| The Denison Model represents a synthesis of the 3 dominant organizational culture typologies that link organizational culture to bottom line business performance: anthropological, sociological, and psychological. Although extensive research has linked organizational culture to financial performance, the moderating effect of organization age on the relationship between culture and financial performance has not been studied. Thus, the purpose of this study was to examine whether organizational age moderates the relationships between a firm's return on assets and the 4 Denison Model organizational culture traits: mission, consistency, adaptability, and involvement. An archival data set consisting of 137 organizations from various industries and geographical locations was obtained from Denison Consulting. Included in the dataset were the following variables for each organization: the organization's age, return on assets, and employee responses to the Denison Organizational Culture Survey. The Denison Organizational Culture Survey is a 60-item measure that was used by Denison consulting to measure employee perceptions of the 4 culture traits. Statistically significant relationships were observed between mission, involvement, and consistency and a company's financial performance. Organizational age did not appear to moderate the relationships between the 4 culture traits and a company's financial performance, however. Although this study did not establish a causal relationship between Denison's 4 culture traits and a company's financial performance, it is possible that organizations that score highly in the 4 traits regardless of their age are more likely to experience better financial performance than those organizations that score lower in Denison's 4 culture traits. |
