Culture in an organization provides an understanding of the various aspects of work behaviour. The concept of culture has been in use since ages, thus there are a variety of meanings attributed to this term. According to Webster’s dictionary, culture is the ideas, customs, skills, arts etc. of given people in given period. British anthropologist Edward Tyler (1871) firstly defined culture as “that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, arts, morals and law, custom and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society”.^[1]

Culture is also defined as the transmitted patterns of values, ideas and other symbolic systems that shape behaviour of organization.^[2]It is the collective programming of the mind that distinguishes the members of one organization from another. This includes shared beliefs, values and practices. Cultures are systems of socially transmitted behaviour patterns that serve to relate human communities to their ecological settings. These ways of life of communities include technologies and modes of economic organization, settlement patterns, modes of social groupings and political organization, religious beliefs and practices^[3]. Culture in nutshell is a set of values, beliefs, norms of the organization which guides the behaviour of employees. ^[4] There are many factors that influence the development of culture. These include the history of organization, philosophy of its owners, its strategies for customer satisfaction, the management and leadership and the environment in which it is operating. To study culture the basic question that comes to mind is “How are things done in the organization?” The answer to this question lies in the attitudes of employees and norms of the organization. There are many researchers who identified the components of culture and provided ways to identify the culture^[5][6][7]. An organization’s cultural norms strongly affect all who are involved in the organization. These norms are almost invisible but to improve performance and profitability, norms are one of the first places to look into. Organizational culture is the one factor that leads to either success or failure of an institution. Culture affects the performance of the institution^[8][9], the performance of the employees^[10] and the job satisfaction of the employees^[11]. Education sector plays a vital role in nation building. Education contributes to social and economic advancement of a nation. Quality education creates an enlightened society which refrain itself from doing activities which would hinder the national growth. Educational institutes build the required human capital for the progress of an economy. Teachers of the institutions make a big contribution in character building of the students by providing them knowledge and wisdom. They are known as fortune builders of the country. Teachers are mentors of the students. They train, teach and lead their students to work efficiently professionally and also to become good citizens of society. A dis-satisfied teacher cannot produce healthy and satisfied minds.^[12]Success of the organization depends on the brilliance and excellence of culture. A supportive organizational culture in the institution would increase the performance of teachers and they will contribute more to the institution, the students and to the society. Students, especially of higher educational institutions, observe and imitate the behaviour of the teachers, their values and the norms and beliefs of the institution administration. They also learn from the administrative work culture of an organization and the way things are done in their institution as this influences the way they would carry and perform their future duties. So, it becomes imperative to identify the culture of the institutions and its components which includes values, beliefs, norms, rules and regulations.

LITERATURE REVIEW:

The notion organizational culture was explained by Tyler (1871) stating it as a complex whole reinforced by knowledge, belief, law, art, morals, custom and other capabilities and habits of man as a member of society. ^[13]It is documented that the strength or amount of culture can be defined in terms of cohesiveness and homogeneity of group members. A strong culture envisages characteristics of shared values and high trust among group members with shared goals. ^[8]It is also found that organizational culture helps in generating competitive advantage which is linked to higher performance of the institution. Several other empirical studies have indicated positive link between organizational culture and performance^[9][14]University culture is collective manually shaping patterns of values, norms, practices, beliefs that guide behaviour of individuals and group. They further stated that culture provides a frame of reference within which to interpret the meaning of events and actions on and off campus. In university setting it is very important to investigate interactions between members of faculty and between faculty and students.^[15]Certain concepts should be studied for identifying the culture of an educational institution. These include the environment, mission, socialization, information, strategy and leadership^[16] A strong culture and a congruent culture is more effective than a weak and an incongruent culture. This means that a strong culture is associated with organizational excellence.^[17] It is also found that the organizations that focus clearly on the cultures are more successful. It is because focused cultures provide better financial returns, which include higher return on investment.^[18] Culture is segregated into four dimensions: Collectivism vs. Individualism; Power distance; Uncertainty avoidance; Masculinity vs. Femininity.^[19] Later in the book Organizational Culture and Leadership outlined three levels of culture: Explicit behaviour; Signs; Shared values. Culture is considered to be a significant factor in building unifying capabilities^[20], shaping norms and procedures^[21][22], providing solutions and eventually become a source of competitive advantage^[23].^[24]There are two types of cultures: strong and weak. Strong university culture is characterised by shared values, beliefs, norms of behaviour and willingness of faculty to obey these norms. In contrast, weak culture is characterised by disagreement about main values, absence of norms and violation of written and unwritten norms of behaviour. Higher education researchers^[25]have been studying organizational culture to create effective and efficient organizations in today’s environment.^[26] Organizational culture is so important to the organization that, in the long run, it may be the one decisive influence for the survival or fall of the organization. The rapid increasing globalisation and competition have put pressure on colleges and universities. The increasing mobility of students and staff and free movement of capital accelerate the push for academic reform^[27]. In the study of organisations^[7], the relationship between three dimensions of culture: congruency, strength and type and organizational effectiveness it is found that type of culture i.e. clan, adhocracy, hierarchy or market was a greater determinant of organizational effectiveness than were either congruence or strength.^[28]Culture is grouped into four traits: Mission; Adaptability; Involvement; Consistency. His model suggested the capabilities of an organization for coordinating and integrating internal resources and also adapting to external environment.^[29] It is stated that culture matters because decisions made without awareness of the operative cultural forces may have unanticipated and undesirable consequences. ^[30]It is also observed that a strong culture can enhance communication, motivate employees, increase loyalty and can create cooperation among employees. In contrast, dysfunctional school cultures for example inward focus, short-term focus, low morale, inconsistency and subculture values that supersede shared organizational values can impede organizational improvement^[31]

