Open Access Open Access  Restricted Access Subscription Access
Open Access Open Access Open Access  Restricted Access Restricted Access Subscription Access

Influence of Firm Size on Organizational Culture and Employee Morale


Affiliations
1 Graduate School of Business University of Newcastle Newcastle 2300, NSW, Australia
     

   Subscribe/Renew Journal


Organization size (as defined by the number of employees) has received substantial attention from researchers and management writers as a fundamental component affecting organizational design, structure and shape. Some researchers claim size influences organizational effectiveness and efficiency and some claim it does not. In this study, which was conducted in six Australian workplaces, it was found that organizational size affected a number of variables. For example, the organizational culture within the three small firms investigated was more positive; management was more consultative and employee morale was higher than in the three large firms investigated. As a result, the findings from this study indicate that in relation to a number of factors explained in the paper, larger firms may wish to emulate their smaller counterparts in order to achieve higher employee morale, and hence, organizational effectiveness.

Keywords

Organizational Culture, Employee Morale
User
Notifications

  • Aldrich, H.E., and Auster, E., (1986), Even Dwarfs Started Small: Liabilities of Size and Age and Their Strategy Implications, in Research in Organizational Behavior, B.M. Staw and L.L. Cummings, (Eds)., JAI Press, Greenwich, CT.8, 165 – 198.
  • Appelbaum, E. (1998), Reflections on the High Road Path: Work Organization, Knowledge Management, and Corporate Governance, Paper prepared for EU/US Workshop on Work Organisation, 8–9 June, Brussels.
  • AWIRS (1997), Moorehead, A., Steele, M, Alexander, M., Stephen, K., and Duffin, L. Changes at Work, The 1995 Australian Workplace Industrial Relations Survey, Longman, Sydney.
  • Bass, B. M. (1981), Stodgill’s Handbook of Leadership, Free Press, New York.
  • Bracker, J. S., Keats, B. W. & Pearson, J. N. (1988), Planning and Financial Performance among Small Firms in a Growth Industry, Strategic Management Journal 9(6): 591-603.
  • Broadfoot, L. and Ashkanasy, N. (1994), A Survey of Organizational Culture Measurement Instruments, Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of Australian Social Psychologists, Queensland.
  • Candalino, A., and Knowlton, M. (1994), Small Companies as Business Laboratories, Canadian Business Review, Spring: 25–27.
  • Child, J. (1984), Organization: A Guide to Problems and Practice (2nd Edition), Harper and Row, London.
  • Connell, J. and Keogh, P. (1996), The Concept of Peer Feedback: Mechanism and Measure of a Learning Organisation, 1st International Conference on the Dynamics of Strategy, April, Surrey European Management School, Surrey, UK.
  • Daft, R., and Steers, R. (1986), Organizations. A Micro/Macro Approach. Harper Collins, USA.
  • Davis, E. and Lansbury, R. (1996), Consultation and Employee Participation in Australian Workplaces: 1986 - 1995, in E. Davis and R. Lansbury (Eds.), Managing Together, Addison Wesley Longman, Melbourne.
  • Dawson, S. (1996), Analysing Organisations, MacMillan, Hants.
  • Dickson, W. (1981), Participation as an Organisational Means of Control, Journal of Management Studies 18(2): 1-8.
  • Field, L. and Ford, B. (1995), Managing Organisational Learning: From Rhetoric to Reality, Longman, Melbourne.
  • Flavel, R.W. and Williams, J. (1996), Strategic Management: A Practical Approach, Prentice Hall, Sydney.
  • Forster, J.JH, and Browne, M. C. (1996), Principles of Strategic Management, MacMillan Education, Australia.
  • Galbraith, J. (1977), Organization Design. Reading: Addison-Wesley.
  • Gardner, M. and Palmer, G. (1997), Employment Relations. Industrial Relations and Human Resource Management in Australia, MacMillan, Melbourne.
  • Glaser, B.G. and Strauss, A.L. (1967), The Discovery of Grounded Theory: Strategies for Qualitative Research, Aldine Publishing Company, Chicago.
  • Greiner, L. E. (1998), Evolution and Revolution as Organizations Grow, Harvard Business Review, 76(3): 55-68.
  • Grant, R.M. (1998), Contemporary Strategy Analysis (3rd Edn), Mass: Blackwell, Cambridge.
  • Green, R. and Connell, J. (1995), Skill Gaps and Training Needs in the Hunter Region, Unpublished report for the Hunter Area Consultative Committee.
  • Griffin, R. (1996), Management, Houghton Mifflin, Boston.
  • Hannand, M.T. and Freeman, J. (1984), Structural Inertia and Organizational Change, American Sociological Review 49: 149-164.
  • Hitt, M. A., Hoskisson, R.E., and Ireland R.D. (1990), Mergers and Acquisitions and Managerial Commitment to Innovation in M-Form Firms, Strategic Management Journal 11: 29-47.
