THE LINK BETWEEN ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE AND PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT PRACTICES: A CASE OF IT COMPANIES FROM ROMANIA

Abstract

The aim of this research paper is to empirically test the relationship between the components of organizational culture and the practices of performance management. In this study, the primary data were collected through questionnaires from 81 employees working in IT companies from Bucharest. Strong cultures help organizations anticipate and adapt to changes in environment, thus proactive cultures should enhance and support organizational performance on the long-run. The results from the statistical analysis of primary data show that the dimensions of organizational culture have a positive impact on performance management practices. Moreover, all the four traits of organizational culture (adaptability, mission, consistency, involvement) have a significant and positive influence on performance management practices. However, consistency has the largest influence on performance management practices, meaning that effective organizations have strong cultures that are highly coordinated, consisted and properly integrated. Consistency is a great source for stability and internal homogeneity, as behavior has its source in the core values of the organization. Taking into account the relation between these variables and organizational performance, it is important to retain key employees that are aware of the organizational goals and values. Therefore, the organization should implement practices that increase job security and career development. In this manner, the organization will not only decrease turnover rates, but it would also form a stronger organizational culture by keeping the employees that are already accustomed with the values, beliefs and norms of the corporation. In order to analyze the data collected from the employees working in IT field, regression and correlation statistical analysis have been used. The results show that adaptability is highly correlated to the mission. The implications of my research for the field of organizational behavior is that the models that were developed for developed economies also applies to developing economies, such as the one from Romania.

Keywords

• organizational culture; performance management;