TY - JOUR

T1 - Organizational climate and culture

T2 - reflections on the history of the constructs in Journal of Applied Psychology

AU - Schneider, Benjamin

AU - González-Romá, Vicente

AU - Ostroff, Cheri

AU - West, Michael Alun

N1 - This article may not exactly replicate the final version published in the APA journal. It is not the copy of record

PY - 2017/3

Y1 - 2017/3

N2 - We review the literature on organizational climate and culture paying specific attention to articles published in the Journal of Applied Psychology (JAP) since its first volume in 1917. The article traces the history of the two constructs though JAP has been far more important for climate than culture research. We distinguish four main periods: the pre-1971 era, with pioneering work on exploring conceptualization and operationalizations of the climate construct; the 1971 – 1985 era, with foundational work on aggregation issues, outcome-focused climates (on safety and service) and early writings on culture; the 1986 – 1999 era, characterized by solidification of a focused climate approach to understanding organizational processes (justice, discrimination) and outcomes (safety, service) and the beginnings of survey approaches to culture; and the 2000 – 2014 era, characterized by multi-level work on climate, climate strength, demonstrated validity for a climate approach to outcomes and processes, and the relationship between leadership and climate and culture. We summarize and comment on the major theory and research achievements in each period, showing trends observed in the literature and how JAP has contributed greatly to moving research on these constructs, especially climate, forward. We also recommend directions for future research given the current state of knowledge.

AB - We review the literature on organizational climate and culture paying specific attention to articles published in the Journal of Applied Psychology (JAP) since its first volume in 1917. The article traces the history of the two constructs though JAP has been far more important for climate than culture research. We distinguish four main periods: the pre-1971 era, with pioneering work on exploring conceptualization and operationalizations of the climate construct; the 1971 – 1985 era, with foundational work on aggregation issues, outcome-focused climates (on safety and service) and early writings on culture; the 1986 – 1999 era, characterized by solidification of a focused climate approach to understanding organizational processes (justice, discrimination) and outcomes (safety, service) and the beginnings of survey approaches to culture; and the 2000 – 2014 era, characterized by multi-level work on climate, climate strength, demonstrated validity for a climate approach to outcomes and processes, and the relationship between leadership and climate and culture. We summarize and comment on the major theory and research achievements in each period, showing trends observed in the literature and how JAP has contributed greatly to moving research on these constructs, especially climate, forward. We also recommend directions for future research given the current state of knowledge.

KW - organizational climate

KW - organizational culture

KW - process climates

KW - focused climates

KW - leadership

KW - levels of analysis

U2 - 10.1037/apl0000090

DO - 10.1037/apl0000090

M3 - Journal article

VL - 102

SP - 468

EP - 482

JO - Journal of Applied Psychology

JF - Journal of Applied Psychology

SN - 0021-9010

IS - 3

ER -