ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW OF THE STUDY

Culture, at the workplace, is a very powerful force, which is consciously and deliberately

cultivated and is passed on to the incoming employees. It is the very thread that holds the

organization together. The importance of corporate culture is emphasized by Peters and

Waterman (1999:808), who state that, without exception, the dominance and coherence

of culture proved to be an essential quality of the excellent companies. Moreover the

stronger the culture, the more it was directed to the marketplace, the less need was there

for policy manuals, organization charts, detailed procedures or rules. In these companies,

people way down the line know what they are supposed to do in most situations because

the handful of guiding values is crystal clear.

Organizational culture is pervasive and powerful. For business, it is either a force for

change or a definite barrier to it. For employees, it is either the glue that bonds people to

an organization or what drives them away. Managers, today, are increasingly challenged

with changing an organization’s culture to support new ways of accomplishing work.

Therefore, the purpose of this study is to create a better understanding of organizational

culture in banking organizations (private and public). This study attempts to look at the

culture in two organizations in banking sector in India, i.e., SBI and ICICI and ascertain

their prevailing culture and comparing the performance due to it.

1.2 Problem statement

The research report is based on the study of the existing culture in the banking sector in

India. The companies taken are State Bank of India and ICICI Bank. The style of

working in a Public Sector is different from that of Private Sector. Yet these two

organizations are at the top despite their different style of working. If one goes to any of

the two organizations the work atmosphere is entirely different, the service provided is

not the same. From the calm and poised worker of ICICI bank to the worried dexterous

worker of SBI, the class of worker is different in the two organizations. Yet if one looks

at the performance of the two organizations it pretty similar. The reason behind the

difference in work culture is the main thrust of this research study.

According to Costly and Todd (1987:13), ‘people work for money, but they also work for

more than money. Most employees want to be proud of their organizations, to have a

good relationship with other employees and managers and to believe they have

worthwhile jobs. Many factors influence both individuals and groups in organizations,

but not all are considered when trying to understand the behaviour of people at work.

Among those that are most frequently overlooked are the environment and culture of the

organizations with which individuals are associated’.

1.3 Research objectives

The aim of this study is to analysis the organizational culture in the two banking

organizations, namely State Bank of India and ICICI Bank.

The objectives of this study are to determine:-

• The current culture of the two companies;

• The effect of culture on the performance;

• The comparison of the culture in both the organizations.

1.4 Rationale for the study

The two companies SBI and ICICI are the top banking organization of the country. The

companies have been providing valuable banking services to the entire nation for many

years. They are now at the top of the list in the ranking. This study will generate valuable

information on the current culture of these organizations. It would also provide

management with the employees’ outlook of the work culture that is prevalent within

these companies. Necessary information could be derived from it as to how the culture

should be in these organizations to get the best result out of their employees. Thus it

would make the organization take interest in their employees too.

1.5 Scope of the study and delimitations

The study was limited to the bank’s branches of the two organizations in Kanpur district

and may not necessary reflect the findings of the organization as a whole.
1.6 Outline of the study

This study which is presented in seven chapters is focused towards assessing the culture

in the two banking organizations, SBI and ICICI.

Chapter 1 - Introduction and overview of the study

This chapter presents an overview of the study, the problem statement, research

objectives and limitations to the study.

Chapter 2 - Literature review I: organizational culture

This chapter examines literature about organizational culture. The literature reviewed

starts by defining organizational culture, and then goes on to discuss how culture is

created and sustained in an organization. This chapter also looks at other research studies

on organizational culture.

Chapter 3 - Literature review II: Organizations’ profile

This chapter reviews literature on the profile of the two organizations, namely SBI and

ICICI. The ways in which the two organization works and the performance of them both

in the banking industry.

Chapter 4 - Research Methodology

This chapter shows how the research was conducted. It provides insight into the sampling

method used, data collection techniques, and various other techniques that were used to

analyze the data.

Chapter 5 - Presentation of Results

All the results gathered from the research questionnaires are presented in this chapter

with the aid of graphs and tables.

Chapter 6 - Discussion of results

A detailed discussion, regarding the findings of the research study is presented in this

chapter.

Chapter 7 - Conclusions and recommendations

This chapter outlines the findings in relation to the theory and also presents the

conclusions and recommendations to the findings of the study.

1.7 Conclusion

This chapter provided an introduction to the study and outlines the rationale for the study

as well as the research objectives. The following chapter presents a literature review on

organizational commitment

History of SBI

Bank of Bengal H.O.

The origin of the State Bank of India goes back to the first decade of the
nineteenth century with the establishment of the Bank of Calcutta in Calcutta on 2
June 1806. Three years later the bank received its charter and was re-designed as
the Bank of Bengal (2 January 1809). A unique institution, it was the first joint-stock
bank of British India sponsored by the Government of Bengal. The Bank of Bombay
(15 April 1840) and the Bank of Madras (1 July 1843) followed the Bank of Bengal.
These three banks remained at the apex of modern banking in India till their
amalgamation as the Imperial Bank of India on 27 January 1921.

Primarily Anglo-Indian creations, the three presidency banks came into existence
either as a result of the compulsions of imperial finance or by the felt needs of local
European commerce and were not imposed from outside in an arbitrary manner to
modernize India's economy. Their evolution was, however, shaped by ideas culled
from similar developments in Europe and England, and was influenced by changes
occurring in the structure of both the local trading environment and those in the
relations of the Indian economy to the economy of Europe and the global economic
framework.

Establishment

The establishment of the Bank of Bengal marked the advent of limited liability, joint-
stock banking in India. So was the associated innovation in banking, viz. the decision
to allow the Bank of Bengal to issue notes, which would be accepted for payment of
public revenues within a restricted geographical area. This right of note issue was
very valuable not only for the Bank of Bengal but also its two siblings, the Banks of
Bombay and Madras. It meant an accretion to the capital of the banks, a capital on
which the proprietors did not have to pay any interest. The concept of deposit
banking was also an innovation because the practice of accepting money for
safekeeping (and in some cases, even investment on behalf of the clients) by the
indigenous bankers had not spread as a general habit in most parts of India. But, for
a long time, and especially upto the time that the three presidency banks had a right
of note issue, bank notes and government balances made up the bulk of the
investible resources of the banks.

The three banks were governed by royal charters, which were revised from time to
time. Each charter provided for a share capital, four-fifth of which were privately
subscribed and the rest owned by the provincial government. The members of the
board of directors, which managed the affairs of each bank, were mostly proprietary
directors representing the large European managing agency houses in India. The rest
were government nominees, invariably civil servants, one of whom was elected as
the president of the board.