Organizational culture: The perspectives of new hires and existing employees of a pharmaceutical company in Thailand

Abstract

The recent increase in new hires by Thai pharmaceutical companies due to the unstable employment within the global pharmaceutical industry has led to a rise in human resources management expenditures. Organizational culture has become a central focus of many researchers with the aim to propose strategies for maintaining employees. The present study assessed the organisational culture of a pharmaceutical company in Thailand. In addition, the congruency between the organizational culture of new hires and existing employees was investigated. The participants were 68 employees (15 new hires and 58 existing employees) of one multinational pharmaceutical company in Thailand. The findings demonstrated that the current and preferred organizational cultures of the studied pharmaceutical company were dominated by a "Clan" culture characterized by a family-like workplace, a parent-like relationship between organizational leaders and subordinates, and teamwork-focused values. Both new hires and existing employees rated "Clan" as the dominant organizational culture, which indicated organizational culture congruence between them. The present study facilitated a better understanding of the organizational culture of the Thai pharmaceutical industry. The findings contributed to the useful resources of a Thai pharmaceutical company's organizational culture, which are necessary for the development of proper orientation programs and activities to improve the retention of new hires.