Εταιρική κουλτούρα

Επισυνάπτω τα συμπεράσματα από πρόσφατη πτυχιακή εργασία μου (στα αγγλικά) στο Univ. of Liverpool, για πτυχίο ΜΒΑ. Η εργασία αφορά την εταιρική κουλτούρα στη ΔΕΣΦΑ ΑΕ και την αποτελεσματική διαχείριση της, ώστε η εταιρία να ανταποκριθεί με επιτυχία στο νέο επιχειρηματικό περιβάλλον της απελευθερωμένης αγοράς ενέργειας.

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DESFA’s new business environment
The research questions of this study are addressed here. Following the European Union regulations, the Greek Gas energy market is moving towards liberalization. The Greek legislation for energy liberalization, adopting the relevant EU directives, is already in force. The liberalization process is known from other European countries (Chapter 1). The forthcoming years new players will certainly appear in the Greek energy market. Into this new environment, the main challenge of DESFA, a state-owned company, is to effectively adopt the necessary changes in order to keep its leading position. Moreover, undertaking a dynamic and ambitious role, DESFA is aiming at the establishment of Greece as a gas corridor between East and West. The major objective is the flow of Gas from new sources located in Caspian area, though Greece, to the European consuming centres. The access to alternative gas sources will provide diversification of supply, therefore creating a solid basis for an effective competitive liberalized gas market and strengthening the security of gas supply.
Liberalization (and the consequent privatization in some cases) of Gas market in European Union (Clause 3.3) was not always smooth. The Gas companies forced to employ new management techniques, involving the introduction of new working practices, particularly greater employee flexibility, good team-working and skills improvement.
The forthcoming liberalization of the energy market shapes a new business landscape in which DESFA aspires to solidify its leading position, operate effectively in this new competitive environment, and continue satisfying the needs of the Greek economy and the consumers (Liagou, 2006). To achieve this task DESFA should overcome a few barriers, the most important of these is the employees’ culture.
The organizational culture of DESFA must be modified to support its strategic choices. A restructuring process of the company’s organizational culture is necessary, in order DESFA to effectively adapt the conditions of the liberalized energy market. To succeed in the new liberalized Gas market environment, DESFA’s employees should increased their creativity, flexibility and professional efficiency. They should not only adhere to instruction given, but also they have to increase their independence, risk taking and undertake new responsibilities.

Results of DESFA’s culture
Summarizing all examined cultural models in this study; a coherent argument can be formed for DESFA’s employees. According to Schein (2004) model the basic underlying assumptions of DESFA’s culture is solidarity, personal contacts, bureaucracy, uncertainty elimination and life-time commitment. Also, according Goffee & Jones (1998) typology, DESFA’s culture is characterised by large sociability and moderate solidarity. DESFA has a positive networked culture. Both, the cultural model and the typology used presents similar results. There are close relations among the employees. These relations lead to a rather uniform attitude. The differentiation of the individuals is not encouraged.
However, using Hofstede’s model, it is found that the specific group examined adopts the general cultural characteristics of DESFA’s employees at a smaller extent. DESFA’s middle-level managers are characterized by rather large uncertainty avoidance, moderate power distance and large individualism. Examined managers are used to a bureaucratic environment, but they are also willing to accept new roles and responsibilities. The interviews, presented above, confirmed the Hofstede’s model findings. Indeed, the interviews revealed that DESFA’s middle-level managers can accept innovative ideas and also increase their working effort under certain circumstances.

