Impact of Organizational Culture on Individual Performance - Report Example

Organizational culture can also be considered as the set of characteristics, values, beliefs, or behaviors which distinguish an organization from others (Ojo, 2009). For example, an organization’s decision-making mechanism may depend either on team-based decisions or individual based decisions. Public Sector organizational culture is usually characterized by an emphasis on traditional bureaucratic or hierarchical values. On the other hand, private sector organizations tend to emphasize values such as flexibility, adaptability, productivity, efficiency, and outcomes in their organizational culture (Parker and Bradley 2000).

Public Sector Culture and Individual Performance Individual performance in public sector organizations is driven by organizational culture. A strong organizational culture characterized by practices such as merit or performance-based promotion and effective communication within the organization is more likely to motivate individual employees and improve their performance (Grindle & Hilderbrand 1995). Literature Review Ojo (2009) concludes that organizational performance is positively correlated with employee performance.

Thus a positive organizational culture characterized by practices such as increased employee participation will directly contribute to positive performance. The research by Parker and Bradley (2000) supports these findings by arguing that strong organizational cultures motivate employees and have direct and indirect implications for their individual performance. This includes motivating employees through increased pay based on performance.