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CllAPTEI{ I I

RESEARCH DESIGN AND VALl'FS

CLARlFICATIO T PROCESS

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CHAPTER II

RESEARCH DESIGN AND VALUES ClARIFICATION PROCESS

2.1 Inb'oduction

The survey of literature brings out the influence of the values and beliefs

of the individual members of an organisation on its culture. The need for a

methodical approach in facilitating values clarification at individual and

collective levels in order to evolve an organisational culture that will result in

higher levels of performance is very evident.

The researcher while working with organisations using a process of

values clarification to facilitate individual and organisational development

found indications of some shifts in organisational culture. TIlls led to questions

on:

Is it possible to influence the culture of an organisation through a

planned intervention?

What is the role of values in influencing the organisation?

Does values clarification process alter the organisational culture?

2.2 Aim of the Study

Lack of any clear answers to the above questions led to the researcher

wanting to further study in a systematic way. Considering this need, the

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present study aims at studying the influence of Values Clarification processes in

the development of Organisational Culture.

2.3 Objectives of the Study

The need to study organisational culture has always interested social

scientists. While most of these effort have been focusing on understanding

organisational culture and evaluating the same, there has not been much effort

on designing organisational interventions which would enable organisations to

manage their own culture. •

To study the influence of Values Clarification process on the

individual in organisational and personal contexts.

To study the shifts that occur at different levels of management

and the resultant influence on the organisational effectiveness

based on the Values Profile Questionnaire.

To study the influence of Values Clarification process on the

development of Organisational Culture.

To study the influence of Values Clarification process on the

organisational effectiyeness.

To outline a framework and an approach to Values Clarification

processes in buildin~ organisational culture based on this study.

2.4 Scppe of the Study

A study of this nature to an extent could be generalised in the context of

organisation involved in business with profit as a motive. It also could be

extended to non-profit organisation. Theoretically, the findings of the study

would help to develop a better understanding of the influence of Values

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Clarification process on the individual and the organisational culture. The

findings could help in strengthening the Values Clarification methodology as an

intervention process for developing an organisational culture. The findings of

the study would also provide guidelines for future study.

2.5 Universe of the Study

The universe considered for the study was all the executives of Textron

Ltd., a Public Ltd. Co.

2.6 Selection of the Organisation for the Study

The choice of the specific type of case to be included in this study was

linked to the objectives of this study. All the five objectives are directed towards

understanding the influence of Values Clarification as a process to influence the

organisational culture and the individuals in the organisation. It was not

possible to select many organisations as it called for an in-depth study over a

period of time of an organisation to study the influence on the culture of an

organisation.

Given the limitation of organisation's willingness to pennit a researcher

to study by committing the organisation to the process of Values Clarification

over a period of time was not easy, as it involved investment of resources, time

and willingness to look at oneself from the point of view of the organisation.

The researcher had to be sure of the long-term commitment of the organisation

to the process. The organisation, which could meet all the requirements and

was serious about the whole process, was approached by the researcher for the

purpose of the study. Once the permission was granted the researcher designed

the intervention strategy using the Values Clarification process, data generation

and documentation.

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Organisation Background

In the year 1981, realising the growing opportunity for climate control

equipment, more so in the field of air conditioning, Textron Ud was born out

of a large industrial conglomerate based in the northern part of India with

diversified interests in cbemicals, heavy light engineering goods, e1l:cl:IOnics,

etc. The organisation started operations in early 1982. The product was initially introduced in the local state and the nearby states before moving on to

cover the entire country.

Today Textron is one of the leading brands in the industry with the

collaboration of international partners. The Company has acquired leading

technology in the field of air conditioning from its collaborators. The Company

has been expanding its product range not only in room air conditioners but also

in other related products like air-cooled liquid cbillers. Textron today has a

number of products in its range and is continuously working towards becoming

the market leader.

Management

Textron is a public limited company and is managed by a team of young

professionals with a high sense of commitment. They have been drawn from

reputed organisations from all over the country with varied experience profiles.

The company has a total strength of over 250 employees spread all over the

country. The organisation, being in the consumer durable products, is strongly

driven by market conditions and has a strong marketing department.

Organisation Structure

Textron as an organisation has been attempting to move towards a flat

structure in the future to align itself with various other initiatives to bring about

systemic cbange in the organisation. The existing structure of the organisation

is given at Appendix A.

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From the organisational structure, one can see the extra emphasis that

has been given to the marketing function and also the special focus on customer

seIVice. This further indicates the Textron's focus on being a customer-driven

organisation.

