Title: Organisational culture dimensions as antecedents of innovation and performance in the tourism industry

Authors: Doris Gomezelj Omerzel

Addresses: Faculty of Management, University of Primorska, Cankarjeva 5, SI-6000 Koper, Slovenia

Abstract: Organisational culture is an important dimension in the field of strategic management. This study begins by presenting different constructs and measures of organisational culture. The primary goal of this paper is to investigate the relations between organisational culture, innovation and performance in tourism firms. Recent studies reveal the importance of organisational culture and its influence on innovation and thus on business performance. In this context, the aim of this study is to identify the effects of organisational culture on business performance. To reach this aim, a questionnaire survey is administered in the tourism firms in Slovenia, a small Mediterranean country. The data were collected from 64 tourism firms and analysed using SPSS 19 and EQS 6, afterwards the hypotheses were tested employing multivariate data analyses techniques. The results suggest that power distance is negatively related, while individualism, uncertainty avoidance and empowerment are positively related to innovativeness. Findings also suggest that innovativeness has a significantly positive affect on firm performance. In terms of managerial implications, this study clarifies the role of organisational culture dimensions for the innovativeness and for firm performance. There is no doubt that managers should focus on the development of organisational culture to promote firm innovativeness and consecutively improve firm performance.

Keywords: organisational culture; innovativeness; business performance; structural equation modelling; SEM; innovation; tourism industry; strategic management; Slovenia; power distance; individualism; uncertainty avoidance; empowerment; firm performance.

DOI: 10.1504/IJIRD.2015.074059

International Journal of Innovation and Regional Development, 2015 Vol.6 No.4, pp.311 - 328

Received: 16 Jan 2015
Accepted: 04 May 2015
Published online: 05 Jan 2016 *

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