An organizational culture assessment of viettrans haiphong - master of business administration thesis.pdf

1. vietnam national university, HANOI
school of business
Pham Thi Phuong Hieu
An organizational culture assessment
of viettrans haiphong
master of business administration thesis
Hanoi - 2007

2. vietnam national university, HANOI
school of business
Pham Thi Phuong Hieu
An organizational culture assessment
of viettrans haiphong
Major: Business Administration
Code: 60 34 05
Master of business administration thesis
Supervisors:
1. DR.VU HUY THONG
2. Ha Nguyen, MBA
Hanoi – 2007

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS..................................................................................i
ABSTRACT..........................................................................................................ii
TÓM TẮT............................................................................................................iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS....................................................................................iv
LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................vi
LIST OF TABLES .............................................................................................vii
INTRODUCTION................................................................................................8
1. Statement of the Problem.............................................................................8
2. Objectives and Aims....................................................................................8
3. Research question ........................................................................................8
4. Scope of work ..............................................................................................8
5. Data sources and Processing........................................................................8
6. Methods........................................................................................................9
7. Significance..................................................................................................9
8. Limitations...................................................................................................9
9. Expected results .........................................................................................10
10. Outline of thesis .........................................................................................10
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW.........................................................12
1.1 Introduction ............................................................................................12
1.2 Corporate Culture...................................................................................12
1.3 Reasons for a Culture Assessment .........................................................20
1.4 Effects on Organizational Performance .................................................23
1.5 Trust & Culture.......................................................................................27
1.6 Changing Organizational Culture...........................................................28
1.7 Summary of Literature Review..............................................................33
CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY....................................................................35
2.1 Introduction ............................................................................................35
2.2 Study Population ....................................................................................35
2.3 Instrument Design and Structure............................................................35
2.4 Data Collection Methods........................................................................37
2.5 Response Rate ........................................................................................37
2.6 Data Analysis..........................................................................................37
CHAPTER 3: RESULTS...................................................................................39
3.1 Overview of Viettrans Haiphong ...........................................................39
3.1.1 Introdution ........................................................................................................ 39
3.1.2 Current Situation of Organizational culture in Viettrans Haiphong................. 42

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3.2 Results ....................................................................................................44
3.2.1 Demographic Information................................................................................. 45
3.2.2 Fist category: Mission....................................................................................... 47
3.2.3 Second category: Adaptability.......................................................................... 51
3.2.4 Third category: The Involvement ..................................................................... 54
3.2.5 Forth category: Consistency ............................................................................. 58
3.3 Identify concern areas ............................................................................61
CHAPTER 4: RECOMMENDATIONS..........................................................65
4.1 Creating change......................................................................................65
4.2 Customer orientation ..............................................................................66
4.3 Core values.............................................................................................66
4.4 Coordination and Integration..................................................................67
4.5 The Company appearance ......................................................................67
4.6 Strategic Plan..........................................................................................67
CONCLUSIONS ................................................................................................70
FURTHER RESEARCH...................................................................................71
REFERENCES...................................................................................................73
APPENDIX 1 : Corporate culture survey of Viettrans Haiphong................76
APPENDIX 2: Survey results ...........................................................................81

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LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1.1: Levels of Organizational Culture [Adapted from Schein 1980;
Schein 1985].........................................................................................................13
Figure 1.2: Three levels of Culture [Schein 1992, p.17]....................................15
Figure 1.3: Research based model [Denison 2003, www.denisonculture.com] .17
Figure 3.1: Organizational structure of Viettrans Haiphong [Viettrans
Haiphong] ............................................................................................................41
Figure 3.2: Total response rate of the survey......................................................46
Figure 3.3: Year of service...................................................................................46
Figure 3.4: Strategic direction and Intent ...........................................................47
Figure 3.5: Goals and objectives.........................................................................49
Figure 3.6: Vision ................................................................................................50
Figure 3.7: Creating change................................................................................51
Figure 3.8: Customer focus..................................................................................52
Figure 3.9: Organizational learning ...................................................................54
Figure 3.10: Empowerment .................................................................................55
Figure 3.11: Team orientation.............................................................................56
Figure 3.12: Capacity development.....................................................................57
Figure 3.13: Core values .....................................................................................59
Figure 3.14: Agreement .......................................................................................60
Figure 3.15: Coordination and Integration.........................................................61

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LIST OF TABLES
Table 1.1: Four traits in Denison Model [Denison 2003,
www.denisonculture.com]....................................................................................18
Table 3.1: Viettrans Haiphong’s business results in 3 years [Viettrans
Haiphong] ............................................................................................................39
Table 4.1: Action plan for implementing recommendations................................69

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INTRODUCTION
1. Statement of the Problem
Viettrans Haiphong has been part of Vietnam national foreign trade
forwarding and warehousing corporation for 37 years. Due to its quite long time
existence, recent increased desire to change; need for sales growth and
development when it has just equitized at the end of 2006 and reinforces its
operation to grasp the chance from the event of joining WTO; and lacks of
assessing the organization’s culture in the past, an assessment is needed.
2. Objectives and Aims
This research is implemented to obtain the two purposes: evaluating the
current organizational culture at Viettrans – Haiphong and assessing if a change
in culture is needed.
Finding out all the problems in Viettrans Haiphong’s organizational
culture, the researcher has some aims including: provide recommendation for
decision-making during strategic planning and establish measures for
benchmarking and evaluating changes in The Company over time.
3. Research question
The researcher will go to find the answer for two questions: ―What is the
current situation of Viettrans Haiphong’s culture? Should Viettrans Haiphong
adjust or change its current culture for development?‖
4. Scope of work
This research studies organizational culture of Viettrans Haiphong in July,
2007 in Viettrans Haiphong.
5. Data sources and Processing

