Organisational Culture of Etisalat

Etisalat – Organizational Culture

Executive Summary:

The below discussion is a research into the organizational culture aspect of the company Etisalat. In this respect we could say that the discussion gives an idea of the concept of organizational culture and a company brief of Etisalat. Next the discussion reveals the organizational culture of the company Etisalat and explains the same and draws an alignment of organizational culture of the company with the Hofstede theory.

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Next the discussion discusses the positive aspects of the company culture. The conclusion draws one’s attention to the negative impact of the Etisalat organizational culture and finally the discussion ends with recommendations for better performance of the company in future

Introduction:

The aspect of organizational culture comprises a very important aspect of the management studies of the current times. In fact the feature of organizational culture also reveal a considerable portion of the organization work ambience and the strategic approaches that the company will be having in dealing the various situations. In other words the organizational culture represents the views, beliefs, values and the opinions of the members of the organization, both the employees and the management of the company.

Etisalat or the Emirates telecommunications Corporations is the largest telecom company of the region. The company was initially a British company which was later bought out by the government of the nation of UAE and nearly 60% of the shares was retained by the government of the nation and the rest of the 40% of the shares were made available for the general masses.

In the following discussion we will be illustrating certain aspects of the organizational culture of the company Etisalat – the global telecom giant, which has a organizational culture much hued by the inherent beliefs of the Islam society.

Body of the Discussion:

In this part of the discussion we will be looking at the various aspects of the organizational culture that prevails in the context of the company Etisalat.

Etisalat Organizational Culture:

The company Etisalat or the Emirates telecommunication Corporation was initially incepted to provide a world class telecommunication system to the UAE. However in the coming times the company did expand in the other parts of the Middle East and also parts of Asia. Currently the company is operating in nearly 18 countries all over the world and has a client base of more than 150 million users.

In the course of its growth we see that the company has maintained a very employee oriented approach. One of the most initial and crucial aspect to which the management of the company has paid detailed attention is the development of its employees. The element of employee dynamism and its enhancement does comprise to be an essential feature of the company’s internal dynamics. Once again we see that the element of ethics again is a very important criterion for the company of Etisalat. As an essential feature of the organizational culture both the management and the employees of the company do have very positive attitude towards the feature of training and development.

In this case we see that the management of the company do have a very positive and keen attitude towards training its employees so that they come up with better and innovative ideas in the future that would be elemental in the development of the company. Once again we see that the organizational culture of the company does reflect that the management of the company is quite forward looking and progressive in nature and is interested in an aggressive marketing endeavour as per which the company is making emergence in new companies and is also strengthening its position through acquisitions and mergers. Again the company culture seems to be pretty much in sync with the commercially progressive culture of the nation of the United Arab Emirates. Since we see that the company in its endeavour to enter new markets are also not hesitant to make some considerable investment into the genre of market and brand building.

In addition to the same we see that the job responsibility of all the elements and the members of the company are treated with an equal amount of importance and significance. In this case we see that the managers and the team leads of the company do like to pay a close level of attention to the performance standards of all the team members. Favouritism is not fostered in the Company as the same could lead to some very serious consequences.

In this connection one could explain that a collective performance stands as imperative as per the culture of the company. On the other hand we also observe that the company tries to rise above the gender bias that is but a marked feature of the United Arab Emirates society. We do observe that some of the senior and the significant positions are again chaired by the female employees of the firm and the firm also encourages a larger recruitment of the female candidates irrespective of the position. Truly in the current times as per the tides of globalization, the company has raised much above the Middle Eastern values and has rightfully become a global organization in terms of the organizational culture.

Organizational Culture Theories:

One of the very old and often used theories that is applied to explain the concept of Organizational Culture is that of the Hofstede theory. Hofstede in his theory of organizational culture has been pressing on the factor that different geographical regions and nations does contribute to the fabrication of the organizational culture. The element of organization culture does reflect the facet of mental programs and thinking patterns and the process of social actions. In this respect it needs to be said that element of organizational culture also does greatly depend on the facet of the ethics and the culture of the society and the nation as a whole in which the company is operational.

