Interaction Between National Culture And Ethical Organizational Culture And Its Impact On Organizational Level Performance: A Case Study Of A Multi–National Nonprofit Organization In Ghana

Abstract

The purpose of this dissertation was to conduct a case study on how the outcomes of the interaction between ethical organizational culture and national culture effect organizational level performance. The case study was conducted on a single multinational nonprofit health care facility in Ghana. The study sought to answer the following research questions: 1. How is the ethical culture of this nonprofit organization defined? 2. How relevant is the ethical culture of this nonprofit organization to the organizational level performance? 3. How does the interaction between the ethical culture of this nonprofit organization and the Ghana national culture impact organizational level performance? Overall twenty-five people participated in the study. Participants included supervisors, managers, and other senior executive officers with FOCOS Orthopaedic Hospital, a nonprofit multinational health care institution in Ghana. Also, included in this study was a professor of African Studies at the University of Ghana. The main methods of data collection were direct interviews, document review, and direct observations. Four major themes, the extent to which participants know and understand the ethical organizational culture of FOCOS Orthopaedic Hospital; the dimensions that define the Ghana national culture; the extent to which the ethical organizational culture affects organizational level performance of FOCOS Orthopaedic Hospital; how the outcomes of the interaction between the Ghana national culture and ethical organizational culture impact organizational level performance of FOCOS Orthopaedic Hospital. Qualitative methods were used to analyze the data. Techniques used include, content analyses and flowcharts and graphics to reduce synonymous mix-ups. The results suggested a significant effect of the interaction between ethical organizational culture and country culture on organizational level performance. Thus, evidence gathered from the case study confirmed the importance of sub-cultures and citizen-centered ethical organizational culture in ensuring equilibrium in the ethical organizational culture-national culture interactions. The findings were compared with the predicted outcome to ascertain internal validity of the study. Similarities were identified between the findings and the predicted outcome of the study, indicating the study had internal validity. Based on the findings from this study a recommendation was made for research attention to national cultures as mediators between the ethical organizational cultures and organizational level performance relationships.