Chapter 11. Organizational Culture 1

The literature on organizational culture is as relevant to public science management as it is to the management of private sector business organizations. Given a rapidly changing environment and continuing insights into organizational effectiveness, science organizations, as most other organizations, are seriously rethinking what they do and how they can best define and accomplish their goals and objectives. Once goals are defined, it is necessary to address the type of culture that is necessary to advance these goals and objectives and ensure the successful implementation of the necessary changes. In addition, the organizational effectiveness literature has been increasingly emphasizing the importance of culture in motivating and maximizing the value of its intellectual assets, particularly its human capital. This is particularly important in knowledge intensive organizations, such as publicly funded scientific laboratories. This review of the organizational culture literature makes it clear that (1) culture is essential for both successful organizational change and maximizing the value of human capital (2) culture management should become a critical management competency, and (3) while the right culture may be a necessary condition for organizational success, it is by no means a sufficient condition. An important challenge for managers is to determine what the most effective culture is for their organization and, when necessary, how to change the organizational culture effectively.