The measurement and interpretation of organizational climate

This study describes the development and application of a new organizational climate instrument, the Survey of Organizational Characteristics (SOC). The participants in the development phase were 94 master's of business administration students, and the participants in the validation phase were 77 medical professionals: 24 medical faculty, 17 postdoctoral students, and 36 medical technicians. The final instrument consisted of 8 relatively independent scales with alpha coefficients based on the combined sample ranging from .77 to .98, and with 6 coefficients that were higher than .90. Validity hypotheses based on a priori knowledge about the 3 medical groups were for the most part well substantiated, although the small sample of postdoctoral students was a limitation. In relation to the findings, an attempt was made to clarify and perhaps narrow several of the conceptual and methodological gaps that persist between organizational climate and organizational culture.