The Professed Culture of the Business Organizations in the Defense Industry in Bulgaria. What Does it Look Like? And do they Need it?

Abstract

Purpose – This article aims to outline and analyze the role, structure and dominating content of professed organizational culture among the companies in the defense industry in Bulgaria as conscious and the official expression of their leadership intentions within the contemporary business environment, uniquely justifying the existence of each entity. Design/methodology/approach – A qualitative study is conducted, based on a literature review of academic publications in the sphere of professed organizational culture. Furthermore, the websites of the target companies were carefully examined in order to outline the practical approach to presenting the unique official culture of defense business organizations. Findings – An elaborate set of cultural attributes to be found on the second level in Edgar Schein’s model of organizational culture is identified. Based on literature review, the intersection between official corporate culture expressions and defense sector is outlined. Important nuances in the development of Bulgarian defense, technological and industrial base are described, encompassing the transition period to market economy and democratic political system. A survey of professed culture attributes is conducted among the members of Bulgarian defense, technological and industrial base. It is concluded that these companies prefer disclosing their official cultures in a very succinct way to utilizing the potential power and impact of the most popular firm documents in this field as mission and vision or relying on small number of their simpler building elements. Recommendations to senior managers of the Bulgarian defense companies regarding smart and intensive use of official culture elements are given. Research limitations/implications – The financial data for the surveyed companies is not accessible. Originality/value – A snapshot of preferred professed culture attributes among the members of Bulgarian defense, technological and industrial base is composed, implying their leadership strategic intentions. The second level in Edgar Schein’s model of organizational culture is populated with a set of cultural attributes.