Cultural Assessment: Differences in Perceptions Between Boards of Directors and Other Organizational Members‪.‬

"Organizational culture has been presented as an enigma which has held the attention of practitioners and theorists world-wide for at least two decades. Indeed during the early 1980s organizational culture was presented as a universal 'quick-fix' solution to almost every problem which faced organizations" (Ogbonna and Harris, 1998, p. 35). Scholars and practitioners alike concluded that all firms have cultures and that they vary in strength (Deal and Kennedy, 1982; Ouchi, 1981; Schein, 1992; Peters and Waterman, 1982). Despite the attention paid to it, the construct, in most cases, has not provided the promised solutions. This is partially due to its complexity and the difficulties with defining and measuring it. For example, while researchers have long recognized that subcultures exist in organizations, it has been suggested that "speaking of a profile of an organization's culture is only meaningful when there is high consensus among members about organizational values" (Chatman and Jehn, 1994, p.531). This study examines these issues and suggests that rather than attempting to force a consensus value among organizational members it might be more beneficial for the organization to examine the differences between its various groups. Specifically, this study examines the differences in cultural perceptions between members of the board of directors and other organizational members and discusses why this is an important issue for effective management.