Divergent cultures? When public organizations perform well in developing countries

Abstract Throughout the developing world, there are organizations that perform relatively well, despite dauntingly unfavorable contexts and despite overall poor public sector performance. This article explores evidence from 29 organizations in six countries to suggest that the concept of organizational culture provides a useful hypothesis to explain why some of them performed relatively well while others did not. Organizational mystique, management style, and performance expectations contributed to positive organizational cultures in better performing organizations while some autonomy in personnel management provided a facilitating context for these characteristics to be developed.

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