Abstract
With an emphasis on Hawassa University, the study was set out to examine the organizational cultures of HEIs in Ethiopia in both existing and preferred situations. The study used a mixed methods approach and an explanatory research design. Respondents from the four colleges and institutes of Hawassa University selected using purposive sampling included academic personnel, administrative employees, and students. Out of the 436 surveys issued, 396 respondents, 60 were members of the academic staff, 120 were members of the administrative staff, and 216 were students, completed and returned the questionnaires correctly. The respondents were chosen using a simple random sampling procedure. Additionally, two student councils, three college deans, and two administrative staff directorates were purposely chosen to participate in the interview. Through surveys and interviews, both qualitative and quantitative data were gathered. Both descriptive statistics (percentage and mean) and inferential statistics (ANOVA) were applied to the data in order to analyze it. Even though Hawassa University’s staff and students prefer a clan culture, the study’s findings revealed that hierarchy culture is the institution’s predominant organizational culture. In addition, it is discovered that the hierarchy in the present and the clan in the favored contexts are a little stronger and more prominent than the other cultural types. However, out of the six cultural dimensions, the clan culture type is based on the dominant traits, organizational leadership, strategic emphasis, and success criteria, whereas in the preferred situation, management of employees and organizational glue are perceived as being adhocracy and market culture, respectively. In general, an organization’s culture influences not only the performance of its employees but also the effectiveness of the organization as a whole. Therefore, higher education officials must seek to change the current organizational culture of their institutions in order to serve the requirements and interests of stakeholders and to improve the overall performance of their organizations.
1. Introduction
Organizational culture is a set of shared values, beliefs, and norms that influence the way employees think, feel, and behave in the workplace [1], and it is the deep structures within organizations that are rooted in organizational members’ values, beliefs, and assumptions that distinguish one organization from another [2–4]. On the other hand, as Fakhar et al. [5] explained, organizational culture is a socially constructed attribute of an organization that serves as a “social glue” that binds employees together and makes them feel like part of the organization, thereby bringing out the best in them in terms of efficiency and effectiveness in achieving organizational goals.
Organizational culture differs from one organization to the next, and it is one of the most crucial factors influencing organizational performance, fostering a code of conduct in workers, facilitating motivation through recognition, fostering self-satisfaction, and serving as a model for employee’ thought and behavior [6–8]. According to Igo and Skitmore [9], organizational leaders and managers must be aware of organizational culture in order to meet whatever challenges the organization faces.
As Waller [10] pointed out, the organizational culture of higher educational institutions has a relatively common attribute, which is a dynamic and rapidly changing aspect that is grounded in both internal and external factors. Some major external or environmental conditions faced by today’s universities include deterioration of quality education due to mass education, low resource allocation from the side of the government for both recurrent and capital investments, low opportunities for graduates in the labor market, and unemployment. On the other hand, higher educational institutions have commonalities with business organizations in which both have their own vision, mission, strategies, goals, and higher institutional structures. However, these organizations have their own unique culture. As a result, leaders at higher educational institutions need to be conscious of the importance of looking at organizational culture and its impact [11, 12].
In Ethiopia, various changes and development efforts, such as capacity building, civil service reform, business process reengineering (BPR), and recently balanced score card (BSC), and other subprograms are usually made in different organizations and universities at the country or individual level, but as it is seen from experience, they remain without going further. This might be because most of these efforts are made without a deep analysis of their organizational culture.
Previous research studies on OC have demonstrated that it can have a significant positive or negative impact on the performance and effectiveness of organizations, especially HEIs. Numerous research studies on OC and its impact on employee performance and the success of organizations, especially HEIs, have been carried out in various regions of the world in acknowledgment of its function. For instance, research studies by [1, 6, 11, 13] demonstrated that OC has a direct impact on the employee and organizational performance. However, there are not many research studies that have been conducted in Ethiopia on OC and how it affects HEIs as a whole.
Although some researchers, such as Mamo [14], Beyene [15], and Hindeya [16], have conducted studies on organizational culture at higher educational institutions in Ethiopia, they focus mainly on the impact of organizational culture on various aspects of higher education institutions, such as job satisfaction, motivation, remuneration, view of leaders, organizational effectiveness, and the like.
For instance, Mamo [14] conducted a study on the “Impact of organizational culture on the effectiveness of public higher educational institutions in Ethiopia” by using OCAI and AOSECU questionnaires for his cross-sectional survey study, and the result of his study showed that clan and hierarch OC types have significant relationships with organizational effectiveness. Beyene [15], on the other hand, used two questionnaires (specifically, the OCAI and Minnesota Questionnaire Question) with a descriptive-correlational design to collect data only from academic colleges for a study on “Organizational culture and academic staff job satisfaction at St. Mary’s University College.” A case study on “The Views of Bahir Dar University Academic Leaders on the Role of Organizational Culture in Implementing Management Innovation” was also conducted by Hindeya [16]. The study’s objective was to comprehend academic leaders’ perspectives on the significance of organizational culture in the implementation of management innovation at Bahir Dar University. The findings of this research revealed that participants believe organizational culture to be crucial to an organization’s performance, despite the perception that the culture of the university prevents management innovation from being implemented (Business Process Reengineering).
