Research Plan

Table of contents

Introduction 3

The research topic and why it is important for this business 4

Research question 4

Which of the 4 primary practices discussed in What Really Works your research project is most closely relevant to, and why 4

Literature review 7

Methodology 10

Likely data that will be obtained and analyzed 11

Likely findings and their importance 11

Estimated cost in terms of time and finances 12

Cost chart 12

Gantt chart 12

References: 14

Appendix: 16

Interview Questions 16

Introduction 

Organizational culture has a significant role to play across any organization. This implies for the Australian banking sector extensively, especially for the Commonwealth Bank. In the past few years, many banking organizations have been facing toxic workplace culture, which has led to a negative impact on the human resource management system of the company. Aspects such as lacking competition, high fees, and breaches related to compliance, interest-based conflicts and frauds have been a significant proof for the present-day toxicity, which is available all along with the banking sector. The issues related to toxicity have been evident in promoting more irregularities from the employees as well as the employers across Commonwealth Bank. Along with the lower-level employees, the higher management is also similarly involved across these misconducts included along with toxic workplace culture.

Founded in 1911, the Commonwealth Bank is an Australia based multinational bank that provides its services across the United States, Asia, New Zealand, and the UK. Some of the significant services offered by the organization include institutional banking, superannuation, broking services, business and retail services across the mentioned countries. The total strength of 51,800 employees across the organization provides its operability across 1100 locations. In the year 2018, the bank has faced serious allegations related to negative culture across its operational sections by the Royal Commission (Commbank.com.au, 2019). This was the first-ever analysis of the available toxic culture across this banking structure. The current misconducts across this organization are evident in providing an overview of available lacking perspectives all across the system. The bank is facing cultural toxicities across its workforce and management systems and requires evident procedures to cope with them to develop as a prominent banking organization.

This research plan explores the differences in the availability of a sustainable and suitable organizational culture. The available toxicity across the organization has paved ways for other related issues such as the development of employee dissatisfaction, bad inter-organizational relationships and overall usability associated with deficient organizational culture. The research plan is also based on defining the timeframes and cost specific information required for this assessment (Anjum et al. 2018). It will act as convincing evidence for the bank management to access its employees for research work. This process will help in guiding the whole structure of performance that is associated with the entire banking system and thus an interview fro bank employees would be helpful in conduction the research.

The research topic and why it is crucial for this business  

Research question 

What is the current state of organizational culture across the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, and how is it impacting the overall operability of this organization?

The selected research topic is highly efficient to facilitate a more detailed overview of the irregularities and disruptions across its operating culture. The overall feasibility indexes that are linked to this process are eventually assessed to indicate the major as well as minor issues all across the banking system. Toxic workplace culture is evident in promoting dissatisfaction across banking operations and a durable approach to indicate progressive experience across this structure is largely required. Thus this research process will help in guiding the entire segment of operational misconducts that are available all along the process and are eventually liable to operate on disintegrated growth potentials (Gunderman and Sechrist, 2019). The overall process of organizational misconduct is liable to cooperate with other irregularities and lower the productivity indexes across the available set of managerial indexes.

The important factor that is associated with these fragments is based on adjusting the desired network of operational excellence across the available fragments and is liable to provide a more inclusive ideology for enhanced development. The related consequences of promoting the identification and elimination of toxic workplace culture will help the organization to gain a more suitable design for development and will enhance the desired outcome achievement possibilities. Increased productivity and desire to promote an ideal workplace are the two fundamental factors that are associated with the entire research plan.

Which of the four primary practices discussed in What Works your research project is most closely relevant to, and why 

Researching the desired formats of concepts indicated across this plan is based on a commonly accepted principle of What Works. This concept initiates a diverse range of operations and sections which help in concluding better results across the desired formats and attain a more feasible approach to detailed research processes. According to the views of Nohria et al. (2003), a research process must be based on four primarily inter-related segments which are evident in promoting the desired conclusions across an organization’s research process. All of these factors are explained in detail across the desired formats to achieve a more suitable analysis across the issues.

