Measuring Normative Beliefs and Shared Behavioral Expectations in Organizations: The Reliability and Validity of the Organizational Culture Inventory

Abstract

The Organizational Culture Inventory measures 12 sets of normative beliefs or shared behavioral expectations associated with three general types of cultures, Constructive, Passive-Defensive, and Aggressive-Defensive These cultural norms are hypothesized to influence the thinking and behavior of organizational members, their motivation and performance, and their satisfaction and stress. As components of organizational culture, behavioral expectations are considered to be shared and enduring in nature. Tests of three types of reliability—internal consistency, interrater, and test-retest—and two types of validity—construct and criterion-related—on data provided by 4,890 respondents indicate that the inventory is a dependable instrument for assessing the normative aspects of culture. Obtained alpha coefficients support the internal consistency of the scales; tests for interrater agreement show that significant variance in individuals' responses is explained by their organizational membership; and tests for differences across time show the temporal consistency of scale scores. Factor analysis results provide general support for the construct validity of the scales, most of which were related to both individual and organizational criteria as predicted.

Diseño y Validación de la Escala de Creencias Normativas Sobre la Prosocialidad en Adolescentes Chilenos

“…Esto es particularmente importante en la medida en que, aunque hay componentes individuales asociados a la expectativa de comportamiento prosocial, existe una adecuación que depende directamente de la percepción externa de otros individuos dentro del grupo. Los grupos consolidados generan consensos compartidos en cuanto a lo permitido y lo sancionable dentro del grupo (Cooke & Szumal, 1993). En este sentido, se valida la idea de Werner y Hill (2010) de que las creencias normativas sobre conductas sociales estarían en el ámbito de las cogniciones sociales compartidas por el grupo de pares, de forma que estas proporcionan información importante sobre el desarrollo y/o mantenimiento de las conductas sociales en los individuos.…”

Firm culture and performance: intensity's effects and limits

“…Participant scores based on the 40-item OCI constructive scales of humanistic, affiliative, achievement, and self-actualization are aggregated at the meso-level for unit-level scores (House et al 1995;Glisson and James, 2002). The items capture member endorsements of explicit references to assumptions and values of their firm, producing a referent shift away from the member and toward the organization (Cooke and Szumal, 1993).…”

“…Culture is also the shared beliefs and behavioral expectations of an organizational unit (Barney, 1986;Cooke and Szumal, 1993;Denison, 1996;Glisson and James, 2002). It is often the creation of the firm's founders even before members choose to adopt its values (Bass and Avolio, 1993, pp.…”

The impact of organisational culture and person-organisation fit on job satisfaction and organisational commitment in China and the USA

“…Originally published in English, it is now available in 13 languages, including Mandarin Chinese. Extensive reliability and validity testing has been performed [Cooke and Szumal, (1993)…”

“…In the initial OCI studies by Cooke and Lafferty (1987) and Cooke and Szumal (1993), the 12 OCI culture styles were further factored, grouping the 12 culture styles into three separate clusters of organisational cultures:…”