Biases in Research

Research of organisational culture cannot be done without cultural biases but not all researchers are aware of it. An individual person is already a unique mix of the cultures of every group an individual is or was a member of (see Culture 1).

Related to organisational culture, one pitfall has hardly been recognised, the effect of differences in economic systems. The Anglo-Saxon system focuses on shareholder value. A manager has tough decisions to make; a company may be terminated when it makes a profit and satisfies customers but with only a modest return on investment. The Rhineland model focuses on product and customer. A manager preferably comes from the ranks and is intimately involved in product or service. An investor does not get priority but is rather a means to an end. For these reasons for instance Japanese or American management models more often than not fail if implemented lock in another country.

The effect of economic systems may be recognised in for instance the work by Cameron and Quinn, focusing on effectiveness of organisations (actually companies). The work by Dutch researcher Dreimüller actually suffers from the same problem because he takes the Balanced Score Card, an American approach (based on the Anglo-Saxon model), as his starting point for outlining Dutch organisational cultures (based on the Rhineland model). He does not question the applicability of the BSC outside the USA. However, his research and the one by Hofstede are examples of European approaches.

In addition, much of the research is focused on companies, not on government or NGO’s.