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The data is collected from two sources: Primary (information is conducted
directly from interview and survey to find out the opinion of Board of Directors,
managers and employees on the current organizational culture of Viettrans
Haiphong) and Secondary (study documents related to Labour regulations,
Polices and others reports of The Company; documents and previous studies
about organizational culture and others).
Data is process by excel, charts to summary and finally is analyzed for
findings.
6. Methods
The method will be based on researching real case study of Viettrans
Haiphong and use questionnaire that is built based on theory of Denison Culture
Model and Interview will also be used when necessary.
7. Significance
Normally, the beliefs and values actually displayed of The Company is not
consistent with what The Company wish and try to achieve. Thus, this research
will help The Company to be able to determine the gap between its current
culture and the culture it needs to succeed and help The Company in building
criteria or measures to evaluate its culture now and future as well by a culture
assessment with a well-designed survey for its employees.
8. Limitations
The limitations of this research are the time when implementing. It can
only cover the survey on members of Viettrans Haiphong in 2007, it will lack the
opinion of people who has work for Viettrans Haiphong from its start up to help
research have an more completed picture about organizational culture of

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Viettrans Haiphong. Besides, during the time implementing the survey, some
employees are absence, so it make the response is not adequate.
9. Expected results
Firstly, the research want to understanding the current culture of Viettrans
Haiphong, then find out the effect of this culture on The Company’s operation
and whether it need a necessary improvement or change. Lastly, from the
findings, the researcher will recommend measures to evaluate The Company’s
culture overtime.
10. Outline of thesis
The thesis includes three chapters:
 Chapter 1 – Literature review: This section will summarize the theories
related to organizational culture. It will give the readers an overview of
organizational culture and culture assessment from clearly definition to the
benefits of them to the operation of an organization, and the effect on
organizational performance and also the need for changing organizational
culture.
Chapter 2 – Methodology: This chapter describes the methodology of
procedures used in order to assess the culture at Viettrans Haiphong including
the study population, design and structure of the instrument, data collection
methods, survey response rate, and methods of data analysis.
 Chapter 3 - Results: After analyzing the current situation of Viettrans
Haiphong, the survey’s results and the data collected from secondary source, the
thesis will point out the results about the current problems in Viettrans Haiphong
culture in four aspects: Mission, Consistency, Adaptability and Consistency.

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 Chapter 4 - Recommendations: Continue to the analyzed findings from
chapter 2, this section will suggest some solutions and some measures to
evaluate Viettrans Haiphong’s culture over time. The researcher hopes that, all
the recommendations will be useful and effective for not only Viettrans
Haiphong but also for other companies which want to evaluate their cultures for
development.

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CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW
1.1 Introduction
Viettrans Haiphong has existed for 37 years. Because of this long time
existence and the change of internal and external environment, the study on
assessing the current culture at Viettrans - Haiphong is needed. It increased the
desire to change and growth, especially at that time when the Company has
implemented equalization, and created a benchmark for future assessments.
The literature review part will define what culture is, reasons for a cultural
assessment, what effect culture has on an organization’s performance, trust and
cultural change.
1.2 Corporate Culture
Many books and articles have been written about ―corporate culture‖.
Certainly, those authors have debated many concepts and definitions or approach
for over a decade. From 1952, Kroeber & Kluckhohn in their classic review of
culture (1952) report 156 different definitions, which they arrange under six
different generic headings, until now, still many experts continues to write and
debate about it.
Although experts have different beliefs and concepts of the exact meaning
of corporate culture, all appear to agree that culture is an important success
factor for the overall performance of an organization.
In this study, the researcher will give some definitions that have been used
and commonly mentioned and seemed to be familiar, although not fully agreed
upon, to gain a basic and better understanding of its definition. The purpose of
this study is not to find what is the right or wrong definition but rather to focus

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on how it is important to the overall organization’s effectiveness and for
organization’s long-term success.
Schein (1985), one of the foremost experts in the area, identifies the
Levels of Organizational Culture in 1985, as shown in Figure 1.1
Figure 1.1: Levels of Organizational Culture [Adapted from Schein 1980; Schein 1985]
According to Schein, the fundamental assumptions constitute the core and
most important aspect of organizational culture; thus, in his 1992 classic book:
"Organizational Culture and Leadership‖, he offered the following formal
definition of organizational culture:
A pattern of shared basic assumptions that the group learned as it solved
its problems of external adaptation and internal integration that has worked well
enough to be considered valid and, therefore, to be taught to new members as the

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correct way to perceive, think, and feel in relation to those problems (Schein
1992, p.12).
In this part, he is saying that organizations have to work with, and adapt to
changes in, the external environment and that they have to work together as a
group in doing so. His definition is saying that culture is learned through solving
problems together and that the ways of solving problems that are found to work
become shared perceptions and ways, not only of working, but of thinking and
feeling, about how to solve problems in future. At that time, Schein (1992) gives
notes that culture can be analyzed at three different levels including artifacts,
espoused values and basic underlying assumptions. (1992, p.17). The three
levels differ in their ability to be observed and deciphered, and in the importance
they hold in influencing the real behaviours in an organisation. The levels of
culture that Schein says can be analysed are shown in Figure 1.2:

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Figure 1.2: Three levels of Culture [Schein 1992, p.17]
 Artifacts. Artifacts are defined as ―visible organizational structures and
processes‖. They are at the surface like sees, hears, feels (logo, organization’s
song or music…)which can be easily discerned, but are hard to understand,
difficult to decipher with the symbols that are ambiguous.; they are visible
products like language, technology, products, creations, style (for example:
clothing, manners of address, myths, stories)s.
 Espoused Values. Beneath artifacts are "espoused values" which are
conscious strategies, goals and philosophies.
 Basic Assumptions and Values (BAUs). The core, or essence, of culture
is represented by the basic underlying assumptions and values, which are
difficult to discern because they exist at a largely unconscious level. They are
―unconscious, taken-for-granted beliefs, perceptions, thoughts, and feelings‖.
Yet they provide the key to understanding why things happen in a particular
way. These basic assumptions form around deeper dimensions of human
existence such as the nature of humans, human relationships and activity, reality
and truth.
This includes assumptions that are not directly observable, consequently
hard to analyze and change. (Schein, 1992)
Similar to Schein, Daniel Denison [1990] defines organizational culture as
―underlying beliefs, values, and assumptions held by members of the
organization, and the practices and behaviors that exemplify and reinforce
them.‖

