Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Organizational climate in Hungary, Portugal, and India: a cultural perspective

  • Original Article
  • Published:
AI & SOCIETY Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Organizational climate has been linked to a variety of positive outcomes, including increased organizational success, lower employee turnover, higher job satisfaction, and enhanced employee and overall firm performance. The purpose of this paper is to explore similarities and differences in organizational climate across an emerging, a post-transitional, and a developed economy, more specifically focusing on India, Hungary, and Portugal. A comprehensive multi-dimensional measure of organizational climate is used, incorporating 17 scales across four quadrants: human relations, internal process, open systems, and rational goal. The impact of certain key factors associated with the identified differences is explored across three levels: on the individual or within firm level, the group or between firm level, and, finally, on the global societal level, with relevant references made to the GLOBE project’s comprehensive cultural assessment. A total of 848 individuals participated in the study, representing 24 organizations. Despite the relative consistency in terms of the GLOBE study values corresponding to the three countries in the study, our results indicate variable trends and differential patterns, with India showing the most positive climate overall, and Portugal faring the worst. Our findings confirm the complexity associated with the concept of organizational climate, likely to be influenced by a variety of factors associated with the internal as well as the external environment. Implications for scholars as well as practitioners are discussed, with particular emphasis on those organizations entering novel cultures.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Aycan Z, Kanungo RN, Mendonca M, Yu K, Deller J, Stahl G, Kurshid A (2000) Impact of culture on human resource management practices: a 10-country comparison. Appl Psychol Int Rev 49(1):192–221

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bates R, Khasawneh S (2005) Organizational learning culture, learning transfer climate and perceived innovation in Jordanian organizations. Int J Train Dev 9(2):96–109

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Biswas S, Varma A (2007) Psychological climate and individual performance in India: test of a mediated model. Empl Relat 29(6):664–676

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bowen DE, Ostroff C (2004) Understanding HRM-firm performance linkages: the role of the “strength” of the HRM system. Acad Manage Rev 29(2):203–221

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown SP, Leigh TW (1996) A new look at psychological climate and its relationship to job involvement, effort, and performance. J Appl Psychol 81(4):358–368. doi:10.1037/0021-9010.81.4.358

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burke WW, Litwin GH (1992) A causal model of organizational performance and change. J Manag 18(3):523–545

    Google Scholar 

  • Burton RM, Lauridsen J, Obel B (2004) The impact of organizational climate and strategic fit on firm performance. Hum Resour Manag 43(1):67–82

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Daley DM (1986) Humanistic management and organizational success: the effect of job and work environment characteristics on organizational effectiveness, public responsiveness, and job satisfaction. Public Pers Manag 15(2):131–142

    MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  • Dickson MW, Resick CJ, Hanges PJ (2006) When organizational climate is unambiguous, it is also strong. J Appl Psychol 91(2):351–364. doi:10.1037/0021-9010.91.2.351

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Doty DH, Glick WH, Huber GP (1993) Fit, equifinality, and organizational effectiveness: a test of two configurational theories. Acad Manag J 36(6):1196–1250

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Field RHG, Abelson MA (1982) Climate: a reconceptualization and proposed model. Hum Relat 35(3):181–201

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Glick WH (1985) Conceptualizing and measuring organisational and psychological climate: pitfalls in multilevel research. Acad Manag Rev 10:801–816

    Google Scholar 

  • Hofstede GH (1984) Culture’s consequences, international differences in work-related values. Sage, Beverly Hills

    Google Scholar 

  • Hofstede G (1993) Cultural constraints in management theories. Executive (19389779) 7(1):81–94

    Google Scholar 

  • House RJ, Hanges PJ, Javidan M, Dorfman PW, Gupta V (eds) (2004) Culture, leadership and organizations: the GLOBE study of 62 cultures. Culture, leadership and organizations: the GLOBE study of 62 cultures B2—Culture, leadership and organizations: The GLOBE study of 62 cultures. Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks

  • Isaksen SG, Lauer KJ (2001) Convergent validity of the situational outlook questionnaire: discriminating levels of perceived support for creativity. N Am J Psychol 3(1):31–40

    Google Scholar 

  • James LR (1982) Aggregation bias in estimates of perceptual agreement. J Appl Psychol 67(2):219–229

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • James LR, Jones AP (1974) Organisational climate a review of theory and research. Psychological Bulletin 81:1096–1112

    Google Scholar 

  • James LR, Tetrick LE (1986) Confirmatory analytic tests of three causal models relating job perceptions to job satisfaction. J Appl Psychol 71(1):77–82. doi:10.1037/0021-9010.71.1.77

