Organizational culture: the case of Turkish construction industry

Abstract

Purpose

The main stimulus of this study is to examine the cultural profile of construction organizations within the context of Turkish construction industry.

Design/methodology/approach

This study is a part of a cross‐cultural research, initiated by CIB W112 (Working Commission W112 of the International Council for Research and Innovation in Building and Construction), concurrently ongoing in 15 different countries. Data were collected from 107 contracting and 27 architectural firms, by means of a questionnaire based on OCAI (Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument), a well‐known and widely used measurement tool developed by Cameron and Quinn (1999).

Findings

The findings show that the Turkish construction industry has been dominated by firms with a mixture of clan and hierarchy cultures. In addition, the analysis reported here indicates cultural differences at organizational level in terms of firm type, size, and age.

Originality/value

This paper contributes to the understanding of organizational culture in the construction industry by providing empirical evidence from the Turkish construction industry. As future research direction, it highlights the need of a cross‐cultural comparison among different countries, and an investigation of the effects of cultural profiles of the organizational members on organizational culture.

Citation

Oney‐Yazıcı, E., Giritli, H., Topcu‐Oraz, G. and Acar, E. (2007), "Organizational culture: the case of Turkish construction industry", Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, Vol. 14 No. 6, pp. 519-531. https://doi.org/10.1108/09699980710828996