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Denison has conducted several studies examining the impact of
organizational culture on performance and has identified four organizational
culture traits that impact performance:
 The mission hypothesis: the idea that a shared sense of purpose,
direction, and strategy can coordinate and galvanize organizational members
toward collective goals.
 The adaptability hypothesis: the idea that norms and beliefs that enhance
an organization’s ability to receive, interpret, and translate signals from the
environment into internal organizational and behavioral changes will promote its
survival, growth, and development.
 The involvement/participation hypothesis: the idea that involvement
and participation will contribute to a sense of responsibility and ownership and,
hence, organizational commitment and loyalty.
 The consistency hypothesis: the idea that a common perspective, shared
beliefs and communal values among the organizational participants will enhance
internal coordination and promote meaning and a sense of identification on the
part of its members.

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Figure 1.3: Research based model [Denison 2003, www.denisonculture.com]
These hypotheses focus on different aspects of culture but more
importantly, they stress different functions of culture. The first two hypotheses
tend to encourage/promote stability; the second two allow for change and
adaptability. The first and third hypotheses see culture as focusing on internal
organizational dynamics, the second and fourth see culture as addressing the
relation of the organization to its external environment.

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Table 1.1: Four traits in Denison Model [Denison 2003, www.denisonculture.com]
This model is the basis for two diagnostic surveys, the Organizational
Culture Survey and the Leadership Development Survey, developed by Daniel
R. Denison and William S. Neale [2003], which have been used by over 500
organizations worldwide. The survey breaks out the identified traits to provide a
way to link organizational culture to bottom line performance measures such as
profitability, quality, innovation, market share, sales growth, and employee
satisfaction.
Although Schein and Denison both provide formal definitions of culture, a
basic definition of culture has also been provided by Terrance Deal (Lui,
personal communication, 2003) as ―It’s how things get done around here‖. Just
as families and cities have a specific look and feel to them, so do organizations.
This look and feel can represent culture, as it includes images, distinct methods
of doing things and how it is perceived by others.
A recent research project plainly illustrates ―how culture is formed‖ and
―what it does‖. The research project did a study on four monkeys that were
placed in a cage with a banana. When one of the monkeys approached the
banana, it received a low-intensity shock. When shocked, the monkey drew back.
When another monkey approached the banana, the first monkey that was
shocked shrieked a sound of warning. The pattern repeated until all of the
monkeys were warned and the banana remained untouched. As the study
continued, they removed and replaced monkeys into the cage. Each new monkey
attempted to retrieve the banana, but was warned by another monkey in the cage.
The cycle continued and eventually four new monkeys were in the cage, the
banana remained untouched and all of the monkeys remained shocks free

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(Changing Organization Culture, One Face at a Time — by Darcey-Lynn Marc
& Simon Farbrother 2003)
What this study shows is that a culture is born and becomes embedded in
the behaviors and actions of the organization. If you make a connection between
the monkeys and employees of an organization, you can realize the culture and
its effects on the behaviors exhibited. The culture comes deeper and be imbued
gradually in every operation and each member of organization. Members cannot
know how things came to be, but trust what is passed along.
Culture influences the behavior of all individuals and groups within an
organization. It influences most aspects of organizational life, including how
decisions are made, who makes them, how rewards are given, who is promoted,
how people are treated, and how the organization responds to its environment.
Culture to an organization is what personality is to an individual. It is that
distinctive collection of beliefs, values, work styles, and relationships that
distinguish one organization from another (Roger Harrison & Stokes, 1992,
p.01).
Langdon (Langdon, 2003, p.14) stated the following regarding culture
change and influences:
―An organization matures like a person. Moving from infancy to feisty
adolescence, to maturity and balance in middle age. And just like personality,
culture matures too. With history and experiences, culture becomes firmly
established and starts to slip down from the surface, getting layered and
becoming harder to really define what is at the heart of why people do the things
that they do. To change the culture in an organization – you have to get at the
root of why people do the things that they do. Tinkering at the surface gets you

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nowhere. The most basic assumptions need to be unearthed and people need to
be aware of what really drives the thinking, feeling, and behavior in the
organization.
The more you wear the Company clothes the harder it is to know why you
started to wear them in the first place – they become unchecked habits and
routines that seem so normal.‖
1.3 Reasons for a Culture Assessment
According to definitions of many organizational culture professionals,
Companies have a better understanding why it is so important for them, and the
awareness of assessing their culture is increasing. Many reasons exist in order to
assess the culture within an organization.
―Organizational Culture Assessment isn’t just for ―touchy-feely‖
companies. It is a critical process to ensure productivity, corporate longevity, and
organizational stability.‖ (Palmer, 1999, p.1)
―Organization leaders manage their operations and finances; they must
manage their cultures as well‖. ―Corporate culture is one of those amorphous
business concepts that leaders too often neglect because of its sheer
intangibility‖. (Clemente, 2003)
―Yet culture – an effective culture – is arguably the most valuable
intangible asset a the Company can own‖ (Clemente, 2003). In addition, ―studies
have repeatedly found that high performing organizations are aware of, and
leverage the strengths of their corporate cultures‖ (Palmer, 1999, p.10).
Many organizations may feel that they have a good grasp on the culture
within their organization. Mangers can tell you their mission statement and core
values, but is what they are saying what is really going on in their organization?