However, none of the studies cited above addressed how various HEI stakeholders see the scenarios that are now in place and those that are ideal. In view of this, the current study aimed at assessing the perception of various HEI stakeholders—academic staff, students, and administrative staff—on the prevailing organizational culture and its power in both the existing and ideal circumstances.
The diversity and complexity of the relationships among the different stakeholders of educational institutions were not considered. In this study, however, the perception of different stakeholders has been considered, and organizational culture got central attention as other aspects of organizational problems in higher educational institutions. Having understood the effect of culture on an organization, it is wise to assess the culture of organizations with respect to current and preferred situations. This enables an organization to realize where it stands in the present and where it wants to go in the future. Moreover, study results will be used to show organizational leaders how the type of organizational culture prevalent at HEIs affects the commitment of employees and students. Accordingly, this study was aimed at assessing the organizational culture of public higher educational institutions in Ethiopia, taking the case of Hawassa University.
Various approaches are used to conduct studies related to organizational culture. Thus, as Novikova [17] explained, in higher educational institutions, there are different models of culture that conceptualize the institutions as political, academic, bureaucratic, or entrepreneurial communities. Culture has been studied in association with leadership, as stated by Schein [18] or value-based [2]. However, the current study was conducted based on Cameron and Quinn’s [19] competing framework. This framework was based on six organizational culture dimensions (dominant characteristics, organizational leadership, management of employees, organizational glue, strategic emphasis, and criteria of success) and four typologies of organizational culture: clan, adhocracy, market, and hierarchy. By considering these facts, this study aimed to identify the organizational culture of Ethiopian higher educational institutions, focusing on Hawassa University. This study is very valuable as it seeks to provide vital information about the organizational culture of HEIs, and this in turn could help the university management, regardless of its level, to determine ways of dealing with various elements of organizational culture. Adopting a pragmatic perspective, this study was aimed at assessing organizational culture at Hawassa University, and it was guided by the following basic questions:(1)How do academic staff, students, and administrative staff perceive the dominant culture at Hawassa University in the current and preferred situations?(2)What is the dominant culture of Hawassa University in the current and preferred situations?(3)What is the cultural profile and strength of the dominant culture at Hawassa University in the current and preferred situations?
2. Literature Review
2.1. Typologies of Organizational Culture
Different academic literature indicates that different organizations have distinctive cultures. There may even be more than one culture within an organization. The type of organizational culture affects the way people and groups interact with each other and with stakeholders.
Different researchers [20–22] have identified various types of organizational culture, depending on the nature and size of the organization. As Igo and Skitmore [9] noted, corporate culture provides leaders and managers with the basic framework to implement different strategies and options. However, managers and leaders need to be very conscious of the nature of their organizational culture and how it can potentially affect different change efforts that may be implemented in their organization. This implies, according to Fyock [23], that organizations ought to focus not only on the current but also on the preferred culture within the organization so as to understand the level of congruence between the observed and espoused values.
In many organizations, including higher educational institutions, there are different types of models of culture that are used to conceptualize the organizations. For instance, based on previous studies, Novikova [17] explicitly stipulated three types of culture identification or models used to postulate HEIs. These are as follows:(i)Political model: in this model, higher educational institutions are seen as an amalgamation of diverse groups, each with their own objectives and interests, and emphasis is placed on the dynamics of organizational processes.(ii)The bureaucratic paradigm focuses mostly on laws, rules, and current norms. Additionally, it depends on a specific set of abilities and knowledge to obtain positions.(iii)A collegiate model: this is often used in a decentralized structure and provides people in an organization more independence. This methodology primarily focuses on motivating staff to take part in decision-making.
Organizational culture greatly affects the perceptions of its employees about their organization and how they relate to it. Therefore, it is important for leaders to study the types of culture in their organization to achieve the intended goals of their institutions.
The “Competing Value Framework” is one of the most important and widely applied models in the field of organizational culture research. It was introduced by Bradley and Parker in 2006 and is based on the works of Quinn and Rohrbaugh [24]. According to this model, academics such as Jones [25], Yu and Wu [26], Ohierenoya and Eboreime [27], and others elaborated that organizational culture is influenced by the emphasis placed on external focus and differentiation versus internal focus and integration on the one hand and between flexibility and incremental progress vs. stability and control on the other hand. In an organizational culture as described by Denison and Spreitzer [28], the conflicting needs within an organization are examined on two dimensions by the competing values framework (CVF) [29, 30]. The flexibility-stability axis, which makes up the first dimension, depicts the conflicting demands of change and stability. The internal-external axis, which makes up the second dimension, concentrates on actions taking place inside or outside the organization. The two axes divide organizational culture into four cultural domains: a clan culture, an adhocracy culture, a market culture, and a hierarchical culture.
As indicated in Table 1, Cameron and Quinn [20] illustrated the links among he four types of organizational culture in CVF as follows.
