An Investigation into the Effect of Organizational Culture on Strategy Implementation: A case of Investrust Bank of Zambia

Abstract

The primary purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of organizational culture on strategy implementation with Investrust Bank being the case study. And so, to achieve this the research objectives were: to diagnose the distribution of the types of organizational culture at Investrust Bank and to propose the best culture distribution that a bank can adopt to improve strategy implementation, in this case Investrust Bank. The sequential exploratory design where the qualitative phase of data gathering and analysis is followed by the quantitative phase of data gathering and analysis was used. The researcher used a combination of stratified sampling and convenience sampling due to the mixed method research approach that will be adopted. The sample size was derived from the target population of 300 employees at Investrust Bank using the Taro Yamane formula, and 171 participants were involved in this study as per calculation. The study employed questionnaires and surveys for primary data collection and internet articles and data archives for secondary data collection. To analyze the data collected using qualitative and quantitative methods, thematic analysis and descriptive analysis were used. The study findings revealed that organizational culture does have an effect on strategy implementation in Investrust Bank Plc. However, this effect is dependent on the measure to which a particular organizational culture type is been exercised. Using Cameron & Quinn’s OCAI tool the results revealed that the distribution of in the bank was as follows: the dominant being hierarchy culture (51%), followed by market culture (31%), then adhocracy culture (9%) and lastly clan culture (9%). The study concluded that organizational culture does have an effect on strategy implementation and using the OCAI tool it was based on the measure of it in the bank which revealed that the four types of organizational culture were irregularly distributed and so the effect on strategy implementation stifled the process instead of easing the process. And the following recommendations were made: introduce a ‘strategic management’ department that will solely focus on strategy; adopting a well balanced mix of all four types of organizational culture in accordance with Cameron and Quinn’s Competing Values Framework; and ensuring that process of adopting the types of organizational cultures is done prudently without experiencing competition between dimensions; and for management to deliberately design a working environment that is aligned to the envisaged culture that encompasses all four types of organizational culture.