The OCA™ covers 12 dimensions of organisational culture that research with large numbers of senior executives have shown to be the most salient.

The OCA™ is a psychometrically valid tool which has undergone several rounds of pilot testing with companies. During the analysis of each test version of the survey, items showing inconsistencies were eliminated or modified to obtain a highly reliable definitive version. The survey has been approved by a psychometrician as being both valid (the questions accurately reflect and assess the cultural construct) and reliable (the survey yields the same result on repeated trials).

Process

The Organisational Culture Audit is intended to be taken anonymously and administered broadly to all members of the organisation. Depending on the clients’ needs and the scope of the OCA™, the survey can also be deployed with a targeted group of people, e.g. top executives of a large multinational company.

The OCA™ is taken online and the scores are combined to provide a consolidated feedback report on the perceived importance of organisational cultural values and actual practices within the organisation. The report provides executives with a picture of the way in which their organisation operates and the values that characterise it. The comprehensive diagnostic of their current culture can then be used to start the discussion on what type of culture they are aiming for.

Defining organisation-specific categories and subcategories

Because organisations are big and complex, each with their own specificities, an organisation may define a category and a maximum of six subcategories to provide a more nuanced look at the OCA™ data. This is included in the price of the licence. Should the client require additional categories, this will come as an additional cost.

An example of a category could be Division with subcategories such as Sales, Marketing, Development, IT, etc. Another category could be Geographical Location, with a number of key cities or geographical zones as subcategories. This differentiation will allow organisations to compare differences in perceptions of organisational values and practices across the different categories of survey respondents.

If you decide to have organisation-specific categories included in the OCA™, you will have to define which two categories will be meaningful to include. Once these categories have been defined, they can be submitted to the OCA™ survey administrator who will input it into the survey system to generate a version tailored to your organisation.

Non anonymous subcategories

As culture leaders of the organisation, CEOs and other high ranking individuals can request for their perceptions be clearly identified and mapped out separately from the rest of the organisation. Although their responses are not anonymous in the survey, their results can be concealed in the general feedback report, and made only available to the respective individuals.

Online Administration

1. Approximately four weeks in advance, the survey administrator administers the OCA™ broadly to all members of the organisation as identified by the coordinator. Depending on the clients’ needs and the scope of the OCA™, the survey can also be deployed with a targeted group of people, e.g. top executives of a large multinational company.
2. After the survey deadline, the system closes the survey and scores the responses. Ordinarily, the coordinator prints out two reports: one for the facilitator or executive coach, and another for the client.