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In many situations, the core values and the true culture of the organization are
very different. An organization must find out ―who‖ it is in order to work
towards improving culture. Thus, the best way to see what is really going on in
your organization is to do a cultural assessment. A culture assessment can dispel
management's illusions about what is going on in the organization. It will enable
a the Company to determine the gap between its current culture and the culture it
needs to succeed. This gap analysis can be used to design tools, interventions,
and processes to create and guide cultural change (i.e., leadership and employee
development, large-scale system changes, reorganizations, etc.).
From a six-year research project into what makes enduring great
companies of a total of eighteen companies identified as ―visionary‖, Jim Collins
and Jerry Porras in Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies
(2002), demonstrated that great enduring companies are usually built on both a
solid foundation of timeless core values, but also the adaptability of their
behavioral practices, secondary values, structures, and other cultural artifacts.
According to Collins, the secret to a the Company that will last is its ability to
manage both continuity and change.
Denison describes several reasons and applications for a culture
assessment some include:
 general business applications,
 mergers and acquisitions,
 a new president or CEO on a board,
 organizations that may be facing decline, and
 new strategic initiatives.
General Business Applications

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 A baseline assessment of current cultural strengths and weaknesses.
 Clear prioritization of short, mid, and long term change efforts - relative to
the results sought for each of these time frames.
 Understanding of the organizations’ areas of similarity and/or difference –
for the purpose of planning and implementation of integration efforts.
A Merger/Acquisition
 Identification of those cultural areas which, although supportive of success
in a previous environment, will hinder success going forward
 Targeting and prioritizing of culture change efforts to match desired
results - at the organization, department and team levels.
A New CEO
 The new leader’s rapid understanding and interpretation of organizational
(as well as departmental/ divisional/team) strengths and weaknesses, and
prioritization of these areas for both leverage and development.
 A baseline against which the new leader can later measure his/her success
in moving the organization forward toward high performance.
An Organization in Decline
 Interpretation of cultural factors and their possible links to the decline of
the organization’s performance.
 Is there a clear mission for the organization?
 Is there enough adaptability/flexibility in the organization to respond to a
changing environment?
 Are the systems current and supportive of successful goal attainment?
 Is the organization continuing to learn and develop the competencies of its
personnel?

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 Is the organization listening to and responding to the concerns of its
customers - or is it ―doing what has always worked‖ regardless of what the
customer wants?
 Prioritization of efforts to reverse the decline relative to areas of specific
cultural strengths and weaknesses and desired business results.
A New Strategic Initiative
 Understanding of whether or not the necessary cultural conditions exist to
support the successful implementation of the initiative.
o Is the mission clear?
o Is there high involvement and support for the initiative?
o Is there the required adaptability to support a new/different path?
o Are the systems and structures in place to ensure the initiative’s quality
implementation?
 Prioritization of systemic-efforts (communication processes, systems,
competency requirements, cross-team efforts, etc.) which must be implemented
simultaneous to the new strategy to ensure success.
Pfeffer [1994] stated that ―traditionally, product and process technology,
protected or regulated markets, access to financial resources, and economies of
scale have all provided business with a competitive advantage. Organizations can
no longer count on some of these advantages. People and how they are managed
is rapidly becoming the most important competitive advantage that an
organization possesses.‖
1.4 Effects on Organizational Performance

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―There is increasing evidence of a link between organizational culture
(how work gets done) and its business (what actually gets done)‖ (Kraut, 1996,
p.70). ―Culture can either be an asset or a liability to an organization
Many times culture is referred to as the ―soft stuff‖, when in actuality, it
can be considered the ―hard stuff‖ to not only determine, but monitor and
change. It is difficult to manage, cumbersome to change, and almost impossible
to measure. Culture defines, maintains, and sets limits of an organization’s
ability to function.
Kraut (1996) states that culture is anything but soft. He noted that a
computer system, accounting procedures, or even building an atomic bomb is all
easily understood. All one would need to do, is take a class, read a book or
access the internet to get the information needed to complete the task. ―However,
finding the delicate balance in corporate culture, defining values, articulating a
vision to all employees, surviving all the years of battle with competition, and
redefining the mission of the organization at every crossroad to survive, can
hardly be called soft.‖
Additionally, all the organizational changes in the world do not present
improved performance, unless an organization’s culture and people are fully
prepared and aligned to support that change. Culture is what distinguishes truly
high performing organizations from others (Juechter et al., 1998, p.64).
Success does not revolve on any one reward system, training initiative or
strategic plan.
It is now being realized that true success stems from a strong, healthy
culture. In order to manage culture, an organized approach is needed to get at the
heart of the organization, which includes the attitudes, beliefs, habits, and

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expectations of all individuals from the organization (Juechter et al., 1998, pg.
63). Changing culture is not like overnight surgery or the ―flavor of the month‖
project, as it needs time and commitment in order to be changed. Changing
culture is shaping beliefs, assumptions, values, and patterns of behavior. It is
changing mindsets and coming to new ways of thinking.
The ―bottom line‖ is important to all companies striving to achieve.
Commonly, emphasis is placed on tying the bottom line to structure and dollars.
Today, companies need to pay attention to more then just structure and dollars
and include social, emotional, and behaviors.
It is no longer just important to get the job done (Mary Buchel, personal
communication, July 22, 2003). More importantly is how that job gets done and
its influence on individual teams and the way in which it affects individuals and
the learning that takes place (Jack Pachuta, personal communication, November
9, 2003).
―Services and products may be the nuts and bolts of business, institutions,
and local governments, but culture is their driving engine. Culture influences the
everyday living, engagement, and enthusiasm of staff. It influences not only the
direct outputs and efficiencies of an organization, but also the health and
flexibility of employees. Understanding culture and seeking to find out more
about culture will allow leaders to increase intellectual behavior, and attitudes
that each employee ―owns‖ and can choose to share with the organization‖
(Marc & Farbrother, 2003).
―Three quarters of reengineering, total quality management, strategic
planning, and downsizing efforts have either failed entirely or created problems
serious enough that the survival of the organization was threatened‖. The

