Theory, Methodology, Practice (Feb 2004)
Does it Really Make a Difference? On the Cultural Characteristics of Service and Production Companies
Abstract
The study intends to analyze the validity of the hypothesis whether production and service organizations differ significantly. First a service management approach is introduced. The significance of service organizations in business is proved. Further on the study analyzes the problems of comparison between production and service firms. In the second part of the study, results of an empirical research are shown. The survey deals with the culture of 106 organizations. Six dimensions of comparison are used for cultural analysis: role of the leader, employees, strategy and culture, structure and coordination, organizational climate, national cultural background. The results show significant difference in all dimensions of organizational culture between service and production firms. Third group of organizations, namely public service companies, seems to represent a third significant cultural group. As a conclusion it can be said that the hypothesis is valid: there are major differences in the culture of service and production companies.