The Chief Executive Officer is the person who is moving the organisation

towards its desired growth and has complete freedom in managing and

planning the future of the organisation. He is responsible to the Managing

Director and the Board of Directors for the performance of the Company. The

Managing Director does not involve himself in the day to day operations of the

Company.

Manpower Data

The table below gives the details on the manpower of the organisation.

TABLE 4

Manpower Data

LEVEL 1994-95 1995-96 1996-97 1997-98

ML -3 27 23 28 31

ML-2 53 54 51 48

ML-l 171 162 134 136

ML-S 152 170 166 III

TOTAL 403 409 379 326

The above table gives the manpower data of Textron during the period of

tile study. ML -3 includes the senior executives which includes the top

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• management, ML-2 represents the middle management and ML-1 repre!WlIB

the junior management. ML-S refers to the staff.

The researcher designed the intervention· strategy using the Values

Clarification process. The first workshop was organised in August 1993 for the

Top Management of which the CEO was a part. There after the influencers in

the organisation were put through the Values Clarification process. The

influencers were those who held positions of leadership at various levels and

were leading a group of people to accomplish the given task. The group of

influencers consisted of executives from ali the three levels i.e. 'lop

Management, Middle Management and Junior Management.

2.7 Population

All the executives who were on the roles of the Company between 1994-

95 to 1996-97. The executives belonged to three levels of management which is

junior, middle and senior management. The workers and staff were not a part

of the study.

2.8 Selection of Sample

All the executives who met the criteria given below were included for (a)

individual case studies, (b) level-wise group profiling based on the values

profile questionnaire.

~ Should have attended the Values Clarification process in the first

phase in 1994 and attended the subsequent review process I after a

period of six months and also the review process II after a period of

18 months.

~ Those who could not attend ali or any of the processes were excluded

from the study.

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) Those executives who were included were further categorised into

three leveJs of management for the purpose of this study. The basis .

and the sample size is given below:

No. Selection Criteria

1 Those who belonged to the senior Top Management 8

managers group and were a part of the

management committee """"'t-o"'" --- - -:-;

managers category but were not Management

members of the management

committee and belonged to the

middle managers category

----'3=-+ to 31

managers category Management

For studying the organisational change all those executives who met the

following criterias:

) Should not have attended the Values Clarification process till March

1996 in the executive cadre.

) Should have joined the organisation atleast six months before the

study commenced Le. before February 1994.

) Should have had no break in service.

The executives who met the above criteria in various categories of the

management are given below.

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•

No. Management No. of No. ... ·AIIl8for .... z' ... n Cadre ex«utlves Inter viewed

1 Jtmior 34 31 2 on long leave Management •

on long official travel 1

2 Middle 6 4 2 on long official travel. Management

Total 40 35 5

The other executives had participated in the first part of Values

Clarification process which is the workshop but were yet to attend the review

workshops and hence were excluded.

2.9 Research Design

The research design that drives this study is exploratory. The present

study aims at exploring the influence of Values Clarification on the individuals,

organisational culture and its effectiveness. Exploratory design facilitates

discovering relations among variables and lay the ground work for more

systematic and rigorous testing of hypothesis.

The study in order to gain deeper understanding on the Values

Clarification process and its influence focussed on a single organisation which

was willing to provide cooperation and support to a study of this nature.

In order to ensure objectivity, both qualitative and quantitative

techniques were used during the process of data collection. Also those who

were subject to the Values Clarification process and those who had not been

through the process were included to get an outsiders perspective within the

organisation on the influence of the process.

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To maintain uniformity in the interview, the respondents were

interviewed individually using an interview guide.

Though the study was primarily explorative in nature, during the course

of the exploration, the researcher had to use various methods in order to

ascertain the actual influence of Values Clarification process on development of

Organisational Culture.

2.10 Values Clarification Process

Values Clarification process was a four day workshop in the first phase of the

intervention. The objectives and the methodology of the process is given

below.

Objectives

~ To understand why one behaves the way one does.

~ To understand one's orientation towards:

• Freedom (Achievement Orientation)

• Relationship

• Power and Influence

• Learning

• Honesty and Integrity

To gain deeper clarity on one's own style of functioning and its

implication in the organisational and life context.

To understand the paradigms one is living by and gain clarity on

the need to make shift in the same.

To understand what prevents one from changing.

To understand the ability to risk and accept challenges .

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To understand the source of conflict and learning how to deal

with it.

The contents of Values Clarification process and their objectives

In the table given below, the Values Clarification process is presented

with all the sub process and their objectives.

