Determinants of Work Relation Perception: Organizational Culture in Egyptian Workplaces

Abstract

This study aimed at investigating different types of organizational cultures common in Egyptian workplaces andhow they might be influenced by the type of ownership (governmental, public, or private), the region in whichthe organization exists (Cairo, North Egypt, or South Egypt), and the organization size (large vs. small).Organizational cultures were divided, according to the Competing Values Model proposed Cameron and Quinn(1999/2006), into four types: Market, Hierarchy, Adhocracy, and Clan cultures. Organizational cultures wereevaluated by developing an Arabic/Egyptian standardized version of the Organizational Climate Measure (OCM)prepared originally by Patterson and his colleagues (Patterson et al. 2005). OCM was based on the CompetingValues Model and was designed to assess the four basic dimensions of the model, and it went further to definespecific components (which ranged from 2 to 6) for every dimension, with 4 to 6 items for each component. Inthe OCM, the Clan culture was renamed Human Relations culture, which includes 6 dimensions, and Hierarchyculture became Internal Process culture and included 2 components. Similarly, Adhocracy culture was renamedOpen System culture with 3 components, and Market culture was renamed Rational Goal culture with 6components. A sample of 158 employees working in different professions participated in the study. Their agesranged between 19 to 62 years old and their mean age was 34.94 years (SD = 10.61). 82 (52%) were males ad 76(48%) were females. A 3X3X2 MANOVA of the data was conducted. Results indicated that privateorganizations got higher scores on Human Relations, Open System, and Rational Goal cultures thangovernmental organizations (but not necessarily the public ones). On the other hand, organizations in NorthEgypt and Cairo got higher scores than their counterparts in South Egypt in Human Relations (integration andtraining), Open System (innovation) and most components of Rational Goal culture. However, South Egyptorganizations showed higher level of Internal Process (familiarization and tradition) than the organizations inCairo and North Egypt. As for Organization size, it has in general a limited effect on organizational culture butlarge organizations showed significantly higher level of Internal Process (familiarization) and Rational Goal(efficiency) cultures than small ones, which showed higher level of Open System (innovation) culture. Thepatterns of interactions showed that public organizations in the north can have higher level of Open Systemculture (innovation) than their private and governmental counterparts. Also, Human Relations culture (especiallytraining) can be important in small, family-owned organizations in South and North Egypt in comparison toCairo. Moreover, although private organizations tend to give employees more independence and responsibility,the large ones tend to be more restrictive and formal than public and governmental ones, especially in Cairo(where they usually have their central headquarters). Counter to the common belief, Rational Goal culture (workquality and pressure to work) were higher in governmental organizations in South Egypt than private and publicones because of the limited resources available to the private section in this region.