• Strategy

The strategy is important for a research process as it provides a pre-identified approach to the entire process and also helps in guiding the desired sections in a more evident manner. The most feasible formats of researches have a significantly strong strategy for success. A strengthened strategy system is ideal for formulating the overall process of research when it is primarily selected and communicated across the whole research team. The clarity achieved through these factors is evident in promoting the desired formats and associations all along with the research plan. Strategy development is also helpful in pursuing the desired networks and their operations eventually (Brannan, 2017). These are also evident in promoting the overall process as it is achieved through distinguished proportions of development based on design formalities and assumptions developed during the strategy development process.

• Culture

Cultural orientation is the most influential factor for this research plan and the main issue depicted across initial sections relates to toxic workplace culture. However, the importance of cultural aspects remain operational for any major research process, it is of more importance across this perspective. The overall operability index that is associated with cultural orientation aspects of this research is based on identifying the irregularities and justifying the operational logics that are integrated within them. The whole process of managing researches is identified and strengthened by the application of indicative cultural orientations and is feasible to operate eventually across the available sections. According to the views of Bottrell and Manathunga (2019), the cultural factors across a major research plan are based on identifying and analyzing diverse formats across the system and are eligible for making the desired decisions all along with the system. In the context of this research plan, the development of a positive cultural orientation is liable to promote a more diverse range of desired perspectives and attain a more suitable design across the available workplace examples.

The major sections of culturally compatible research operations are based on adjusting the limits and efficiency standards for the related research plan. In consideration of these, the overall operability factors that are associated with these attributes are based on providing a more inclusive approach to the formats and are likely to impact the overall functionalities across the research process. Providing a robust cultural hold across the system helps in enabling the desired networks, which are to be put together to complete the research efficiently. The overall operability indexes that are associated with each of the desired sections are based on eliminating loopholes and design the best possible solution to the identified research problem.

• Structure

Structure defines the operational framework within which each of the operational factors integrates and attain a more idealized format of production. The assessment of reasonable approaches is based on idealizing the growth potential and signifying the desired networks eventually and with evident possibilities. Each of the integrated formats associated with the research plan is based on supporting the desired networks and attain a more impulsive form of design across the available segments (Van Rooij and Fine, 2018). Efficiently structured research plans are ideal for providing a responsive nature of development across the desired formalities and are associated with significant ideologies all along with the system. Each of the available resources is utilized based on structural requirements, and thus a detailed analysis is obtained all along the process of research planning.

• Execution

Execution is the process to distinguish the essential and less important aspects of a research plan. The process of managing these interventions are also based on designing the growth and achieving an ideal approach for distinctive analysis all across the process. Each of the formalities across these aspects is based on the development of reliable strategies and providing them with a logical approach to attain success. The whole process of execution is based on designing and implementing better operational designs across the system and are liable to achieve success across the practices (Roulet, 2015). An efficiently organized execution is evident in promoting the desired outcomes in a more suitable and controlled manner. These are the attributes that signify operational accountabilities based on diversified experiences across a research process and coupling them for a better result.

Literature review 

A significant amount of research works carried out across the selected issues will be assessed to obtain a more indicative approach all along the process of research plan management. Information from previously carried out researching will be of significant importance as they will be providing a detailed information base across the research plan. A mixed form of an approach based on supportive as well as a non-supportive ideology will be generated across this research plan to obtain a more inclusive nature of operation all along with the research plan. The literature reviewed will be based on the availability of toxic workplace cultures and their relative impacts on the operational framework of an organization.

Toxic workplace culture is an essential factor that is associated with a detailed analysis of different aspects that implement the desired networks of operation all across the desired formats. It is one of the primary reasons for the availability of employee dissatisfaction and ultimately lacking employee retention. According to the views of Dempsey (2018), the majority of the highly skilled and suitable workforces quit an organization based on toxic workplace culture. It is one of the major issues across each of the industries in the current times. Every factor which is associated with poisonous workplace culture has a significantly stronger impact across the desired formalities, thus improving the operational accountabilities all along the process of organization management. Lack of new ideas, dishonesty among employees, unauthentic power practices and bullying are some of the most compelling impacts of toxic workplace culture. Since the amount of dissatisfaction across the organizational employees enhance, the overall reliability across their learning and development services are affected. The organizations facing toxicity across their cultural orientations are liable to strengthen the desired formats and association relativities across the system. Each of the employee empowerment opportunities goes in vain with the availability of toxic workplace culture. The workforce is limited in terms of innovative thinking and desire to achieve more in terms of personal as well as organizational objectives with the availability of these constituents. A negative mindset development across the workplace is another major impact that the toxicity across an organization is based on. The overall operability factor across these sections are reliable to provide a more significant amount of information on employee behaviour. It negatively impacts the behavioural attributes, thus paving ways for workplace disputes and constraints.

