A descriptive case study of individual perceptions of organizational culture and perceived and observed behaviors of individuals in work groups

The purpose of this descriptive case study was to determine, at the level of the individual, perceptions of the organization's cultural norms and expectations and perceived and observed behaviors of individuals in work groups. In parallel, differences in culture and perceived and observed individual behaviors in work groups, across sites in the same organization, were investigated. The study also sought to determine if there were any relationships between participant demographics and perceptions of culture and group behaviors. The sample consisted of two underlying divisions from the organization. Culture, at the level of norms and expectations, was assessed by administering the Organizational Culture Inventory (OCI) (Cooke & Lafferty, 1986) to a random sample of individuals (N = 127, 69 from store operations and 58 from corporate headquarters). Perceptions of the developmental patterns of the groups were assessed by administering the Group Development Questionnaire (GDQ) (Wheelan & Hochberger, 1995) to 16 intact work groups, 9 from corporate headquarters (n = 84) and 7 from field operations (n = 48). The Group Development Observation System (GDOS) (Wheelan, Verdi & McKeage, 1994) was used to categorize the frequency of observed individual behaviors in 8 of the groups.;Descriptive statistics, analysis of variance and correlational techniques were used to examine the results. Results indicated that cultural expectations were not evident in the behavior patterns of the groups. Significant differences were found between sites with store individuals scoring higher in two culture styles, GDQ scores on Scales I and Scales II and observed behaviors corresponding to stages I, II & III of the Integrated Model of Group Development (Wheelan, 1994). Demographic data revealed significant relationships between culture style and education and salary. Significant relationships were also found between GDQ Scales and participant age and tenure with the organization.