Showing papers on "Organizational culture published in 2016"

Studying the links between organizational culture, innovation, and performance in Spanish companies

Abstract: Innovation is considered to be one of the key factors that influence the long-term success of a company in the competitive markets of today. As a result, there is a growing interest in the further study of the determining factors of innovation. Today, the focus is on these factors related to people and behavior, emphasizing the role of organizational culture, as a factor that can both stimulate or restrain innovation, and therefore affect company performance. However, there is little empirical research linking these variables, particularly in the Spanish context. The purpose of this paper is to study these links by using a sample of industrial companies. The results show that culture can foster innovation, as well as company performance, or it could also be an obstacle for both of them, depending on the values promoted by the culture. It has been found specifically, that an adhocratic culture is the best innovation and performance predictor. Based on these results, it can be concluded that, innovation mediates the relationship between certain types of organizational cultures and performance.

The Effect of Institutional Culture on Change Strategies in Higher Education

Abstract: The array of challenges that higher education faces today is virtually unparalleled when compared to any other point in U.S. history. The litany of changes is familiar to those in the field of higher education: financial pressure, growth in technology, changing faculty roles, public scrutiny, changing demographics, competing values, and the rapid rate of change in the world both within and beyond our national boarders. The changes many institutions face have accelerated beyond tinkering; more campuses each year attempt to create comprehensive (or transformational) change. Yet, change strategies have not been exceedingly helpful in their capacity to guide institutions, and we know even less about how to facilitate major, institutionwide change. The current change literature in higher education provides mostly generalized strategies about what is effective: a willing president or strong leadership, a collaborative process, or providing rewards (Roberts, Wren, & Adam, 1993; Taylor & Koch, 1996). This broad writing may mask information helpful to advance institutional change on a specific campus. “Achieving buy-in” or “communicating effectively” can seem very empty to institutional leaders and higher education scholars. Can this strategy be used at every institution and in the same way? The assumptions behind this approach are that each strategy is enacted similarly on each campus and that nuance and context do not much matter. Broad change strategies are presented as uniform, universal, and applicable.

Organizational Culture in Higher Education

Abstract: Within the business community in the last ten years, organizational culture has emerged as a topic of central concern to those who study organizations. Books such as Peters and Waterman's In Search of Excellence [37], Ouchi's Theory Z [33], Deal and Kennedy's Corporate Cultures [20], and Schein's Organizational Culture and Leadership [44] have emerged as major works in the study of managerial and organizational performance. However, growing popular interest and research activity in organizational culture comes as something of a mixed blessing. Heightened awareness has brought with it increasingly broad and divergent concepts of culture. Researchers and practitioners alike often view culture as a new management approach that will not only cure a variety of organizational ills but will serve to explain virtually every event that occurs within an organization. Moreover, widely varying definitions, research methods, and standards for understanding culture create confusion as often as they provide insight. The intent for this article is neither to suggest that an understanding of organizational culture is an antidote for all administrative folly, nor to imply that the surfeit of definitions of organizational culture makes its study meaningless for higher education administrators and researchers. Rather, the design of this article is to provide a working framework to diagnose culture in colleges and universities so that distinct problems can be overcome. The concepts for the framework

Competing through employee engagement: a proposed framework

Abstract: Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide a framework through which to understand, predict and control factors affecting employee engagement in the public sector in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Design/methodology/approach – The paper examines research conducted in the area of employee engagement and proposes a conceptual framework that can be used by practitioners to engage employees and motivate them toward organizational growth and sustainability. Findings – In line with the literature-based analysis, a framework of employee engagement was developed, illustrating the linkage between leader, team, perceived organizational support and organizational culture that is being mediated by employee motivation. Research limitations/implications – Employee engagement as exemplified in this study is well suited for use in the public sector in the UAE. Further empirical study should be undertaken to ascertain the effect of the proposed framework and hypotheses. Practical implications – The study incorpora...