Productivity in toxic workplace culture is also affected negatively as it helps in guiding the entire process with evident attributes and achieves a more disturbing nature of production. According to the views of Behery et al. (2018), a healthy workplace culture strengthens productivity at both individuals as well as organizational levels and unhealthy culture initiatives, harmful initiatives all along the process. Since the cultural values have a direct relationship with employee values and attributes, the productivity segments are justified and controlled extensively with the introduction of toxic workplace practices. Each of the workplace designs requires a more significant approach to deal with their workplace issues, and thus a more suitable nature of the operation is necessary to maintain a better ideology. In the context of banking sector organizations as selected under this research, the overall relativity index with the cultural impacts on productivity is immense, and thus a more suitable approach is required all along the process. Each of the distinctive ideologies is justified with profiting significances with the introduction of proper valuation attributes across the process. Defining productivity based on toxic workplace culture is evident in promoting the desired outcomes all along with the system. The employees across a poisonous workplace culture also have certain limitations in terms of motivation and decision making which eventually degrades the overall process of workplace management system critical in many ways.

Systems, behaviours, and practices as the key to attaining a better operational design for managing workplace culture. According to the views of Omoregie (2018), management of organizational culture is based on idealizing and refining the available systems, practices and behavioral attributes associated with a regulatory process. These attributes help in gaining a more informative and associated form of development across the cultural fragments. The overall operability index that is associated with the whole system of construction is ideally placed to contribute to originating high values for collaborative development. Firstly, the selection of a suitable method is necessary as it defines the operability index of a major process within an organization. The whole structure of an organization is based on deciding the acceptability of this system for a better understanding of the operational sections. Each of the desired formalities is based on promoting better results and is suitable for eliminating irregularities across the desired formats of applicable systems. Secondly, the availability of supportive behavioural attributes is also helpful in generating a more diverse nature of operation throughout the process. Creating supportive behaviour across the desired sections of an organization such as culture are evident in promoting better results in the long run and achieving a detailed significance across the desired scenarios. Each of the behavioural attributes is based on signifying better results and achieving profound ways of promotions across the available resources and achieving a more detailed knowledge across the process. Thirdly, putting in to practice the selected formats and attributes is another major factor that influences development in a significant manner. Each of the sections that are the higher authorities as well as the lower-level workers must put the selected strategies into action to gain positive results. Including the processes across different sections of an organization can help in the development of a correlation between different sections and attain a more suitable approach to the desired networks.

Low employee morale and communication gaps are other significant issues associated with the availability of toxic workplace culture. The interaction across the workforce is an important factor which is based on designing and accepting the overall operability factors across the organizations and enhance the communication driven morale development. But unavailability of this attribute is largely placed into action for the justified nature of the operation is evident in limiting the growth of each employee as well as the whole organization (Burke, 2016). Lack of efficient communication is also related to less productivity and the absence of a supportive mechanism across the desired sections of operations management. Each of the segmented aspects of production is based on designing and implementing better supportive framework within the organization. Thus its unavailability initiates development of significant issues related to workforce management and decrement in the interaction possibilities across the organizations. An efficiently operating communication channel across organizations are eligible for maintenance of less toxic workplace culture and thus is advised to be included across the desired sections. The unavailability of strong communication also justifies the availability of constant fear across the workforce which eventually leads to less productivity and an unauthentic decision-making process. Lacking communication across a toxic workplace is ideal for maintaining the distances between higher management personals and lower-level employees (Mohammad et al. 2017). It initiates a less responsible approach from the organization’s management sections as there is more emphasis on regulations and policies rather than the people and their benefits.