TABLE 5

Contents of Values Clarification Process

. No. Session Title Objective

1 Micro lab. To ease the participants and give them an insight into

what they are likely to experience during the course of

the process and also enable them to open up

comfortably. ~2 Defining the To set the boundaries of the process and establish

boundaries. ground rules for working.

3 Setting the Understanding learning and enable people to begin

context for the real process oflearning.

learning.

4 Understanding To create awareness on the need for Values

the need for Clarification and its relevance in the context of

Values everyday living.

Clarification.

S Understanding To provide meaning of values from the context of

the meaning of everyday life rather than a concept.

values. To enable people to understand why they behave the

way they behave and the cause and effect relationship

of behaviour.

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To enable people to change at the cause level than at

the effect level.

6 Understanding To let people experience the 'consequences of their

the influence of own beliefs and paradigms in the context of the

beliefs and various roles they play in life . •

paradigilis.

Day 2

7 Understanding To facilitate the realisation of the gap that exists

the gap between what one wants to be and what one is.

between what To enable people to understand the blocks that

one wants to be prevent one from bridging this gap.

and what one To understand the need to take ownership for • reducing the gap. IS.

8 Values profile To enable people to understand their values profile.

Understanding To enable people to see the interdependence of values

how one's and the implications of any imbalance in the context

values are of real life.

perceived by To understand the importance of freedom

people around. (achievement orientation), relationship, power and

influence, learning, honesty and integrity.

To facilitate individuals to connect their own life

events with the consequences that shows up with

every imbalance . .L

3"" day

... Continuation of values profile

9 Understanding Understanding the values which are at the source of

value conflicts. almost all human conflicts one experiences.

Enabling people to experience their own source of

conflicts.

lO Understanding To enable people to see how their own behaviour has

the way one's evolved over the years. . .

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behaviour is To facilitate how one's own knowing blocks one's

formed. further knowing.

To facilitate how at each level of behaviour formation

• one seems to be unmindful of the realities which in

turn affects the quality of the final behaviour.

4th day .

11 Understanding To introduce basic human values and to initiate a

the multiple process of self enquiIy which takes care of the need

facets of the to learn to learn.

values and To understand the multiple facets of each value in the

develop the real life context.

ability to learn

to learn.

12 Understanding To enable people to understand the valuing process.

the valuing To experience one's own skill level in the various

process. steps involved in the valtling process.

To facilitate the realisation that each one of us are

hardly working to our capability.

13 Individual and To enable participants to see the implications of

Organisational alignment/non-alignment between individual and values. organisational values.

14 Understanding To enable people to see the distinction between

the meaning of "form" and "essence".

"form" and To enable people to see how conflicts are usually at

"essence", the "form" level.

To enable people to understand the need to be "form

flexible".

15 Understanding To enable people to break one's own chains which

the limitations prevent them from changing.

set by oneself.

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16 Leamingto To facilitate the realisation that there is always a way

look at options. out in any situation without breaking the boundaries.

17 Closure To nurture faith and hope in being able to be what

one is capable of . •

Values Clarification uses an inductive group process or, an experiential­

learning approach. The participants learn the theory of Values Clarification as

they are actually working out their values in the group through exercises and

instl1lments. The participants are encouraged to share with their group as

much of their values as they feel comfortable. No one is forced to share any

more than he wants to.

2.11 Review Workshop - I

After the participants of the Values C1arification process spent over six months

in the real life context they were taken through a review workshop with the

primary objective of understanding what kind of changes they could experience

and the influence of Values C1arification process in the real life context. The

Review Workshop-I was for one day. 1bis workshop also facilitated in

clarifying doubts and in supporting change efforts.

2.12 Review workshop - II

After the participants of the review workshop had spent around twelve months

in the real life context, they went through Review Workshop II. The primary

objective of this workshop was to gain insights into how much of the learnings

from the Values C1arification process has been integrated in to the actual life

context and how to further the same. The duration of the workshop was one

day.

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2.13 Methods of Data Collection and Techniques U8ed to Analyse the Data.

Based on the objectives of the study, appropriate tools ·,.ae used for data

collection. A brief description of the same is provided under the following

headings:

1. Values Profile Questionnaire.

2. Guided interview schedule was used to interview the individuals for

developing the individual case studies.

3. Interview guide was used to collect data from individual for developing the

organisational case study.

4. Secondary data was gathered from published documents such as the annual

reports of the company write ups in leading business magazines.

5. The Researcher throughout the period of study recorded significant

happenings and process in the organisation.