2.1.1. A Clan Culture
It is representative of an institution that prioritizes internal upkeep while being adaptable, caring about its employees, and sensitive to its clients. It emphasizes interpersonal interactions and uses adaptable operating procedures that center on relationships inside the organization [31]. Cooperation, consideration, agreement, justice, and social equality are among the core ideals. People share a lot of themselves in such a workplace, which is typically quite pleasant. As in an extended family, loyalty and tradition bind the organization together, and leaders are regarded as mentors. Teamwork, participation, employee involvement, and open communication are all aspects of the clan culture [32]. However, managers must act democratically if they want to inspire and drive staff to develop an organizational culture of excellence in a clan culture [33]. When members of the organization have faith in, devotion to, and ownership of it, they act responsibly and establish a sense of ownership [12]. On the other hand, Givens [34] and other academics contend that clan cultures place a greater emphasis on interpersonal interactions among employees than on organizational efficiency and performance. The clan culture prioritizes internal matters and places a higher weight on discretion and flexibility than it does on achieving stability and control. The objective is to control the environment through cooperation, involvement, and consensus. As a result, in a clan culture, managers encourage people to perform better by being committed and responsible, as well as by developing a sense of ownership of the company.
2.1.2. An Adhocracy Culture
It is one in which the business places a strong emphasis on external positioning while maintaining a high level of flexibility and individualism, all while being supported by an open structure that encourages initiative. It is typically a vibrant, entrepreneurial, and creative workplace where individuals take chances and stick their necks out [35]. In order to succeed, a leader must create distinctive and creative goods and services. In an adhocracy organizational culture, team members would need clarification on their work responsibilities, including the significance and influence of the assignment to bring about change and creativity (which are the ultimate outcomes of an adhocracy culture) in the organization [35, 36]. Additionally, as Hartnell et al. [37] pointed out, an adhocracy corporate culture places a strong emphasis on freedom, risk-taking, and creativity, meeting a variety of requirements and progress. Therefore, organizational leaders should devote more funds to research, innovation, and development to address these values. Moreover, in order to improve productivity and address customer satisfaction, it is crucial to encourage employees to initiate and participate in a variety of activities. In addition to allocating the appropriate resources, according to organizational culture research, adhocracy culture and innovation entrepreneurial attitude are positively correlated with financial success over the long term [38].
2.1.3. A Hierarchical Culture
It is the one that concentrates on internal upkeep, seeks stability and control, and does it by clearly defining tasks and enforcing rigid norms. As a result, it frequently adopts a formal approach to interpersonal interactions, where leaders must be effective coordinators and organizers who stick to the party line. Thus, it comprises stability, consistency, reinforcement, and routes for clear communication, and it places a high value on economy, formality, reason, order, and obedience [39]. In a hierarchical culture, developing efficient control mechanisms across the entire organization is given importance by organizational leaders or managers. In a hierarchical culture, everyone in the organization abides by the rules, and there are clear procedures and guidelines for every action [37]. The ultimate objectives of a hierarchical culture are effectiveness and efficiency. According to study results, there is a bad correlation between organizational culture and several problems, including financial performance and customer integration [32].
Market culture is a workplace that prioritizes results, as determined by the OCAI. A concentration on success serves as the organization’s glue, and its leaders are competitive and hard-working producers. It strives for attainable, sensible goals through efficient, high-productivity operations. Its members appreciate competition, diligence, perfectionism, aggression, and personal initiative. It tends to be result-oriented and is focused on finishing the job [40]. Its leaders tend to be hard-working producers, determined to surpass rivals and be at the top of their industry by upholding stability and control. It places an emphasis on business dealings with other parties, such as suppliers and clients. Organizational members in a competitive culture have specific goals to boost their pay through market success. According to Miguel [33], the competitive culture comprises of open communication, competition, competence, and achievement in addition to acquiring information about customers and competitors and creating appropriate goals. Additionally, as Miguel [33] pointed out, in order to thrive in the cutthroat market, organizational leaders and managers must have a thorough understanding of their clients and market priorities. They must also continue to practice customer-driven leadership to guarantee the satisfaction of their clients [31]. High market share, revenue, high profit, growth, and productivity are the ultimate goals of a competitive culture [41]. Market share and penetration are used to define success. It is crucial to keep leading the market and outpace the opposition. Thus, a market culture is a workplace that prioritizes results, as determined by the OCAI. Leaders are tenacious producers and rivals. They are demanding and tough. The organization is held together by its concentration on winning competitively, and achieving challenging goals and objectives are its long-term concerns.
In general, employee commitment to the organization’s aims can either be encouraged by organizational culture or it can be discouraged or demoralized, endangering the existence of the organization. It is also believed that the concept of conflicting values, which has been included into a large body of recent theoretical and research literature, adequately explains the kind and strength of cultures that are pervasive in higher educational institutions. However, other scholars contend that due to the dynamic nature of the organizational environment, all organizations will need to function in each quadrant for at least some of the time. In 1991, Denison and Spreitzer [28] stated “An underlying assumption of the competing values model is the importance of balancing.” When one quadrant is overemphasized, an organization may become dysfunctional and even lose its strength.