^[32] In the study “Organizational Culture at the University Level: A Study of OCAI Instrument” it has been found that most successful campus cultures appear to be those who support both group cooperation and individual achievement.^[33] It is believed that organizational culture has a positive impact on job satisfaction of employees. ^[34] University culture is identified as a distinct type of organizational culture whose values and beliefs and basic assumptions are held in common by all members whereas^[35] the organization with strong and suitable culture positively affects not only the satisfaction of employees but also the job commitment.^[36] A high degree of organizational performance is related to an organization, which has a strong culture with well integrated and effective set of values, beliefs and behaviour.^[37] Job applicant’s attraction towards an organization is influenced by culture of the organization and gender also plays a role in influencing the decision. Men are more likely to join a competitive organization as compared to women. The study also reported that both men and women would join a supportive organization even though it means getting a lower salary.^[38] The effect of organizational culture on job satisfaction of teachers of higher education institutes is much significant. They further asserted that a creative and supportive culture in universities raise the level of job satisfaction of teachers.^[39]The employees are an important part of culture and they exhibits same values as of the leaders of organization.^[40] It is recommended that a strong culture based on relationships of managers and employees helps in improving employee performance which acts as a competitive advantage for the firm.^[41] The dominant culture prevailing in government and private hospitals is hierarchy culture which is further followed by clan and market culture. They also identified the effect of culture on organizational performance which was found to be positive.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY:

a. Scope of the Study:

This study investigates the dominant culture type in the universities of Haryana and the most preferred culture by the employees. This study covers the universities of Haryana (both government and private owned) to identify the dominant culture type. For the purpose of study following objectives have been framed:

1. To investigate the dominant culture type using OCAI and to compare the prevailing cultures in government and private universities of Haryana.

2. To examine if there is any significant difference in prevailing culture and the preferred culture of selected universities.

b. Sample Selection and Respondents:

For the study, 6 universities (3 government and 3 private) were selected using purposive sampling approach. The universities under study were Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra (1957); Guru Jambheshwar University of Science and Technology, Hissar (1995); Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak (1976); Maharishi Markandeshwar University, Mullana (1993); The Northcap University (Formerly ITM University), Gurgaon (1996); Amity University, Gurgaon (2010). The respondents of the study were academicians (Assistant professors, teaching associates and research scholars) from the mentioned universities. The instrument of the study was administered to the respondents by using Google forms. The Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 17 was used to analyze the data. Originally questionnaire was sent to 150 academicians and the number of responses was 64, out of which 4 responses were discarded. The valid samples completed by the academicians from the universities were 60 indicating a response rate of 40%.

c. Research Instrument:

The instrument used for the study was The Organisational Culture Assessment Instrument (OCAI) developed by Cameron and Quinn, 1999. The questionnaire was divided into two sections. The first part consisted of respondent’s demographic attributes i.e. age, gender and university affiliation. While the second part consisted of evaluation of organizational culture which further hassix dimensions. For assessment of each dimension four statements were used amongst which the respondents are to divide 100 points. There were total 24 statements in the instrument which measure the variables of culture i.e. dominant characteristics, organizational leadership, and management of employees, organization glue, strategic emphases and criteria for success. These statements represent four competing values culture where: A style indicates clan culture; B style indicates adhocracy culture; C indicates market culture and D indicates hierarchy culture. The reliability of each dimension was found to be between 0.70 to 0.81 which indicates that there is internal consistency in the responses.