In the scope of the theory we can see that Hofstede has reflected on certain facets that will help a company to have a progressive and forward looking organizational culture. In this case we see that the noted scholar did happen to press on the facts that the power distance or the distance between the several layers of the organization has to be minimized. Once again the company has to learn to avoid uncertainty that might arise in the future. The company culture has concentrate on both the elements of individualism as well as that of collectivism. The company must also rise above the facets of feminism and Masculinity and must also be having both Long term and Short term orientation.

In this respect we can say that the organization Etisalat is quite in alignment with the belief and the theories of the concept that was propagated by Hofstede. To illustrate the same we can explain the following points:

1. The element of power distance is kept in mind and is followed by the management of the company Etisalat. We see that within the company in order to get better and innovative ideas from the elements of the company from all the layers of the hierarchical system, consolidation and centralization of power is generally discouraged and an open and cordial forum is maintained as per which the various employees of the company can come up with various ideas and concepts.
2. In terms of uncertainty avoidance we see that the company looks forward to try only those ideas and concepts that seem quite tangible and what the employees of the company pull through. The company again tries to serve and deliver results to both its employees as well as the customers alike.
3. Once again in the case of collectivism and individualism we see that the company do maintain a fine balance as per which the performance of all the individual employees are kept in mind and that the performance of the teams are pondered upon which together balances collectivism and also individualism.
4. Although the society of the nation UAE do have a bias towards the male elements of the society as per which we see that the best options in all the fields are kept aside for the males of the society, yet in the case of Etisalat we see that the company does give a fair chance to the female employees who are also working in some of the most significant positions of the company.
5. From the last aspect we see that the in terms of the long term orientations the eastern countries are given a preference than the short term western countries.

Positive and negative impacts:

It has often been cited that the feature of organizational culture often plays a very important role in the development of the organization and also the various operational and strategic styles and patterns that the same incorporates. In this case we can hence conclude that the element of organizational culture has a prominent role in the success or the failure of the company. In fact the decisive decisions that the management often takes are quite regularly influenced by the organizational culture of the company. In the case of the company Etisalat we see that the situation is certainly no different. In this case we observe that the organizational culture has a number of positive impacts on the company. They are as follows:

• The organizational culture helps the employees of the company to come up with new ideas as a result of which we see that the company always has some new idea up its sleeve that the management tries out for the better performance of the company in the future. It also enhances the personal skills and the confidence of the company.

• The working ambience of the company turns out to be a rather positive one and we see that the company and its employees have a positive attitude that helps them proceed towards growth and success.

• Quintessentially we see that the organizational culture does have a strong influence on the agenda of the company going global. It could be said that the forward moving attitude of the company’s internal elements finally gave the Company and its management the impetus to move ahead and move into the foreign and the maiden markets of the other countries in the Middle East, Africa and now in Asia. Once again we also see that the company has a presence in the nations of the UK and the USA.

• We also see that the company other than the telecommunication industry also is operational in the other industries such as the internet industry and the industry of voice trafficking. This diversification which is again an important element in the current times of stiff competition is a product of the organizational culture that has given rise to innovative ideas.
• The company again has made some very unique contributions to the up gradation of the female employees and has given career options to several woman of the nation. This has also helped the image of the company on the global scenario.

Conclusion:

On a concluding note it could be said that the element of organizational culture does play a very important role in the development and the growth of a country. This is one aspect that has been made evident from the case of the Company Emirates telecommunication Corporation or the brand Etisalat. However we can say that the organizational culture of the company has led the company to rest a comparatively low emphasis on the marketing of its products in the western world such as the US and the European markets. However these markets could prove to be rather important to the profit and the interest of the company in the longer run. In this case we see that the company could might as well think of options and plans that will help the firm to get a proper and strong introduction in the western market.

Recommendation:

The company in its endeavour to get an introduction in the western market could look forward to come up with aggressive marketing endeavours so that the company could have a noted and a marked entry into the markets of the UK and the US. Once again the company since is already quite a big name in the Middle East and the African region could start by giving some rebates or introductory offers on its connections. Moreover we also see that the company is operational in just the communication or the service part of the business, with a passing phase the company could also get into the business of manufacturing handsets that could also be introduced to the markets in different parts of the globe.