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Culture is deemed to be a crucial basis for innovation in various respects. The aim of this paper is to explore the relationships between different cultural dimensions introduced by G. Hofstede (2001, Culture's consequences: Comparing values, behaviors, insititutions, and organizations across nations, 2nd ed., Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage) and the capability of initiating innovation measured by the number of patent applications using the sample of European countries at the regional level. As a novel approach, instead of using Hofstede's original index scores, the measures for the cultural dimensions are based on the European Social Survey. We have learned that to be successful in patenting, a region should have power distance, uncertainty avoidance, family-related collectivism (as opposed to friend-related and organisation-related collectivism), and lower than average masculinity. In addition, the negative relationships between these cultural dimensions and patenting are stronger when there is a higher patenting intensity. However, culture alone does not serve as a guarantee for a high level of patenting intensity.innovation, culture, Hofstede, Europe,

This article draws attention to the European Social Survey (ESS) database that widens the horizon of cross-cultural studies. The ESS has the potential to overcome several weaknesses of earlier data sets used for cross-cultural analysis -it provides unique opportunities for the analysis of differences between regions within nation states, and the data are representative of entire populations. We aim to develop a measurement tool of cultural dimensions based on the ESS that enables a deeper comparison of European regions besides country-level analysis. For creating ESS-based indicators, the initial indicators were selected based on Hofstede (2001), using the double classification method. Latent variables of cultural dimensions were computed using confirmative factor analysis. The results enable us to evaluate cross-cultural differences between regions inside the nation state as well as to figure out culturally close regions across nation state borders. The results of our analysis confirm that countries may be much more heterogeneous in terms of cultural variation than several cultural studies presume. Cultural heterogeneity varies across countries, and there are some quite homogeneous countries in the meaning of cultural dimensions, but most countries face cultural differences between its regions that have to be taken into account. It is also very important that the deeper the subdivision, the larger the differences. In some cases, border regions are remarkably less similar to the rest of the regions of the country than to the neighbouring regions of another country with a common border. In the case of countries with high cultural homogeneity, the use of nation-level cultural indicators may be justified, but in the case of highly heterogeneous countries a regional approach could be suggested instead.

Purpose -The aim of the study is to explore how organizational culture influences occurrences of workplace bullying in Estonia as a post-transitional country. Another objective is to produce comprehensive empirical evidence of bullying in the specific cultural context. Design/methodology/approach -The survey is based on the internationally well-known research instrument, the Negative Acts Questionnaire Revised (NAQ-R) (Mikkelsen and Einarsen) and the Questionnaire of Organizational Culture (QOC) (Vadi et al.). Findings -Victims of bullying: 22 percent -at least one negative act per week; 9.3 percent -at least two negative acts per week; 0.6 percent -by definition (several times per week or daily); 8 percent -by definition (occasionally). The results reveal a clear negative relationship between bullying and task and relationship orientation of organizational culture. Practical implications -The present study indicates clear factors at the organizational level where the preventive actions are needed to diminish the negative impact of bullying on employee's well-being and encourages a discussion and further studies of workplace bullying in post-transitional countries. Originality/value -In Estonia and in other post-transitional countries workplace bullying has not yet been studied closely. This study provides a comprehensive approach of workplace bullying related to organizational culture in a post-transitional country.

PurposeCollective concepts of leadership open up some essential aspects of organizational leadership that could be defined as the collective ability of leadership to detect and cope with changes in the external environment by maintaining the primary goals of the organization. The purpose of this paper is to design a tool to evaluate organizational leadership capability.Design/methodology/approachA total of 445 respondents from six Estonian organizations participated by completing a questionnaire about organizational leadership. Next, a quantitative analysis is performed and sets of factors obtained from a partial least squares regression and Cronbach alpha test. Finally, the pattern of individual items (statements) within each of the factors is identified and the results, which indicate organizational leadership capability, are plotted.FindingsDuring the last two decades, leadership on the collective level has come under greater focus. This has arisen from the necessity to transfer leadership capabilities to the strategic assets of organizations that allow them to achieve performance on a daily basis with long‐term success. That means organizational leadership capabilities that are based on the leadership skills and knowledge of organizational members on the one hand, and the extent to which these skills and knowledge are embedded in the structure of an organization on the other. Therefore, the measurement of organizational leadership capability is an important issue for improving organizational performance in the long term.Originality/valueFrom the practical point of view, the measurement tool has many advantages: it is easier to collect answers from a large sample of respondents; it is simple to calculate and analyse the collected answers; it is also possible to measure organizations as a whole or by separate areas or management levels. Also, the measures in the measurement tool provide support to help managers increase the quality and efficiency of management in every day practice.