The relationship between organisational culture, values and need systems.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the Personal Values, Perceptions of Culture and Achievement Motivation levels of employees in an organisation. Employees were classified according to differences in job grade, race and gender. The influence of Length of Service, Educational Level and Age as biographical variables was also considered. Respondents were drawn from an organisation which provides a service at harbour terminals. Services include loading and off-loading ships and storing freight and bulk cargo. The co-operation of all managers employed in the organisation, classified into f lower, middle and senior categories, was solicited through the offices of the Human Resources Executive. Sets of questionnaires were distributed to the population of 430 managers in the organisation. From the returns, 169 usable sets of questionnaires were processed. Personal Values and Perceptions of Culture were assessed using instruments based on Graves' (1970) "Open System Theory of Values", while Achievement Motivation was measured using the Achievement Motivation Questionnaire (PMV). Analysis of the data was done descriptively as well as by using Pearson's product moment correlations, t-Tests and analysis of variances. Findings indicate there are significant relationships between some factors on the Personal Values Questionnaire and those on the Perceptions of CuIture Questionnaire. Absolutistic/Conformist Personal Values were held most strongly whilst Egoistic values were ranked lowest. The most strongly held perception was the organisation had a Passive Hierarchy culture and the weakest was that it had an Empire culture. Overall Achievement Motivation was at the average level for all managers. There are significant differences in the Personal Values, Perceptions of Culture and Achievement Motivation levels of managers classified by race and job grade. While Achievement Motivation levels were influenced by gender, Personal Values and Perceptions of Culture were not. Age appears to have an influence on Personal Values but not on Perceptions of CuIture and Achievement Motivation. Significant differences were found in Personal Values and Achievement Motivation levels but not in Perceptions of Culture among managers with varying lengths of service. Education level seems to influence managers' Personal Values and Achievement Motivation levels but not their Perceptions of Culture. Construct validity coefficients for the Personal Values and Perceptions of Culture Questionnaires were established and existing coefficients for the Achievement Motivation Questionnaire were analysed. Results of the current study must be regarded as tentative due to limitations in the sampling procedure, the possibility of changes in the meaning of the Achievement Motivation construct as measured on the PMV, as well as shifts in the meanings of the factors on the Personal Values and Perceptions of Culture Questionnaires (all three instruments were designed in the early 1980's). These . movements in. meanings could render existing reliability and validity coeffients suspect.