The document discusses organizational culture at Habib Bank Limited (HBL) in Pakistan. It provides details about the author's internship experience at HBL. Some key points: 1) The author had a positive six-week internship experience at HBL, enjoying customer interactions and learning day-to-day banking operations. 2) HBL aims to satisfy customers and employees work hard to provide excellent service. There is flexibility in the work environment and open communication. 3) While decisions are made at the top level, employees have autonomy to make customer-focused choices. Training is provided to support continuous learning. 4) There is a high level of professionalism and teamwork between staff

1. Organizational Culture 2011
Part 1
Being a student of business administration, it is a compulsion for everyone to do internship in
some business organization, so that they can get an opportunity to implement their bookish
knowledge and get some practical knows how. Like all other students I also got a chance to work
as an internee in Habib Bank Limited last year. HBL is a well-reputed and well-known Bank of
the Pakistan with largest banking network in the country.
I worked in HBL as an internee for 6 weeks and my first experience of working in any
organization was outstanding. Being an extrovert person, I enjoyed in dealing with the customers
and also made some contacts over there. Day to day activities in bank included customer dealing,
account opening, cash payment and provision of other many services to the customers. To
provide the best services to the customers, every employee tried his/her level best to satisfy the
customers. HBL follows the rule of thumb that “your customer is your boss” and its employees
urge to work hard for their customers satisfaction. Though the branch environment is not so rigid
and its flexible. If employees had some problems, they had full liberty to share it with the branch
manager or manager operations.
The management follows the centralized decision making style. The top management has the
right to make the decision and then the branch managers and other staff members follow those
decisions. Though the employees have enough right in their positions to take decisions that they
think is right for the customers. Every employee has his/her own personal computer to perform
day to day operations effectively and efficiently. There is a good communication level among all
the employees and also there is good cooperation among them. HBL also arranges training
programs for its employee’s continuous learning and focuses on the implementation of that
knowledge at the workplaces so that change could be measured.
A high degree of professionalism exists among the staff members. Conflicts are a part of every
organization and healthy conflicts are very important and constructive for the organization
because it forces employees to sit together and think upon the matters. Similarly, I also observed
some conflicts among staff members during my internship, but they were just temporary. Most of
the times, conflicts occurred because of work burden on the employees but these conflicts were
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of short period. Overall, the work environment was healthy and satisfying. Staff members were
just like a family living together.
Part 2
Integration among individual needs and organizational needs is very important aspect of the
business. Organizational culture is all about matching the needs of people and companies where
they perform their work activities. Robbins defines organizational culture as “a system of shared
meaning held by members that distinguishes the organization from other organizations. This is a
set of characteristics that the organization values."
Researchers define culture as the collective rules by which an organization operates. Rules are a
combination of three elements: shared behaviors, values and beliefs. Culture outlines the basis
for how individuals function within the situation of the organization. It is the way a group or
individual behaves, defines what is “normal” and approves what is not normal is determined by
his or her culture of the organization. Some scholars also define the term Culture as a set of
behaviors that can be observed with naked eyes or the underlying values that drive behavior.
Large organizations often form their vision statements, mission statements in order to describe
the company’s culture.
Source: google.com
Robbins lists the following seven primary characteristics that capture the essence of an
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Organization’s culture:
1. Innovation and risk taking
2. Attention to detail
3. Outcome orientation
4. People orientation
5. Team orientation
6. Aggressiveness
7. Stability
Culture varies from organization to organization. Some organizations have a highly innovative
culture while others have a less innovative culture. Some organizations have a culture of
focusing on their employees while others are more profit-oriented organizations.
Cultures that can be a liability to an organization include those that create obstacles to change,
create barriers to diversity or barriers to mergers and acquisitions. (S.P.Robbins)
Strong cultures are those which emphasis on the employee development, decreased employee
turnover and increase cohesiveness and organization.
Source:google.com
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Employee’s behaviors are a true picture of any organization’s culture. They work according to
the defined context of the organization. Culture tells the employees that kind of behavior is
appropriate and what behavior should be avoided. For example, some cultures stress on
innovation and creativity while others status quo is of high worth. In some organizations, the
concept of team learning is injected in their cultures while others legitimate goal is individual
learning.
Leaders have the responsibility of creating as well s destructing the organizational culture. The
largest beverage selling company Coca Cola says that diversity is injected in their culture. It
creates such a culture which provides growth opportunity and communication opportunity to its
every employee irrespective of its background, race, gender and nation. Everybody has equal
access to information.
So consequently we can say that if an organization has a positive and a united culture, it can be
advantageous in many manners. Increased productivity is one of the merits of organized culture.
Sometime new recruits can be destructive to the organizational culture in a way that they do not
follow the pre-determined pre-destined rules and values of the organization. An employee should
work accordingly with the culture of the organization
Sources
www.google.com
Stephen P. Robbins. Organizational Behavior, 8th ed., 602-603.
www.pizzahut.com
www.cocacola.com
Part 3
I fit in the culture of workplace described in part 1 because it resembles the ideal workplace of
which I think off. For me an ideal workplace is one where there are fully chances of learning
new things, getting training programs and implementing all that knowledge on my workplace.
My schedule would be flexible and my work hours would be filled with productivity. I excel in
an environment that has good communication skills and great teamwork I can adapt my
personality according to the scenario. My supervisor would be employee friendly with great
communication skills and could coach and lead me to meet common and rewarding goals. It is a
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place where I can grow not only professionally but intellectually and where training and
education is available to advance to the next level if so desired. According to me, collaborative
working is a base of acquiring skills. By sharing with your team members and colleagues, you
can enhance your knowledge and confidence. In HBL I would get enough chances of sharing my
knowledge and learning from my seniors.
Happy Employees
Source: Google.com
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