Available via license: CC BY-NC-ND
Content may be subject to copyright.
27
Differences in Organizational Culture among
Estonian Municipalities with Different Ethnic
Compositions
Aet Kiisla1
1. Introduction
Local governments have a direct impact on the course of development of the region.
For building successful local governments in a multicultural environment, it is rel-
evant to look at how the ethnic composition of municipalities and their administra-
tions a ect organizational culture and hence performance. In order to understand
the impact of ethnic composition, we need to observe the di erences between mu-
nicipalities with di erent ethnic compositions. is article focuses on ethnic com-
position in the sense of proportions, rather than in terms of cultural di erences,
which have already been widely researched.
Previous studies about the impact of ethnic diversity (Williams and O’Reilly
1998; Paletz et al. 2004; Jackson et al. 2003) on team performance provide the start-
ing point for this paper. Williams and O’Reilly (1998) conclude from their review
of 40 years of research that diversity can have both positive and negative outcomes
for organizations. It depends on various factors, such as the nature of the task and
how long the team has worked together. Past studies have mainly focused on the
aspects of heterogeneity and homogeneity, overlooking the proportions of di erent
groups, and compared di erences between races rather than nationalities within
a race. Taking a more detailed approach, Paletz et al. (2004) have studied di erent
proportions of majority and minority groups. Studies about organizational culture
in a heterogeneous environment mainly focus on international workforce – mean-
ing people coming from di erent countries. Less research is conducted about or-
ganizational culture in connection with a country’s ethnic majority and minority.
ere are studies about organizational culture in the public sector (Haage 2002)
1 PhD student at Tallinn University of Technology, Estonia; lecturer at University of Tartu, Narva
College, Estonia.
10.2478/nispa-2018-0012
28
T NISPA J P A P, V. XI, N. , W /
and in local governments (Vinkel 2008) but disregarding ethnic composition. Also,
a quantitative approach is more wide-spread. ere is a research gap to be lled:
current research is about local governments with di erent ethnic composition and
di erent capacity; the research is conducted qualitatively and in a highly ethno-
graphic manner.
is paper brings forth the di erences in organizational culture among mu-
nicipalities with di erent ethnic compositions. It attempts to explain them on the
example of one region. is article seeks to discover what in uence the ethnic com-
position of the municipality and its government may have on the organizational
culture of that government.
To keep the focus strictly on the proportions in ethnic composition, the study
is carried out with a narrow case sample (ceteris paribus, to minimize di erent in-
uences). e study uses Ida-Viru County in North-East Estonia as its case. Ida-
Viru has the largest Russian-speaking community in Estonia, with 83 % of its inhab-
itants being Russian speakers. e county is divided into municipalities with very
di erent ethnic compositions. ere are municipalities where the state’s Russian
minority makes up the local majority, others where the local municipality’s popula-
tion structure mirrors that of the state, with an Estonian majority, and still others
with an equal ethnic composition. It is relevant to point out that the use and de ni-
tion of “ethnic” and “national” in the context of minorities is not entirely clear and
universal (Šmihula 2009; UN 1994). ere are limitations on using theories of na-
tional cultures for describing ethnic minorities. ese groups (Russians in Estonia,
for example) are in a process of becoming a diaspora. For the current research, the
terms are used as synonyms.
e expected outcome of the research is a description of the di erences be-
tween majority- and minority-concentrated Estonian municipalities in terms of
their organizational cultures. e di erences are brought out by municipalities
themselves. e questions were very open, and anything even remotely related to
organizational culture is analyzed. Communication di culties surface as the most
pressing and nuanced issue showing di erences in organizational cultures. Second-
ly, attitudes towards personal development varies among municipalities with dif-
ferent ethnic composition. e interviews also illuminate how o cials themselves
see ethnic diversity in municipalities, especially in comparison with earlier studies.
Lastly, there are some observations regarding the congruence of organizational cul-
ture and the leadership style. Language is demonstrated to have a connection to the
congruence between leadership style and organizational culture.
is highly exploratory case study research includes observation, preparatory
interviews, focus group interviews and expert interviews with the representatives
from the municipalities. eories of organizational composition, organizational
and national cultures help to systematize and give broader meaning to the results.