Why and when workplace ostracism inhibits organizational citizenship behaviors: an organizational identification perspective

Abstract: Why and when do employees respond to workplace ostracism by withholding their engagement in citizenship behavior? Beyond perspectives proposed in past studies, we offer a new account based on a social identity perspective and propose that workplace ostracism decreases citizenship behavior by undermining employees' identification with the organization. We also theorize that perceived job mobility influences the extent to which employees identify with the organization when being ostracized. These hypotheses were examined in two time-lagged studies conducted in China. The proposed hypotheses were supported by results in Study 1, and findings were generally replicated in Study 2, where effects of other known mediators (i.e., organization-based self-esteem, job engagement, and felt obligation toward the organization) and moderators (i.e., collectivism, power distance, and future orientation) suggested by previous perspectives were controlled. Results of Study 2 provided further support of the hypothesized directional effect of workplace ostracism on citizenship behavior via organizational identification. Our studies support the identification perspective in understanding workplace ostracism and also strengthen the application of this perspective in understanding workplace aggression broadly.

‘Gearing Up’ to improve interprofessional collaboration in primary care: a systematic review and conceptual framework

Abstract: Interprofessional Primary Care Teams (IPCTs) have been shown to benefit health systems and patients, particularly those patients with complex care needs. The literature suggests a wide range of factors that may influence collaboration in IPCTs, however the evidence base is unclear for many of these factors. To target improvement efforts, we identify studies that demonstrate an association between suggested factors and collaborative processes in IPCTs. A systematic review of 25 years of peer-review literature was conducted to identify studies that test associations between policy, organizational, care team and individual factors, and collaboration in IPCTs. We searched Medline, ProQuest subject, ProQuest abstract, CINAHL, HealthSTAR, and Embase electronic databases between January 1990 to June 2015 and hand-searched reference lists of identified articles. The electronic searches identified 1421 articles, nine of which met inclusion criteria. Eighteen factors were significantly associated with collaboration in at least one article. We present the findings within a proposed conceptual model of interrelated ‘gears’. The model offers a taxonomy of factors that policy makers (macro gear), organizational managers (meso gear), care teams (micro gear) and health professionals (individual gear) can adjust to improve interprofessional collaboration in IPC teams. Thirteen of the eighteen identified factors were within the micro gear, or team level of decision-making. These pertained to formal processes such as quality audits and group problem-solving; social processes such as open communication and supportive colleagues; team attitudes such as feeling part of the team; and team structure such as team size and having a collaboration champion or facilitator. Fewer policy (eg governance), organizational (eg information systems, organizational culture) or individual (eg belief in interprofessional collaboration care and personal flexibility) level factors were identified. The findings suggest that individual IPCTs have opportunities to improve collaboration regardless of the organizational or policy context within which they operate. Evidence supports the importance of having a team vision and shared goals, formal quality processes, information systems, and professionals feeling part of the team. Few studies assessed associations between collaboration and macro and meso factors, or between factors across levels, which are priorities for future research.

The relationships between perceived organizational support, affective commitment, psychological contract breach, organizational citizenship behaviour and work engagement.

Abstract: Aim This study examines the factors that mediate and moderate the relationships of perceived organizational support with work engagement and organization citizenship behaviour. Specifically, affective commitment is posited to mediate and psychological contract breach to moderate the above relationships. Background Nurses play a critical role in delivering exemplary health care. For nurses to perform at their best, they need to experience high engagement, which can be achieved by providing them necessary organizational support and proper working environment. Design Data were collected via a self-reported survey instrument. Methods A questionnaire was administered to a random sample of 750 nurses in nine large hospitals in India during 2013–2014. Four hundred and seventy-five nurses (63%) responded to the survey. Hierarchical multiple regression was used for statistical analysis of the moderated-mediation model. Results Affective commitment was found to mediate the positive relationships between perceived organizational support and work outcomes (work engagement, organizational citizenship behaviour). The perception of unfulfilled expectations (psychological contract breach) was found to moderate the perceived organizational support–work outcome relationships adversely. Conclusion The results of this study indicate that perceived organizational support exerts its influence on work-related outcomes and highlight the importance of taking organizational context, such as perceptions of psychological contract breach, into consideration when making sense of the influence of perceived organizational support on affective commitment, work engagement and citizenship behaviours of nurses.

