Contrasting Culture Strength and Climate Strength: Perspectives From Leading Researchers

A configurational approach to organizations assumes that structural and cultural characteristics must be in “fit” to produce the wanted outcome. With a focus on innovation, this study examines empirically to what extent innovative activities with a large, global telecom company are produced by an innovative culture, an innovative structure, as well as the fit between the two. Based on an extensive survey (N = 21064, response rate = 65) of employees in seven countries in Europe and Asia, data was aggregated to unit level as culture by nature is a collective phenomenon. The empirical analysis detected both the individual effects of culture strength and homogeneity, structure, as well as the fit between the two. The results indicate that an innovative culture and an organic structure indeed fosters innovation, but that, somewhat surprisingly, there are not effects of the fit between the two. Both practical and theoretical implications are discussed.

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Justice in Teams: The Effects of Interdependence and Identification on Referent Choice and Justice Climate Strength

Social Justice Research ◽

10.1007/s11211-006-0010-z ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 19 (3) ◽

pp. 323-344 ◽

Cited By ~ 21

Author(s):

Quinetta M. Roberson

Keyword(s):

Climate Strength ◽

Referent Choice ◽

Justice Climate

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Organizational Culture and Effectiveness in Higher Education: A Test of the “Culture Type” and “Strong Culture” Hypotheses

Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis ◽

10.3102/01623737018003219 ◽

1996 ◽

Vol 18 (3) ◽

pp. 219-241 ◽

Cited By ~ 36

Author(s):

John C. Smart ◽

Edward P. St. John

Keyword(s):

Higher Education ◽

Organizational Culture ◽

Colleges And Universities ◽

Independent Effect ◽

Institutional Performance ◽

Dominant Culture ◽

Differential Effectiveness ◽

Culture Strength ◽

Four Year Colleges ◽

Strong Culture

Two of the more promising lines of inquiry in efforts to understand the hypothesized linkage between organizational culture and effectiveness have focused on the differential effectiveness of organizations depending on their dominant culture type and their culture strength. The primary purpose of this study was to determine whether these two lines of inquiry operate in an independent or conditional manner in explaining the hypothesized linkage between organizational culture and the performance of a sample of four-year colleges and universities. The findings provide support for both lines of inquiry, albeit not entirely in a manner suggested by their respective proponents. For example, while culture type has a decidedly stronger independent effect on institutional performance than culture strength, the differences are clearly more pronounced on campuses with “strong” rather than “weak” cultures. The implications of these findings for research on and efforts to improve the performance of colleges and universities are discussed.

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