Organizational culture of scale and
performance improvement
Julia Amplifier
Universiteit Utrecht, Utrecht, Netherlands
Leonie Mutsaers and Lisa van Rossum
Owns Change Management, Utrecht, Netherlands, and
Ernst Graamans
Department of Management and Organization, Vrije
Universiteit Amsterdam School of Business and Economics, Amsterdam, The
Netherlands
August 19, 2022
1.
Phenomenon
Henrikson
et al. (2010) conducted a meta-analysis of empirical studies on scaling up
and concluded that these companies are excellent job generators (Henrekson
and Johansson, 2010). In the Netherlands, there were 2,800 increases with a
minimum of ten full-time employees at the end of 2018, accounting for 5.6% of
all businesses. Between 2015 and 2018, this increase created 219,456
full-time equivalent jobs
2.
Theory
Since
theoretical research shows a strong relationship between organizational
culture and performance (Hartnell et al., 2019; Kim and Chang, 2019),
understanding the specific relationship between improving an organization's
culture and its performance is valuable. Therefore, performance improvements
have been found to accelerate in certain stages of growth, and this will
deepen our understanding of the specific cultural elements that drive
performance.
3.
Conceptual
framework
Interest
in organizational culture has resulted in a large number of measurement
instruments based on different cultural frameworks, but only a small number
of them appear to be valid (Jung et al., 2009). According to Jung et al.
(2009) and Cameron and Quinn (1999), the Organizational Culture Assessment
Instrument (OCAI) is a valid and reliable method that allows the
investigation of organizational cultural profiles, based on the CVF, on a
large scale and has been used in various types of business (Jung et al.,
2009; Cameron and Quinn, 1999). In research, meta-analyses and systematic
reviews have been conducted on four types of CVF organizational culture
related to measures such as firm performance, effectiveness, and innovation
(Buschgens € et al., 2013; Hartnell et al., 2011, 2019), making it
interesting to use OCAI instrument in this research.
4.
Methodology
This
research aims to collect data about the culture of organizations that carry
out scale-ups and their influence on their performance. The research design
used to determine the empirical results of organizational culture and
scale-up performance is to conduct a multiple case study (Gustafsson, 2017).
The approach used to collect data is a mixed method that includes qualitative
and quantitative methodologies. Qualitative data was collected through
interviews with top managers to obtain in-depth data regarding managerial
organizational culture. Organization-wide surveys are conducted to collect
quantitative data regarding all layers of an organization's culture as well
as perceived performance.
5.
Results
There
is no one type of dominant culture. The results of this research show that
there is no one type of organizational culture that is dominant in scaling
up. Surveys show clan and adhocracy as the most widely present and even more
preferred types of organizational culture, as well as market and hierarchical
organizational culture types that are least present and even less preferred
by employees.
6.
10 Related Journals
1.
Hartnell,
C.A., Ou, AY and Angelo, K. (2011), “Organizational culture and
organizational effectiveness: a meta-analytic investigation of the
theoretical assumptions of the competing values framework”, Journal of
Applied Psychology, Vol. 96 No. 4, p. 677.
2.
Bleda,
M., Morrison, K. and Rigby, J. (2013), “The role and importance of Gazelles
and other growth companies for innovation and competitiveness”, Innovation
Policy Challenges for the 21st Century, Vol. 27, p. 110.
3.
Buschgens,
T., Bausch, A. and Balkin, D.B. (2013), “Organizational culture and
innovation: a meta-analytic review”, Journal of Product Innovation
Management, Vol. 30 No. 4, p. 763.
4.
Bos,
JWB and Stam, E. (2014), “Gazelles and industrial growth: a study of young
high-growth companies in the Netherlands”, Industrial and Corporate Change,
Vol. 23 No. 1, p. 145-169, doi: 10.1093/icc/dtt050
5.
Gabrielsson,
J., Asa Lindholm, D. and Politis, D. (2014), “Sustainable high-growth
entrepreneurship: a study of fast-growing companies in the scania region”,
International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Vol. 15 No.1,
pp.29-40.
6.
CGC,
MCCG (2016), “Culture”, De Nederlandse Corporate Governance Code, Corporate
Governance Code Monitoring Commission, The Hague, pp.25-26.
7.
Chatman,
JA and O'Reilly, CA (2016), “The lost paradigm: reinvigorating the study of
organizational culture”, Organizational Behavior Research, Vol. 36, pp.
199-224
8.
Erken,
H., Donselaar, P. and Roy, T. (2018), "Total factor productivity and the
role of entrepreneurship", The Journal of Technology Transfer, Vol. 43
No. 6, pp. 1493-1521, doi: 10.1007/s10961-016-9504-5.
9.
Hartnell,
CA, Ou, AY, Angelo, K., Choi, D. and Karam, E.P. (2019), “A meta-analytic
test of the relationship of organizational culture to organizational system
elements and its relative predictive validity on organizational outcomes”,
Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol. 104 No. 6, pp. 832-850.
10.
Graamans,
E., ten Have, W. and ten Have, S. (2021), “Going against the grain: cultural
psychology and the management of cultural change”, Culture and Psychology,
Vol. 27 No.2, pp.325-343.