Do similarities or differences between CEO leadership and organizational culture have a more positive effect on firm performance? A test of competing predictions.

Abstract: This study examines the nature of the interaction between CEO leadership and organizational culture using 2 common metathemes (task and relationship) in leadership and culture research. Two perspectives, similarity and dissimilarity, offer competing predictions about the fit, or interaction, between leadership and culture and its predicted effect on firm performance. Predictions for the similarity perspective draw upon attribution theory and social identity theory of leadership, whereas predictions for the dissimilarity perspective are developed based upon insights from leadership contingency theories and the notion of substitutability. Hierarchical regression results from 114 CEOs and 324 top management team (TMT) members failed to support the similarity hypotheses but revealed broad support for the dissimilarity predictions. Findings suggest that culture can serve as a substitute for leadership when leadership behaviors are redundant with cultural values (i.e., they both share a task- or relationship-oriented focus). Findings also support leadership contingency theories indicating that CEO leadership is effective when it provides psychological and motivational resources lacking in the organization's culture. We discuss theoretical and practical implications and delineate directions for future research. (PsycINFO Database Record

Sustaining organizational culture change in health systems.

Abstract: Purpose – The questions addressed by this review are: first, what are the guiding principles underlying efforts to stimulate sustained cultural change; second, what are the mechanisms by which these principles operate; and, finally, what are the contextual factors that influence the likelihood of these principles being effective? The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – The authors conducted a literature review informed by rapid realist review methodology that examined how interventions interact with contexts and mechanisms to influence the sustainability of cultural change. Reference and expert panelists assisted in refining the research questions, systematically searching published and grey literature, and helping to identify interactions between interventions, mechanisms and contexts. Findings – Six guiding principles were identified: align vision and action; make incremental changes within a comprehensive transformation strategy; foster distributed leadership; promote staf...

Enhancing Knowledge Sharing and Research Collaboration among Academics: The Role of Knowledge Management.

Abstract: Although knowledge sharing (KS) has been acknowledged as important, universities face issues that may hinder active sharing among its faculty members such as the absence of trust among its members or insufficient incentives rewarded to those who deserved it. The aim of this research is to focus on the impact of knowledge management (KM) factors in encouraging KS among academics. As such, this study sheds insights into existing literature through the inspection of the KM factors in one single KM-KS-Collaboration research model that provides an influential theoretical contribution for research in related fields because it suggests that faculty members’ KS is positively related to openness in communication and face-to-face interactive communication. A self-administered questionnaire using a quota-sampling method with 421 usable responses from 94 professors, 154 associate professors, and 173 senior lecturers were gathered. Partial least squares was employed for a series of data analyses: measurement and structural models assessment. From the analysis, all constructs have composite reliability values more than 0.7 and demonstrate adequate convergent and discriminant validity by having average variance extracted value greater than 0.50. The findings revealed that members’ KS is influenced by trust, organizational rewards, organizational culture, KM system quality, openness in communication and face-to-face interactive communication whereas research collaboration is strongly influenced by KS. This study has reinforced the understanding of KM factors, KS and research collaboration within the context of academic staff in research universities.

Managing and mitigating conflict in healthcare teams: an integrative review.

Abstract: Aim To review empirical studies examining antecedents (sources, causes, predictors) in the management and mitigation of interpersonal conflict. Background Providing quality care requires positive, collaborative working relationships among healthcare team members. In today's increasingly stress-laden work environments, such relationships can be threatened by interpersonal conflict. Identifying the underlying causes of conflict and choice of conflict management style will help practitioners, leaders and managers build an organizational culture that fosters collegiality and create the best possible environment to engage in effective conflict management. Design Integrative literature review. Data sources CINAHL, MEDLINE, PsycINFO, Proquest ABI/Inform, Cochrane Library and Joanne Briggs Institute Library were searched for empirical studies published between 2002–May 2014. Review methods The review was informed by the approach of Whittemore and Knafl. Findings were extracted, critically examined and grouped into themes. Results Forty-four papers met the inclusion criteria. Several antecedents influence conflict and choice of conflict management style including individual characteristics, contextual factors and interpersonal conditions. Sources most frequently identified include lack of emotional intelligence, certain personality traits, poor work environment, role ambiguity, lack of support and poor communication. Very few published interventions were found. Conclusion By synthesizing the knowledge and identifying antecedents, this review offers evidence to support recommendations on managing and mitigating conflict. As inevitable as conflict is, it is the responsibility of everyone to increase their own awareness, accountability and active participation in understanding conflict and minimizing it. Future research should investigate the testing of interventions to minimize these antecedents and, subsequently, reduce conflict.

