a smooth merger and acquisitions in the
business front, having higher success rates. The integration between two different cultures is
often managed by the well-developed culture and the productivity is usually increased. Similarly,
the organisational culture has a major impact on the financial performance of the organisation. A
positive and supportive work culture creates a positive impression of the company in the market.
That makes the customer trust the organisation more, which also helps in motivating the

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employees to perform in a better way. That affects the productivity as well as the profitability of
an organisation positively and significantly.
As seen from the study on Vodafone UK and Vodafone Albania, the researcher found
that the employees of Vodafone UK reported more flexible and transparent communication
process, more career progress opportunity and job satisfaction, more supportive environment,
less power distance in the organisational hierarchy, less tendency towards uncertainty avoidance
and more value to the individual performance. All these factors contribute to improving the
employee performance in a significant way. The employees get a flexible and less rigid work
environment, which helps in faster decision making and better customer service. This is
beneficial for improving the business performance. At the same time, the researcher also found
from the survey that, the employees of Vodafone UK get more opportunities for career growth
and enhancing their skills, which also increases their job satisfaction. Hence, the business
performance is visibly much better for Vodafone UK than for Vodafone Albania.
From the above discussion, it can be said that all the objectives of the study were fulfilled
from the data collected and analysed. However, from the responses, the researcher found some
issues regarding lack of focus on teamwork in Vodafone UK and rigid organisational hierarchy,
tendency to avoid risk in business operations and lack of employee motivation, career growth in
Vodafone Albania.
5.2.4 Linking with the fourth objective
This objective was based on the recommendations for Vodafone in the UK and in
Albania. This objective has not been met in properly in the literature review section and in the
chapter 4 section. Vodafone provides little freedom to get the job done and the employees love

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the flexible way of working. Vodafone Albania also provides the diverse workplace for the
employees and it takes care to preserve for the organisational culture. In this context, some
recommendations are presented below.
5.3 Recommendations
Improving teamwork
Vodafone is proud to hire the employees from different background and Vodafone
provides the opportunity to the employees to speak up. The employees of Vodafone Albania and
in the UK, are facing the issue of the team working as the team leaders fail to bind the employees
in a single string. Vodafone UK is mainly facing the issue of a lack of focus on teamwork.
Vodafone UK management needs to encourage the employees to enhance the participation in
social activities. The team leaders within the organisation need to make comfortable to the
employees discussing the variety of issues. The employees need to build up the sense of
camaraderie in order to formulate the team activities In order to improve the team working
culture in Vodafone UK. The management should outline the clear roles of the employees so that
they can delineate the responsibilities of the employees. In addition, Vodafone management
should identify the existing problems within the team and the managers should participate with
the team members to sort out the issues. Improving team working culture will be possible if the
team leaders want to mediate the disputes. The management should implement a recognition
programme for the employees as it encourages quality teamwork by rewarding the group of
Making a flexible working culture
Vodafone UK has been facing the issue of rigid workplace culture as it lacks in
discovering and celebrating the reward and recognition issue. Vodafone UK binds itself up with

75DISSERTATION
rigid the workplace culture where the employees do not have any freedom and the
communication from the management has to be listened to by the employees. Therefore, the
management of Vodafone UK has to cultivate the employees' relationship where the employees
should listen to other employees to increase better communication. The management must allow
the employees to make the string relationship between the employees. The management must
invest in employees' perks. Facebook, Netflix and Google organisations have one thing in
common that they always invest heavily in the employees' perks. Vodafone UK can provide
employees with wellness programmes, happy hours and free snacks. These perks and systems
will definitely improve the employees' satisfaction. The organisational culture can be improved
through the good performance of the employees and the employees must listen to the leaders of
the organisation. Vodafone must offer the employees a day off with pay, give the employees a
gift card in a favourite restaurant and buy the employees a gift basket. The organisational culture
can be improved through being mindful of the burnout issue of the employees.
Improving risk-taking ability
Vodafone Albania has been facing the issue of avoiding the risk to operate a business in
different sections. Vodafone management needs to improve the risk-taking ability so that they
must have the best outcome for the organisation. The management needs to be ready to agree
with the two possible outcomes; one is positive and another is negative. Vodafone UK can
improve the risk-taking ability by improving the management's mental strength as the employees
need to rehearse within the mind before committing to some new risks. The management should
not put everything on the line as the employees must maintain a good lifestyle. The management
should think itself about encouraging the fact of risk adverse.

