Is business performance linked to organizational culture? A study from Tunisian SMEs through subjective measures

Purpose - Every independent organization would sincerely like to have competent, loyal and engaged people, as engaged persons are typically those who have significant attachment and active involvement in their organization. Without engaging people, high quality and productivity will not be achieved. The purpose of this study is to explore the impact of organizational culture derived from Tunisian customs of firm performance. Tunisian subcultures may not be represented in the national culture. Design/methodology/approach - This study carefully examines the impact of organizational culture on firm performance of Tunisian small and medium-sized enterprises. Results from 100 organizations and companies were collected using questionnaires for data collection analysis from employees occupying various positions in different hierarchical levels. Statistics used are tested by ordinary least squared regression. Furthermore, response bias, validity and reliability were the most important points examined by researchers. Findings - These results reveal and confirm that the charisma that has been perceived by employees as energy state has an impact on the performance of the organization, regardless of the moderating effect of the uncertainty of the environment. Moreover, this study also showed that organizational culture has a significant effect on firm performance as well as on the interpretation of the organization, which depends on charisma. Originality/value - The implication is that even in a country with many subcultures, excellent management still needs to pay attention to the impact of national culture at the organizational level on job attitude, work ethics and employee engagement, which are however, very limited. It is expected that this finding can contribute to the organization in that management becomes aware of the personality of the employees during their recruitments, especially the chief characteristic of being energetic. Managers need to create a conductive and rewarding environment for individuals to contribute positively.