Organizational Culture

An organization can be categorized by two defining elements: its structure and culture. Culture refers to those norms and values that characterize the operations of the organization. A key aspect of organizational culture is openness to change. This involves being willing to challenge the status quo, to examine the environment for new knowledge, and to accept the need for continuous improvement. There are implications for evaluation as a means of providing evidence on which to base change and improvement. Over the past decade, a significant theoretical position has been developed that sees evaluators working cooperatively with organizational staff to instill a culture that routinely accepts evaluation as an input to learning and decision making.