Research Methods
This research was conducted using qualitative methods, which were conducted through semi-structure interviews, company documents and focus groups, which are self administered. A basic interview was conducted to collect data from employees, on their perception, attitudes and experiences. The research also seeks to establish how implementation of a fun program, would influence the employees’ productivity, work satisfaction, as well as their attitude towards the company.
This research examines the perception of the business leaders, and their attitude towards organizational culture, and whether they were encouraging fun at work and if so, how they were doing it. It is for these reasons, that qualitative methods based on interviews, focus groups and company documents, were used in analyzing the data (Alvesson, 2002). The main documents used, included training materials, emails, website materials, and pictures of the offices.
This research examines the nature of office work in different offices, with a view of collecting data that was needed to realize the objective of this study. A lot of focus has been placed on two companies, for the purpose of conducting the interviews in both cases; that is, the leaders, representatives from the resource department, and focus groups (Alvesson, 2002).
Each focus group was made up of 6 to 12 participants, and participants from the human resources department were restricted. For the purpose of establishing a comprehensive and detailed analysis of this research, interview will be conducted with a consultant on organizational culture and support of fun at work. Secondary data has also been gathered from articles, books and other documents. Photographs were also used to establish the actual perception of the employees and the leaders in regard to this research.
The research also sought to establish a comparison of various organizational cultures. The focus groups and semi-structure interviews were designed, to realize the organizational culture that is related to fun at work. It sought to establish how the work place was designed to facilitate fun at work, how the management team facilitated the organizational work, whether the technology and equipment were designed to facilitate a fun working environment, and whether the co-workers supported the organizational culture within the company.
The research was conducted in regard to workspace, on whether there were enclosed cubicles, partitioned or cellular, and whether they were located within open areas (Alvesson, 2002). The review of the literature regarding the organizational culture and climate, and whether it supported or hindered the utilization of fun at work, was carried out with the objective of establishing appropriate organizational practices in employee occupation, that would improve the employees perceptions, attitudes, and experiences at work (Segal, 2001).
The study Population
This study focused on the employees as the main respondents. This is because employees are the focus of this study, and there was need to establish their response in order to facilitate appropriate recommendation. Further, the concept of organizational culture is a subjective one on the day to day running of an organization (Alvesson, 2002).
Sampling Techniques
An information technology company and a training consulting company were chosen as the study population, based on the fact that they covered an overall representation of the target group, with the scope of this study. These institutions have a small number of employees, and the fact that the managers and the human resource departments were included in this research, for the purpose of establishing a clear position in regard to the issue of organizational culture and in particular the question of fun at work, made these institutions better placed for the study (Segal, 2001).
An average of 50 employees from both companies, formed part of the sample of this study. The mode of allocating the focus groups and semi-structure interviews among the employees was through focus groups of 7 to 12 members. Focus groups and semi-structure interviews were used to collect primary data from the respondents (Segal, 2001).
Semi-structure Interviews
The semi-structure interviews were done, by allowing the respondents to first understand the issues of the research question. They were allowed to freely discuss and share their views and opinions, in regard to what they considered, concerning fun activities in social culture, and whether productivity had improved upon the introduction of fun. Semi-structure interviews considered and variables, were well measured (Segal, 2001).Firstly, semi-structure interviews were conducted on the employees of the two organizations that were selected (Segal, 2001).
The Design Semi-structure interviews
The first semi-structure interview was designed for the employees, and it sought to examine the perception of employees, in regards to the organizational culture of the company. It interviewed their attitude towards the fun activities. The semi-structure interviews also sought to examine their productivity, in correlation with fun activities (Segal, 2001).
The semi-structure interviews also examined their attitude, towards the office setting, while the fifth section examined how the environmental setting affected their production, both directly and indirectly (O’Donnell, 2001). The second semi-structure interview examined the attitude of the leader, towards fun activities. They were interviewed on what changes they were willing to undertake in organizational structure, in order to facilitate fun activities, which would influence employees’ productivity (Segal, 2001).
The Collection of Data and Measures
Semi-structured interviews were used to collect data, and this was through setting of an interview, that gave the respondents the time as well as the scope, to discuss their views on the issue of fun activities in organizational culture. The interview focused on the employees and their leaders. The collection of data involved interview recordings from the focus groups.
