Business Professionalism – Annotated Bibliography
Introduction
This annotated bibliography approaches dimensions of organisational culture (OC) in the IT industry to clarify what is it, its styles and how it impacts organisations’ success, scales capabilities and, most importantly, generates productivity and innovation as a strategic goal. Findings illustrate how corporate culture plays a vital role in businesses by facilitating communication, approaching mistakes as a learning process, and encompassing business goals with workforce efforts. Therefore, this paper shows that culture is an essential corporate asset by defining a competitive edge for thriving in the IT industry. Moreover, it reveals meanings to managers leading business requirements to people while enabling climate and ensuring a functional OC. However, while these researches scrutinise large and small enterprises from Europe, the Middle East and Asia, it shows that not all culture types incentive innovation or encourage organisations to absorb technology to its full potential due to constraints that culture might implicate. Finally, digital OC is vital to amplify business capabilities to compete in a post-Covid-19 reality. Therefore, businesses might benefit from this paper as a snapshot summarising some OC dimensions.
Gayathri, M., & Anand, J. (2021). A Study on Organizational Work Culture in Information Technology Industry. Shanlax International Journal of Arts, Science and Humanities, 8(3), 131–136. https://doi.org/10.34293/sijash.v8i3.3550
This study relates OC to employee satisfaction and performance. Primarily, it provides background about corporate culture, highlighting that culture reflects the collective behaviour of those who belong to an environment by sharing values, beliefs, norms and symbols to standardise individual actions as part of the corporation. Also, that culture might encourage or prevent change, impacting business outcomes. Research conducted with fifty employees in an IT business in India analyses satisfaction, structure and perception of the organisation’s workforce. The central finding is that the majority appreciates the organisation, aligning with good work performance and a recent positive attitude. The gap in the study is a lack of the organisation’s background and employees’ profiles because it could sharpen the study’s understanding. Nevertheless, the paper demonstrates that the workforce’s positive attitude links to top management the aligning roles to scope and skills, enhancing appreciation for employees’ performance and their sense of belonging, resulting in workers feeling proud of working in that business. Hence, OC is a vital asset to businesses.
Kassem, R., Ajmal, M., Gunasekaran, A., & Helo, P. (2019). Assessing the Impact of organizational Culture on Achieving Business Excellence with a Moderating Role of ICT: An SEM Approach. Benchmarking, 26(1), 117–146. https://doi.org/10.1108/BIJ-03-2018-0068
This research discusses numerous OC frameworks in organisations and compares them with their business excellence results. Overall, culture should meet businesses’ strategic direction, goals & objectives and vision to be effective. Meanwhile, Adaptability, Involvement and Consistency culture types were the central focus of the study. In contrast, their comparison clarifies how and if it benefits businesses. For example, while the adaptability culture focuses on embracing change to meet customers’ expectations and shape people’s behaviour, the Involvement culture focuses on autonomy and empowering people while constantly upskilling them to maintain high productivity. On the other hand, consistency embraces employee agreement by embedding clear values, coordination and integration. On the suit, business excellence measured results approaching tangibles and intangibles outcomes, like Return Over Investment and profitability, against customer satisfaction and turnover rates. As a result, not all OCs are effective. For example, Adaptability and Involvement cultures contribute to business excellence only when the organisation’s culture aligns with the business values and mindset. In contrast, the Consistency culture demonstrates employee enhancements while lacking Return Over Investment and profitability.
Lousã, E. P. (2020). Comparing the Effects of Leadership and Organizational Culture on Innovation in Technology-Based Organizations and Other Industries. IBIMA Business Review, 2020. https://doi.org/10.5171/2020.315185
The study approaches OC and leadership impacting innovation and the success of organisations: Initially, the study presents culture as vital because it stimulates creativity and innovation. Then, the research compares IT-based and non-IT-based participants to determine how OC impacts them by considering the number of employees and operation time to bring in-depth results, which contrasts with the previous paper (REFERENCE 01). The participating are 102 Portuguese companies, from micro to large enterprises, with about 2 to 650 employees, whereas half are IT-based. The findings determine that OC alongside transformational leadership is irrelevant to fostering innovation in IT-based businesses. In contrast, it benefits non-it-based businesses. Additionally, the author argues that transformational leadership maybe does not match the expectation of IT employees. However, the gap might be that the leadership role is intrinsic to IT industry managers. Therefore, invisible to employees’ perceptions due to their paradigm. In contrast, transformational leadership promotes innovation in non-IT-based businesses because it has adherence to their OC. Concluding, OC does not necessarily encourage innovation when approaching transformational leadership.