Toxic cultures at an organization system are evident in promoting a more suitable way to facilitate employee turnover rates across the designated organizations. People working under toxic work environments are always under stress, and this initiates a more unattached nature of organization across the available sections. The overall disruption factor that is associated with a toxic workplace culture is based on designing sophisticated attributes and attainment of a widely organized set of organizational issues across the system. This environmental lacking is wholly based on driving negativity across the operational framework and the introduction of a biased system of operation (Oludeyi, 2015). These are the most evidenced aspects which relate to the availability of a toxicity based workplace culture across the system of organizational management. An organizational structure needs to assess these attributes to facilitate a more responsive and culturally stable organizational structure all along the entire process. Each of the desired formats is based on deciding the significant operations and achieving a more suitable form of design based on better cultural approaches and attributes.

Methodology 

To assess the operational issues related to toxic workplace culture at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, a set of essential questions are to be constructed. These questions will be put in an interview which will be conducted across the Commonwealth Bank of Australia. A collection of seven questions will be developed for this interview and would be based on determining the organization-specific issues and complications based on toxic workplace culture availability. A total of three managers from different departments such as loans, general banking, and insurance will be approached for the interview to conduct an ideal analysis of various fragments and deformities based on toxic cultural availability. The timings selected for this interview will be the lunchtime for these managers (Robert, 2018). Thus it will not hamper the regular work process related to them. On average, each of the managers will be required to provide a time frame of 20 to 30 minutes of their time to conduct the interview efficiently. The whole process will be carried out at the Commonwealth Bank of Australian premises, and thus there are no requirements for specific locations for this interview process. However, the managers need to be compensated for their amount of time provided, and this will be carried out by the organization.

The questions designed for this interview must be based on profound ways and suitable ideologies related to the complete analysis. These questions will be constructed to extract the maximum possible information from the managers in the context of the available issues across their departments and the organization as a whole. It will help in guiding the entire process eventually and will also strengthen the issues assessment process across the organization. Each of the designed formats for the interview will be assessed by the team members to attain a perfectly inclined set of operational regulations across the interview process. The interview will also enhance our knowledge of the banking system in general and the impacts which a toxic workplace culture has in its longer-term implication (Yurtsever and Sanlı, 2016).

Likely data that will be obtained and analyzed

The data obtained from these interviews will be of great value as it will be based on similar issues available across different departments of an organization. This will enhance the personal understanding of these departments in terms of the toxic workplace culture availability and usability. These operations are based on defining the desired nature of development that is put in to place for further analysis. Collection of the right amount and quality of data is the sole purpose of this interview, and it will help in guiding the entire process eventually and evidently. The whole process of managing a directional association is based on improvising the desired nature of cultural practices that are applicable across the available sections (Kurkliński, 2016). The questions are constructed in such a manner that it will attain information about the entire process that is the higher management levels as well as, the lower management levels. This will help in concluding individual perspectives for each of the sections and attaining a more feasible form of development based network across the system.

Likely findings and their importance

The findings across this assessment reflect the importance of workplace culture by evaluating the issues that are integrated with the availability of toxic workplace culture. The findings are guided by day to day operations across a banking sector organization and the impacts which it has in the long run across the organizational management processes (Schyns, 2015). Each of the issues that are associated with this system is based on designing a more comprehensive knowledge based on detailed analysis and can help attain better approaches for discussions. The findings reflect current issues the bank has been facing along with their related attributes across the operational sections. Each of the designed factors is based on enhancing the usability and durability of culture in a banking sector organization. Based on these findings, a set of recommendations can also be developed by the bank to cope with existing issues and complications.

Estimated cost in terms of time and finances  

The overall time required for this research plan to complete would be one month. A total to two week time is required for identifying and framing the issues based questions across the desired networks. Each of the segmented aspects is liable to be analyzed thoroughly in terms of the questions asked, and the responses will be collected. Since the managers will be providing their extra time for the interview conduction process, they will be compensated with 40 dollars an hour. This will be the cost structure for this interview process. In addition to this, the equipment used for the office would be costing 600 dollars. This is the overall process costs that would be required to complete this entire process of the research plan. However, a thorough and detailed cost structure is provided in the below-mentioned table.

