A comparative study of organizational culture in state-owned and private companies

Abstract

In this research, an attempt has been made to investigate the characteristics of organizational culture in public companies compared to private companies and to provide solutions to managers.  For this purpose, after examining the theoretical foundations of research, Robbins' model was selected and a research questionnaire was designed and information was collected from the statistical population. The statistical population consists of heavy industry production companies in Kashan city. After collecting the questionnaires, the data was analyzed. The research results show that there is a significant difference in the organizational culture of public companies and private companies. After analyzing based on the ten characteristics of Robbins' model, it was observed that characteristics such as: individual initiative, guidance and leadership, integrity and communication pattern between these two types of companies have significant differences, and characteristics such as: risk-taking, management support, control, identity, reward system, compromise with the phenomenon of conflict do not have significant differences. In general, it can be concluded that the organizational culture in public companies is higher than that of private companies. Keywords: organizational culture, public companies, private companies. Chapter 1: General research. 1-1 Introduction. Undoubtedly, the 1980s should be considered the beginning of re-investigation on the issue of organizational culture. The interest to do more research on organizational culture stems from various factors. Among these things, we can mention: First, the 80s is the beginning of the globalization of organizations and businesses; Therefore, the issue of coordination among the employees of such organizations was the topic of the day. Secondly, in this decade, it became clear that different levels of organizational performance can be related to the type of organizational culture. Thirdly, organizational culture can act as a source for creating sustainable competitive advantages; Because some cultures are not easily imitated by competitors, and also, among other reasons, we can point to the emergence of Japan's economic and industrial power as a significant and important competitor against the United States, which researchers consider one of the main reasons to be the cultural differences between the two countries. (Guffey and Jones, 2001, p. 3; Quinn and Cameron, 2006, p. 16)

There is no theoretical agreement on the concept of culture among different scientific disciplines; Despite this, from an organizational point of view, culture has been interpreted as a strong chain that provides the reasons for the organization's stability. It is not noticeable. This issue has been criticized and proposed by famous experts such as Warren Bennis, Edgar Schein, William O'Shea, and most of all, its importance has been revealed in the book (Peters Waterman, 1982). Therefore, this important issue was named ((organizational culture)) and it was known as the immaterial and intangible aspect of the organization and was investigated and studied at different times. p.61)

Generally, not paying attention to the organizational culture, beliefs and values ??of people, if it does not lead to the absolute failure of the organization and not achieving the goals and vision, at least it creates many problems in the movement process of the organization and wastes a lot of energy to solve the problems created due to the confrontation of the anticipated goals with the common culture of the organization. As it appears from the available evidence, organizational culture is a complex phenomenon that at the same time plays a significant role in accelerating the progress and transformation of the organization. Therefore, when organizations do not have sufficient knowledge of their organizational culture and its dimensions and indicators, in practice they face many problems such as organizational conflict, organizational incoherence and reduced performance. Therefore, the identification of culture helps managers to use its strengths with full knowledge and vision of the environment governing the organization and to predict the necessary measures and measures for the weaknesses.

Many factors play a role in organizational culture, and perhaps one of the most important factors is its type of ownership. Measuring whether the type of ownership and how much the owners of the organization play a role in the culture of that organization can be very important. In this research, an attempt is made to conduct a comparative study in order to compare the organizational culture in private and public companies..

In this research, the Robbins model is used to investigate and compare the organizational culture in these companies.

1-2 statement of the research problem:

Organizational culture is a system of inference or a common meaning system that the members of an organization have. In other words, organizational culture is a set of assumed values ??and dominants that help the organization's people understand acceptable and unacceptable actions.

Every organization has its own culture. It is a special language that facilitates communication between members, it is the relevant common criteria regarding the serious aspects of the work that must be done, it is also a common understanding and a common meaning system that the members of an organization have and that distinguishes that organization from other organizations. Meanwhile, the main issue is what are the differences in these perceptions in companies with different ownership. It is no secret that many factors affect the culture of an organization. The study and comparison of organizational culture in private and public companies can be an important step towards recognizing the similarities and differences of organizational culture in these companies and trying to find its roots and promote the culture of these companies. 1-3 Necessity and importance of research: Anyone who has worked for several organizations knows very well that every organization is unique, even organizations that are similar in terms of services or products are unique, one clear reason is that different organizations from people There are different forms that these people are incomparable in many ways, and it is not surprising that this incomparability is also reflected in the organizations themselves; On the other hand, in every organization, the character of employees changes, members get old and leave the organization and new people take their place, however, despite these changes, the organization itself is slow to change, the new member changes, not the organization, so organizations have their own existence, unique and separate from the people who make it up. How and with what can this organizational stability be explained? The answer should be: the influence of organizational culture.

Organizational culture means the beliefs, attitudes, values ??and expectations shared by most of the organization's members. Once these beliefs and values ??are created, they last, unless relatively significant and important events happen and lead to their change. on behavior in different situations, in the philosophy of the organization, in informal regulations and so on. is reflected, so understanding organizational culture is important in terms of helping our ability to explain and predict people's behavior in organizations.

Comparative study in the field of organizational culture in private and public companies makes it easier to answer these questions, how do employees see themselves in organizations?

Is there a significant difference in goals and performance expectations in these organizations or not? Are there rewards for innovation and initiative? What about the conflict?

Therefore, the comparative study of the organizational culture in the mentioned companies helps to understand the root of the differences and to try to provide a suitable solution to promote the organizational culture to the managers.

1-4 Research goals and applications:

In general, the purpose of this research is a comparative study of the organizational culture in state-owned and private companies.

1-4-1 Main goals:

Knowledge of the state of organizational culture in the mentioned companies

Comparison of organizational culture in these companies

1-4-2 partial goals:

Provide solutions to company managers to promote organizational culture

1-5 Research hypotheses:

1-5-1 Main hypothesis:

There is no significant difference between the type of ownership and the organizational culture of private and public companies.

1-5-2 Sub-hypotheses:

1. There is no significant difference between the type of ownership and the level of individual initiative in private and public companies.

2. There is no significant difference between the type of ownership and risk taking in private and public companies.

3.