The Effect Of Organizational Culture On Job Performance

Organizational culture as a pattern of behavior that defines the way of life of people within an organization and serves as the bond that ties an organization's workers together has featured predominantly in organizational behavior literature.Though a significant number of studies in literature have shown a positive relationship between organizational culture and job performance,the findings of some studies indicate that the relationship varies.This highlights the presence of mediator and moderator variables.This dissertation thus attempts to address the gap in literature by introducing a model that has organizational commitment,perception of organizational politics and leadership styles(transformational and transactional)as mediating and moderating variables respectively.This is to help us understand the organizational cultural dimensions that affect job performance and also clarify when and why organizational commitment will be more or less related to job performance.In this regard,the study sought to examine the effect of organizational culture on job performance and the mediating and moderating roles of organizational commitment,perception of organizational politics and leadership styles within the Metropolitan,Municipal and District Assemblies(MMDAs)in Ghana.This research is very significant and essential because it addresses the gap in empirical and theoretical literature with respect to the relationship between the variables of interest to this study.The study employed quantitative approach with cross-sectional survey design and sampled 556 employees from Metropolitan,Municipal and District Assemblies(MMDAs)in the Western Region of Ghana using multi-stage sampling method.The study employed two statistical tools namely,Hierarchical Linear Regression and Structural Equation Model(SEM)in analyzing the data to test the various hypotheses of interest to this study.Structural Equation Model(SEM)was used to measure the direct effect of organizational culture(clan,adhocracy,market,hierarchy)on job performance and the mediating effect of organizational commitment(affective,normative and continuance)on the relationship between organizational culture and job performance.Hierarchical Linear Regression was used to measure the individual moderating as well as the interaction effect of perception of organizational politics and leadership styles on organizational commitment and job performance relationship.Before estimating the results,preliminary analysis such as descriptive statistics,correlation analysis,validity and reliability of the instruments,multi-collinearity test and model fitness were done to provide initial justification and appropriateness of the instruments and the methods chosen to test the proposed relationships guiding the study.The results from the Structural Equation Model(SEM)analysis revealed that organizational culture generally positively predict job performance.Since three dimensions of organizational culture(clan,market and adhocracy)had positive effects on job performance with exception of hierarchy culture which had no effect on performance.However,market culture had the strongest effect on job performance.Similarly,organizational culture(clan,adhocracy,market and hierarchy)had positive effect on organizational commitment(affective,normative and continuance commitment).The findings of the study reveal that,organizational commitment(affective,normative and continuance)all had significant positive effect on job performance of employees within the Metropolitan,Municipal and District Assemblies(MMDAs)with normative commitment having the strongest effect on job performance.Furthermore,the results of the mediation analysis revealed that organizational commitment(affective,normative and continuance)mediated the relationship between organizational culture and job performance with affective commitment having the strongest mediating effect.The empirical result from the Hierarchical Linear Regression showed that perception of organizational politics had observable moderating effect on two dimensions of organizational commitment(affective and normative commitment)thus weakening the positive relationship existing between organizational commitment and job performance of employees.However,perception of organizational politics could not weaken the relationship between continuance commitment and job performance.From the moderation analysis also,leadership styles(transformational and transactional)had significant moderating effect on the relationship between all organizational commitment dimensions(affective,normative and continuance)and employee job performance such that the relationship is further strengthened.However,transactional leadership had the strongest moderating effect on organizational commitment and job performance relationship.Finally,the results of the interaction between perception of organizational politics and leadership styles revealed that the adverse effect of perception of organizational politics on the relationship between organizational commitment and employee job performance was mitigated by both transformational and transactional leadership styles.Interestingly,in this interaction relationship,transactional leadership instead of transformational leadership style was the most effective leadership style in mitigating the adverse effect of perception of organizational politics on the organizational commitment and job performance relationship.The findings of this study make a number of innovative contributions to literature.Being the first study in extant literature to use the competing values framework(CVF)organizational cultural typology to study its effect on employee job performance in Ghana's local government sector,this study has shown which organizational cultural dimension positively affects job performance and the conditions under which this effect occurs.Secondly,the use of leadermember exchange and the procedural justice theories as antecedent and behavioral components of the social exchange theory in explaining how organizational commitment act as a mediating variable to help our understanding of the mechanism through which organizational culture influences employee job performance within the public sector of Ghana is an innovative contribution since no study in extant literature has explored this relationship using these theories especially in Ghana and by extension African context.This study therefore fills this gap in extant literature and provides researchers with in-depth understanding of the role of employee commitment in explaining culture and job performance relationship in an African context.Another novelty covered by this study is that,it highlights the type of leadership style that is most effective in achieving high level of employee commitment and job performance within Ghana's public sector since no study has explored this relationship.Furthermore being the first study to examine the interaction of perception of organizational politics and leadership styles(transformational and transactional)and how they affect organizational commitment and job performance relationship,this study makes huge theoretical contribution to extant literature.More importantly,the study has shown that perception of organizational politics and leadership styles(transformational and transactional)interact in influencing the strength of the organizational commitment–job performance relationship.Thus,this study enhances our understanding of when organizational commitment is more(or less)strongly related to job performance.The study recommends to the Local Government Service(LGS)of Ghana to pay particular attention to the employees' curriculum vitae and employment history during recruitment of staff into the Metropolitan,Municipal and District Assemblies(MMDAs).This recommendation is very necessary because it gives an important indication or trends to help in decision making regarding employee commitment.Preference should be given to employees with longer stints at previous organizations as compared to those with very “nomadic” nature of employment history.Recommendation is also given for the constitutional amendment of article243(1)of the 1992 constitution of Ghana by parliament which allows the President to appoint Mayors from the ruling political party.This is to make way for non-partisan elections of Mayors as the partisan political appointment of these leaders according to some employees breeds perception of organizational politics within the Metropolitan,Municipal and District Assemblies(MMDAs).Furthermore,because perception of organizational politics has major impact on organizational outcomes the study recommends to the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development as well as the Local Government Service to organize periodic leadership workshop for Metropolitan,Municipal and District Chief Executives(MMDCEs)or Mayors.This will help Metropolitan,Municipal and District Chief Executives(MMDCEs)or Mayors to provide effective leadership by creating and sustaining enabling working environment that is fair and just to their employees.This will help minimize the level of perception of organizational politics among workers,lead to high level commitment and performance.