The Relationship between Organisational Culture and Performance in a Not-for-Profit Organisation

Purpose: The purpose of this dissertation is to conduct relational research into the relationship between organisational culture and performance in a not-for-profit organisation. A thematic approach was following the four frameworks approach as illustrated by Quinlan (2011) which includes the conceptual, theoretical, methodological and analytical frameworks. Methodology: A quantitative research methodology approach was employed for this study. Invitations were emailed out to 200 employees of a not-for-profit organisation inviting them to complete the 48 question Denison Organisational Culture Survey (DOCS). There were 64 employees who completed the survey within the specified time frame. For the performance methodology, 520 of the company’s service users were invited to complete a service user satisfaction survey. 279 useable surveys were completed. Pearson correlation statistical analysis was used to test the relationship between organisational culture and performance. Employee attendance and employee training variables were also tested to investigate whether there is a relationship with organisational culture. Findings: The findings suggested that there is no statistical relationship between organisational culture and performance in a not-for-profit organisation. It was also found that there is no statistical relationship between either employee training or employee attendance and organisational culture. Limitations: There are a number of limitations to the study which include the limitation on performance variables within not-for-profit organisations which backs up the review of literature. A mixedmethods approach could have been implemented if there were no time constraints to the study. The findings may have been different if a qualitative approach was taken and should be considered for when conducting future research into the topic. Value: This dissertation has added significant value to the authors knowledge on organisational culture, the Denison Organisational Culture Survey, performance variables within not-for-profit organisations or the lack of performance measurements, statistical analysis and contributes to the overall understanding between bot constructs