Organizational culture and effectiveness: A study of values, attitudes, and organizational outcomes

a b s t r a c t a r t i c l e i n f o Organizational culture is defined as a set of beliefs, values, and assumptions that are shared by members of an organization (Schein, 1985). These underlying values have an influence on the behavior of organizational members, as people rely on these values to guide their decisions and behaviors (Schein, 1985). Extrapolating from the influence culture has on the behavior of organizational members, much has been written about the impact of culture on an organization's effectiveness (e.g., Schein, 1985, Quinn, 1988. While the extant research is promising, more empirical evidence of the manner in which organizational culture impacts effectiveness is warranted. Previous research has explored the direct relationships between specific culture domains and specific effectiveness measures (e.g., Quinn and Spreitzer, 1991; Cameron and Freeman, 1991; Denison and Mishra, 1995; Denison, 1990). The purpose of this research is to delve deeper into the relationship between organizational culture and organizational effectiveness by exploring both direct and indirect effects. Siehl and Martin (1990) suggested that culture influences employee attitudes and that those attitudes, in turn, impact organizational effectiveness. We offer an empirical examination of this assertion by testing the mediating effect of employee satisfaction on the culture-effectiveness relationship. Frazier et al. (2004) describe mediating variables as constructs that "establish 'how' or 'why' one variable predicts or causes and outcome variable" (p. 116). Although the relationship between culture and effectiveness is relatively well established in the literature, "how" and "why" this relationship exists has not been adequately addressed. This manuscript attempts to begin to fill that void by exploring employee attitudes as one possible explanatory mechanism through which an organization's culture comes to impact its performance

Successful Psychopaths: Are They Unethical Decision-Makers and Why?

Ethical business scenarios, Moral disengagement, Subclinical psychopathy, Successful psychopaths, Unethical decision-making,

Correlates of Satisfaction, Learnin and Success in Business Gaming

"The Emory University Intercollegiate Business Game [1] is an annual opportunity for colleges and universities in North America to compete in business game competition. Twenty-six such schools in the United States and Canada competed in the 1974 Intercollegiate Business Game (I.B.G.). This paper presents preliminary research findings of a mail survey of the participants in the competition. The purpose of the research was to identify those factors that correlate with: (1) participant satisfaction (2) perceived learning, and (3) team success.

Survey research measurement issues in evaluating change: A laboratory investigation

Efforts to operationalize the alpha/beta/gamma change typology have suffered from a notable limitation. Virtually all have been conducted in field settings, thereby limiting the degree of experimental control over outcome criteria. Recognizing this limitation, the present study employed a laboratory methodology to investigate two research questions related to scale recalibration (beta change) in temporal survey research. Application of this methodology permitted random respondent assignment, exact replication of stimuli, and systematic time interval variation for the pretest-posttest design. Furthermore, the use of these procedures permitted testing the use of the retrospective design in assessing organizational change. Implications of the findings for the measurement of change are discussed.Armenakis, Achilles A.; Buckley, M. Ronald; Bedeian, Arthur G.. (1986). Survey research measurement issues in evaluating change: A laboratory investigation. Retrieved from the University Digital Conservancy, https://hdl.handle.net/11299/102294

Challenges and Opportunities of Business Process Outsourcing in India

We identify managerial challenges and opportunities faced by business process outsourcing (BPO) firms in India by interviewing 28 executives in lower (n 3 10), middle (n 3 11), and upper management (n 3 7) in 15 BPO firms. Content analysis of the responses revealed human resources- and organization-related challenges as the most critical issues. SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis uncovered future opportunities, e.g., Knowledge Process Outsourcing. Secondary data, from four global research agencies and a national trade association, supported our findings. Organizational changes to address challenges and to exploit opportunities are explored.

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002: Relationship to Magnitude of Financial Corruption and Corrupt Organizational Cultures

Absent field research that responds to whether the US Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) meets its goal to reduce financial corruption, our understanding of the effectiveness of SOX is incomplete. Because financial corruption results in a substantial adverse impact on a multitude of organizational stakeholders, such understanding is valuable to inform decisions on enforcement of SOX and develop effective regulatory interventions. The purpose of this study was to empirically assess the impact of SOX on financial corruption. We conducted a thorough review of 2,585 Accounting and Auditing Enforcement Releases available from the US Securities and Exchange Commission and identified 70 and 32 cases of financial corruption in large US corporations that occurred before and after SOX was enacted in 2002, respectively. Deceptive practices were typically pervasive, extended over multiple years, involved large stakeholder damages, and perpetrated by senior leaders (e.g., CEOs, CFOs, VPs, boards of directors). We provided empirical evidence that SOX effectively reduced corrupt behaviors. Namely, the financial restatement magnitude, a measure of the magnitude of financial corruption, declined after SOX compared to before SOX. Also, the perpetrator group size, a measure of the extent the organizational sub-culture was corrupt, was smaller after SOX was enacted. This study has novel implications that offer important contributions to research and practice