2.2. Strength and Weakness of Organizational Culture
Organizational cultures can be either robust or weak [33]. According to different scholars, organizational culture can either motivate workers to give their all for the benefit of the organization’s aims or it can discourage or demoralize them, which would be detrimental to the existence of the business [4, 42, 43]. How well an organization’s employees can adapt to its culture will determine what kind of culture it will adopt [44]. When every employee accepts and follows the predefined pattern of conduct that has been proven to be favorable to the entire company in terms of content and context, an organization has a strong culture. The existence of a successful organizational culture is a sign that employees’ aspirations and the organization’s objectives are aligned [45]. On the other hand, if an organization’s values and beliefs are not firmly and widely held within the organization, it is a sign of bad organizational culture. Hence, most researchers believe that organizations with positive and strong cultures perform better than those with weak cultures [33, 43].
2.3. Organizational Culture and Job Performance
Job performance is the employee’s level of success in executing individual tasks and responsibilities. As stated by different scholars like Kivindu [46], Nongo and Ikyanon [12], and Ahmad [47], the performance of employees is influenced by the degree of identification they have with the organization. Thus, employees who identify themselves with the organization are likely to be more motivated to work and achieve the organizational goals. However, employee performance is influenced by different internal and external factors. As Osabiya [48] indicated, the internal factors are the ones coming from within the individual himself, such as motivation, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment the individual has, whereas the external factors are the ones coming from outside the individual self, consisting of leadership, job security, and organizational culture. Thus, organizational culture is one of the external factors that influence employee job performance. Organizational culture has a connection with organizational commitment. As Robbins and Judge [49] said, one specific result of a strong organizational culture is the decrease in employee turnover. Thus, the coherence state between the goals of the employees and the goals of the organization through a cultural perspective will build a strong organizational commitment among the employees. Similarly, Nazarian et al. [50] and Khan et al. [51] stated that an employee’s commitment towards his organization can become a very significant instrument to enhance his performance.
The working results achieved by an employee, both qualitatively and quantitatively, in performing the tasks that have been assigned in accordance with the standards and prior set criteria are referred to as job performance or actual performance. On the other hand, Bernardin and Russell [52] defined job performance as an achievement record of certain job functions within a certain period of time, which consists of six categories as its indicators: quality, quantity, time concise, effectiveness, independence, and working commitment. However, to improve the performance of employees, they will be exposed to organizational goals, strategies, values, and behavior standards of the organization that are related to the main jobs they perform. As a result, each employee will understand his or her role and responsibility and will work hard to complete tasks within the time frame specified.
A well-developed culture and a member’s association with it are frequently regarded as critical factors determining an organization’s success or failure [13, 53]. This leads to higher organizational performance. Organizational culture, organizational dedication, and job satisfaction have a substantial relationship and influence employee job performance, according to empirical studies by [54–56]. Several empirical investigations that also demonstrate that these elements have a favorable and significant impact on employees’ job performance theoretically support these relationships. However, an organization’s culture is created by its views, philosophies, guiding principles, and values. The workplace’s culture governs how employees interact with each other and with coworkers. According to Posner [57] and Owoyemi and Ekwoaba [58], it generally has a favorable impact on the overall performance of the organization if the employees are devoted and if their aims are synergistically matched with the institutional goals and values.
2.4. Organizational Culture in HEIs
Organizations today are knowledge-based and their existence or success depends greatly on flexibility and innovation. However, as Jin et al [59], Ahmed and Shafiq [6], Laforet [60], and Onyango [61] stated organizations’ flexibility and innovativeness are greatly influenced by the type and nature of organizational culture they have. Therefore, as Read [62] indicated, HEIs should provide an effective reaction to the different demands of their customers and make innovative changes to ensure their existence. The effort made by HEIs to respond to the different questions of the stakeholders is directly or indirectly influenced by the organizational culture the institutions have. Thus, it is the organizational culture that the institution has that makes it different from other HEIs by its values, basic assumptions and norms, leaders, symbols and language, and customs.
HEIs are similar to business organizations in many ways. They have structures and processes, as well as missions, goals, and strategies. However, the two organizations have organizational cultures that differ in terms of stating their mission, which means they follow their objectives, the image the organizations have, management processes, and interpersonal relationships. As a result, leaders at higher educational institutions as different scholars [63, 64] emphasized the importance of looking at organizational culture and its influence on how individuals perceive identity and openness to change in their organization.
In HEIs, teaching, research, and community services are carriers of organizational culture seen as an interconnected web whose components overlap and connect with one another. Hence, increasing performance on its mission sends the right message to its customers (students and the general public) regarding what the institution does to reach its mission and goals, solve critical problems in the local community, and build trust in its capacity to do what it has promised. To promote innovators’ ideas and creativity in research, teaching, and community service, HEIs, as stated by Arad et al [65], should provide (to achieve their mission) well-established teams with diversity and individual talents.
The mutual respect and trust that develop in educational institutions have an influence on institutional creativity and innovation. Academics need to understand the existence of different opinions and interests in their organizations and work towards developing effective teamwork. Moreover, as Rao [66], Maseko [44], and Agrawal and Tyagi [67] indicated, even though creating an effective teamwork environment is not an easy task, it is expected of institutional leaders to develop shared values among the group members of the organization. However, leaders of higher education institutions should think about what kind of organizational culture makes their institution more effective. This is because HEIs contain highly qualified employees performing knowledge-related activities, using symbolic and intellectual abilities in their work, with a high degree of autonomy and flat organizational hierarchies. Moreover, as Tiemey [68] and Goronductse and Hilman [69] noted, if each higher education institution tried to build the foundation of trust as a social value, it would make the teaching and learning process more effective.
