Systematic measurement of organizational culture for college food services

Abstract

The food service industry consistently hires more people than any other industry in the world. In the United States, a transformed service-oriented economy, the food service industry will continue to increase in size and service. The food service, an extremely competitive industry, has one of the highest rates of failure as compared to other businesses. Because of this high rate of failure, the industry must continue attempting to devise methods of establishing a competitive advantage. One of the most efficient means of staying competitive would be to reduce the amount of turnover and to motivate employees. To reduce employee turnover and to increase employee job satisfaction it is important to ensure that the organizational culture is congruent between managers and workers at all levels.

The goal of this study was to extend existing theory concerning the measurability of organizational culture. The sample adopted for this study was institutional food service, specifically in college settings. The four steps used in this study were as follows: (1) A review of the literature described those activities that were closely related to the norms and values of organizational culture. (2) A questionnaire for interviews was developed and perceptions of organizational culture activities were collected. (3) Four hypotheses were stated and the qualitative data was compiled. (4) The hypotheses were tested to determine the relationship between variables.

It was determined that there was a relationship between the perceived organizational culture of upper management and the actual overall performance of operating units. The results of the study supported the contention that organizational culture is measurable, in both commercial and institutional food service operations. When there is congruency between the ideals of upper management and operating units, the organization is apt to have greater employee satisfaction.

Consequently, the high rate of failure for food service businesses justifies having a very effective way of implementing training activities. Those activities should ensure that the ideals of organizational culture are understood and applied by all levels of the organization. In addition, follow up training should systematically ensure that the expected culture is actively providing a competitive advantage.