The emerging literature perceives the organisational climate (OC) as an integral facet of organisational ecosystems and a significant determinant of the performance and results organisations attain. While the studies undertaken and published over the years have generated valuable insights into the OC construct, inconsistencies have plagued the field studies that have become progressively fragmented and left somewhat adrift. This study offers a systematic review of the OC literature. We organise the fragmented studies into an integrated framework encompassing various OC perspectives and our existing knowledge of OC.
We deployed the systematic literature review methodology to the 87 conceptual and empirical articles identified in the Web of Science database to explore, analyse and discuss the main trends in the OC literature.
Content analysis allowed the researchers’ different focal perspectives on OC to be grouped into five thematic clusters: human resources, service, interpersonal relations, coordination/environmental, exploration and the specific climates into four categories: behavioural orientation, involvement, development and main operations, highlighting their impact on organizational performance and results. The proposed integrated model testifies to the interdependence between the respective research paths and identifies gaps and shortcomings that represent promising avenues for future research.
This study makes various important contributions both to the theory and to the practice in this field. Firstly, the article presents a systematic literature review on OC, providing an equally systematic framework of a broad and fragmented set of articles that integrates an approach to the global climate and the multiple facets making up the specific climates that may coexist in any organisation.
The OC represents a critical construct in the organisational context and establishes a point of interest for researchers in these fields as well as for everyone engaging in the practical dimensions to organisational matters. These results expand the research on organisational efficiency and effectiveness by highlighting the differentiated effects of the OC in terms of performance and results.