3. Methodology
3.1. Research Design and Its Approach
In this study, the researchers adopted a mixed research design (explanatory) intending to investigate the perception of respondents about organizational culture and its strength in higher educational institutions. Mixed methods involve the collection of both qualitative and quantitative data through various methods. This design is chosen because, according to [70, 71], “[it] is used to integrate more than one research approach for data collection, analyzing, and mixing both quantitative and qualitative strategies to comprehend a research problem in a single investigation.” Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, data gathering was completed for a full year in the academic years 2020-2021.
3.2. Target Population and Sampling Techniques
The target population of the study was the students and academic and administrative staff of Hawassa University. The researchers restricted the sample size to be 436 respondents (65 academic staff, 153 administrative staff, and 218 students) who were selected proportionally from their respective stratum using a simple random sampling technique in order to provide equal chances for the population to be part of this research. Moreover, college deans, members of student councils, and directorates of the administrative staff were purposely selected for the study with their consent [72].
3.3. Data Collection Instruments
Quantitative data for the study were gathered from 436 respondents (but only 396 were returned) through questionnaires that were adopted from standardized organizational culture assessment instruments (OCAI) developed by Cameron and Quinn in 1999. The reason for choosing this questionnaire was that it provided sufficient information about the criteria of success (such as the organization’s dynamics and flexibility) and could be easily used to assess not only the present state but also the future intended one.
According to Cameron and Quinn [20], the OCAI (questionnaires) consists of 24 items and 6 dimensions of organizational culture (dominant culture, organizational leadership, management of employees, organizational glue, strategic emphases, and criteria of success). Each question has four alternatives, A, B, C, and D, which represent clan, adhocracy, market, and hierarchy culture types, respectively. The OCAI consists of six questions. For each question, there are four options. They split the 100 points among the four possibilities based on how much each of these options resembles the respondents’ own institute. The alternative that most closely reflects their institution should receive more points. To collect qualitative data, interviews were conducted with 3 college deans, 2 members of the students’ council, and 2 directorates of administrative staff. A semistructured interview schedule was designed and used for the study. The interview in general took thirty-five to forty minutes.
3.4. Procedure
To take advantage of methodological triangulation and to gain a deeper understanding of the research issue, the researchers decided to combine the quantitative research strategy (via quantitative surveys) with the qualitative approach (through semistructured interviews). Each part began with directions that were both clear and succinct and a description of the instruments. A cover letter that described the study’s goals, the significance of answering the questions, the confidentiality of respondents’ responses, and general instructions on how to do so were included with the questionnaire. A total of 436 respondents received the questionnaire, which was distributed. The questionnaire was provided to the respondents with three weeks deadline to complete and hand deliver it to the researchers. The researchers also gathered qualitative data in addition to the quantitative data. Semistructured interviews were used to collect the qualitative information. The interview protocol was developed in accordance with the purpose of the study after analyzing relevant literature and the researchers’ experiences in higher education. The guiding interview questions included both general and targeted inquiries that assisted in eliciting participant perspectives on OC. The participants’ chosen language, Amharic, was used for the interview (the official language of the country for student councils and the directorate of administrative staff). Seven people were the subjects of one-on-one interviews. The individual interviews took between 50 and 65 minutes.
3.5. Data Analysis
Data obtained through questionnaires were analyzed quantitatively using SPSS V20. Data obtained from each questionnaire (standardized organizational culture assessment instrument) were coded, tabulated, and organized according to the organizational culture assessment instrument (OCAI) scoring method. The results of the OCAI survey were obtained by computing the average response scores for each alternative (A, B, C, and D). Each of the average A, B, C, and D scores was related to the clan, adhocracy, and market and hierarchy cultures, respectively. In addition to the Cameron and Quinine procedures, to analyze the data, both descriptive statistics (percentage and mean) and inferential statistics (one-way ANOVA) were used. The qualitative data obtained through semistructured interviews were analyzed qualitatively. For analysis, interviewees were symbolized as C1, C2, and C3 (for college deans), S1 and S2 (for student councils), and D1 and D2 (for directorate of administrative staff).
4. Results
4.1. Findings from the Survey Study (Questionnaire)
To investigate the organizational culture of higher educational institutions, some areas such as perception of respondents, dominant organizational culture, and cultural profile and strength were addressed in the study.
4.1.1. Background Characteristics of the Respondent
The purpose of this section is to provide some basic background information about the characteristics of the sample respondents included in this study. Questionnaires were distributed to 436 academic staff, students, and administrative staff members of Hawassa University, out of which 396 (90.8%) were properly filled in and returned. Interviews were also conducted with seven participants (Table 2).
As indicated in Table 2, among the participants, 234 (59.1%) were males and 162 (40.9%) were females. In terms of age category, 21 (5.3%) of the respondents were under the age of 23, whereas the majority (334 or 84.3%) were between 23 and 37 years old. The respondents were selected from different areas of study, and most administrative staff (82.5%) were first-degree holders, while all academic staff had a second degree or above. Concerning the service years of academic and administrative staff, the majority (>90%) of the respondents had more than five years of teaching and working experience in higher educational institutions. Thus, the respondents had ample experience in providing relevant information regarding the organizational culture of their university (Tables 3 and 4).
