Comparative Study on Cultural Dimensions of Organisational Change in India and New Zealand IT Industry
Author: Mohak Sharma
Supervisors: Bing Dai Steve Barnett
17 September 2024
Sharma, M. (2024). Comparative Study on Cultural Dimensions of Organisational Change in India and New Zealand IT Industry. (Document submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Applied Management). Auckland International Campus, Otago Polytechnic | Te Pūkenga, New Zealand. https://doi.org/10.34074/thes.6635
Abstract
Implementing and sustaining organisational change is challenging and often impossible for many organisations. Most transformation initiatives fail to achieve their objectives, especially during the planning and implementation stages. Policies and procedures must be closely tied to the organisation's culture for effective change implementation. When change and culture are aligned, organisations can integrate change into daily operations, ensuring long-term success and minimising resistance. This research focuses on identifying key drivers and barriers to organisational change, aiming to manage both the promoters and detractors efficiently, thereby reducing the likelihood of failure. There is considerable debate among scholars about bottom-up versus top-down resistance to change. As a result, this research emphasises change leadership and communication, exploring these aspects through various change models in detail.
Organisations recognise that change is crucial and see it as a critical factor in their development and success. This research profoundly explores the cultural aspects used by Hofstede’s cultural dimension framework to understand the cultural differences between the Information Technology industries in India and New Zealand. The research aimed to align organisational change with culture by uniquely integrating Hofstede’s cultural dimensions with Lewin’s change model, assessing each cultural dimension across the three stages of change: before, during, and after. Research on cross-cultural collaboration is advancing significantly, and understanding culture across borders is increasingly crucial, driven by the availability of cost-effective skilled labour, technology, and efficient change and cultural processes. This research aimed to merge the analysis of organisational change and culture and to apply these findings collaboratively between two countries. By working with promoters, the research identified critical cultural factors around which strategies can be developed to introduce them into the economies of India and New Zealand, aiming to impact the Information Technology industry in both countries positively.
The research highlights technological advancements, process improvements, and growth opportunities as critical drivers of change. On the other hand, forces like organizational politics, poor timing, and lack of resources act as barriers. The analysis shows that New Zealand is more sensitive to these findings. Culturally, there is a noticeable difference between the two countries regarding Collectivism and Individualism: India leans towards a more collective mindset, while New Zealand is more individualistic. Regarding planning, India tends to focus on the long term, while New Zealand prioritizes short-term objectives before shifting to long-term goals after changes are made. The study also emphasizes the importance of cross-cultural factors in managing change at every stage. These include self-motivation, teamwork, addressing managers by their first names, and valuing income over personal relationships.
Keywords
organisation culture, organisation change, cross-cultural collaboration, information technology, India, New Zealand
License
A copy of the thesis is publicly available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives licence CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 International
This licence applies except where otherwise indicated, especially for images.