Ober, J. (2020). Innovation adoption: Empirical Analysis on the Example of Selected Factors of Organizational Culture in the IT Industry in Poland. Sustainability (Switzerland), 12(20), 1–25. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12208630
The study explores the impact of OC in the innovation process because of the importance of optimising its results to support economic growth in a post-Covid-19 world. Additionally, the author discusses the advantages and disadvantages of theories like vertical & horizontal innovation, adoption of external technologies and reverse integration to fortify the study. The study comprehends 400 respondents from 310 ICT businesses in Poland. The findings demonstrate that employees’ engagement varies depending on the innovation process stage. Furthermore, the culture enables or inhibits people’s embracing innovation depending on the sense of co-ownership from the initiation, development and implementation phases. Also, leaders play a central role by rewarding achievements, encouraging learning and problem solving, promoting flexibility, and incentivising colleagues’ involvement, including in the brainstorming process. In conclusion, although people demonstrate a positive perception of innovation, OC requires managers to incentivise, upskill, and reward people for scaling outcomes because their involvement relies mainly on the sense of co-ownership. Therefore, favourable conditions in the OC enable the right motivation to people to embrace innovation.
Kucharska, W. (2021). Leadership, Culture, Intellectual Capital and Knowledge Processes for Organizational Innovativeness Across Industries: The Case of Poland. Journal of Intellectual Capital, 22(7), 121–141. https://doi.org/10.1108/JIC-02-2021-0047
The discussion surrounds how leaders should approach OC by encouraging learning to build valuable intellectual capital in organisations. Moreover, linking learning with innovation as a strategic outcome demonstrates that leaders play a central role in managing change. Additionally, sharing tacit and explicit knowledge contributes to human relations and business structure. However, lacking its balance leads to a knowledge paradox, which contributes to or prevents knowledge sharing in contrast to formal processes and skills, which impact innovation because it happens mostly by intrinsic communication, although the traditional structure is vital. The researcher embraces 1,418 skilled professionals in Poland from the IT industry and the healthcare, construction, and education sectors. Findings demonstrate that the learning culture is relevant to the formal learning process in all industries. Moreover, the climate is vital to intrinsic knowledge development—highlighting that transformational leadership and climate supporting mistake acceptance are pillars for innovation development. This research demonstrates that transformation leadership encourages knowledge sharing by incorporating mistake acceptance into knowledge learning, increasing intellectual capital and innovation as an outcome of OC. Therefore, contrasting previous research (REFERENCE 03), transformational leadership promotes innovation in ICT organisations.
Zhen, Z., Yousaf, Z., Radulescu, M., & Yasir, M. (2021). Nexus of Digital Organizational Culture, Capabilities, Organizational Readiness, and Innovation: Investigation of SMEs Operating in the Digital Economy. Sustainability (Switzerland), 13(2), 1–15. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13020720
The influence of digital OC in innovation with the support of capabilities and readiness is the bases of this study. Furthermore, the author acknowledges innovation as meaning to achieving competitive advantage and the critical adoption of the latest technologies, like Ai, big data and IoT, to thrive. Therefore, the study embraces 227 SME ICT companies in Pakistan to explore hypotheses surrounding the link of culture, capabilities and readiness that culminates in digital innovation. The findings highlight that digital culture strongly supports meaning for transformation that results in digital innovation. In parallel, capabilities are critical to sustaining readiness while linking culture as a concept and innovation as an outcome. However, readiness plays a strategic role because it enables change, allowing the business to respond quickly. This mediation role is critical for digital innovation success. Finally, this study is valuable to clarify the relevance of OC and what links it to innovation as a strategy to create a competitive edge in the digital era broadening the knowledge from other studies that embrace other links from culture to innovation.
Chtourou Ben Amar, N., & Ben Romdhane, R. (2020). Organizational Culture and Information Systems Strategic Alignment: Exploring the Influence Through an Empirical Study From Tunisia. Journal of Enterprise Information Management, 33(1), 95–119. https://doi.org/10.1108/JEIM-03-2019-0072
Nowadays, most organisations rely on Information Systems (IS) to optimise performance and generate insights to support their strategies. However, the IS’s success or failure reflects cultural factors that enhance or hinder business capabilities because it reflects the top management’s alignment with business objectives and the workforce. So then, this study approaches OCs types to evaluate which one facilitates IS success. Hence, the author embraces 160 business managers from 53 large Tunisian organisations in a post-implementation IS phase to perform research. Initially, culture types have different success rates with IS systems. However, the ‘Clan culture’ stands out because of its flexibility, team-oriented and open communication character. Moreover, top managers and CEOs are vital in translating strategic requirements and promoting consensus among team members, revealing their communication skills, and allowing organisations to profit from ERPs. Ultimately, the research demonstrates that specific OCs might benefit or not from IT capabilities; meanwhile, top management is responsible for implementing an appropriate culture type and translating strategic goals to team members to businesses succeed after implementing an IS.