RESULTS:

The purpose of organizational culture study is to provide the comprehensive view of the values and norms prevailing in the organizations. To deal with the objectives of the study the data collected have been studied and analysed using the appropriate tools.

a. Demographic Profile of Respondents:

Following table represents the demographic profile of respondents:

Table I- Respondents Characteristics

	Government Universities	Private Universities
Gender	Percentage	Percentage
Male	40	53.3
Female	60	46.7
Age	Percentage	Percentage
20-30	90	76.7
30-40	10	23.3

(Source: Field Survey)

Table-I represents the demographic status of the respondents. It shows that the sample size comprises of 40% males and 60% females indicating higher representation of the female in government universities. Whereas, in the private sector the male comprises of 53.3% of the sample population which is higher than the government sector. The results also indicate that there is dominance of female in government sector and male in private sector universities.

Further the results document that majority of working population in education sector is between the age group of 20-30 years indicating higher representation of younger generation in government universities (90%) as compared to private universities (76.7%).

b. Analysis of Organizational Culture Dimensions

To explore the dominant culture type in the organizations under the study, the mean scores of the items were calculated by using the standard scoring method provided in the instrument administered.

Table II- Mean scores of Organizational Culture Dimensions using OCAI Scoring

Culture Type	Observed Mean (Government Univ.)	Observed Mean (Private Univ.)
Clan	25.63	33.31
Adhocracy	21.76	26.9
Market	21.8	17.6
Hierarchy	30.21	21.96
Total	100	100

(Source: Field Survey and Standardised Scoring)

Table-II reveals that the dominant culture prevailing in the government universities is hierarchy culture with the mean score of 30.21 indicating it as a very formalised and structured place to work. The tasks to be performed by the people are laid by the governed set of procedures and leaders pride themselves on being good coordinators and organisers. The organizations are guided by formal rules and policies. Hierarchy is absolutely necessary for such organizations as they are large and complex. Processes, procedures and line-management increase the clarity about responsibilities, which can be shared between functions. This concept can be traced to the image of ‘Bureaucracy’ in the Weber’s (1947) early works on modern organizational management. The hierarchy culture in government universities is followed by clan culture (25.63) which indicates that organization is a pleasant place to work where commitment of employees is high. Lower scoring of the adhocracy and market culture i.e. 21.76 and 21.8 respectively indicates that traits of these culture types exists very minimal in the state owned universities. This means that the work environment at these places is not much aggressive and competition oriented. Also government universities are reactive in their approach rather than proactive while dealing with market challenges.

As far as private universities are concerned the dominant culture prevailing is clan culture with mean score of 33.21 indicating the organizations as a very pleasant work place, where people share a lot of professional and personal information and ideas. These work places are much like extended families as the leadership there is stable and the members have a long history together. The leaders of the organization are seen as mentors and guide to employees through thick and thin. The organization is held together by loyalty and tradition which travel through generations. These organizations hire those employees who share common goals thus employee commitment is higher in such places. The organization emphasizes the long term benefit of human resources development and attaches great importance to cohesion and morale. The organization places a premium on teamwork, participation and consensus of employee before decision making. The clan culture in private universities is followed by adhocracy culture (26.9) indicating that the work environment is very achievement oriented and more emphasis is placed on innovation and development of new ways to make the teaching process more effective. However, a lower scoring of market and hierarchy culture i.e. 17.6 and 21.96 respectively indicates that these workplaces do not focus much on stability and structured rules and procedures rather than they are more dynamic in their approach of handling market challenges.

c. Analysis of difference between prevailing and preferred culture type

To achieve the second objective of study i.e. the degree of difference between prevailing culture and preferred culture; Z-test was applied:

As is clear from Table-III that Z-Value (significance of the difference between standard mean i.e. 25 and observed mean) for government owned universities were not found to be significant for all the dimensions except organizational leadership which was found significant at 1% level indicating significant difference between the prevailing culture and the preferred culture of the government universities as far as organizational leadership dimension is concerned. The leadership culture that prevails in government universities is efficiency oriented and leaders are focussed on coordinating with the government authorities. But the results indicates that leadership style preferred by the employees is a combination of mentorship and aggressive approach towards results and leaders with risk taking abilities would be preferred over the existing ones. On the other hand the employees are satisfied with other dimensional traits of culture viz. Organizational characteristics, management practices, organizational glue, strategic emphasis and criteria for success.

