A Synthesised Literature Review on Organisational Culture and Corporate Performance

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to determine the extent to which organisational culture is an explanatory variable for firm’s corporate performance especially now that entities interact in globally knowledge based economies. A review of theoretical and empirical studies were carried out on some developed, emerging and developing nations with particular reference to traits characterised in specific organisational cultural environments in relation to their effects on corporate performance. Those reviews show that organisational culture needs to focus on knowledge management, knowledge conversion, team work, human capital formation, organisational climate and adaptive culture. The studies reviewed focused more on cross-national research design with less attention on the longitudinal aspect. It was not possible to review papers written in non-English language, and those published reviews with access denied to some online. There is a need for more empirical evidence to further justify the relevance of this study area for assessment of organisational culture and corporate performance. This review adds value with the recognition of the need to gear up researchers and policy making bodies to encourage advancement of studies on intellectual capital and knowledge management to enhance sustainable corporate culture and performance.