Organizational culture and performance: a macro-level longitudinal study

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to take a series of snapshots of perceived organizational culture over time, analyze the longitudinal pattern of its change, examine the relationship between organizational culture and organizational performance and verify if the relationship remains consistent, regardless of the flow of time.

Design/methodology/approach

Competing values framework and balanced scorecard are employed to look at organizational culture and its link with organizational performance; the panel data with more than 400 Korean firms from three biennial waves (2011, 2013 and 2015) are analyzed for a macro-level longitudinal examination.

Findings

Findings include that clan and market cultures were more prevalent than adhocracy and hierarchy cultures, and clan culture significantly decreased over time (H1); adhocracy, clan and market cultures had a consistently positive relationship with all the performance variables over the years and demonstrated a stronger impact in that order (H2).

Research limitations/implications

The results call for continued research on organizational culture in a longitudinal and cross-sectional nature, and a more comprehensive culture framework for today’s organizations.

Practical implications

Suggestions include that leaders should engage in bilateral communications and network building for successful organization development and change, and take a comprehensive, long-range approach in conducting cultural assessments.

Originality/value

The current study addresses a lack of empirical support and a single organization, point-of-time perspective in organizational culture research by examining organizational culture and performance with a macro-level longitudinal approach.

Citation

Kim, T. and Chang, J. (2019), "Organizational culture and performance: a macro-level longitudinal study", Leadership & Organization Development Journal, Vol. 40 No. 1, pp. 65-84. https://doi.org/10.1108/LODJ-08-2018-0291