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Providing employee motivation
Vodafone UK and Albania both provide motivation to the employees. However,
employees’ motivation is based on two different things, first extrinsic motivation and another is
intrinsic motivation. Vodafone UK should provide employees increment, pay rates, bonus,
benefits and prizes. Vodafone UK should provide extra incentive benefit and fixed salary is also
needed. In addition, Vodafone UK can provide the intrinsic motivation to the employees as it
provides interest to the employees along with enjoyment, purpose, growth, curiosity, passion,
self-expression and fun. Employee motivation helps to increase employees’ productivity as well.

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Appendices
Appendix 1
Timeline of the research
Activities Week 1 Week 3 Week 6 Week 9 Week
13
Week
15
Week
16
Selection of
research topic
✓
Reviewing of
literature
✓
Data collection
(Survey and
interview)
✓
Data analysis ✓
Drawing
conclusion
✓
Recommendations ✓
Final submission ✓
Table: Gantt chart

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Appendix 2
Questionnaire: Vodafone Albania
Respected Sir/Madam,
This survey is carried out with an aim to compare the impact of cultural differences and work
practices on the business performance with respect to two offices of the Vodafone Company,
located in the UK and Albania. This research is carried out only for educational purpose. The
survey will maintain anonymity and the response data will remain strictly confidential.
Voluntary participation is requested and you can withdraw from participating at any point of
time.
Thank you for your time and interest on the survey.
Regards,
[Name of the student] -Ergena Nela
[Name of the guide] - Khan Hamid
[Name of the University] -Ulster University
Contact details: 07492980462
Your opinion about Vodafone
1. Do you agree that Vodafone Albania provides supportive environment in the work place?
a) Strongly disagree

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b) Disagree
c) Neutral
d) Agree
e) Strongly agree
2. Do you agree/disagree that the communication process in Vodafone is transparent?
a) Strongly disagree
b) Disagree
c) Neutral
d) Agree
e) Strongly agree
3. Do you agree/disagree that the communication process in Vodafone is flexible?
a) Strongly disagree
b) Disagree
c) Neutral
d) Agree
e) Strongly agree
4. Do you agree/disagree that the organisational culture in Vodafone Albania provides
enough opportunity for career progress?
a) Strongly disagree
b) Disagree
c) Neutral
d) Agree
e) Strongly agree

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5. Do you agree/disagree that the organisational culture in Vodafone Albania provides
enough opportunity for job satisfaction?
a) Strongly disagree
b) Disagree
c) Neutral
d) Agree
e) Strongly agree
6. Do you agree/disagree that team work is more valued in Vodafone Albania than
individual performance?
a) Strongly disagree
b) Disagree
c) Neutral
d) Agree
e) Strongly agree
7. Do you agree/disagree that the business practices in Vodafone Albania promote risk
avoidance nature?
a) Strongly disagree
b) Disagree
c) Neutral
d) Agree
e) Strongly agree
8. Do you agree/disagree that the organisational culture in Vodafone Albania enhances
employee motivation?

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a) Strongly disagree
b) Disagree
c) Neutral
d) Agree
e) Strongly agree
9. Do you agree/disagree that the organisational culture in Vodafone Albania enhances
employee productivity?
a) Strongly disagree
b) Disagree
c) Neutral
d) Agree
e) Strongly agree
10. Do you agree/disagree that there is rigidity in hierarchy in the organisational culture in
Vodafone Albania?
a) Strongly disagree
b) Disagree
c) Neutral
d) Agree
e) Strongly agree
11. Do you agree/disagree that the organisational culture and work practices influence the
business performance in Vodafone Albania?
a) Strongly disagree

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b) Disagree
c) Neutral
d) Agree
e) Strongly agree

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Personal details
12. Please specify your gender
a) Male
b) Female
c) Other
d) Prefer not to answer
13. Please specify your age group
a) 21-30 years
b) 31-40 years
c) 41-50 years
d) 51-60 years
14. Please specify your years of association with Vodafone Albania
a) Less than 1 year
b) 1 – 5 years
c) 6 – 10 years
d) 11 – 15 years
e) 16 – 20 years
f) More than 21 years
15. Please mention your educational qualification
a) Graduate
b) Post graduate
c) Diploma holder
d) Other. Please specify………..

