Organisational culture in a transitional economy: A comparative study of Romania

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to focus on organisational change in Romania at the beginning of the twenty‐first century. This research raises the question on how transition and the change of conditions have contributed to the development of organisational culture after 1989. The paper seeks to clarify the characteristics of the organisational culture profile in Romania.

Design/methodology/approach

The study is based on two types of questionnaires, one for the regular employees of the firm and one for the managers, and questions were formulated, using the experiences of those who actually work in Romanian companies. The research was made under supervision, and the focus of the research was on the employees' perception of their company and not on how an outsider would see those things.

Findings

The paper emphasizes the specific characteristics of the actual evolution, generated by some internal factors, and the “imported” variables from the international economy. Although created less than two decades ago, the paper has found that the Romanian enterprises have a well‐defined culture, even if some specific features of personality are manifest.

Research limitations/implications

The research is correlated to diagnose the organisational culture and to analyse the process of change within the company domains in that it is intending to extend the study, in the future.

Practical implications

The study allows emphasis on some characteristics of the organisational culture developed during the last years in Romania: concern about the work quality; the firm's concern of the human resource quality; the concern about the technical level of work and the motivation system; the interest in stimulating employees' loyalty to the firm and the internal marketing; application at group level of labour principles and rewards; and the importance given to labour conditions, employees' health and old age insurance.

Originality/value

The survey was made within three representative companies from Transylvania, their main purpose being to observe the way organizational culture was influenced by different factors, such as: privatization, capital used, forms of ownership, and domain of activity.

Citation

Câmpeanu‐Sonea, E., Borza, A., Sonea, A. and Silvia Mitra, C. (2010), "Organisational culture in a transitional economy: A comparative study of Romania", Employee Relations, Vol. 32 No. 3, pp. 328-344. https://doi.org/10.1108/01425451011038825