Transformational leadership in nursing: a concept analysis.

Abstract: Aim To analyse the concept of transformational leadership in the nursing context. Background Tasked with improving patient outcomes while decreasing the cost of care provision, nurses need strategies for implementing reform in health care and one promising strategy is transformational leadership. Exploration and greater understanding of transformational leadership and the potential it holds is integral to performance improvement and patient safety. Design Concept analysis using Walker and Avant's (2005) concept analysis method. Data sources PubMed, CINAHL and PsychINFO. Methods This report draws on extant literature on transformational leadership, management, and nursing to effectively analyze the concept of transformational leadership in the nursing context. Implications for nursing This report proposes a new operational definition for transformational leadership and identifies model cases and defining attributes that are specific to the nursing context. The influence of transformational leadership on organizational culture and patient outcomes is evident. Of particular interest is the finding that transformational leadership can be defined as a set of teachable competencies. However, the mechanism by which transformational leadership influences patient outcomes remains unclear. Conclusion Transformational leadership in nursing has been associated with high-performing teams and improved patient care, but rarely has it been considered as a set of competencies that can be taught. Also, further research is warranted to strengthen empirical referents; this can be done by improving the operational definition, reducing ambiguity in key constructs and exploring the specific mechanisms by which transformational leadership influences healthcare outcomes to validate subscale measures.

The impact of organizational culture on a firm's capability to innovate the business model

Abstract: Recent literature on business model innovation tries to identify operational changes occurring within the business model components. We suggest that a significant part of the business model cannot be understood without an investigation of the underlying logic of the firm. Drawing on organizational culture literature, this study explores the idea that parts of the capabilities that enable business model innovation are determined by the firm's underlying cultural values. In this study, we utilize existing literature on organizational culture to analyze the underlying organizational values of the two main business model design themes (novelty and efficiency) and link these to the firm's capabilities that foster business model innovation. By empirically analyzing a sample of 305 companies in the engineering industry, we find that novelty-oriented cultural values foster capabilities (strategic sensitivity, collective commitment and resource fluidity) in favor of business model innovation, while efficiency-oriented cultural values do not show positive effects. We further find that strategic sensitivity and resource fluidity significantly enhance the propensity to business model innovation.

Raising the odds of success

Abstract: ContextAn experiment-driven approach to software product and service development is gaining increasing attention as a way to channel limited resources to the efficient creation of customer value. In this approach, software capabilities are developed incrementally and validated in continuous experiments with stakeholders such as customers and users. The experiments provide factual feedback for guiding subsequent development. ObjectiveThis paper explores the state of the practice of experimentation in the software industry. It also identifies the key challenges and success factors that practitioners associate with the approach. MethodA qualitative survey based on semi-structured interviews and thematic coding analysis was conducted. Ten Finnish software development companies, represented by thirteen interviewees, participated in the study. ResultsThe study found that although the principles of continuous experimentation resonated with industry practitioners, the state of the practice is not yet mature. In particular, experimentation is rarely systematic and continuous. Key challenges relate to changing the organizational culture, accelerating the development cycle speed, and finding the right measures for customer value and product success. Success factors include a supportive organizational culture, deep customer and domain knowledge, and the availability of the relevant skills and tools to conduct experiments. ConclusionsIt is concluded that the major issues in moving towards continuous experimentation are on an organizational level; most significant technical challenges have been solved. An evolutionary approach is proposed as a way to transition towards experiment-driven development.

