Sandrk Nukic, I and Huemann, M (2016) Organizational culture of the Croatian construction industry. Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, 23(2), pp. 237-260. ISSN 0969-9988
Abstract
Purpose - As a transitional country and the newest EU Member State, Croatia is facing a more turbulent business environment, which imposes a need for change of companies seeking to achieve a competitive advantage. Being a labour-intensive business, adaptation of construction companies' strategy strongly depends on the underlying values of their employees. The purpose of this paper is to determine cultural profiles within the construction industry in Croatia. Design/methodology/approach - The research has been conducted using inferential analysis based on primary and secondary data sources. After an extensive literature review, the empirical research was conducted based on a national sample. In all, 108 managers working in construction companies were surveyed using the Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument. Reliability of variables was tested by calculating Cronbach α reliability coefficients. Differences among identified mean scores were examined by ANOVA analysis. Findings - The results were analysed in respect of the size, core business, regional orientation and ownership of the respondents' employing companies. The findings show that, on average, construction companies in Croatia currently function with domination of the hierarchy type of organizational culture, which insufficiently responds to the increasingly competitive environment. Additionally, the study identified the clan as the preferred culture type in Croatian construction companies. Originality/value - The paper offers insights into the organizational culture of Croatian construction companies, which has not been studied before. The value of the paper is the novelty of findings regarding existing and preferred cultural profiles, which have the potential to improve team cohesiveness, team leading, communication among the main stakeholders and efficiency of performance in this transitional country’s construction industry.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | organizational culture; human resource management; croatia; management effectiveness; construction industry; employees |
| Index terms: | ownership, construction industry, efficiency, core busines, competitive advantage, adaptation, culture type, secondary data, methodology, organizational culture, management effectiveness, manager, Croatia, construction company, human resource management, strategy, literature review |
| Subjects: | industry analysis, sociology, cross-cultural studies, market analysis, Geography, economics, performance management, research methods, performance measurement, management, data analysis and analytics, practitioner, organization, user focus, business, data collection methods |
| Topics: | Organizational Design, International Construction, Human Resources, Quality Management, Design Practice, Roles and Professions, Geographical Context, Research Practice, Business Strategy |
| Descriptive scope: | 5 PCTEA |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here