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INTERVIEW QUESTIONS
Q.1) Have you ever travelled to Vodafone UK office for any business purpose?
If yes, then can you please give us an idea about the differences in organisational culture
between Vodafone Albania and Vodafone UK?
For example:
Q.1.1) If there are differences in two locations, what are those differences?
Q.1.2) Can you please elaborate on how these differences affect the motivation of the employees
compared to your home location?
Q.1.3) How these differences affect the business performance of Vodafone Albania?
Q.2) What is your opinion on the organisational practices followed by the Vodafone Albania?
Q.3) Do those help to motivate employees? If yes, can you please explain in what way?
Q.4) Are there any difficulties created by the organisational culture adopted by Vodafone
Albania?
Q.5) How these could be overcome to improve performance?
Answer 1

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Yes, being a marketing manager of Vodafone, I had to travel to UK office twice after I joined the
company three years back.
Answer 1.1
There are distinctive cultural differences between the offices in two different countries. While,
the organisational hierarchy in the UK office is very much flexible, it is quite opposite in the
Tirana office. The individualistic approach is more prominent in the UK while the group work is
important in Tirana.
Answer 1.2
The employees get more opportunity for improving their skills in the UK office due to flexibility
and relaxed work practices. There are many training and developmental programs arranged by
the company in the UK office while the number of programs is comparatively less in the Albania
location. The recreational programs are also more in the UK location than in Albania. The
amount of the benefits and incentives are less in Albania as the economy is less developed than
the UK.
Answer 1.3
As the employee motivation and job satisfaction are comparatively lower and there is high level
of rigidity in the organisational hierarchy that affects the employee performance in Albania
compared to that in the UK and this in turn affects the business performance. Although the
turnover for Vodafone Albania is quite good, yet, the rigid organisation culture tends to avoid
risky decision making, which sometimes affects the long term profitability of the company.
Answer 2

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The organisational culture and practices in Vodafone Albania is not lenient as in Vodafone UK.
The team work and achievement is more valued compared to the individual achievement. The
uncertainty avoidance tendency is very high in Albania. There is less flexibility in the work
process, which sometimes create obstacle for enhancing the motivation of the employees.
Answer 3
Vodafone Albania focuses on improving the productivity and performance of the employees and
for that purpose, provides various training and development programes, and rewards and
recognitions that enhance the motivations of the employees, although it is comparatively lower
than that in the Vodafone UK. Some events are organized to keep the employees inspired and
feel connected with the organisation.
Answer 4
The hierarchical rigidity and tendency to avoid uncertainties often create problem in the
organisational growth of Vodafone Albania. The decision-making process faces challenges due
to these rigidities.
Answer 5
The hierarchical process should be lenient so that the employees can make the most of the
resources. The management should be more open to take risks for long term benefits.
Answer 1
Yes, I travelled to the Vodafone UK office once for a conference.
Answer 1.1

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There are differences in the organisational culture in the two offices. In the UK, people have
more flexibility in the working place and there is more casual attitude in the workplace, where
there is not much strictness in organisational hierarchy. In the Tirana location, rigid hierarchy
sometimes creates obstacle in handling any emergency situation. Team work is more emphasized
in Albania.
Answer 1.2
Due to strict hierarchy, and conservative attitude, the employees do not get scope to enhance
their skills and knowledge as much as the employees in the UK location get. The company
arranges very few training and developmental programs in a year, which hampers the career
progress of the employees compared to that of the UK employees. Thus, the motivation level in
Vodafone Albania is lower.
Answer 1.3
As the motivational level of the employees is low, it is reflected in the organisational
performances as compared to that of the Vodafone UK. However, the impact of culture is not
significant on the business performance.
Answer 2
The organisational practices followed in Vodafone Albania are not much flexible as in Vodafone
UK. However, it allows provisions to the employees to perform efficiently to contribute in the
organisational growth. The organisation arranges various types of events and training programs,
which helps in enhancing the skills of the employees. However, very limited number of
employees is willing to take the trainings and face challenging situations in the future.