  • Hubbard, G. (1996), Strategic Planning, Prentice Hall, Sydney.
  • Karpin, D. (1995), Enterprising Nation: Renewing Australia’s Managers to Meet the Challenges of the Asia-Pacific Century, Report of the Industry Task Force on Leadership and Management Skills, Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra.
  • Kramlinger, T. (1992), Training’s Role in a Learning Organisation, Training July: 46-51.
  • Likert, R. and Likert, J. G. (1976), New Ways of Managing Conflict, McGraw-Hill, New York.
  • Mabey, C. and Salaman, G. and Storey (1998), Strategic Human Resource Management, Blackwell Publishers. Oxford.
  • March, J.G. (1981), Decisions in Organizations and Theories of Choice, in A.H. Van deVen and W. Joyce (Eds), Perspectives on Organization Design and Behavior, Wiley, New York.
  • Millett, B. (1995), Strategic Management: Clarifying our Assumptions about Organisations, Management Papers: Working Paper Series, Monash University, Melbourne.
  • Moorehead, A., Steele, M, Alexander, M., Stephen, K., and Duffin, L. (1997), Changes at Work, The 1995 Australian Workplace Industrial Relations Survey (AWIRS), Longman, Sydney.
  • Morgan, G. (1986), Images of Organization, Sage Publications, London.
  • Nagel, A. (1984), Organising for Strategic Management, Long Range Planning 17(5): 71-78.
  • Orser, B.J., Hogarth-Scott, S., Riding, A.L., (2000), Performance, Firm Size and Management Problem Solving, Journal of Small Business Management 38(14): 42-53.
  • Pateman, C. (1983), Some Reflections on Participation and Democratic Theory, in C. Crouch and F. Heller (Eds.), International Yearbook of Organizational Democracy, John Wiley & Sons, Chichester.
  • Pelham, A.M. (2000), Market Orientation and Other Potential Influences on Performance in Small and Medium-sized Manufacturing Firms, Journal of Small Business Management 39(II): 48-65.
  • Pidgeon, N. (1996), Grounded Theory: Theoretical Background, in J.T.E. Richardson, (Ed.), Handbook of Qualitative Research Methods for Psychology and the Social Sciences, pp. 86-101, The British Psychological Society, Leicester.
  • Prather, C. (1992), Risks and Rewards, Executive Excellence 9(1): 9-10.
  • Pugh, D. S., and Hickson, D. J. (1976), Organization Structure and Its Context: The Aston Program Volume I, Farnborough, Saxon.
  • Purcell, J. (1987), Mapping Management Style in Employee Relations, Journal of Management Studies, 24(5): 533-48.
  • Rhodes, C. (1995), How People at Work Perceive the Communication Effectiveness of Their Managers, Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management Conference, ANZAM, December, Queensland.
  • Rice, G. H. (1983), Strategic Decision Making in Small Business, Journal of General Management, 9(1): 58-65.
  • Schein, E. H. (1985), Organizational Culture and Leadership: A Dynamic View, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco.
  • Shoenberger, E. (1997), The Cultural Crisis of the Firm, Blackwell, Oxford.
  • Strauss, A & Corbin, J. (1990), Basics of Qualitative Research: Grounded Theory Procedures and Technique, Sage Publications, California.
  • Thompson, P., and McHugh, D. (1995), Work Organizations: A Critical Introduction, MacMillan Press, Hants.
  • Viljoen, J. (1994), Strategic Management: Planning and Implementing Successful Corporate Strategies, Longman, Sydney.
  • Whiteley, A. (1995), Managing Change: A Core Values Approach, Macmillan, Melbourne.
  • Wright, C, (1995), The Management of Labour: A History of Australian Employers, Oxford University Press, Melbourne.
  • Yukl, G. (1998), Leadership in Organizations (4th Edition), Prentice Hall, London.

Abstract Views: 574

PDF Views: 1




  • Influence of Firm Size on Organizational Culture and Employee Morale

Abstract Views: 574  |  PDF Views: 1

Authors

Julia Connell
Graduate School of Business University of Newcastle Newcastle 2300, NSW, Australia

Abstract


Organization size (as defined by the number of employees) has received substantial attention from researchers and management writers as a fundamental component affecting organizational design, structure and shape. Some researchers claim size influences organizational effectiveness and efficiency and some claim it does not. In this study, which was conducted in six Australian workplaces, it was found that organizational size affected a number of variables. For example, the organizational culture within the three small firms investigated was more positive; management was more consultative and employee morale was higher than in the three large firms investigated. As a result, the findings from this study indicate that in relation to a number of factors explained in the paper, larger firms may wish to emulate their smaller counterparts in order to achieve higher employee morale, and hence, organizational effectiveness.

Keywords


Organizational Culture, Employee Morale

References