Naqshbandi, M. M., Kaur, S., Sehgal, R., & Indra, D. S. (2015). Organizational Culture Profile of Malaysian High-Tech Industries. Asia – Pacific Journal of Business Administration, 7(1), 2-19. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/APJBA-08-2013-0088
Malaysian high-tech companies have their OC profile defined by the type and external influence. Therefore, it shall support top managers in developing culture-oriented organisations to scale businesses’ economic value while Malaysia becomes a relevant technology provider in Asia. Moreover, the study approaches companies to adhere to a culture that matches their strategic goals because corporate culture and leadership types define specific outcomes. The research has 339 respondents from Malaysian, Chinese, mixed (Malaysian/Chinese), and government-owned businesses. The findings highlight that harmony as an organisational dimension stands out in most top-ranked, parallel to integrative leadership styles. Moreover, harmony demonstrates an “Asian-ness” similarity, demonstrating that the region influences OC biases. Notwithstanding, businesses approaching harmony in the cultural dimension integrative leadership style are more optimised and profitable than those adopting hierarchy style. Therefore, it demonstrates that matching a culture profile with strategy facilitates business outcomes. Meanwhile, defining OC determines bias to higher or lower profitability.
Tong, C., Tak, W. I. W., & Wong, A. (2015). The Impact of Knowledge Sharing on the Relationship between Organizational Culture and Job Satisfaction: The Perception of Information Communication and Technology (ICT) Practitioners in Hong Kong. International Journal of Human Resource Studies, 5(1), 19. https://doi.org/10.5296/ijhrs.v5i1.6895
This research intents to demonstrate how job satisfaction, knowledge sharing (KS) and OC impact businesses’ productivity. Overall, KS is one dimension of OC relating to communication and people management. However, the effectiveness depends on how culture supports the practice. Notwithstanding, the author shares extensive literature supporting KS as a strategic factor for people’s skills development, which results in enhanced business performance. The author comprehends 228 internet-based answers from respondents in Hong Kong from the ICT industry. The findings highlight that KS contributes to OC and job satisfaction. However, while most of the respondents are male and located in Hong Kong with high educational levels, it might indicate some bias. Ultimately, the author empirically demonstrates valuable material for top managers that implementing an OC that fosters KS enhances job satisfaction, productivity, and business profitability. Furthermore, it reinforces findings in (REFERENCE 5), revealing that KS contributes to scaling intellectual capital, a valuable asset to the business. Hence, KS reflects good OC by enhancing job satisfaction, intellectual capital, and scaling optimisation.
Lam, L., Nguyen, P., Le, N., & Tran, K. (2021). The Relation Among Organizational Culture, Knowledge Management, and Innovation Capability: Its Implication for Open Innovation. Journal of Open Innovation: Technology, Market, and Complexity, 7(1), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.3390/joitmc7010066
The study explores how knowledge-driven businesses can manage OC and innovation capabilities as a driver for enhancing open innovation. Although numerous researchers agree that these isolated factors contribute to business performance, the author aims to demonstrate that culture and leadership styles scale open innovation outcomes. Then, effective knowledge management (KM) might reflect higher collaboration and creativity while people approach problem-solving. The research comprehends 182 managers from Vietnamese IT firms. Firstly, the findings prove that KM efficiency results in a competitive advantage by facilitating communication among employees, stakeholders, clients and managers. Secondly, managers are a solid basis for implementing a culture that encourages KM practices. However, lacking a supportive and participative leadership style to stimulate collaboration, trust, employee bonds, and innovation capabilities compromise the business environment and open innovation initiatives. Finally, the author demonstrates how KM, OC and innovation capabilities relate to improving open innovation results. It relies on managers to implement a supportive leadership style as part of corporate culture, acquiring the latest technologies as part of the business strategy to succeed with open innovation initiatives.
Conclusion
This annotated bibliography presents organisational culture (OC) as a standard of norms, values, symbols and beliefs that keep the organisation running. It is also a vital asset of ICT businesses because it optimises the organisation and scales profitability by enhancing employee control.
Among the many factors that determine corporate culture’s success, management leadership is a primary factor because they link the culture to business strategy while translating it into employee behaviour, which results in business outcomes. From the management perspective, those styles embracing transformation, supportive integration and collaboration stand out by facilitating communication and creating bonds between employees and the company. Similarly, OC supports continuous learning and promotes change, while the climate encourages people to self-manage tasks, tolerates mistakes and tends to support them to succeed more often. Moreover, they recognise accomplishments and co-own winnings with employees, achieving higher performance and profitability. In contrast, businesses focus on hierarchy and protocols and have lower revenue due to lacking productivity by limited flexibility and empathy with employees.
Additionally, two other characteristics of OC are worth mentioning. Firstly, knowledge management because it facilitates communication, enabling the building of the organisation’s intellectual capital, which is a valuable asset. That reflects productivity and is a result of smooth communication. Secondly, digital OC is vital to embracing digital transformation because it enables digital capabilities and amplifies digital innovation, significantly benefiting competing in the post-covid-19 reality. Finally, although OC should fit businesses’ strategic needs, it can also modernise the business strategy by clarifying the mechanics of people’s behaviour, relating it to the organisation’s capabilities and setting the right management style. Furthermore, using this knowledge to attract and retain top talents in the industry enables OC to explore the full potential of strategy, people and resources.