Employee engagement in the context of organizational culture and performance : a case of automotive supplier Continental

Abstract

Motivated by the observation of key characteristics and recent changes in the automotive industry, this master thesis concentrates on the ENGAGEMENT OF THE PEOPLE EMPLOYED IN THIS INDUSTRY, assuming that their engagement is a DECISIVE FACTOR IN GLOBAL COMPETITION. Especially the following questions will be researched: 1. Is employee engagement an important element for driving company performance? 2. How is it influenced by organizational culture? 3. How can this element be sustainably enforced? Rational of this thesis is the assumption that employee engagement has particular significance for today's automotive industry, due to this industry's grade of internationalization, complexity, quality requirements and speed of innovation. Some academic background on the terminologies of culture, performance, engagement and emotion is given for better understanding of the subsequent research. First part of the research is an INVESTIGATION OF 10 DIFFERENT SURVEYS AND APPROACHES to the topic of employee engagement, all of them conducted by different companies or authors in the recent years. The second research part is the SURVEY WHICH THE AUTHOR HAS UNDERTAKEN for the purpose of this master thesis. The investigated company - Continental AG - is introduced. The recent efforts of shaping an organizational culture are described in detail, a view on recent performance is given and the connection between both is discussed. Objective, target group, design and conduction of the Continental survey are outlined. Being a "one-shot-survey", some re-grouping was necessary for better statistical results, these are explained in detail. The survey results show a rather homogenous picture across the surveyed groups, but huge differences between the various engagement factors and a very wide span in the individual comments. Similarities and differences between literature research and own survey are explicitly discussed. Finally a recommendation for Continental is given regarding the further proceeding towards sustainably enhancing employee engagement.<br />A brief summarizing conclusion completes the master thesis.<br />44 figures illustrate the writing, 7 attachments provide further detail of the research.