4.1.2. Respondents’ Perceptions of Organizational Culture in the Current and Preferred Situations
(1) In the Current Situation. The general organizational culture at Hawassa University in the present situation is shown in Table 3. According to the analysis’s findings, the administrative staff and student respondents gave the highest mean ratings (M = 32.76 and M = 30.32, respectively) for organizational culture types that fall under the hierarchy, in contrast to the academic staff respondents, who gave the highest mean ratings (M = 33.36) for the adhocracy organizational culture type for the current situation. A one-way ANOVA test was also utilized to ascertain whether there were significant variations in respondents’ perceptions regarding the organizational culture of Hawassa University in the current situation. Between the three groups of respondents, there were no statistically significant differences (F = 0.644, ; and F = 0.259, for clan and market culture types, respectively), and they gave low ratings for clan and market culture types in the current context. Despite the fact that the respondents’ perceptions varied generally, they gave the hierarchy and adhocracy culture types, which currently predominate at Hawassa University, high marks. However, the adhocracy culture was accepted and given the highest mean score (M = 33.36) by the academic staff in the current scenario, in contrast to the students and administrative personnel.
(2) In Preferred Situation. The general organizational culture at Hawassa University in the preferred situation is shown in Table 4. According to the analysis’s findings, the administrative staff and academic staff respondents gave the highest mean ratings (M = 32.47 and M = 31.86, respectively) for organizational culture types that fall under the clan, in contrast to the student respondents, who gave the highest mean ratings (M = 31.66) for the market organizational culture type for the preferred situation. However, in the preferred situation, the three groups of respondents scored poorly for hierarchy (overall M = 16.68) organizational culture when compared to the other types of organizational cultures. A one-way ANOVA test was also utilized to ascertain whether there were significant variations in respondents’ perceptions. The findings indicated that there were no differences between the three groups of respondents for the clan, adhocracy, or hierarchical culture types (F = 0.207, 5; F = 0.881, ; and F = 3.324, , respectively). The academic staff, in contrast to the students and administrative personnel in the preferred scenario, gave the market culture a poor rating (M = 22.91). This demonstrates that, in contrast to administrative employees and students, academic staff do not share these preferences for the degree to which a market culture type should prevail at Hawassa University in the preferred scenario.
4.1.3. Dominant Organizational Culture
As can be observed from Table 5 and explained in the current situation, the overall group provided a mean score of 28.23 for hierarchy, which is the highest point of all the remaining clan, adhocracy, and market culture types, with values of 22.44, 26.24, and 23.08, respectively. Concerning the organizational culture in the preferred situation, the overall group of Hawassa University preferred their organization to be a clan with the highest mean score of 30.18. Next to this, they rated a 27.27 mean score for the market, which is higher than adhocracy (M = 25.87) and hierarchy (M = 16.68) in third and fourth places, respectively. In general, according to the participants’ response scale and the OCAI results, which are shown in Table 4, a hierarchical culture was determined to be the prevalent organizational culture at Hawassa University. The respondents would want to see a clan culture at least in their institution, notwithstanding the hierarchy culture that now predominates at Hawassa University (Table 6).
4.1.4. Cultural Profile and Strengths in the Current and Preferred Situation
As shown in Table 7, the six dimensions of organizational culture listed in the OCAI, dominant characteristics (M = 29.41), organizational leadership (M = 28.60), management of employees (M = 27.87), organizational glue (M = 26.57), strategic emphasis (M = 26.71), and criteria for success (M = 30.24), are all based on hierarchical culture in the current situation. However, unlike the four organizational culture dimensions listed in the OCAI, dominant characteristics (M = 35.07), organizational leadership (M = 32.86), strategic emphasis (M = 28.54), and criteria for success (27.60), the respondents’ perceptions of organizational culture for the two dimensions of management of employees (M = 32.29) and organizational glue (M = 31.70) diverge from the clan organizational culture, and in the ideal scenario, they are believed to be adhocracy and market culture, respectively. Contrary to the chosen scenario, the respondents thought that their organization was using the hierarchy organizational culture type in the current scenario. Additionally, the study’s findings showed that, in the current and preferred scenarios, respectively, hierarchy and clan culture types are observed to be slightly stronger than the other types of organizational culture in current and preferred situations.
4.2. Findings from Interviews
4.2.1. Organizational Culture Perception
Two interviewees from the student council and the administrative directorate (S2 and D1) clarified the following in their responses to questions about the principles on which the leaders of their organization manage their organizational activities: “Management bodies that were assigned to lead and manage the organization at various levels adhere to a formalized and structured workplace. So, formal regulations, processes, and policies keep the corporation running smoothly.”
Conversely, interviewers C1, C2, C3, and S1—student council members and college deans—revealed that senior management bodies are expected to carry out and completely adhere to formal norms and processes to run their organizations. Even if they lack legal justification, they nevertheless make decisions that are advantageous to their institution and its employees (policies or government rules which support them). However, one of the administrative directorates (D2) provided the following confirmation: as things stand, we direct our staff to carry out their duties in accordance with governmental laws and regulations. This is so that everything that descends via the hierarchy is upheld by the chain of command, which forces everyone to act appropriately.
