Organizational culture and individual values:evidence for a common structure

Values are of particular importance in research on organizational culture and on person-organization fit. However, findings from social psychological and cross-cultural values research are only partly considered and integrated in organizational studies. The present paper tries to bridge this gap by highlighting some basic commonalities. We reconsider the O'Reilly, Chatman, and Caldwell's approach to "organizational culture" by falling back on Schwartz' cross-cultural theory on universals in the content and structure of values. First, we sketch out assessment procedures and core ideas of both approaches. Then, we demonstrate their application using organizational data. Data analysis is accomplished by applying non-metric multidimensional scaling. Mapping both scale scores and items of the "Organizational Culture Profile" (OCP) onto Schwartz' basic value dimensions reveals a clear two-dimensional structure of the OCP. These results are discussed with respect to a more efficient transfer of research findings, taking the relation between values and conflict styles as an example

Positive Organizational Psychology: Conflict. Dishonesty, Diversity, and Deviance

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Embedding the Organizational Culture Profile into Schwartz’s Universal Value Theory using Multidimensional Scaling with Regional Restrictions

Person-organization fit is often measured by the congruence of a person’s values and the values that he or she ascribes to the organization. A popular instrument used in this context is the Organizational Culture Profile (O’Reilly, Chatman, & Caldwell, 1991). The OCP scales its 54 items on eight factors, derived by exploratory factor analysis. We investigate the extent to which the OCP can be embedded into Schwartz’s Theory of Universals in Values (TUV) that is formulated in terms of a circumplex in MDS space. To address this question, we develop a non-standard MDS method that enforces a TUV-based axial regionality onto the solution space together with a permutation test that assesses the consistency of the side constraints with the MDS representation. We find that the OCP can indeed be largely embedded into the TUV. The practical implication is that P-O fit can at least be approximated by the congruence of the person’s and the organization’s positions on two value dimensions, risk vs. rules and results vs. relations

Embedding the organizational culture profile into Schwartz’s theory of universals in values

Abstract Person-organization fit (P-O fit) is often measured by the congruence of a person’s values and the values that he or she ascribes to the organization. A popular instrument used in this context is the Organizational Culture Profile (O’Reilly, Chatman, & Caldwell, 1991). The OCP scales use 54 items that form eight factors in exploratory factor analysis. We investigate the extent to which the OCP can be embedded into Schwartz’s Theory of Universals in Values (TUV) that is formulated in terms of a circumplex in a 2-dimensional plane. To address this question, we develop a non-standard multidimensional scaling (MDS) method that enforces a TUV-based axial regionality onto the solution space together with a permutation test that assesses the consistency of the side constraints with the MDS representation. We find that the OCP can indeed be embedded into the TUV. The practical implication is that P-O fit can be assessed more simply by the congruence of the person’s and the organization’s positions on two value dimensions: risk vs. rules and results vs. relations