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INTERDISCIPLINARY JOURNAL OF CONTEMPORARY RESEARCH IN BUSINESS
The influence of personal factors on the perceived Organizational
climate: Evidence from the Pakistani Industrial Organizations
Abstract
Adnan Iqbal
College Of Business Administration
Prince Sultan University P. O. Box No. 66833
Riyadh 11673, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Organizational climate is perception of members about their work environment and it is
greatly influenced by individual attributes. This study explores the relationship of
organizational climate perceptions according to employees' demographic (age, and
education, tenure and Job Ranks) background patterns. In order to achieve this goal, selfadministered
questionnaires were distributed to 500 subjects in Pakistani industrial
organizations. Usable answers were obtained from 353 subjects. The results of the study
showed that the personal factors of the employees were found to account for significant
differences in the perception of several dimensions of climate. Specifically in attempting
to build a positive creative climate, Pakistani industrial organizations must consider not
only the size, ownership and existing structures of the organizations, but must also
consider the job tenure, training experience, length of service, education level and age of
the employees(sonority at workplace). Policies based on organizational factors only may
have no effect on improving the organizational climate, and may not make effective use
of the organization‘s resources.
Keywords: Personal Factors, Organizational Climate, culture, Creativity and Innovation,
Pakistani industry, Situational Outlook Questionnaire, Training, Pakistani Industrial
organizations
1. Introduction
The concept of organizational climate was developed in the late 1930s by the social
scientists (Lewin, Lippitt, and White, 1939). They used social climate term to describe
subjective feelings or atmosphere they encountered in their studies of organizations. They
found that different groups had distinctively different social climates. They have also
established a linkage between the climate and factors such as motivation, playfulness,
aggression, productivity and sharing (Isaksen, Lauer, Murdock, Dorval, and Puccio,
1995). Organizational climate gained acceptance as describing the perceived social
environment in which an individual‘s and organization‘s expectations are met.
Since 1980s the concept of climate has seemed to have lost its appeal to organizational
researchers (Isaksen et al, 1995). In its place organizational culture, which came from the
field of anthropology, was introduced. Ekvall (1996) noted that the organizational climate
literature contained two main contradictions. One relates to ontological issues, which
include theories of organizational climate (Guion, 1973; Ekvall, 1996; Altman, 2000) and
the other on values, norms and belief system (Schneider and Brief, 1996). According to
Ekvall (1996), this demarcation runs between theorists who conceive ‗climate‘ as a
COPY RIGHT © 2011 Institute of Interdisciplinary Business Research
JANUARY 2011
VOL 2, NO 9
511
Listed in ULRICH