Organizational Culture and Management

In the 1980s, organizational culture was asserted to have a strong relationship with organizational performance. Many management writers claimed that the best performing organizations were those with strong, enduring cultures. Strong cultures were perceived to provide consistent guides to behavior and performance desired by organizations. The members of the organization know what the organization values are and what is expected of them. However, little research has been conducted into the relationship between an organization's culture and its performance because of the difficulty in obtaining a consensus on the definition of organizational culture and the methodology to use in researching it. A framework developed by Quinn and Cameron overcomes these problems. This framework is presented and discussed in terms of organizational culture, organizational effectiveness, leadership roles, and management skills or competencies. The framework offers the opportunity for developing an understanding of organizational culture and its relationship with an organization's business environment as well as outcome variables such as performance. Recommendations for future research are presented.