Sanjeev K.

Sharma and Aditi Sharma (2010): Examining the Relationship between Organisational
Culture and Leadership Styles, Journal of the Indian Academy of Applied Psychology January 2010,
Vol. 36, No. 1, 97-105.

Summary

Organizations use culture to expresses itself to its employees or members. The core of the culture is
formed by the values which are not visible but are shared by people even when membership in group
changes. Behaviour and decision making of the employees are guided by shared values and norms. A
leader needs to have a thorough understanding of organizational culture, its nature and impact, so
that they can communicate new vision and ensure followers’ commitment to that vision. The culture
of the organisation is shaped and maintained by the leaders.

Textile industry in India is one of the biggest contributors to its GDP. It is highly labour
intensive and have several advantages including abundant availability of raw material and cheap
labour. However, problems like low productivity levels, gap between need and supply of skilled labour
and management offset such advantages. The lower level of efficiency in the Indian textile industry
was because of the cultural norms of Indian society. In order to examine the impact that the
organizational culture has on leadership styles, present study was conceptualized.

To examine the impact of organizational culture on the leadership styles of the managers in select
textile organizations, a sample of 300 permanent employees was created from different textile units
consisting from different departments. OCTAPACE tool was used to measure the ethos in organisation
on eight values i.e. openness, confrontation, trust, authenticity, pro-action, autonomy, collaboration
and experimentation. On the basis of 40 questionnaire, correlations between these values were
calculated. Based on the study of these correlations, following recommendations were proposed:
1. Culture is a reflection of the norms, values, shared behavioural expectations and assumptions
that guide the behavioural patterns of members in a contrived organization.
2. The organizations should aim at creating a culture of trust in organization as it is the harbinger
of congenial working environment.
3. The recruitment and selection of the new employees should be done on the basis of the
congruence between their values and those espoused by the organizations.
4. Employee evaluation systems need to be transparent, employee driven, corporately
supported and monitored. It must also be widely communicated and focused towards
achieving corporate objectives. There is a need to align and integrate it with achievement of
enterprise goals.
5. Developing and building teams within organizations with the participants drawn from
different operational units and imparting skills to enhance creativity, behavioural
modifications, communication and divergent thinking skills will improve organizational
productivity.
6. There is a need for periodically determining managers’ and employees’ perceptions of key
management processes and practices and the extent to which management goals are
accurately translated and implemented throughout the organization.

The essence of the relationship between organizational culture and leadership, especially in a
country like India have managerial implications. Strong culture enhances employees’ and
organizational effectiveness because they perceive that their actions are freely chosen. Thus,
organizational culture exhibiting characteristics of accountability, collaboration, decentralized
leadership, alignment and adaptability hold the key to successful survival.
Sow, Mouhamadou & Murphy, Jeanie & Osuoha, Rosa. (2017). The Relationship between
Leadership Style, Organizational Culture, and Job Satisfaction in the U.S. Healthcare Industry.
Management and Economics Research Journal. 03. 1. 10.18639/MERJ.2017.03.403737.

Summary

The purpose of this research paper is to do a quantitative study is order to find a relationship between
leadership style, organizational culture, and job satisfaction in the U.S. healthcare industry. The job
satisfaction level in U.S. healthcare industry is less than 20% because of high levels of burnout, long
work hours, workplace bullying, demanding jobs, insufficient managerial support, time-consuming
regulatory obligations, and many other factors. The authors wanted to develop a proper mix of
transformational leadership and organisation culture to improve job satisfaction level.

Transformational leadership is a process that changes and transforms people. It is concerned with
emotions, values, ethics, standards, and long-term goals. It includes assessing followers’ motives,
satisfying their needs, and treating them as full human beings. Transformational leadership involves
an exceptional form of influence that moves followers to accomplish more than what is usually
expected of them.

Organizational culture and leadership work together to create shared beliefs, assumptions, and shared
values that shape organizational behaviours. Culture influences how employees think, solve problems,
take risks, and manage change. These beliefs and values are passed down to new employees as a guide
to influence organizational work processes and social interactions. A strong culture emerges when
leaders and employees agree with the core values, behaviours, and beliefs of the organization.

The research questions were asked to 111 individuals randomly selected from 17 different medical
sites in the United States. The variable of job satisfaction was measured through the Work-Related
Basic Need Satisfaction Scale (WRBNS). WRBNS actually contains separate subscales for (a) work
satisfaction and (b) job resources. However, for the purposes of this study, all 11 WRBNS items were
collated into an index measure of job satisfaction.

After studying the data collected, following results were obtained: -

 3.89% of the variation in job satisfaction was accounted for by variation in transformational
leadership, employee age, employee gender, and employee race. However, only
transformational relationship was a statistically significant predictor.
 The presence of an external focus and control-oriented structure reduced overall employee
job satisfaction by 17.42 points, whereas the presence of an external focus and flexible
structure reduced overall employee job satisfaction by 12.31 points. External structures
therefore appeared to reduce job satisfaction in comparison to internal structures.
 While determining the combined effect of transformational leadership & culture on job
satisfaction, transformational leadership, which was a significant predictor earlier, no longer
significant. The inclusion of transformational leadership did, however, slightly lower the
negative impact that external focus structure had on job satisfaction.

So, the healthcare organisations which want to increase the job satisfaction level of their employees
should move away from the external focus and control-oriented structure. It is possible that externally
focused cultures remove the emphasis from understanding and meeting the needs of internal
stakeholders.