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interesting part of the statistic (and probably the most important point) is the
reason why they failed. Several studies reported that the most frequently cited
reason for failure was a neglect of the organization’s culture (Cameron & Quinn,
1998, p.01).
According to Porter (1980) successful companies are characterized by six
defined conditions. The characteristics of successful companies illustrated
include:
 Presence of high barriers to entry: When other organizations face
difficulty in engaging in the same kind of business;
 Nonsubstituable products: When other organizations cannot duplicate
your products;
 Large market share: Enhances a business by allowing them to capitalize
on economies of scale;
 Low levels of bargaining power for buyers: When purchasers of your
product become dependent because they have no other source for your product;
 Suppliers have low levels of bargaining power: When suppliers have no
alternative customers;
 Rivalry among competitors: Helps deflect attention away from
competition as they will struggle against each other rather then targeting your the
Company.
Cameron and Quinn (1998, p.02) believe that these are important features
that will enhance success, but also show examples of very successful companies
that have not had these characteristics. One of companies referred to was Wal-
Mart, who showed a 9,807% return.

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One of the key ingredients to success was not through market focus,
competitive positioning, or resource advantages. The success came from
something less tangible, less obvious, but more powerful; organizational culture.
If you think of successful companies such as Walt Disney, Microsoft, Sony,
Rubbermaid, and General Electric, you will find that they each have ―a
distinctive culture that can be clearly identifiable by its employees‖ Cameron and
Quinn (1998, p.3)
Louis Mustante (2003) stated that ―A the Company’s culture is one of the
most difficult things for competitors to copy‖. The culture may have been
created by its founder, merged over time, or developed by management. What is
significant is that culture any organizational strategy, market presence, or
technology. All of these things are important to the success of a the Company,
but they will not be effective with out a strong, unique culture. In today’s fast
changing business world, understanding and assessing your organization’s
culture can mean the difference between success and failure (R. Hagberg & J.
Heifetz, 2003).
1.5 Trust & Culture
Our lives are based on trusting people and relationships. We trust people
to follow traffic rules and we trust that when we buy a product it will be of
quality. Sadly, many people appear to have lost confidence or trust in their
leaders and in the programs they lead. Organizations where people distrust each
other, doubt other’s motives, and pursue independent agendas will not be
effective (Fairholm, 1994).
Trust is the glue that holds an organization, its people and programs
together. Trust is interpreted by employees through leader’s actions and the

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words that they speak. A leader’s actions or words can either build or hurt the
organizational trust levels. Culture affects willingness to trust, and willingness to
trust helps define culture (Fairholm, 1994).
Fairholm (1994) defines trust as ―reliance on the integrity, or authenticity,
of other people‖. In addition, Fairholm (1994) also noted:
―The foundation of trust is truth. A culture that includes a trust atmosphere
allows the leader to empower followers by building mutually compatible
relationships rather than coercive ones. Trust is key to the task of creating a
corporate culture built on the values of respect and and is critical in values
leadership.‖
What are some reasons hindering a trusting culture? Fairholm (1994)
introduced some elements hindering a trusting culture, that include the quality of
communication, the way a the Company assigns authority, general feelings of
apathy and alienation and lack of effective accountability mechanisms and time
constraints.
Trust is not just given out; it is something you work to gain. The process
of developing trust is not a quick process and is earned over time. Several factors
are key to developing trust noted in Fairholm’s book (1994) including integrity,
patience, altruism, vulnerability, action, friendship, character, competence and
judgment. In addition, he noted four ways to develop trust including
participation, helping, listening and leadership.
1.6 Changing Organizational Culture
Today, it is hard to find a person who has not been affected by change.
Yet , the very thought of making a change is something that can introduce
feelings of dread and fear throughout an organization, which often stimulates

28. 29
resistance. Most people instinctively resist change. Alexander Graham Bell once
said that, "When one door closes another door opens; but we so often look so
long and so regretfully upon the closed door, that we do not see the ones which
open for us‖ (Bell, 2003).
In addition, Barbara Mink, EdD (2003) affirmed that there are three main
reasons for resistance to change:
 I don’t get it
 I don’t like it
 I don’t like you
At the same time, ―change is an exciting, vital process and keeps
organizations from becoming outdated‖ (Flanning, 2001). Organizations are
driven by two cycles of change (Flanning, 2001):
 The desire or philosophy to be the highest quality, best, first or leader in
an industry
 Painful circumstances such as high turnover, loss of revenue, loss of
industry position.
 Little happens if there is no real motivation to change. One of the most
important elements to change is the desire to change.
Iris Flanning (2001) in her article, The Top Ten Ways to Create Powerful
Change in Your Organization, indicated that:
―People in organizations predictably fall into a bell curve. You have 20-
25% of people in your organization who are early adapters and change agents.
They are visionaries, forward thinkers and influencers. Then about 50% of your
organization’s people will change with some training, good rationale and
encouragement. Then you have about 20- 25% who are the nay sayers, stuck in

29. 30
the mud, negative and unhappy people. They’ll try to bring everyone down to
their level.‖
To create the desire to change, one must first create awareness of the need
to change. Most people will not change their viewpoints, habits, or behaviors
unless they are motivated to do so.
As long as the rewards of staying the same remain greater than the
rewards of changing, we will likely stay the same. Some strategies to develop
awareness noted by Hathaway (2000) are:
 Develop a proactive organization newsletter that discusses issues relevant
to its future.
 Initiate management dialogue sessions with other managers, supervisors,
and employees.
 Conduct training sessions that deal with the need to change.
 Use case studies that demonstrate what happens when organizations don't
respond to changes in their industry or environment: GM, Sears, IBM, Xerox
(early 80's), and others.
 Ask people (perhaps in a small group format) "What would happen if we
don't change?"
 Bring in examples of competitor's products and discuss the implications.
 Put up a master bulletin board in a central area and invite employees to
post articles on the industry, competitors, challenges, and so forth.
 Encourage senior managers to "wander" frequently throughout the
organization asking appropriate questions regarding the need to change.
 Change reward systems to align with those behaviors the organization
wants to expand.

