ABSTRACT
Today, organizational culture and customer satisfaction are running the operations of firms. The organizational culture of the firm is the way of life of the members of the organization whereas customers with high satisfaction levels, are more likely to repurchase the services and products of a firm. The ability of firms to provide satisfaction to their customers is dependent on the values, thoughts, actions and beliefs of the organization. These attributes fall under organizational culture. This suggests that there is a relationship between organizational culture and customer satisfaction. Due to the continuous financial scandals-Ponzi schemes, which are being run by fraudulent financial institutions, people are losing faith in the financial system of the world. A firms ability to retain its customers can go a long way to increase their profitability and retention of customers can be done through customer satisfaction.
This study sought to find the relationship between organizational culture and customer satisfaction. A mixed methods approach was used to collect data that could be generalizable and in-depth unlike past literature that used only a quantitative analysis. Data was analyzed using Pearson’s ‘r’ correlation coefficient and regression analysis. Results showed that three out of the four types of culture; clan, adhocracy, and hierarchy had a significant relationship with customer satisfaction levels. However, the result of the market culture was inconclusive. Qualitative results served as a complement to the results of the quantitative study, showing similar outcomes. Based on the results of this study, firms can concentrate on improving their current culture or changing it if need be in order to boost their customer satisfaction levels. Organizations can also work on receiving feedback from their customers in order to make the necessary adjustments and put in place the right structures, to increase their profitability.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
DECLARATION FORM………………………………………………………………………………. ii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT……………………………………………………………………………. iii
ABSTRACT…………………………………………………………………………………………………. iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS………………………………………………………………………………. v
LIST OF FIGURES…………………………………………………………………………………….. vii
LIST OF TABLES……………………………………………………………………………………… viii
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………………………… 1
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW……………………………………………………… 11
CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY………………………………………………………………… 23
CHAPTER 4 – FINDINGS & DISCUSSION……………………………………………….. 28
- Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………… 28
CHAPTER 5- CONCLUSION & RECOMMENDATIONS………………………….. 48
BIBLIOGRAPHY……………………………………………………………………………………….. 54
APPENDICES…………………………………………………………………………………………….. 58
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1: Organizational effectiveness indicators……………………………………………… 7
Figure 2: Customer satisfaction model…………………………………………………………….. 8
Figure 3: Model showing the relationship between organizational culture and customer satisfaction…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 9
Figure 4: A graph showing a comparison of the current culture of both firms… 35
Figure 5: A graph showing the comparison of the preferred culture of both firms……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 35
Figure 6: A graph showing the combined culture in both firms currently and what is preferred……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 36
Figure 7: A graph showing the customer satisfaction rate of AFB………………….. 37
Figure 8: A graph showing the customer satisfaction rate of NDK…………………. 38
Figure 9: A graph showing the rating of the customer service representative at NDK……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 38
Figure 10: A graph showing the customer service representative rating of AFB.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….39
LIST OF TABLES
Table 1: Pearson ‘r’ correlation coefficient. Results of the Pearson’s r correlation coefficient which shows the relationship between the four types of organizational culture and customer satisfaction…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 28
Table 2: Culture regression Table………………………………………………………………….. 29
Table 3: Relationship between culture and customer satisfaction…………………….. 30
Table 4:Relationship between Clan culture and satisfaction……………………………. 31
Table 5:Relationship between Adhocracy culture and satisfaction………………….. 31
Table 6: Relationship between Market culture and satisfaction………………………. 32
Table 7: Relationship between Hierarchy culture and satisfaction………………….. 33
Table 8: A table of Current culture and Preferred culture of NDK and AFB…. 34
Table 9: Table of current culture and preferred culture of firms…………………… 36
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
Overview
Organizational culture has undergone a lot of research and has been proven to have a link with innovation, organizational effectiveness and considered as a significant factor in the restructuring and developing of operations and service delivery (Jung et al., 2009; see also Büschgens, Bausch, & Balkin, 2013). Companies such as Google, Apple, and 3M, associate their success with their organizational culture (Büschgens, Bausch, & Balkin, 2013). They also associate their success with their ability to listen to their customers. Corporate culture and customer satisfaction are essential to an organization. Although these two concepts have been viewed as elements of the success of a firm, there is little literature that looks at how these two concepts are related (Gillespie, Denison, Haaland, Smerek, & Neale, 2008).
Organizational culture can be defined as the fundamental values, beliefs, and principles that explain an organizations management system, practices, and behaviors (Plakhotnik, 2017). This suggests that organizational culture regulates the cognitive, reactive and active characteristics of members of the organization. Organization.
However, throughout research, there has been no consensus on the definition of organizational culture. The definitions take on different shapes based on the author’s perception, methodologies, and emphases (Szczepańska-Woszczyna, 2014). On the other hand, customer satisfaction is defined as an individual’s feelings of delight or discontent when their perceived expectation of a product or service is not met (Singh, 2006). Customer satisfaction is known to have a significant effect on corporate profitability (Gillespie, Denison, Haaland, Smerek, & Neale, 2008). A firm’s ability to make profit guarantees its ability to stay afloat in the competitive market.
