Cultural Dynamics and Organisational Performance of South African Airways, Nairobi Station in Kenya

Abstract

In a competitive1market place understanding and responding to cultural dynamics has become1an imperative factor to an organization’s performance. An organization with solid culture with all around coordinated and viable arrangement of qualities, convictions and practices is probably going to show elite performance. South African Airways has cultural dynamics and has shown dwindling performances in recent years. The study sought to determine the effect of cultural dynamics on organizational performance of South African Airways, Nairobi Station. The study adopted a case study research design based on primary data gathered through an interview guide. The data was gathered from four senior management staffs at South African Airways, Nairobi Station. The senior management staffs were three heads of department (marketing, operations and finance department) as well as the Regional Manager for East Africa. Data analysis was done through content analysis. From the interviews, the organization had employees from different cultures working within it, hence, there is cultural dynamism within South African Airways, Nairobi Station. The interviewees stated that gender diversity enhanced the performance of their organization. From the interviews, the interviewees indicated that company values played a key role in their organization performance. The interviews showed that the company values were not in line with their personal cultural values. The outcomes showed that teamwork boosted output and productivity within the organization. Based on the interviewees, cultural dynamics influenced performance of their organization. From the outcomes, the study concludes that cultural dynamics influence performance of South African Airways Nairobi Station negatively while gender diversity enhanced the performance of South African Airways station in Nairobi. On the company language, the interviews depicted that language barrier affected organizational performance. The interviews showed that language barrier reduces employee productivity hence reduction in the organizational performance. On the organization performance, the interviewees indicated that their organization was not performing well. The study concludes that company values of South African Airways are not aligned to the employee personal values. The study also concluded that company values influence the performance of South African Airways station in Nairobi. Further, team work increased organizational performance of South African Airways station in Nairobi. On the other hand, it concludes that language barrier affects performance of South African Airways station in Nairobi negatively. Finally, the study concludes that South African Airways station in Nairobi is not performing. The study recommends that South African Airways station in Nairobi have in place cultural events, team building events as well as cultural dressing among the employees for improved performance. Similar research is needed in other airlines like Kenya Airways; other influencers of performance; other measures of cultural dynamics and organization performance; and based on employees other than managers to collect data