Predictors of organizational culture and climate in selected senior colleges of the Asia-Pacific Division of Seventh-day Adventists

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to specify areas to improve organizational culture and climate of Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) institutions of higher education in the Asia-Pacific Division (APD). The results may serve as a basis for conducting school climate improvement projects.

In this study 42 administrators, 76 teachers, and 185 senior students in six senior colleges of SDA in the APD rated their agreement on a 124-item Likert tool consisting of three scales. The items were adapted from the Organlzational Culture Survey Instrument (OCS) by Harris (1989) and The CFK, Ltd., School Climate Profile by Howard, Howell, and Brainiard (1987). The tool for the personal qualities was developed as part of the study. Face validity was established by an expert jury review. Coefficient alpha for Personal Qualities Scale was .964, for Organizatlonal Culture Scale was .959, and for Organizational Climate Scale .963.

Six research questions were posed for the study. Descriptive statistics used are frequencies, means, and percentages. Inferential statistics used to test the nine hypotheses included correlation, t tests, ANOVA, multiple stepwise regression analysis, and Kruskal-Wallis One-Way ANOVA. Probability for all tests was set at (05, with a Bonferoni adjustment for multiple tests.

The major finding is that the personal qualities of administrators, teachers, and students are the most important predictors of both organizational culture and climate. Areas of improvement include adminstrators being consistent in policy, teachers accepting criticism, and students completing assignment on tlme. The elements of culture needing improvement are the communication system, parents' input into decision making, in-service for teachers and staff, openness to new ideas, provision of teaching materials, and the early identification and dealing with problems. The areas of climate needing improvement are the fairness of the teachers and openness to a variety of vlewpoints. Major recommendations for college admlnistrators are that the graduate programs for college teachers and administrators promote the development of the personal qualities needed, and that an assessment program be instituted to guide the development of the appropriate personal qualities. Recommendation for further study are to repeat the study with other educational levels and to use the tool developed for this study for individual school assessment.