Management of DESFA’s culture
As discussed above, DESFA is currently in the process of major changes. Liberalization of the energy market in the European Union shapes a new business environment, in which DESFA must be creatively adjusted.
The top management should prepare the company in order to adopt these major changes. The importance of the leadership is recognized at all relevant organizational change models (Brown, 1998, p. 145-147). Of the three basic types of change occurring in human organizations, this should be a “planned and managed change” (Schein, 2002).
The key question that this study is trying to answer is what type of behavior is required from DESFA’s employees in order to meet the challenges of a globalize competition. The, analyzed in Chapter 3, intrapreneurial behavior is perhaps the most proper one. From the Hofstede’s analysis the scores of the dimensions PDI and UAI reveal that there are not enormous obstacles in order DESFA’s middle-level managers to adopt the intrapreneurial behavior. There is a promising fact that the scores of these two dimensions for the group examined is less than the average of the Greek employees generally. Moreover the high score of the specific group to the dimension of IDV reveals that DESFA’s managers are willing to accept some competition and higher enrolment in order to improve their position.
DESFA’s top management should encourage the middle-level managers and give them the right opportunities in order to increase the company’s productivity. Some of the basic assumptions of Schein (2004) model like “life-time commitment” should be selectively used by DESFA’s top management to motivate the middle-level managers. Managers may be transformed from simple supervisors to leaders (Schein, 2004), bringing new fruitful and innovative ideas at their departments. Then, these managers can guide the rest of DESFA’s employees to better efficiency into their jobs. This is the value of the Schein’s clinical research model since it does not only determine the culture of DESFA, but it provides also means to modify it, in a controlled and manageable way.
To accomplish this target, new regulations must be imposed by DESFA’s top management. Directly defined and implied regulations seem to be not appropriate for the examined group of employees. From the interviews it is profound that DESFA’s managers may react negatively to obligatory rules. Better suited to the examined group are regulations of differentiation and also regulations indicating the social, organizational and economic terrain, in which the company is operating in the new environment of liberalized energy sector. These regulations must have the consent of the employees, as one of the interviews declared.
Indeed, in order the Threats to be overcome and the company to meet its strategic targets a management of culture is required. The top management should take long term actions to modify the culture of the employees. The fact that DESFA’s culture, determined in this study, is positive networked is an advantage. Top management should adopt measures in order this culture to become progressively positive communal, according to Goffee & Jones (1998) terminology, with large sociability and solidarity (see Figure 2). In a communal organization the split of employees’ time between work and personal life has no real meaning. There are very close relations among the employees and at their spare time they follow activities related to their profession. For example DESFA’s top management can encourage participation of the managers (and also the rest of employees) to seminars, workshops, conferences, exhibitions etc. Such participation will increase personal relations among DESFA’s employees, and also will give the opportunity of exchanging technical knowledge and getting new ideas in order to boost their productivity and professional efficiency.
During the evolution of the change, some of the cultural Assumptions recorded for the company, like: “solidarity”, “value of personal contacts”, “uncertainly elimination”, may lead to counteractions. Sub-cultures may emerge which will resist to the changes. The management should identity the stakeholders and their role. For example, the key role of the Labor Union must not be neglected. The importance of the Union was stressed in one of the interviews. The Union must be informed in order to accept and support the forthcoming changes. The top management has to explain to the employees the necessity of the changes. The new business environment should be clarified (Alvesson & Willmott, 2002). Employees must be aided to develop qualities like adaptability, anti-bureaucracy and enterprising, in order to face the forthcoming changes. Also, the management must relate the company’s and the employees’ benefits. Even though an organization’s culture is not totally manageable, the proper handling of the existing culture will reduce the uncertainty of the employees for the new environment of the liberalized energy sector.
The type of middle-level managers registered in this study will certainly help the top management to accomplish its effort. Top management has to trust middle-level managers and encourage them to develop the intrapreneurial culture in order to expand the company’s perspectives.

Development of the Intrapreneurial culture
Nowadays, DESFA should meet the challenges of globalized competition. The company has to be transform from a rigid stage monopoly to a flexible competitive organization. Managers should undertake the main effort for this company’s transformation and communicate the changes to the rest of the employees. To accomplish this target, managers of DESFA should adopt and develop the intrapreneurial culture. High and middle range managers of DESFA have to move from the traditional corporate culture to intrapreneurial culture. The distinct differences between corporate and intrapreneurial cultures are analysed in Chapter 3 above.
This traditional corporate culture differs significantly from an intrapreneurial culture. The restrictive environment of traditional corporate culture is not encouraging creativity, flexibility, independence and risk taking. Whereas, intrapreneurial culture is targeting to the development of goals and action plans regardless of the area; to be rewarded for actions taken; and to take new responsibilities.
Instead of a hierarchical structure, the intrapreneurial climate has a flat organizational structure with networking, teamwork, sponsors, and mentors abounding. Close working relationships help establish an atmosphere of trust that facilitates the accomplishment of visions and objectives (Hisrich et al., 2005).
Traditional managers are motivated primarily by promotion and typical corporate rewards. However intrapreneurs thrive on independence and the ability to create, and expect their performance to be suitably rewarded. Whereas intrapreneurs are moderate risk takers, corporate managers are much more cautious about taking any risks.
As explained above, the responders of this study have inherent characteristics, capable to adopt the intrapreneurial culture. Both the PDI and UAI are smaller than the Greek average and also the IDV is large enough. The combine meaning of these indexes is that middle-level managers of DESFA are eager enough to undertake moderate risks, to create and develop new projects and to take more responsibilities. All three interviewed managers declared that they are willing to undertake responsibilities, develop new action plans and to be rewarded for these actions. Such behaviour is in accordance with the intrapreneurial culture.
Applying the intrapreneurial culture at DESFA the top management has to develop areas of action. In addition to the main Gas transmission activities the company has the necessary resources to develop other side activities like:
· Project Management
· Consultant services for other companies at the energy sector
· Training of Gas Technicians
· Feasibility studies for new power projects
· Transfer of know-how to Gas companies in Greece or Southern Europe etc
However DESFA’s top management must be very careful when encouraging the adoption of the intrapreneurial culture. A possible danger is that some ambitious managers can undertake too many responsibilities and they are not able to fulfil their obligations. This danger is obvious, especially if the responsibilities are directly connected with rewards. Another danger is some of the employees, possibly the younkers, look for other jobs, outside DESFA, using their valuable experience in the new field, for Greece, of gas energy sector. To avoid this, the salary and rewards for employees must be somewhat higher than the average of Greece.