Organizational Culture in the Competing Values Model: Construct validity of the German translated OCAI

In this paper organizational culture is considered as the representation of the values of the organization by its members. Values are structured complementary. The Competing Values Model (Quinn, 1988; Cameron & Quinn, 1999/2006) locates four types of cultures (Human Relations, Internal Process, Rational Goal, and Open Systems) on two axes from external to internal focus and from formal orientation to flexibility. The circular structure of the Competing Values Model offers compatibility with other value structure models. The related Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument (OCAI) was translated into German (four content blocks of four type items). A sample of 1138 judgments given by 352 members of 120 organizations in different perspectives (self-perception, ideal, other perception, and meta-perception) was analyzed. Construct validity of the OCAI was estimated by a tau-equivalent MTMM model. Results show a strong general source, a moderate abundant block source, minor specificities of the quadrants, and the expected bipolar location of the four culture types. Reliability of the axes and standard error of measurement are given. The discussion recommends the OCAI as a screening instrument; the appendix documents the German items (D-OCAI). Sorry, the complete entry is only available in German.