The majority of interviewees (C1, C2, C3, S1, and D1) stated that they are tired of the current ad hoc and trial state of the university and that they prefer a well-organized, family-like culture where they can demonstrate their dedication and loyalty. “The university’s top management does not use any incentive to achieve the full motivation of its staff,” claims one administrative staff directorate (D2). “This problem is particularly acute for administrative workers, which provide the necessary support for the smooth operation of the teaching-learning process.” He continued by saying that this would affect the university’s overall performance and could not be accomplished just by wishing for the institution’s vision in a vacuum.
4.2.2. Organization-Wide Dominant Culture
Interviewees C1, C3, D1, and D2 preferred the clan type of organizational culture over that of the college deans and administrative directorate at HEIs. “An organization may not be effective solely by obeying rules and regulations,” C3 noted in reference to this. He does, however, want the leadership of his institution to attempt and foster participatory organizational cultures and a sense of ownership.
On the other hand, the two student council members who agreed to be interviewed (S1 and S2) said that the institution should promote interest-based training for students to graduate with the knowledge and skills they need to compete in the job market. A similar statement was made by a college dean who took part in an interview (C2): I think the current organizational culture has to be altered. But if things stay as they are, the staff’s motivation will drop, the institution will not succeed in realizing its aims and vision, and its very survival could be in jeopardy. The institution can also be unable to satisfy the demands and interests of its constituents.
4.2.3. Profile and Strength of Culture
Almost all interview participants stated that their institutions practice a more hierarchical form of culture despite their needs when asked about the culture profile and strength of HEIs. Two respondents (D1 and C2) in particular advanced the following statement: “Leaders in our organization focus on the rules, regulations, and policies of the government to lead the organization and even not innovate to exercise different leadership styles to create an environment that is conducive to the needs and interests of the subordinate.”
Similar to the previous respondent, D3, the importance of clan culture for their organization was also affirmed. This is so that he may support his claim that “organizations with a clan type of culture may feature good performance, high morale, and employee satisfaction; high internal communication; and a high commitment to support and work together with the leadership.”
5. Discussion
There are opinions that differ among the response groups even if the organizational culture types of hierarchy and clan exist and are, respectively, chosen by the respondents in the current and preferred situations. For instance, academic staff perceive an adhocracy-type culture in today’s HEIs, in contrast to students and administrative employees. Students, on the other hand, want a market-type culture for their HEIs over a clan-type culture. This suggests that it may have an effect on the effectiveness of the organization, particularly if the organizational beliefs, norms, assumptions, and values are not taken into account by all members of the organization as their values, norms, and assumptions. As a result, if the institutional culture is not shared by all members of the organization, it will surely have an impact on the employees’ motivation, productivity, and effectiveness [5, 11, 27, 73, 74]. To address the needs of many stakeholders, however, it is important for organizations to have more than one type of organizational culture. The difference in viewpoint should be recognized. According to Cameron and Quinn [19], developing an organizational culture that supports teamwork, employee engagement, and corporate commitment is crucial because these factors increase an organization’s effectiveness and profitability.
An organization needs autonomy with accountability, more freedom, and a low level of formality to accomplish this goal, so that staff members can have faith in the company and act in its best interests [12, 18, 75]. This indicates that additional possibilities should occasionally be taken into account rather than rigorously implementing rules or following the hierarchy’s procedures. Similar to this, an HEI is a company that should prioritize internal upkeep while being adaptable, caring about people, and compassionate toward clients [42, 76].
As a result, leaders of a particular business should give collaboration the attention it deserves by including employees in decision-making, recognizing their value to the company, and giving them authority.
To ensure employees’ loyalty to the company, it is crucial to create an environment that provides them with a sense of ownership and gives them the freedom to work on various problems.
This study’s findings about the prevalent culture in higher educational institutions indicated that even though hierarchy culture now predominates there, respondents would want to see a clan culture at most. This demonstrated that they are in severe need of an institutional culture of family ties, love, and good relationships rather than searching for a highly formalized and structured place of employment.
In this regard, the study acknowledges that the management of HEIs places a priority on variables that might increase their institutions’ effectiveness and competitiveness in the labor market as well as on paying attention to the institutional stakeholders’ pulses. The administration of HEIs must always plan and act with flexibility in mind to maintain competitiveness in the market. They must maintain the institution’s image and meet client needs. As a result, executives should work to develop an organizational culture that is acceptable to the organization’s internal and external stakeholders. This is because the perceptions of both internal and external stakeholders are significantly influenced by the organization’s image [77, 78]. Additionally, the management and leaders of the institutions ought to be crucial in the development of effective plans [79].
The results showed that four organizational culture dimensions—dominant features, organizational leadership, strategic emphasis, and criteria for success—are consistent with clan culture in the ideal circumstance, according to respondents’ perceptions of culture, profile, and strength. The respondent stated that adhocracy and market culture, respectively, are the most preferable cultural aspects for the two dimensions (management of employees and organizational glue). The findings of this study revealed that, in contrast to the preferred scenario, all six organizational cultures were viewed as hierarchical cultures in the actual circumstance. The study’s findings also indicated that the hierarchy in the desired situation and the clan in the current situation were found to be somewhat stronger than the other culture types in most organizational culture elements.
