Corporate Culture Typology by an Example of the University Department

Abstract

Purpose of the article: This article deals with analysis of corporate culture by using an example of selected university department in Slovak republic. The corporate culture is very strong and powerful motivational (or de-motivational) factor. The situation in the company, the quality and quantity of work performance are direct influenced through the culture (regardless the branch, size or type of the company). Methodology/methods: In this paper we use the data gained from sociological research at selected university department (19 employees of the department, which represents 76 % of all staff). The questionnaire with 44 statements has been created to identify the type of corporate culture in the university department. We use the Likert scale (“strong agreement” – “agreement” – “disagreement” – “strong disagreement”) with no middle value (“I don’t know” or “doesn’t matter”) to gain the exact data about the attitude of respondents to statements. Scientific aim: The scientific aim of this article is to analyse and to identify the type and position of corporate culture in selected university department in Slovak republic and to detect the most noticeable characteristics of the culture as the potential base for improvements. Findings: The analysis of data revealed two types of the culture regarding the typology: following the Trompenaars typology: the Eiffel tower culture; following the Goffee and Jones typology: the networked type of the culture. Conclusions: It’s almost impossible to identify only one type of the culture in the department. We detected very small differences among the types of culture within each typology. The most important findings: the culture in the department is hierarchical and toward tasks oriented, with low level of solidarity, there is no strong leader of the department with right core values, there are mostly reason-based relationships among the employees. The analysis of the culture is the base for the next improvements.