Similarly in case of private owned universities, the Z-Value was found to be significant for all the dimensions at 1% level except organizational leadership indicating significant difference between the prevailing culture and the preferred culture of the private universities in all the dimensions of culture except organizational leadership. It indicates that employees are satisfied with the leadership style in private universities which includes nurturing and mentoring them. As far as organizational characteristics, management practices, organizational glue, strategic emphasis and criteria for success dimensions are concerned, the employees would prefer an achievement oriented culture that focuses more on innovation and development of new ways to increase the efficiency of work. They would also prefer a culture where entrepreneurial instincts are rewarded and there is freedom to work.

DISCUSSION:

The study revealed hierarchy culture as dominant culture in government universities which exhibits characteristics i.e. coordination, efficiency orientation and focus on smooth running of all the functions. The dominance of

hierarchy culture can be justified because of the fact that they are owned by government and governed by set of established set of procedures. On the other hand, in Turkey the studies on higher education institutions shows that hierarchy culture is still very common ^[42].The second prevailing dominant culture is clan culture emphasising on the concept of organization as a unified whole working together as a family and consensus and participation from employees are invited in many aspects. Clan culture shows these universities place development of human resources as their priority and they have concern for the people working for them. This is one of the reasons why they gain confidence and trust of their employees. However, adhocracy and market culture are not so dominant in government universities. Adhocracy and market culture emphasise on being achievement oriented and finding ways to outpace the competition. They are more of risk taking type of cultures. As far as private universities are concerned; the dominant culture type is clan culture which makes them more like a friendly place where employees share a lot with each other. The bond that binds the organization together is loyalty and mutual trust of employees. ^[43]The most prevalent type of culture in American higher education was clan culture. The second dominant culture type is adhocracy culture which shows that these universities are risk takers when it comes to taking strategic decisions and they focus on innovation and new developments in their field. They try to make their services unique in the market to attract more employees as well as students. Market and hierarchy culture are not so dominant in private universities which shows that they are not very structured and rigid organizations rather they are very dynamic and flexible.

CONCLUSION:

The culture of an organisation is the pillar on which it stands. The values and beliefs that exhibit the culture guides the employees and provides them direction in difficult times. For larger and complex organizations, the culture having formal rules and procedures is best suited. This type of hierarchal culture holds organisation together by coordination and smooth running operations make it more efficient. For new age organisations which are mainly owned by a group of individuals particularly belonging to same family, the clan culture is more suited as it promotes trust and commitment towards organization. The findings of the study have important implications for researchers as it provides them a great insight into the culture and the work environment of the universities of state of Haryana. However future studies can be extended beyond a particular state and more educational institutions can be covered by the researchers. Data for the study was collected only from employees and research scholars, the sample can also be further increased and students and other stakeholders can also be included in further studies.

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Received on 21.04.2017 Modified on 04.05.2017

Asian J. Management; 2017; 8(3):407-412.

DOI: 10.5958/2321-5763.2017.00065.8

		Government Universities			Private Universities
Dimension	S.M. Pref.**	O.M. Prev.**	S.E Prev.**	Z-Value	O.M Prev.**	S.E. Prev.**	Z-Value
1. Dominant Characteristics	25	30.66	2.85	1.98	30.67	2.03	2.79*
2. Organizational Leadership	25	35.83	3.33	3.25*	28.83	1.74	2.2
3. Management of Employees	25	27.16	2.3	0.93	34.17	1.69	5.42*
4. Organizational Glue	25	29.33	2.03	2.13	38	2.08	6.25*
5. Strategic Emphases	25	30.16	2.75	1.87	33.83	2.12	4.16*
6. Criteria for Success	25	29.83	3.3	1.46	24.5	2.36	4.02*