Transformational Leadership and Knowledge Sharing: Mediating Roles of Employee's Empowerment, Commitment, and Citizenship Behaviors.

Abstract: Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to empirically examine the fundamental process through which transformational leaders play a significant role in employees’ knowledge sharing by investigating mediating roles of individual affects, particularly psychological empowerment, organizational commitment and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). Design/methodology/approach – Structural equation modeling, including confirmatory factor and path analysis, is conducted to test proposed hypothesis. Findings – The results of this study indicate significant direct effects of transformational leadership on psychological empowerment, organizational commitment and OCB. Moreover, transformational leadership also shows an indirect effect on employees’ OCB, which, in turn, is identified as the primary factor that influences knowledge sharing. However, organizational commitment does not provide a significant influence on knowledge sharing. These findings highlight the importance of mediating roles, particularly OCB, ...

Stakeholder pressure and CSR adoption: The mediating role of organizational culture for Chinese companies

Abstract: This empirical study investigates the driving factors in the adoption of corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices by Chinese firms. Following the stakeholder theory, the hypothesis of this study is that stakeholder pressures positively impact Chinese firms’ adoption of CSR practices. Studies on the relationship between stakeholder pressure and CSR practices have been inconclusive. In order to identify the missing links amid those inconclusive results, this study examines the mediating role of CSR-oriented organizational culture in the relationship between stakeholder pressure and the adoption of CSR practices. The empirical findings provide strong evidence that a CSR-oriented organizational culture has a fully mediating role on the relationship between stakeholder pressure and the adoption of CSR practices. These results suggest that Chinese companies should promote a well-established CSR-oriented culture within a CSR paradigm shift more effectively and thus gain a sustainable competitive advantage over their competitors.

What is the role of individual accountability in patient safety? A multi-site ethnographic study.

Abstract: An enduring debate concerns how responsibility for patient safety should be distributed between organisational systems and individual professionals. Though rule-based, calculus-like approaches intended to support a 'just culture' have become popular, they perpetuate an asocial and atomised account. In this article, we use insights from practice theory--which sees organisational phenomena as accomplished in everyday actions, with individual agency and structural conditions as a mutually constitutive, dynamic duality--along with contributions from the political science and ethics literature as a starting point for analysis. Presenting ethnographic data from five hospitals, three in one high-income country and two in low-income countries, we offer an empirically informed, normative rethinking of the role of personal accountability, identifying the collective nature of the healthcare enterprise and the extent to which patient safety depends on contributions from many hands. We show that moral responsibility for actions and behaviours is an irreducible element of professional practice, but that individuals are not somehow 'outside' and separate from 'systems': they create, modify and are subject to the social forces that are an inescapable feature of any organisational system; each element acts on the other. Our work illustrates starkly the structuring effects of the broader institutional and socioeconomic context on opportunities to 'be good'. These findings imply that one of the key responsibilities of organisations and wider institutions in relation to patient safety is the fostering of the conditions of moral community.

Wicked Problem Solvers.

Abstract: Companies today increasingly rely on teams that span many industries for radical innovation, especially to solve "wicked problems." So leaders have to understand how to promote collaboration when roles are uncertain, goals are shifting, expertise and organizational cultures are varied, and participants have clashing or even antagonistic perspectives. HBS professor Amy Edmondson has studied more than a dozen cross-industry innovation projects, among them the creation of a new city, a mango supply-chain transformation, and the design and construction of leading-edge buildings. She has identified the leadership practices that make successful cross-industry teams work: fostering an adaptable vision, promoting psychological safety, enabling knowledge sharing, and encouraging collaborative innovation. Though these practices are broadly familiar, their application within cross-industry teams calls for unique leadership approaches that combine flexibility, open-mindedness, humility, and fierce resolve.

