Current-Ideal Culture Incongruence, Hierarchical Position, and Job Satisfaction in Government Agencies

Abstract

ABSTRACTPerson–organization (PO) fit theory assumes that employees’ perception of organizational culture affects their attitudes and that this relationship is modified by individual differences. Based on the person–culture (PC) fit literature, this study defines current-ideal culture incongruence (CICI) as the extent of the discrepancy between an individual’s perceptions of the current and ideal states of the same organizational culture. CICI is measured for hierarchical, rational, group, and developmental cultures with the competing values framework, which is applicable in Korean central agencies because of the Confucian tradition and NPM reforms. This study then links the CICI dimensions to job satisfaction. The OLS regression results show that the CICI dimensions are negatively associated with job satisfaction. Furthermore, this article reports that the negative associations become weaker at higher hierarchical levels. This study discusses implications of these findings for the growing literature on PC fit or PO fit and job satisfaction in public management.