A meta-analytic test of organizational culture's association with elements of an organization's system and its relative predictive validity on organizational outcomes.

Organizational culture is an important predictor of organizational effectiveness, but it is also part of an organizational system that consists of highly interdependent elements such as strategy, structure, leadership, and high performance work practices (HPWPs). As such, accounting for the effect of culture's system correlates is important to specify more precisely organizational culture's predictive value for organizational outcomes. To date, however, efforts to connect culture with its system correlates have proceeded independently without integration. This trend is problematic because it raises questions about the strength of culture's association with its system correlates, and it casts uncertainty about organizational culture's predictive validity for organizational outcomes relative to other elements of an organization's system. We addressed these issues by conducting a meta-analysis based on 148 independent samples (N = 26,196 organizations and 556,945 informants). Results generally supported hypothesized predictions linking culture with strategy, structure, leadership, and HPWPs. Meta-analytic regressions and relative weight analyses further revealed that culture dimensions explained unique variance in effectiveness criteria after controlling for the effects of leadership and HPWPs but varied across effectiveness criteria in terms of relative importance. We discuss theoretical and practical implications and highlight several avenues for future research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Do similarities or differences between CEO leadership and organizational culture have a more positive effect on firm performance? A test of competing predictions.

This study examines the nature of the interaction between CEO leadership and organizational culture using 2 common metathemes (task and relationship) in leadership and culture research. Two perspectives, similarity and dissimilarity, offer competing predictions about the fit, or interaction, between leadership and culture and its predicted effect on firm performance. Predictions for the similarity perspective draw upon attribution theory and social identity theory of leadership, whereas predictions for the dissimilarity perspective are developed based upon insights from leadership contingency theories and the notion of substitutability. Hierarchical regression results from 114 CEOs and 324 top management team (TMT) members failed to support the similarity hypotheses but revealed broad support for the dissimilarity predictions. Findings suggest that culture can serve as a substitute for leadership when leadership behaviors are redundant with cultural values (i.e., they both share a task- or relationship-oriented focus). Findings also support leadership contingency theories indicating that CEO leadership is effective when it provides psychological and motivational resources lacking in the organization's culture. We discuss theoretical and practical implications and delineate directions for future research. (PsycINFO Database Record

Organizational culture and organizational effectiveness: a meta-analytic investigation of the competing values framework's theoretical suppositions.

We apply Quinn and Rohrbaugh's (1983) competing values framework (CVF) as an organizing taxonomy to meta-analytically test hypotheses about the relationship between 3 culture types and 3 major indices of organizational effectiveness (employee attitudes, operational performance [i.e., innovation and product and service quality], and financial performance). The paper also tests theoretical suppositions undergirding the CVF by investigating the framework's nomological validity and proposed internal structure (i.e., interrelationships among culture types). Results based on data from 84 empirical studies with 94 independent samples indicate that clan, adhocracy, and market cultures are differentially and positively associated with the effectiveness criteria, though not always as hypothesized. The findings provide mixed support for the CVF's nomological validity and fail to support aspects of the CVF's proposed internal structure. We propose an alternative theoretical approach to the CVF and delineate directions for future research.

Organizational climate configurations: relationships to collective attitudes, customer satisfaction, and financial performance.

Research on organizational climate has tended to focus on independent dimensions of climate rather than studying the total social context as configurations of multiple climate dimensions. The authors examined relationships between configurations of unit-level climate dimensions and organizational outcomes. Three profile characteristics represented climate configurations: (1) elevation, or the mean score across climate dimensions; (2) variability, or the extent to which scores across dimensions vary; and (3) shape, or the pattern of the dimensions. Across 2 studies (1,120 employees in 120 bank branches and 4,317 employees in 86 food distribution stores), results indicated that elevation was related to collective employee attitudes and service perceptions, while shape was related to customer satisfaction and financial performance. With respect to profile variability, results were mixed. The discussion focuses on future directions for taking a configural approach to organizational climate.

Psychological and physical well-being during unemployment: a meta-analytic study.

The authors used theoretical models to organize the diverse unemployment literature, and meta-analytic techniques were used to examine the impact of unemployment on worker well-being across 104 empirical studies with 437 effect sizes. Unemployed individuals had lower psychological and physical well-being than did their employed counterparts. Unemployment duration and sample type (school leaver vs. mature unemployed) moderated the relationship between mental health and unemployment, but the current unemployment rate and the amount of unemployment benefits did not. Within unemployed samples, work-role centrality, coping resources (personal, social, financial, and time structure), cognitive appraisals, and coping strategies displayed stronger relationships with mental health than did human capital or demographic variables. The authors identify gaps in the literature and propose directions for future unemployment research.

A covariance structure analysis of employees' response to performance feedback.

This longitudinal study used D. R. Ilgen, C. D. Fisher, and M. S. Taylor's (1979) feedback process model as a theoretical framework to determine whether a sequential chain of cognitive variables mediates an individual's response to performance feedback. One hundred two employees were surveyed 2 weeks after their performance appraisal, and performance was assessed 11 months later at the end of the review cycle. Covariance structure analysis supported the convergent and discriminant validity of the constructs underlying the model and the constellation of structural relationships. A set of cognitive variables was found to completely mediate the relationship between an individual's receipt and response to feedback. Implications for the feedback process and future research are discussed.

Substantive and operational issues of response bias across levels of analysis: an example of climate-satisfaction relationships.

Two studies tested whether method variance is present at multiple levels of analysis and whether methodological procedures can minimize its impact. In Study 1, 8,052 employees from 71 hotels completed measures of climate, work environment characteristics, and satisfaction. A comparison of correlations at the individual level, cross-level, cross-level split, aggregate level, and aggregate-split level of analysis revealed that response bias was present across multiple levels. Results suggest that samples should be split in half when cross-level and aggregate correlations are computed to ameliorate response bias problems that arise from individual-level method variance. In Study 2, results indicated that the temporal spacing of measures of climate and satisfaction influenced response bias. Implications and recommendations for future research are discussed.

Assessing the construct validity of the job descriptive index: a review and meta-analysis.

The construct validity of the Job Descriptive Index (JDI) was investigated by using a meta-analysis to summarize previous empirical studies that examined antecedents, correlates, and consequences of job satisfaction. In total, 79 unique correlates with a combined total of 1,863 correlations were associated with the JDI subdimensions. The construct validity of the JDI was supported by (a) acceptable estimates of internal consistency and test-retest reliability, (b) results that conform to a nomological network of job satisfaction relationships, and (c) demonstrated convergent and discriminant validity. Contrasting results with previous meta-analytic findings offered further support for the JDI's construct validity. Limitations of the JDI and suggestions for future research are discussed.