Case Study: Organizational Culture in Montenegrin Companies

The research was carried out on sample of 16 companies in Montenegro, of which 8 were private-owned (50%) and 8 state-owned companies (50%). It included 324 respondents, of which 165 (50.9%) are employed in private-owned companies and 159 respondents (49.1%) in state-owned companies. Respondents were selected randomly. A total of 400 questionnaires were distributed of which 76 questionnaires were not returned (5 questionnaires in 12 companies and 4 four questionnaires in 4 companies) so that the research eventually included a sample of 324 respondents. Companies were of different sizes, performing different types of activities (manufacturing, trading, service) and of various technical and technological level of development. When selecting a sample, we have tried to secure presence of all categories in order to make a reliable conclusion. In this context, attention was paid to facts that respondents are of different sexes, different work experience, level of education and that they are employed in different positions, all in order to examine a diverse sample and obtain more extensive and more accurate results. Therefore, we provided that the structure of sample corresponds to the structure of company's employees. Quite diverse and differentiated sample dictated breadth and depth of the research. The research was conducted using the classic survey method, i.e. a standard questionnaire method. In addition to primary information collected by the survey, in order to get acquainted with the factual situation, informal contacts with the management of companies were of significant benefit. Efforts of a resaerch carrier in the course of research to get familiar with actual and specific situation in the company as well as with the potential problems that occur in the company were of relevant help. Prior to carrying out a questionnaire, the researcher made a deal with the management representatives to ask employees in writing to participate in the research. The same was done in all companies encompassed by the research.

We first determined the type of organizational culture that dominates in companies encompassed by the sample in studying the impact of organizational culture on business strategy. This part of the questionnaire identified, according to perception of the respondents, the type of organizational culture present in companies in the sample. For the purposes of this research, we used Harrison's test for diagnosing the type of organizational culture. This part of research includes 15 multiple choice questions each with four possible answers (a, b, c and d). Respondents were asked to rank given answers numbering them from 1 to 4, assigning number 1 to an answer closest to their opinion, and so on. By summing up the ranks, especially under a, b, c and d, we get the type of organizational culture of a certain company. For classification of the types of organizational culture, we used Handy's classification of the types of organizational culture that differs power culture, role culture, task culture and support culture (Handy, 1996). Therefore, answers under "a" implicate power culture, "b," role culture, "c" task culture and answers under "d" implicate support culture.