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Abstract
This study explores how the systematic beliefs, attitudes, and values of an organization's culture create impediments to agility. Specifically, it examines how corporate culture influences the linkage between effective communication processes and a formal rewards system. In this study, we use Weisbord's Six-Box Model to understand better and evaluate the communication processes and rewards system of an oil and gas production company in the southwestern United States. We use a mixedmethod approach to conduct a quantitative survey of all managers and employees within a department of the company and conduct follow-up interviews with a sample of the survey respondents. We find that the target organization faces four prevailing areas of concern: (1) negatively impacted relationships, (2) informal communication structures, (3) lack of a formal feedback process, and (4) lack of a formal rewards system. In reaction to these issues, we propose a two-step intervention process to respond to the issues identified in this study.
Keywords: Communication, formal rewards, culture
The impetus for this study originated from an ongoing organizational issue at a privately owned oil and gas exploration and production company in the southwestern United States. Since its inception in 2009, the company has completed multiple acquisitions worth over $2.3 billion, resulting in exponential organizational growth from its firstyear acquisitions of $60 million. Billions of dollars in acquisitions have resulted in a dramatic 45-fold increase in staffing (from less than 10 to over 450 as of January 2020) and have placed pressure on the current management mechanisms. As a result of this pressure, a variety of problems have begun to emerge throughout the organization, especially in the exploitation department. In the context of the oil and gas industry, the term "exploitation" is commonly used to mean the development of a property in order to extract oil and gas. The management of the exploitation department found it necessary to conduct an organizational assessment that is the focus of this article. The organizational assessment identified the reward system and communication processes as root causes of the exploitation department's problems and gave rise to the underlying research question addressed in this study: Does the lack of a formal rewards system and the lack of effective and efficient communication between the exploitation department and the rest of...