Change in Romanian organizations: a management culture approach

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to identify means and opportunities available to managers in Romanian companies in order to successfully undergo the process of integration in the European Union, by accepting the cultural diversity in the global organization in the twenty‐first century.Design/methodology/approachThe objectives have in view the identification of the characteristics of change in Romanian companies by means of the organizational culture, the development of organizational culture in an unstable, changing environment and the identification of the present values and of those desired by the Romanian employees as managers or subordinates. The practical research took place by means of the questionnaire and the interview used for 26 managers with hierarchical positions in various companies in the city of Iasi. During their careers, they attended at least one “organizational development” course, they used questionnaires for 6 subordinates and are in the stage of research for the processes of product change in the management activities of the organization from the perspective of management culture.FindingsIn the end, the observations were made on 84 valid questionnaires and they allowed for the discovery of the ways of understanding and expression of the dimensions of organizational culture at the present moment and of the future level desired by the employees, in their relations with their co‐workers and with the managers in the analysed companies.Research limitations/implicationsThe way it was performed, the research allows for a series of common conclusions related to the way in which the management activity is currently conducted, especially in the Romanian companies which functioned under the authority of the state until 1990 and have preserved a series of traditional management mechanisms. Considering the evolution of the Romanian society, the steps that will be taken in knowing and applying the new tendencies and dimensions of management and organizational and individual development, the research will continue in the future, aiming at making suggestions regarding the adjustment capacity of Romanian companies, relating to the organizational culture, among others.Practical implicationsIn the organizations which were analysed for the research, the paper identified a preoccupation for the aspects connected to the dimensions of organizational culture and an orientation towards individual and organizational change concerning the “acceptance” of a new system of values.Originality/valueThe choice of the subjects and the conception of the system of values of the organizational culture led to a certain degree of originality of our research, allowing for the offering of necessary information and resources to the interested parties, as well as for the opening of future ways of analysing the change processes which will occur in the management of Romanian companies.