Cost chart 

Gantt chart 

References:

Anjum, A., Ming, X., Siddiqi, A., and Rasool, S., 2018. An empirical study analyzing job productivity in toxic workplace environments. International journal of environmental research and public health, 15(5), p.1035.

Beery, M., Al-Nasser, A.D., Jabeen, F., and El Rawas, A.S., 2018. TOXIC LEADERSHIP AND ORGANIZATIONAL CITIZENSHIP BEHAVIOR: A MEDIATION EFFECT OF FOLLOWERS’TRUST AND COMMITMENT IN THE MIDDLE EAST. International Journal of Business & Society, 19(3).

Bottrell, D. and Manathunga, C., 2019. Cracked continuities in the project of cultural democracy: silencing, resistance, and privilege. In Resisting Neoliberalism in Higher Education Volume I (pp. 303-328). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.

Brannan, M.J., 2017. Power, corruption, and lies: Mis-selling and the production of culture in financial services. Human Relations, 70(6), pp.641-667.

Burke, R.J., 2016. Human frailties and toxic organizations. In Risky Business (pp. 25-86). Routledge.

Commbank.com.au (2019), About Commonwealth Bank, Accessed on: 23 October 2019, Accessed from https://www.commbank.com.au/about-us.html?ei=CB-footer_about-commbank

Dempsey, J., 2018. Banking Culture and Moral Responsibility for the Financial Crisis. MORAL RESPONSIBILITY AND THE FINANCIAL CRISIS, 42, pp.73-94.

Gunderman, R.B. and Sechrist, E.M., 2019. How Neglect Fosters Workplace Toxicity. Journal of the American College of Radiology, 16(2), pp.252-254.

Kurkliński, L., 2016. Financialization and the cultural attitude of Polish society towards the banking sector. e-Finanse, 12(2), pp.49-59.

Mohammad, I., Chowdhury, S.R. and Sanju, N.L., 2017. Leadership Styles Followed in Banking Industry of Bangladesh: A Case Study on Some Selected Banks and Financial Institutions. American Journal of Theoretical and Applied Business, 3(3), p.36.

Nohria, N., Joyce, W. and Roberson, B., 2003. What really works (p. 42). Audio-Tech Business Book Summaries.

Oludeyi, O.S., 2015. A review of literature on work environment and work commitment: implication for future research in citadels of learning. Journal of Human Resource Managemnt, 18(2), pp.32-46.

Omoregie, G.I., 2018. Organizational Culture, Information Sharing and Perception of Records Management System as Factors Affecting Organizational Effectiveness in the Banking Industry in Nigeria. Research Journal of Library and Information Science, 2(3), pp.53-73.

Robert, F., 2018. Impact of Workplace Bullying on Job Performance and Job Stress. Journal of Management Info, 5(3), pp.12-15.

Roulet, T., 2015. “What good is Wall Street?” Institutional contradiction and the diffusion of the stigma over the finance industry. Journal of Business Ethics, 130(2), pp.389-402.

Schyns, B., 2015. D ark P ersonality in the W orkplace: Introduction to the Special Issue. Applied Psychology, 64(1), pp.1-14.

Van Rooij, B. and Fine, A., 2018. Toxic corporate culture: assessing organizational processes of deviancy. Administrative Sciences, 8(3), p.23.

Yurtsever, G. and Sanlı, E., 2016. Measurement of employee perception on sustainable bank’s commitment. Measurement, 60(80), p.100.

Appendix:

Interview Questions 

1. What is the current state of workplace culture at your department/organization?
2. Which are the ways that can be used to identify the availability ony toxicity across the organization or departmental culture?
3. What are the possible impacts of a toxic workplace culture on individual employees, managers and the organization as whole?
4. How do you maintain a positive workplace culture across the organization and what are the potential threats you look for?
5. How do you intend to control employee turnover based on toxic workplace culture?
6. Do you find yourself satisfied by the available workplace culture at this organization?
7. How often do employees communicate with you in concern with toxicity across the workplace and what is your first advice to them?