A brief on the above tools 1 to 3 used in this study is given below:

2.14 Values Profile Questionnaire

Values Profile Questionnaire was developed by J.M. Sampath in 1992. •

The basic objective of the tool is to enable the individual to take a close

look at one's own values profile as perceived by others. The basic principle on

which the whole questionnaire was developed by the researcher is:

"No single value by itself is valuable, values are interdependent and one

needs to understand the interdependence in order to understand one's own •

behaviour"

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Variables in the Questionnaire

The basic values that have been studied through the questionnaire are:

FIeedmn

Responsibility

Involvement

Discipline

Relationship

Involvement

Discipline

Power & Influence

Learning

Openness

Discipline

Honesty & Integrity

Concern

Initiative

Discipline

For each of these values the interdependent qualities are linked which

makes the value complete.

Questionnaire

The questionnaire consists of twenty-six items and is categorised under

five basic elements as given above. A copy of the questionnaire is given at

AppendixB.

Validity and Reliability of the Questionnaire

Face validity of the questionnaire was established by sending it to

experts in the field. Out of 16 experts, 11 experts had responded positively on

the conceptual framework and the questionnaire while the others did not

respond. The reliability of the questionnaire has been established by using the

test re-test method with r= .68.

The above questionnaire has been used in the corporations in USA,

Middle &st, Malaysia and other countries extensively over the years.

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2.15 Interview Guide for Individual Study

.

The interview guide focuses on three important areas which are personal

information, changes perceived in the organisational context and change

perceived in the personal context. The interview guide used to collect data to

construct the individual case studies is given at Appendix C . •

2.16 Interview guide for Organisational Case Study

An interview guide was developed to collect data from individuals on the

kind of changes if any, they perceived in the organisational context. The

interview schedule has two segments: the personal information s<:glllent and

the organisational data segment. A copy of the interview guide is given at

AppendixD.

2.17 Administration of the Questionnaire

When it comes to evaluating values, it is important to study how a

person is being experienced by people around than what he or she thinks of

himself or herself. Keeping this viewpoint in mind each of the participant was

asked to choose five people from within the organisation with whom he has

working relationship. The responses of these five individuals were collected and

using the key given at Appendix E, the responses were converted into

numerical scores. Further the level-wise scores were arrived at by averaging

the sum of all individual average score of that level.

The respondents chosen by each individual, were kept the same for all

the three evaluations except in cases where the employees had resigned or did

not have working relationship with the individual due to internal transfers or

organisational restructuring.

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2.18 Analysis of the Data

The data was primarily analysed at three levels which are:

The individual case studies

The level-wise group scores

The organisational change case study

Given below is the way the data was analysed at various levels:

2.19 Individual o.se Studies

Based on the data collected through the guided interviews, each

individual case was analysed to arrive at the kind of changes perceived at the

individual level. The data analysis was carried out to identify and record the

kind of changes experienced at organisational and personal context.

2.20 Level-wise Group Profile

The responses given to each individual by five others were averaged

item-wise to arrive at the individual scores using the key. (This process was

repeated at Review I & II workshops). The scores of the individuals were

further added up to arrive at the level-wise scores i.e. all the scores of the

individuals belonging to the junior management was summed up to arrive at

the junior management score. Simi1arly the middle and senior management

scores were added up and averaged to arrive at the respective group scores.

The same process was repeated during Review Workshop I and Review

Workshop II.

The level-wise scores (Junior, Middle & Senior Management) were

further compiled and compared with the earlier data to gain insights on the

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nature of shifts in the scores, which could further give insights into the cultural

changes if any.

, The responses to the items in the Values PlOfile Questionnaire was

summarised into mean scores at three different time ~ods of study - n, T2 &

T3 (T1 - Pre intervention, T2 - 6 months later, T3 - 18 months later). To •

establish the degree of difference in the mean scores between various time

intervals, statistical techniques to ascertain the significance between mean

(t-Ratio) were used. For this purpose the variances, standard deviation,

standard error of the means, standard error of the difference between means

were calculated. The confidence level for interpreting the data was set at P<.01

level, though in a few cases the significance of the difference between means at

the P<O.05Ievel are reported. To calculate the t-Ratio the standard error of the

difference between means was first computed using the formula.

2.21 Organisational Change Case Study

The data coliected through the guided interviews from individuals was

analysed to arrive at the kind of changes at the organisational level as the

individuals who had not gone through the Values Clarification process. The

data was further processed to identify the direction of changes and its

implication on the organisational culture.

2.22 Conclusion

Studying organisational culture is a complex task. The current study

explores the influence of Values Clarification process in the development of

organisational culture makes the task even more complicated. Efforts have

been made by the researcher to adapt appropriate methods so as to not lose the

objectivity during the process of the study.