Impact of Organisational Size on the Relationship between Organisational Culture and Organisational Effectiveness: The Case of Small and Medium Size Organisations in Iran

Abstract

This paper investigates the relationship between organizational culture and organizational effectiveness in small and medium size organisations in Iran. Using the Competing Values Framework (Quinn and Rohrbaugh, 1983; Quinn, 1988) this study investigates to what extent the influence of organisational culture on organisational effectiveness for a given national culture; is impacted on by organisational size. The authors have designed a model which helps to show the impact of size on the organisational culture and organisational effectiveness relationship. In order to test our model a convenience sample of 1000 respondents from different management levels from 40 Iranian private sector organisations were gathered. The results of this study confirm the relationship between organisational culture and organisational effectiveness in small and medium size organisations, apart from the adhocracy culture type. Furthermore, the results of this study confirm the moderating impact of organisational size on the culture–effectiveness relationship. Implications of this study for managers who are overseeing rapid changes in organizational size are discussed.