The Role of Power Distance on Organizational Structure and Individual and Organizational Outcomes
Sprache des Vortragstitels:
Englisch
Original Tagungtitel:
Academy of Management 2020 Annual Meeting
Sprache des Tagungstitel:
Englisch
Original Kurzfassung:
The aim of this paper is to renew interest and expand the relationship between organizational structure, societal culture, and its impact by focusing on distinct individual and organizational level outcomes. Drawing from the structural contingency theory, we extend previous research and propose that the alignment between power distance and structure variables of formalization and decentralization will have distinct effects on two levels of outcomes. Using multi-level data collected from 387 organizations and 7187 employees across 14 countries, we find that when structures and cultures are aligned, employees display more positive work outcomes (i.e. increased levels of engagement). On the other hand, organizational outcomes (i.e. organizational performance) in fact do not enjoy the same benefits of alignment. Our findings provide new and surprising insights to scholars that may need further examinations. Moreover, by broadening the perspectives of individual versus organizational outcomes, we highlight a key challenge for organizations to balance employee expectations and organizational performance requirements when preparing, planning, and strategizing organizational forms and practices.