Under organizational wings

How the universal need for certainty in nations under socio-economic stress can be satisfied by greater formalization within organizations.

Addressing debates about a) the negative correlations between cultural values and practices and b) the controversial effect of formalization and bureaucracy on organizational citizenship behaviour (OCB), we developed a cross-level theory specifying that formalization at the organizational level buffers negative effects of uncertainty at the nation-level on OCB of individuals.  Drawing upon organizational and psychological literature, we argue that a universal need for certainty in nations characterized by high levels of uncertainty can be satisfied by greater formalization within organizations. A three-level hierarchical linear modelling analysis of data from 7,537 employees in 267 organizations across 17 countries supported our hypotheses. In nations with greater levels of uncertainty practices, formalization is positively associated with voice OCB. Our theory and findings open new avenues for re-addressing the debate around negative correlations between cultural values and practices and offers new insights into the complex role of bureaucracy in a global context.

This paper is accepted for the IACM conference in Leiden, The Netherlands July 2014

 

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