They were also supplemented with field notes. This was meant to drive the underlying research question. A qualitative method was applied for the purpose of interpreting any context, that may have been constrained (Segal, 2001). The topics in each case varied as par the focus group’s guidelines. The process of analyzing the data included subdividing the focus groups and coding them. Ethnography was adopted for purpose of illustrating the organization of the office environment (O’Donnell, 2001).
The office set up was compared within the two organizations. The difference in office arrangement was observed and its relation to the sex, age and the nature of work. These interviews sought to examine and analyze the job satisfaction, and perception of the employees in regard to the physical environment of the office. The types of offices examined were cell offices, shared rooms, flexible offices, combined offices and open plan offices (O’Donnell, 2001).
The indicators of the office design like furniture, temperature, noise, lighting and the arrangement, have been examined. The response of these factors has been analyzed for the purpose of indentifying how productivity can be improved through social cultural activities. The data collected indicated that the office environment affects productivity of the employees most. The physical arrangement of the office was impacting on the productivity, owing to other related issues like lighting and setting among other physical features. The findings indicated that productivity of the employees was highly influenced (O’Donnell, 2001).
The Plan of the Analysis
This involved establishing the relationship between fun activities in the cultural organization, and its implication on the productivity. The purpose of this combination is to analyze the findings, and determine the best combination of fun activities, as part of office practice on the part of the supervisor and the employees, that have a positive impact on the productivity (O’Donnell, 2001).
The Interviews
The focus groups formed part of the staff interviews as well as the specialist. The interview method was used to gather and compute data on organizational culture, in the two organizations. Interviews are used as methods of study culture, depending on the level of norms of such organizations (O’Donnell, 2001). The problem situations involved in the organizational culture would be discussed with interviewees, as they discuss their situations.
The interviews were conducted at three levels; the first interview was based on the focus groups, and it sought to establish the relationship between the fun activities and productivity of employees. The employees were examined on their attitude and perception, over inclusion of fun activities in the organizational culture. This was to examine the effects of fun activities in organizational culture, and its implication on employees’ productivity (O’Donnell, 2001).
The second leg of the interview was conducted with the leaders of the organization. At this level, the views and ideals of the leaders were sought on the issue of fun activities and its relationship with productivity. At this level, the leadership concerns were viewed, in regards to how much it would do to facilitate fun activities in the organizational culture (O’Donnell, 2001). The final legal of the interview involved the interview with a specialist in organizational culture, and her views were taken in regard to the issue of fun activities in the workplace, and their effect to productivity.
The Focus Groups
A qualitative research requires one to address all the research questions. Focus groups were settled on, as methods of gathering background information, which would aid in the diagnosis of the question of fun activities in organizational culture. They were also aimed at stimulating ideas, and capturing the ideal view of the employees and their supervisors, in regards to organizational culture. The focus groups were designed in a manner that would generate the hypotheses, and evaluate the research problem by giving well quantitative results (Segal, 2001).
Ethics
The methods of selection that will be applied will depend on the practical problem in the companies being studied, as well as the research problem. The combinations of the research methods are important, for the purpose of obtaining a comprehensive representation of the organizational culture. It is also important, because the description of the organizational culture may not be sufficient. The research methodology will focus on the characteristics of the culture of the organization, which is responsible for the maintenance of the internal cohesion.
The next chapter of this work will give the presentation of the model used, for combining the descriptive and explanation of the research finding. The methodologies applied, have revealed that the effects of interaction of the employees through fun activities, could impact on the employees’ perceptions, attitudes and experiences on one hand, while on the other hand, the implementation of fun programs by the leaders, would influence their productivity (O’Donnell, 2001).The questions to be used and the methods of research, are designed that they are not sensitive, and thus ethical issues are unlikely to arise.
References
Alvesson, M. (2002). Understanding Organizational Culture. New York, NY: Sage Publication.
O’Donnell, M. (2001). Health Promotion in the Workplace. Washington, DC: Cengage Learning.
Segal, M. (2001). Creativity and Personality Type: Tools for Understanding and Inspiring the Many Voices of Creativity. New York, NY: Toles Publications.