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Answer 3
The benefits and rewards and recognition schemes encourage the employees to improve their
skills and perform efficiently. There are also scopes for promotion that also motivates the
employees.
Answer 4
The structural rigidity, emphasis on team work compared to individual performances and
tendency to avoid uncertain situations sometimes create challenges for the company. Employees
sometimes tend to shun from their duties as they are involved in a group project.
Answer 5
The rigidity in the hierarchy should be reduced so that employees can work in a flexible
environment and can explore the opportunities of growth and career progress. The benefit
scheme should be enhanced to motivate the employees further.

99DISSERTATION
Appendix 3
Questionnaire: Vodafone UK
Respected Sir/Madam,
This survey is carried out with an aim to compare the impact of cultural differences and work
practices on the business performance with respect to two offices of the Vodafone Company,
located in the UK and Albania. This research is carried out only for educational purpose. The
survey will maintain anonymity and the response data will remain strictly confidential.
Voluntary participation is requested and you can withdraw from participating at any point of
time.
Thank you for your time and interest on the survey.
Regards,
[Name of the student] – Ergena Nela
[Name of the guide] – Khan Hamid
[Name of the University] – Ulster University
Contact details: 07492980462
Your opinion about Vodafone
16. Do you agree that Vodafone UK provides supportive environment in the work place?
f) Strongly disagree

100DISSERTATION
g) Disagree
h) Neutral
i) Agree
j) Strongly agree
17. Do you agree/disagree that the communication process in Vodafone is transparent?
f) Strongly disagree
g) Disagree
h) Neutral
i) Agree
j) Strongly agree
18. Do you agree/disagree that the communication process in Vodafone is flexible?
f) Strongly disagree
g) Disagree
h) Neutral
i) Agree
j) Strongly agree
19. Do you agree/disagree that the organisational culture in Vodafone UK provides enough
opportunity for career progress?
f) Strongly disagree
g) Disagree
h) Neutral
i) Agree
j) Strongly agree

101DISSERTATION
20. Do you agree/disagree that the organisational culture in Vodafone UK provides enough
opportunity for job satisfaction?
f) Strongly disagree
g) Disagree
h) Neutral
i) Agree
j) Strongly agree
21. Do you agree/disagree that team work is more valued in Vodafone UK than individual
performance?
f) Strongly disagree
g) Disagree
h) Neutral
i) Agree
j) Strongly agree
22. Do you agree/disagree that the business practices in Vodafone UK promote risk
avoidance nature?
f) Strongly disagree
g) Disagree
h) Neutral
i) Agree
j) Strongly agree

102DISSERTATION
23. Do you agree/disagree that the organisational culture in Vodafone UK enhances
employee motivation?
f) Strongly disagree
g) Disagree
h) Neutral
i) Agree
j) Strongly agree
24. Do you agree/disagree that the organisational culture in Vodafone UK enhances
employee productivity?
f) Strongly disagree
g) Disagree
h) Neutral
i) Agree
j) Strongly agree
25. Do you agree/disagree that there is rigidity in hierarchy in the organisational culture in
Vodafone UK?
f) Strongly disagree
g) Disagree
h) Neutral
i) Agree
j) Strongly agree

103DISSERTATION
26. Do you agree/disagree that the organisational culture and work practices influence the
business performance in Vodafone UK?
f) Strongly disagree
g) Disagree
h) Neutral
i) Agree
j) Strongly agree

104DISSERTATION
Personal details
27. Please specify your gender
e) Male
f) Female
g) Other
h) Prefer not to answer
28. Please specify your age group
e) 21-30 years
f) 31-40 years
g) 41-50 years
h) 51-60 years
29. Please specify your years of association with Vodafone UK
g) Less than 1 year
h) 1 – 5 years
i) 6 – 10 years
j) 11 – 15 years
k) More than 15 years
30. Please mention your educational qualification
e) Graduate
f) Post graduate
g) Diploma holder
h) Other. Please specify………..

