Chapter 2: Organizational Culture and Employee Responses in Hong Kong Schools: Comparing Dimensional and Configuration Approaches

This study analyzed the relationship between organizational culture and two types of employee responses: their psychological commitment to the organization and their perception of the organization’s effectiveness. These relationships were analyzed using both separate dimensions of organizational culture as well as configurations or profiles of cultural values. An empirical study involving 2647 teachers in 80 schools in Hong Kong found that different con clusions may be drawn regarding the relationship when using the configuration approach or when using the dimensional approach. Specifically, teacher commitment to the school related positively to three cultural dimensions of adaptability, involvement, and consistency. However, their commitment was the lowest if the school had a culture that emphasized adaptability but not involvement and consistency. School effectiveness was associated with the dimensions of adaptability and involvement but not with consistency. However, school effectiveness was the highest only when the school emphasized all three culture dimensions. These results suggest that focusing on individual cultural values without attention to the total configuration of cultural values may lead to misleading conclusions regarding the functions of culture, both for future theory development and for managerial practice.