The effects of social identification and organizational identification on student commitment, achievement and satisfaction in higher education

Abstract: The purpose of this research is to investigate the effects of social and organizational identifications on student commitment, achievement and satisfaction in higher education. The sample comprised 437 students enrolled in an undergraduate or postgraduate programme in business or management. A model was developed and tested using structural equation modelling. It was found that organizational identification is a stronger predictor of student commitment, achievement and satisfaction than social identification. Although organizational identification was a strong predictor of student satisfaction, student commitment was better at explaining student achievement. The implications for higher education institutions are discussed. To the knowledge of the authors, this is the first study to examine the effects of organizational identification on student commitment, achievement and satisfaction. The key contribution of the research is in providing support for the hypothesis that organizational identification can in...

Linking high performance organizational culture and talent management: satisfaction/motivation and organizational commitment as mediators

Abstract: Relying on strategic human resource management and organization development systemic principles, this theory-building study tested the validity of a new talent attraction and retention model which focused on the under-researched effects of organizational culture and employee attitudes. The analysis was based on data gathered from two large organizations representing two different countries and industries. Structural equation modeling results ascertained that talent attraction and retention were predicted by high performance organizational culture. This effect was also found to be mediated by the employee attitudes of satisfaction/motivation and organizational commitment. More specifically, this study found talent attraction and retention to be highly associated with the extent to which the organization is perceived to have a change-, quality-, and technology-driven culture, and characterized by support for creativity, open communications, effective knowledge management, and the core values of respect and ...

Fun times: the relationship between fun and workplace engagement

Abstract: Purpose – The idea of workplace fun seems positive, straightforward and simple but emerging research suggests a surprising complexity and ambiguity to this concept. Drawing on recent literature and empirical data, the purpose of this paper is to use three different forms of workplace fun: managed, organic and task fun to examine the relationship between fun and workplace engagement. Design/methodology/approach – Using an ethnographic approach, the qualitative data originated from four different New Zealand organizations, within different industries. Organizations included a law firm, a financial institution, an information technology company and a utility services provider. Data for this study were collected from semi-structured interviews with a range of participants in each company. In total 59 interviews were conducted with approximately 15 originating from each of the four organizations. One full-time month was spent within each company experiencing the everyday life and behaviours at all levels of each organization. The specific focus of the research is organizational culture and humour and during analysis findings emerged that linked to engagement, fun, disengagement and the concept of flow. Findings – This paper offers exploratory findings that suggest some specific connections between the concepts of fun and engagement. Empirical connections between these concepts are not currently apparent in either engagement or fun research, yet the data suggest some firm associations between them. The exploratory findings suggest that some forms of workplace fun offer individual employees a refreshing break which creates positive affect. Participants perceive that such affect results in greater workplace and task engagement. Additionally the data show that some people experience their work tasks as a form of fun and the authors link this to a specific form of engagement known as “flow” (Csikszentmihalyi, 1975; Moneta, 2010). The authors suggest an organizational-level effect, where workplace fun creates enjoyment which stimulates greater overall engagement with the team, unit or organization itself. Conversely the data also suggest that for some people managed or organic fun (see Plester et al., 2015) creates distraction, disharmony or dissonance that disrupts their flow and can foster disengagement. Practical implications – The ambiguity and complexity in the relationship between these concepts is an emerging topic for research that offers a variety of implications for scholars and practitioners of HRM and organizational behaviour. The authors contend that workplace fun potentially offers practitioners opportunities for fostering a climate of high engagement which may include most employees and thus create additional workplace benefits. Additionally through highlighting employee reactions to different types of fun we suggest ways of avoiding employee disengagement, disharmony and cynicism and the associated negative effects. Originality/value – The concept of fun is not empirically linked with current engagement research and the authors assert that workplace fun is an important driver of employee engagement. The authors identity engagement at the individual task level and further extend engagement research by emphasizing that fun has the potential to create engagement at the team, unit or organizational level. These differing levels of engagement have not thus far been differentiated in the extant literature.

Promoting Healthy Workplaces by Building Cultures of Health and Applying Strategic Communications.

Abstract: Objective:The aim of the study was to identify key success elements of employer-sponsored health promotion (wellness) programs.Methods:We conducted an updated literature review, held discussions with subject matter experts, and visited nine companies with exemplary programs to examine current best a