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johnson RE, Jackson EM (2009) Appeal of organizational values is in the eye of the beholder: the moderating role of employee identity. J Occup Organ Psychol 82(4):915–933

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jones AP, James LR (1979) Psychological climate: dimensions and relationships of individual and aggregated work environment perceptions. Organ Behav Hum Perform 23(2):201–250

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Joyce WF, Slocum J (1982) Climate discrepancy: refining the concepts of psychological and organizational climate. Hum Relat 35(11):951–972

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Klein KJ, Bliese PD, Kozlowski SWJ, Dansereau F, Gavin MB, Griffin MA, Hofmann DA, James LR, Yammarino FJ, Bligh MC (2000) Multilevel analytical technique0, differences, and continuing questions. Multilevel theory, research, and methods in organizations B2—multilevel theory, research, and methods in organizations. Jossey-Bass, San Francisco

  • Klein KJ, Conn AB, Smith DB, Sorra JS (2001) Is everyone in agreement? An exploration of within-group agreement in employee perceptions of the work environment. J Appl Psychol 86(1):3–16. doi:10.1037/0021-9010.86.1.3

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Koys DJ, Decotiis TA (1991) Inductive measures of psychological climate. Hum Relat 44(3):265

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lawler EE, Hall DT, Oldham GR (1974) Organizational climate: relationship to organizational structure, process and performance. Organ Behav Hum Perform 11(1):139–155

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mathieu JE, Hofmann DA, Farr JL (1993) Job perception-job satisfaction relations: an empirical comparison of three competing theories. Organ Behav Hum Decis Process 56(3):370–387. doi:10.1006/obhd.1993.1060

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meyer AD, Tsui AS, Hinings CR (1993) Configurational approaches to organizational analysis. Acad Manag J 36(6):1175–1195

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moran ET, Volkwein JE (1992) The cultural approach to the formation of organisational climate. Aust J Commun 17:98–112

    Google Scholar 

  • Ngo HY, Foley S, Loi R (2009) Family friendly work practices, organizational climate, and firm performance: a study of multinational corporations in Hong Kong. J Organ Behav 30(5):665–680

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ostroff C, Kinicki AJ, Tamkins MM (2003) Organizational culture and climate. In: Borman WC, Ilgen DR, Klimoski RJ (eds) Handbook of psychology: industrial and organizational psychology. Wiley, New York, pp 565–593

    Google Scholar 

  • Patterson MG, West MA, Shackleton VJ, Dawson JF, Lawthom R, Maitlis S, Robinson DL, Wallace AM (2005) Validating the organizational climate measure: links to managerial practices, productivity and innovation. J Organ Behav 26(4):379–408

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rentsch JR (1990) Climate and culture: interaction and qualitative differences in organizational meanings. J Appl Psychol 75(6):668–681. doi:10.1037/0021-9010.75.6.668

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rousseau DM (1988) The construction of climate in organizational research. In: Cooper CL, Robertson IT (eds) International review of industrial and organizational psychology 1988. Wiley, Oxford England, pp 139–158

    Google Scholar 

  • Schein EH (2009) The corporate culture survival guide. New and revised edition, New and revised edn. Jossey-Bass, San Francisco

  • Schneider B (1973) The perception of organizational climate: the customer’s view. J Appl Psychol 57(3):248–256

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schneider B (2000) The psychological life of organizations. In: Ashkanasy NM, Wilderom CPM, Peterson MF (eds) Handbook of organizational culture and climate. Sage, Thousand Oaks

    Google Scholar 

  • Schulte MCAJ (2006) Organizational climate systems and psychological climate perceptions: a cross-level study of climate-satisfaction relationships. J Occup Organ Psychol 79(4):645

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  • Singer JD (1998) Using SAS PROC MIXED to fit multilevel models, hierarchical models, and individual growth models. J Educ Behav Stat 23(4):323–355

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • West MA, Smith H (1998) Research excellence and departmental climate in British universities. J Occup Organ Psychol 71(3):261–281

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Central European University Business School, Budapest, Hungary

    Bernadett Koles

  2. Asian School of Business, Trivandrum, Kerala, India

    Balakrishnan Kondath

Authors
  1. Bernadett Koles
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Balakrishnan Kondath
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Bernadett Koles.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Koles, B., Kondath, B. Organizational climate in Hungary, Portugal, and India: a cultural perspective. AI & Soc 30, 251–259 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00146-013-0507-6

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00146-013-0507-6

Keywords

Search

Navigation