Until the 1960s, almost all books on management and organizational studies were written under the assumption that Weber’s hierarchy, or bureaucracy, was the best type of organizational culture because it produced goods and services that were reliable, effective, and highly consistent. The keys to success were seen to be clear lines of decision-making authority, consistent norms and procedures, and control and accountability mechanisms. The organization’s long-term priorities are efficiency, predictability, and stability. The group is held together by formal regulations and policies on the one hand. While on the other hand, clan culture is characterized by a warm workplace where people open up a lot about themselves. It resembles a large family. Leaders are viewed as role models, sometimes even parents. Loyalty keeps the organization together. Personal dedication is excellent. The organization places a strong emphasis on the long-term advantages of personal growth, emphasizing the importance of great cohesion and morale. Success is determined by the environment on the inside and the care for people. The company values collaboration, involvement, and consensus highly (Cameron and Quinn, 1999).
In view of the findings of the study, the researchers of this study recognize that the quality of the management and the way they lead HEIs is an important issue for developing the desired institutional culture, which has its own contribution towards addressing customers’ needs. Similarly, having a strong organizational management team plays a significant role in shaping the behavior of the subordinates who are willing to work towards the vision of the organization based on the established institutional culture.
6. Conclusions and Recommendations
6.1. Conclusions
Organizational culture is defined as the collection of shared values, beliefs, and standards that affect employees’ thoughts, feelings, and behaviors at work. Thus, as Meseko [44] pointed out, organizational culture is an organization’s perspective towards its internal stakeholders, which constitutes the fundamental principles that govern employees’ behaviors and are established and disseminated within an organization. Even though it is impossible to overstate the significance of organizational culture as an organizational variable under investigation, it is important to know that employee motivation is significantly influenced by organizational culture.
The organizational cultures of businesses and institutions of higher education differ in terms of their goals, products, leadership styles, interpersonal dynamics, management styles, and corporate image. The following conclusions have been reached by the researchers in light of the facts and analyses covered above. Despite the hierarchy culture that now prevails at Hawassa University, the respondents would want to see a clan culture type in their institution. The results of the analysis also showed that the clan in the desirable circumstance and the hierarchy in the current situation are somewhat stronger than the other cultural groups. Therefore, higher education leaders and managers should work to create a strong organizational culture in order to achieve institutional goals and to maintain job market competitiveness. This is because effective organizational cultures have been associated with higher levels of employee loyalty to the company as well as enhanced employee engagement and interpersonal relationships [44, 47, 61].
However, the researchers believe that it is not necessary to ask if a culture is robust or not. Instead, it is crucial to promote cultures that are powerful and positive. This is because all strong organizational cultures may not be positive and they may have negative, detrimental effects on the organizations. To put it another way, we should only support those components of culture that will assist employees develop high ethical standards. High staff productivity and overall enhanced organizational performance will follow from this. Moreover, according to respondents’ perceptions of culture, profile, and strength, the findings of this study revealed that, in contrast to the present scenario, in the ideal circumstance, only four organizational culture dimensions (dominant features, organizational leadership, strategic emphasis, and criteria for success) are consistent with clan culture, while the management of employees and organizational glue are the most preferable dimensions by adhocracy and market culture types, respectively. Therefore, it is crucial for leaders to understand the different types of culture required in their organization in order to accomplish their goals.
6.2. Recommendations
(i)It is well known that organizational culture has a big impact on how employees interact with each other and view their institutions. Therefore, higher education leaders need to be well informed that in order to achieve their goals, it is essential for them to learn and comprehend the different types of organizational culture required in their institution. Moreover, the leaders should determine how to increase the effectiveness of their institutions in a market that is competitive and what role organizational culture plays in the growth of the institutions.(ii)Corporate culture can never remain stagnant, despite the fact that it changes frequently. As a result, if the organizational culture of higher educational institutes is not changed to reflect the culture desired by the stakeholders, the performance of HEIs as a whole may suffer. Therefore, academics advise HEIs to try to change their current corporate culture as the organizational environment is fluid.(iii)Although the outcomes of this study can only be applied to Hawassa University, government HEIs in Ethiopia can still benefit from what was learned. This is because the government funds all government institutions nationwide and appoints the bulk of HEI administrators. As a result, it is anticipated that all public HEIs have a largely uniform organizational culture. As a result, the Ethiopian Ministry of Education should provide HEI leaders with relevant training and assist them in creating the organizational culture that their stakeholders desire.(iv)The findings of this study pave the way for additional research in various areas. Thus, we recommend that the study be extended to other public and private higher educational institutions in Ethiopia in order to validate the findings and generalize them to all universities in the nation. Moreover, we suggest that a further study be conducted to find out if there are any relationships between people or between all the cultural traits, and if so, how strong they are.Data Availability
The data used to support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon request.
Conflicts of Interest
The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.
Acknowledgments
The authors’ acknowledge Hawassa University for providing fund and supporting this modestly sized disciplinary investigation. In this regard, the authors would like to express their sincere appreciation for the support and encouragement provided by the Research Programs Directorate (RPD) and the Office of Vice President for Research and Technology Transfer (RTTVP).