PEOPLE AND ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE: A PROFILE COMPARISON APPROACH TO ASSESSING PERSON-ORGANIZATION FIT.

TLDR

The article integrates renewed interest in person‑situation interaction, quantitative assessment of organizational culture, and Q‑sort template‑matching methods to study person‑organization fit. By combining longitudinal data from accountants and MBA students with cross‑sectional data from government and public accounting employees, the authors developed and validated the Organizational Culture Profile instrument for measuring fit. The study shows that individual preferences for organizational cultures are dimensionally interpretable, and that fit predicts higher job satisfaction and commitment after one year and lower turnover after two years.

Abstract

This article brings together three current themes in organizational behavior: (1) a renewed interest in assessing person-situation interactional constructs, (2) the quantitative assessment of organizational culture, and (3) the application of “Q-sort,” or template-matching, approaches to assessing person-situation interactions. Using longitudinal data from accountants and M.B.A. students and cross-sectional data from employees of government agencies and public accounting firms, we developed and validated an instrument for assessing person-organization fit, the Organizational Culture Profile (OCP). Results suggest that the dimensionality of individual preferences for organizational cultures and the existence of these cultures are interpretable. Further, person-organization fit predicts job satisfaction and organizational commitment a year after fit was measured and actual turnover after two years. This evidence attests to the importance of understanding the fit between individuals' preferences and organiza...