30. 31
―Once a new or changed plan has been delivered, it is up to the leaders to
implement the decisions. If not managed correctly, the results could mean
unhappy employees, profit loss, poor performance and poor levels of customer
service‖ (Effective Ways to Manage Change in Your Organization, 2002).
Here are some ways noted by Effective Ways to Manage Change in Your
Organization (2002, p.1-2) to help manage this process:
 Communicate the reason for change, the direction and goals
 Establish an atmosphere of open communication
 Introduce change gradually whenever possible
 Ask for accountability of to each for maintaining high morale
 Be in tune to difficulties some may be experiencing
 Encourage acceptance and focus on positive opportunities
 Ask for their input. Give feedback and take action
 Encourage teamwork
 Be a role model
 Encourage people to be solution focused, not problem-focused
 Take the time to train
 Alleviate job pressure by adding humor to the workplace
Other critical means for change and managing culture include (Baker,
2002; Wegner & Snyder, 2000):
 Strategic Planning
 Ensuring consistency of culture with mission, goals, strategies, and
processes, while maintaining some continuity with the past
 Creating formal statements of organization, philosophies and values

31. 32
 Establishing consistent incentives and recognition system and
performance measures
 Maintaining appropriate error-detection and accountability systems
 Coaching, mentoring, informal and formal training, and identifying role
models
 Embracing appropriate risks, rituals, symbols, and narratives
 Taking advantage of the growth of subcultures
 Managing and promoting strong communities of practice
The following are keys to remove barriers that will hinder the internal and
external organizational adjustments for future success. These basics noted by
Schein (1992) must be reinforced by values, behavioral norms, accompanied by
a mission, goals, and strategies.
Strategies for effecting cultural change include:
 The organization must be proactive, not just reactive.
 The organization must influence and manage the environment, not just
adapt.
 The organization must be pragmatic, not idealistic.
 The organization must be future-oriented, not predominantly present/past
oriented.
 The organization must embrace diversity, not uniformity.
 The organization must be relationship-oriented, not just task-oriented.
 The organization must embrace external connectivity, as well as promote
internal integration
In doing these things to improve the cultural change process, ―people remain
aligned through change and are actively supported in achieving continuous

32. 33
improved performance and superior business results. Whether facing a new
CEO, new product line, reorganization, or merger, people will be able to respond
both strategically and tactically. People value the opportunity to collaborate
because they have learned that working together enables them to accelerate and
share success‖ (Juechter et al., 1998).
1.7 Summary of Literature Review
In summary, the following are key findings in the literature review:
 Culture is an important success factor for the over-all performance of an
organization.
 Culture influences the behavior of all individuals within an organization,
including how decisions are made, who makes them, how rewards are given,
who is promoted, how people are treated, and how the organization responds to
its environment.
 To change the culture of an organization, people need to be aware of what
drives the thinking, feeling, and behavior of the organization.
 Culture provides stability and predictability as it gives direction for
behavior, ideas, and how to respond in situations.
 Organization leaders must not only manage operations and finances, but
also the culture.
 An effective culture is one of the most valuable intangible assets a the
Company can own.
 Organizations must find out who they are before working to improve who
they want to be.
 Lasting companies are able to manage both continuity and change.

33. 34
 One of the most important competitive advantages is an organizations
people and how they are managed.
 Organizational culture can be either an asset or a liability.
 An organizations culture and people must be prepared and aligned to
support changes in order to improve performance.
 Changing culture is changing the mindsets of people and coming to new
ways of thinking.
 Two thirds of change efforts fail due to inappropriate culture to support
the change.
 Successful companies have distinctive cultures and are one of the most
difficult things for competitors to copy.
 Organizations where people do not trust each other, doubt other’s motives,
and pursue independent agendas will not be effective.
 Four ways to develop trust include; participation, helping, listening, and
leadership.
 Most people instinctively resist change.
 To create desire to change, one must first create awareness of the need to
change.

34. 35
CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY
2.1 Introduction
In order to assess the organization’s culture, data needed to be gathered
from the employees that work for the organization. The data was primarily
gathered utilizing a written survey designed by the researcher. The survey
assessed The Company’s strengths and weaknesses, provided an aid for decision
making at strategic planning, and established a standard to evaluate changes in
The Company over time.
This chapter describes the methodology of procedures used in order to
assess the culture at Viettrans - Haiphong including the (1) study population, (2)
design and structure of the instrument, (3) data collection methods, (4) survey
response rate, and (5) methods of data analysis.
2.2 Study Population
The survey sample included all employees within the Company, excluding
the researcher and the director of The Company. The population is made up of
staff including all functional departments. The sample population contained 92
employees of The Company.
2.3 Instrument Design and Structure
The survey was designed based on information found in the review of
literature and is focused on the needs of Viettrans - Haiphong. To meet the needs
of Viettrans - Haiphong, the survey was developed through discussions between
the researcher and directors and managers of the Company. These discussions
served as a critical element in identifying what information the Company felt
they needed to assess to better develop the culture within the organization.

