IMPACT OF BELONGING TO ETHNIC MINORITY ORMAJORITY ON ORGANISATIONAL CULTURE OFLOCAL GOVERNMENT

Aet Kiisla

IRSPM conference

University of Birmingham, 30 March - 1 April 2015

INTRODUCTION

State's minority - local majority or majority

Belonging to minority or majority - organisational culture

North-East Estonia - 22 municipalities

Focus group interviews, expert interviews

BACKGROUND

National Culture

Organisational Culture

Research object

NATIONAL CULTURE

Maleki (2014) based on Hofstede, Minkov, Inglehart, Schwartz,GLOBE, Parsons, Kluckhohn, Hall, Douglas, Triandis, Trompenaars.

Individualism vs. Collectivism; Power Distance; UncertaintyAvoidance; Mastery vs. Harmony; Traditionalism vs. Secularism;Indulgence vs. Restraint; Assertiveness vs. Tenderness; GenderEgalitarianism; Collaborativeness

ORGANISATIONAL CULTURE

Cameron and Quinn (2011): hierarchy, clan, adhocracy and market

Vinkel (2008): Estonian municipalities have clan-like culture;especially rural and smaller municipalities

Osbeck et al (1997): more willingness to communicate with therepresentatives of the cultures with similar characteristics

RESEARCH OBJECT

Estonian region where two main national groups are Estonians andRussians

Correlation between the share of Estonians and capacity of themunicipality: 0,21

Attitude towards training

CASE SELECTION STRATEGY

Sillamäe linn

Narva linn

Narva-Jõesuu linn

Alajõe vald

Kohtla-Järve linn

Vaivara vald

Jõhvi vald

Kiviõli linn

Aseri vald

Kohtla vald

Püssi linn

Illuka vald

Kohtla-Nõmme vald

Mäetaguse vald

Lohusuu vald

Sonda vald

Toila vald

Lüganuse vald

Tudulinna vald

Iisaku vald

Avinurme vald

Maidla vald

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

Representative bureaucracy in the municipalities of North-East Estonia

Share of Estonians in municipalities % Share of Estonians among officials %

Capacity under average Capacity over average

State's majority – localmajority (more than 80%)

Tudulinna, Iisaku, Avinurme,Maidla

Toila, Lüganuse

Heterogeneous (20-80%) Aseri, Kohtla, Püssi, Illuka,Kohtla-Nõmme, Lohusuu,Sonda

Vaivara, Jõhvi, Kiviõli,Mäetaguse

State's majority – localminority (less than 20%)

Narva-Jõesuu, Alajõe Sillamäe, Narva, Kohtla-Järve

THE COURSE OF THE STUDY

Preparatory interview

Focus group interviews + cultural theories

Expert interviews + theories of organisational culture

RESULTS

Vinkel's data (2008): Estonian municipalities consider themselvesless clan-like than Russian ones but Estonians want to be more clan-like and Russians prefer to be less clan-like. Curiously Estonianmunicipalities would prefer more hierarchy.

Expert interview (2015): majority municipalities are still clan-like withelements of adhocracy and hierarchy. Minority municipalities seem tohave lost clan-like organisational culture at all.

Predictable change towards the market style. Leaders influence thechange of organisational culture.

RESULTS

Language. So obvious, but the sub-themes revealed the depth anddiversity of the subject. Neither of the sub-themes can be explainedby cultural differences.

Attitude towards training cannot be clearly explained by the culturaldifferences. Word 'motivation' was used when people were askedabout training. Barkov (2004: 129) explains how in Russian languagethe word is differently understood. By motivation they meen reward orstimulus, not willingness or reason.

CONCLUSION

Management style and organisational culture

Language

Training courses for officials and leaders

Flexibility and capability of change