Evaluation of the organizational culture in public health centers of different complexity in Chile

Abstract

The article analyzes the organizational culture in public health institutions in Chile, establishing the relationship between the organizations’ cultures and their level of complexity and coverage using the Denison Organizational Culture Scale. The scale was applied to a sample of 156 workers from four institutions. The results reveal that institutions with low complexity and coverage showed higher cultural levels in all dimensions: involvement, consistency, adaptability and mission; as well as in the perspectives of flexibility/stability and internal/external focus. Alternatively, responses from workers in institutions with high coverage but different complexity did not show significant differences regarding their understanding of the organizational culture. In addition, the findings highlight the relationship between the functional characteristics associated with the complexity of health organizations and their cultural features, evidencing particular differences according to the level of coverage or intensity of demand for the services they provide, as well as perspectives of flexibility and stability according to the Denison model.