105DISSERTATION
INTERVIEW QUESTIONS
Q.1) Have you ever travelled to Vodafone Albania office for any business purpose?
If yes, then can you please give us an idea about the differences in organisational culture
between Vodafone Albania and Vodafone UK?
For example:
Q.1.1) If there are differences in two locations, what are those differences?
Q.1.2) Can you please elaborate on how these differences affect the motivation of the employees
compared to your home location?
Q.1.3) How these differences affect the business performance of Vodafone UK?
Q.2) What is your opinion on the organisational practices followed by the Vodafone UK?
Q.3) Do those help to motivate employees? If yes, can you please explain in what way?
Q.4) Are there any difficulties created by the organisational culture adopted by Vodafone UK?
Q.5) How these could be overcome to improve performance?
Yes, I visited the Tirana office of Vodafone Albania for a marketing conference.
I found some differences in the organisational cultures of the two offices of Vodafone. In
Albania, the hierarchical rigidity is more prominent, while in the UK, people work with more
flexibility. The process is more important in Albania than the outcome, while in the UK,
accomplishing the outcome is more important than the means. Thus, there is more freedom of
choice while working in the UK location.

106DISSERTATION
In Albania, there is rigidity in the hierarchy and the management is much conservative in terms
of taking risks for the business, which in turn affects the performance of the employees. On the
other hand, Vodafone UK provides many opportunities to increase the skills of the employees,
which in turn motivates the employees to stay loyal to the company. The flexibility in the
communication process and in the work culture in the UK is higher than in Albania and that
benefits the work process in the organisation. Due to these factors, the entire work process is
faster that yields faster results, increasing the job satisfaction and motivation of the employees.
Since, the employees have higher job satisfaction in Vodafone UK, the productivity is higher
compared to that in Albania. The customer service is faster due to flexible communication
process and less rigidity in the organisational hierarchy, which is less in case of Vodafone
Albania. This way the business performance is gets affected in Albania.
Answer 2
Vodafone UK provides many opportunities to increase the skills of the employees. There are
more scopes for career progress in Vodafone UK. Apart from the training programs, rewards and
recognitions and benefits, the company hosts many social programs under CSR and cultural
events to keep the employees happy.
Answer 3
Better reward and recognition programs, training programs, recreation events, and scope for
promotions are helpful in motivating the employees. In the society of the UK, individual
performance is highly valued, and hence, the employees are influenced if their contribution is
recognized, which occurs in Vodafone UK.

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Answer 4
The employees are more interested in performing individually than in a team. Sometimes, the
flexibility and less rigid hierarchy leads to more casual approach towards the work, which
hampers the individual as well as organisational performance.
Answer 5
The reward and recognition programs and benefits should emphasize the team work more, so
that the employees also put focus on team work.
Answer 1
Yes, I travelled to Albania for a conference for the performance review of the European business
of the Vodafone Company.
Organisational cultures are to some extent different in the two locations of Vodafone. The
organisational communication system is more transparent in the UK office than in Albania.
People work more freely and are willing to take risks for the benefit of the business in Vodafone
UK. They indulge in things that can motivate them and bring in more affinity towards their job
and thereby yield more productivity.
The flexible and supportive management and work environment and freedom in making
decisions influence the employees to perform efficiently in the UK location, which is not
prominent in the Albania location This system motivates the employees more in the UK location.
As the employees in Albania are not much satisfied with the business operations and systems,
they are cannot perform quite efficiently, affecting the business performance of Vodafone
Albania.

108DISSERTATION
Answer 2
The organisational practices adopted in Vodafone UK are quite flexible and give the employees
freedom to perform responsibly. There is leniency in the organisational hierarchy that creates a
healthy competition in the organisation.
Answer 3
The company arranges many developmental programs and creates scope for learning that helps
in increasing the skills and knowledge of the employees, which in turn enhances their motivation
and job satisfaction. The benefits and rewards programs are also beneficial in retaining the
efficient employees. The company has designed many employee benefit programs that keep
them motivated and satisfied with their jobs. They are usually given the freedom to take
important decisions when situation demands. Training needs analysis are conducted in a half-
yearly basis to identify the areas that need improvements and those trainings help in improving
the employee productivity
Answer 4
The communication process with the customers is sometimes hampered due to more casual
approach in the work process. Sometimes, the employees make mistakes while taking the
advantage of the flexible work culture. Sometimes, they focus more on individual achievement
than on group or organisational achievement, which affects business growth.
Answer 5

109DISSERTATION
There should be more rigidity in the organisational hierarchy so that the employees do not take
casual approach towards their job. The communication with the customers should be faster. The
uncertainty avoidance tendency should be reduced for the benefit of the company.
Vodafone UK provides many opportunities to increase the skills of the employees, which in turn
motivates the employees to stay loyal to the company.