Assessing Organizational Culture

The study of organizational culture is extensive and diverse as it incorporates themes from many academic fields including anthropology, sociology, social psychology, and industrial and organizational psychology. The literature on organizational culture is characterized by variety: numerous definitions, several conceptual models, and countless forms of measurement. To assist in navigating this vast body of work, this entry will focus on prevailing theoretical perspectives (integration, fragmentation, and differentiation), levels of visibility (artifacts, espoused values, and basic assumptions), and research methods (qualitative case studies and quantitative surveys). This entry concludes with a brief description of organizational climate and its relationships to organizational culture.