35. 36
The survey results also needed to be represented in a manner that director
and managers of The Company could take the data and easily determine where to
focus future culture improvement efforts. In order to accomplish this, the
organization of the questions in the survey was critical. To organize the survey
questions, four main categories were chosen.
Each category represented a key area that has an effect on the
organizational culture. In addition, the categories were based on cultural traits
that have been researched as having a significant impact on organizational
performance.
The identified categories include Involvement, Consistency, Adaptability,
and Mission.
The Mission category was divided into : (1) Strategic Direction & Intent,
(2) Goals & Objectives and (3) Vision. Adaptability was separated into (1)
Creating Change (2) Customer Focus (3) Organizational Learning. The
Involvement category is about (1) Empowerment, (2) Team orientation, and (3)
Capability development. And the last, Consistency was divided into (1) core
values, (2) Agreement, and (3) Coordination and Integration.
There will be 60 questions for the assessment. By categorizing the
questions, it enabled the results to be displayed into a circular model for
ease of identifying and analyzing the areas of strength and concern. The
graphical model and concept to segment questions into categories and
represent them in a circular format is based on the Denison model
developed by Daniel R. Denison and William S. Neale (2003]. The final
instrument consisted of 60 central questions utilizing the model explained

36. 37
above. In addition, the survey also included a part for qualitative
comments and suggestions.
60 questions were used in order to analyze if the organizations culture
differed among different departments or by years of service within the
organization.
The central survey questions were developed using a liker scale, for ease
in statistical analysis and answering of questions. The scales used a 1-5 rating
with ―1‖ representing strongly disagree and ―5‖ representing strongly agree.
2.4 Data Collection Methods
A formal meeting was held by Board of Director to announce this culture
assessment. It informed employees of the importance and objective of the
survey. It also gave some information on the topics to be covered in the survey
and noted that the survey would be handed out to employees at work to fill out in
the near future.
Following the meeting, the survey was handed out by the researcher to the
employees at work. Participants were given one week to return the survey and
were able to fill them out during work hours.
2.5 Response Rate
The data collection process yielded 79 of 92 responses, or 85.87% of the
population. The response rate can be broken down by department category by
analyzing one of the demographic questions. Response rates by department
category included Operations 63.04%, Administration 22.83%, and
Unknown/Unanswered 14.13%. Responses are graphed and explained further in
Chapter 4, including the employee comments and suggestions.
2.6 Data Analysis

37. 38
Each question in the survey instrument is separated into a category that
has belongs to an associated sub-categories. The categories include Mission,
Adaptability, Involvement and Consistency.

38. 39
CHAPTER 3: RESULTS
3.1 Overview of Viettrans Haiphong
3.1.1 Introdution
Haiphong foreign trade forwarding and warehousing joint stock the
Company, Viettrans Haiphong is joint stock organization of which 65% stock is
held by State. Its chatered capital is USD 2.63 million.
Table 3.1 is business result of Viettrans Haiphong in3 years
2005
(USD million)
2006
(USD million)
Estimated for 2007
(USD million)
Revenue 1.56 1.75 2.07
Net profit 0.07 0.05 0.16
Table 3.1: Viettrans Haiphong’s business results in 3 years [Viettrans Haiphong]
It is located in Haiphong city. The Company’s businesses including:
 Forwarding and Warehousing - the main businesses
 Machinery, equipment, construction materials, consumer goods
 Computer and Computer’s components
 Buildings for rent
 Restaurant, hotel…
 Others
The Company has been a part of Vietnam National Foreign Trade
Forwarding and Warehousing Corporation since 1970 and has had a good
reputation as one of the best suppliers of Forwarding and Warehousing not only
in local area but also foreign one.
Viettrans Haiphong employs just 92 people and is structured with one
director, 2 vice directors and three major functional areas including

39. 40
Administration, Forwarding and Warehousing as organizational structure in
Figure 3.1
DIRECTOR
FORWARDING ADMINISTRATION WAREHOUSING
Forwarding agent
Dept.
Bonded Dept.
Forwarding Team
Planning & foreign
relations Dept.
Account and
Finance Dept.
Administration
Dept.
Trucking Team
Project supervisors
division
Guarding Dept.
Lac Vien
Warehouse
Tran Phu
Warehouse
Lach Tray
Warehouse
VICE DIRECTOR 1 VICE DIRECTOR 2

40. 41
Figure 3.1: Organizational structure of Viettrans Haiphong [Viettrans Haiphong]
As a multi-modal transport operator, The Company provide a fully
integrated service through Viettrans corporation worldwide agents and cove
shipments from origin to destination under The Company’s responsibility for any
kind of cargo according to customers’ individual needs.
For the Forwarding service, there are some kinds of service including:
 Exhibition forwarding with suitable handling equipment and experienced
labors available at any time for the build-up or break-down of goods during the
exhibition;
 Project forwarding with handling any kind of project shipment with the
most effective transportation means and prepare any formalities for moving
cargo to the construction site smoothly;
 Transit cargo with doing all formalities for transiting cargo to over
neighbor countries such as Laos, CamBoard of Directoria, China…without any
duty/tax formalities in and out Vietnam;
 Removal service is the traditional service of The Company for years by
transferring customers’ household goods, office materials and equipment with
group, packing and marking skills for safe international shipments.
For the Warehousing service, the customs bonded warehousing is very
important with three international standard warehouses suitable for storing many
kinds of commodities. Bonded Warehouse considered as a distribution center in
and out Vietnam.
In addition, Viettrans Haiphong operates in the express business from
Haiphong to 200 countries in the world, and vice versa, through TNT, one of
subsidiaries of TPG, headquartered in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

41. 42
As a distribution and logistic service provider, Viettrans Haiphong always
focuses on its service quality, safety for goods and be on time in delivery. It tries
best to exceed customers' expectations in transferring their goods and documents
and provide the most reliable and effective solutions in distribution and logistics.
Besides, a mission that the Company also pays much attention is to improve the
working standard and increase the income for employees, make them satisfy
with their contribution and feel proud of their the Company where they work.
The Board of Director realizes that the above missions are very important
when they want to orient the Company’s development to maintain its position in
market now and to become one of the best distributors and logistic service
providers in Vietnam. Additionally, it has to meet the demand of international
market and cope with the challenges from the joining WTO of Vietnam in the
first month of 2007.
3.1.2 Current Situation of Organizational culture in Viettrans Haiphong
At present, Viettrans Haiphong is a jont-stock the Company. It is in the
new stage of development. It has been restructuring its organizational structure
for a more effective operation to gain the purpose of satisfying customers and
greatest profit. Board of Director has identified what they believe to be the
current and desired state of the organization. They determined what they believe
the existing culture of the organization is.
Unofficially, via its long time operation, Board of Director and managers
identified its current ―culture‖ is a good condition of working place, solidarity,
employee loyalty, integrity, and flexibility. They thought that these characteristic
are quite common. They are mentioned mostly in regulations of the Company

42. 43
and employees work and live in The Company follow these regulations quite
rigidly.
In the past, organizational culture was very strange to them as many other
Vietnamese Companies or there is a misunderstanding of the definition
―Organizational culture‖ and some others such as ―living culture‖, ―behaving
culture‖…in an organization.
Currently, when Vietnamese enterprises have more chances to do business
with international companies, they have a clearer about ―Organizational culture‖
and its effect on the Company’s development, success and long existence,
especially Viettrans Haiphong when it has advantage of working with many
foreign companies for long time.
Board of Directors want to verify The Company’s culture for itself. They
understand that Corporate culture will have a strong power that effect to The
Company successful operation and long-time existence, especially at the very
new stage of development when The Company transfer from a State own the
Company into a joint-stock the Company and when Vietnam join the WTO in
2007. It means that, The Company will have more competitors from outside and
market will widen as well. Therefore, the problem of determining and building a
organizational culture is very essential and important now.
Hence, The Company raised their expectation for a future culture with
characteristics as following: Goal-driven, Creativity, Flexibility, Integrity,
Respect, Ownership.
In order to build a good integrity in a company is very difficult, but it is
very important to a strong organizational culture. Viettrans Haiphong Leader is
pay much attention to this issue and always tries to transmit this content to all

43. 44
member of the Company not only by regulations and code of ethics but also by
friendly talk to employees to make them understand more deeply, especially with
the service industry that the Company is operating. Thus, Integrity is a
content/characteristic in future culture of Viettrans Haiphong.
The following chapter will discuss about the results and findings from the
survey of The Company.
3.2 Results
This chapter reports on the results from the culture assessment survey at
Viettrans Haiphong.
The survey was distributed to 92 employees with response rate of
85.875%. The purpose of this study was to develop and implement a survey to
assess the organizational strengths and weaknesses, provide an aid for decision
making at strategic planning, and establish measures for benchmarking and
evaluating change in the organization over time.
The data gathered from the culture assessment was used to meet the
objectives of this study. The objectives of this study were to (1) evaluate the
current organizational climate at Viettrans Haiphong and (2) assess if a change in
culture is needed.
The respondents provided information that assisted in meeting the
objectives for the study. In the survey, the two first questions were used to obtain
demographic information, Questions 1-15 (Misson) focused on determining the
the organization's goals and objectives to provide everyone with a clear direction
in their work; with core values and captures of the hearts and minds of the
organization's people, while providing guidance and direction. Questions 15-30
(Adaptability) focused on how to meet changing needs of the business
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44. 45
environment; understand and react to their customer; and focus on how to
encourage innovation, gain knowledge and develop capabilities. Questions 30-45
(Involvement) focused on employee’s sense of ownership and responsibility
toward the organization; their recognition of teamwork; and development of
employees' skills employees for the development needs of The Company.
Questions 45-60 (Consistency) focused on the corporation among different
Board of Directories of the organization; how to get an agreement critical issues;
a set of values shared all over the organization. The last question is about
additional comments and suggestions.
The following graphs display the answers in which the respondents
provided on the survey. In addition, the results were given to Board of Directors
and managers to use at strategic planning.
3.2.1 Demographic Information
Total response 79 - 92 (85.87%)
14.13
72.83
22.83
63.04
27.17
0
20
40
60
80
Operations
Administration
Unresponses
Responses Actual
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45. 46
Figure 3.2: Total response rate of the survey
This question focused on the demographics of the employees that took the
survey. The results indicate that 63.04% of the operations staff responded to the
survey and 22.83% of the administration staff responded.
Year of service
30.38
20.25
43.04
6.33
Below 10 10 - 20 20 - 30 Over 30
Year
Number
of
respondents
Figure 3.3: Year of service
This question also focused on the demographics of the employees that
responded to the survey. The result showed that most of employees have been
working form Viettrans Haiphong for many years, the highest seniority is about
35 years that is equivalent to the existence of The Company and more than 43%
of employees have seniority from 20 years to 30 years.
Most of employees participated in this survey. It can make the assessment
more accurately and usefully for the Board of Director to know more appearantly
about its current culture.
Employees in Viettrans mostly have many years of service for The
Company with average rate of 18 years. It has two sides. One side, employees

46. 47
have experiences, good skills in working, they excellently understand vision or
mission of the Company. In the other side, it can be a resistant in view of point,
the way to change, as they are too familiar with the old way of operation.
3.2.2 Fist category: Mission
Question 1-5: Strategic Direction & Intent.
This part mention about how deeply and clearly The Company propagated
and made its employees understand the purposes or objectives that The
Company desire to achieve for its long-term development with missions,
strategies; and these strategies have any effect on the competitors.
Strategic direction and Intent
87
54
67
73
67
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
1. There is a long-term purpose and direction
2. Our strategy leads other organizations to change
the way they compete in the industry
3. There is a clear mission that gives meaning and
direction to our work
4. There is a clear strategy for the future
5. Our strategic direction is clear to me
(%)
Figure 3.4: Strategic direction and Intent
The result indicates that The Company has a long term purpose and
direction for development with 87% of the employee respondents; 73% of the
respondents know The Company’s future strategy clearly and only 67% of the
respondents said that the strategic direction is clear to them and 67% of the
respondents for a clear mission that gives meaning and direction to their work.
6795516