Although it is a case study, the results are meant to be generalizable to other similar
29
D O C E M …
municipalities in post-Soviet countries with similar history. For ensuring generaliz-
ability a bigger e ort is put into describing the research object and the methodology.
2. The research object and problem
Estonia regained independence in 1991 and rati ed the European Charter of Local
Self-Government in 1995. Estonia restored the system of local governments, but
many borders of municipalities stayed unchanged from their soviet-era formations.
e principles of local government are written into the constitution and have not
changed. Estonia has recently undertaken an administrative reform to adjust the
sizes of municipalities to be more even and hence more strategically competitive.
is study takes a quali ed hunch (Rohl ng 2012, 101) that the organizational
culture of local governments is di erent in municipalities because of the di erent
ethnic compositions, though the legal framework is the same. Support for the hunch
comes from long-term observations and a previous study where Kiisla (2009) inter-
viewed local government leaders of North-East Estonia. Based on their answers,
the conclusion was that possible di erences in organization culture start to reveal
themselves when the ethnic composition is 20 / 80. If the ethnic composition is more
equal, its e ect on general organization culture tend to be unnoticeable. Based on
this quali ed hunch, this study focuses on the potentially revealing di erences in the
organizational culture in municipalities with a more uneven ethnic composition.
e formulation of the central research problem stems from an intriguing cor-
relation between the proportion of the state’s majority, Estonians, and the capacity
of a municipality.2 Capacity, capability, success and performance are not de ned
or measured here but taken as something every municipality should strive for. e
correlation between the share of the majority population (census 2011) and the
capacity index (Geomedia 2011) is insigni cant when we look at all 226 munici-
palities in Estonia (a correlation index of 0.07). Overall, most municipalities have
Estonian majority populations. But the picture changes when we look at cities only.
For historical reasons, Russian ethnic minorities mainly inhabit cities, and some
cities also have Russian populations forming the majority. e correlation index
of cities between the capacity index and majority population is three times higher
– 0.21 – showing the link between better capacity of the municipality and a higher
proportion of the majority population. In addition to the general result correlations
were calculated between every single (six) component of the index with the ethnic
composition. Most results were insigni cant. One signi cant correlation was be-
tween the proportion of the state’s majority and the capacity to deliver local public
2 The index includes six components: 1) population and land, 2) local economy, 3) welfare of the
population, 4) government, management and organizational capacity to provide services, 5) the
local government fi nancial capacity and 6) the capacity to deliver local public services. See for
an explanation: http://geomedia.ee/eng/defi nition-of-local-government-index/.
30
T NISPA J P A P, V. XI, N. , W /
services, which was 0.35 (again, only cities), even higher than the correlation with
the general index.
Data from 2011 is taken because it is the best for comparison. It was the lat-
est census, and later many municipalities merged and the number of municipali-
ties changed.
A study of the training needs of local o cials (Sepp and Noorkõ iv 2006) also
revealed some di erences between Estonian-populated (majority-concentrated)
and Russian-populated (minority-concentrated) municipalities. In Russian-popu-
lated municipalities, the o cials attend the courses less frequently; they feel more
need for training; they feel less supported by employers to attend the courses; and
they even say they expect more pressure and motivation from the employer to go
to the training courses (Sepp and Noorkõ i 2006). e word “motivation” was used
when people were asked about training. Barkov (2004, 129) explains that in the
Russian language, the word is understood di erently. By motivation, they mean re-
ward or stimulus, not willingness or reason. ere is some interesting evidence about
cultural di erences in organizational learning. Apparently higher power distance is
good for implementing learnt skills and information into practice. Employees with
a higher power distance seem to accept what an employer considers necessary to
learn. High uncertainty avoidance and individuality might be good for personal
development but not necessarily for the organization (Š kerlavaj et al. 2013). So, in
heterogeneous organization the employer might not choose appropriate motivation
mechanisms if the employee is a carrier of a di erent culture.
To link the research object of di erences in organizational culture with the
problem of correlation in capacity, this research considers whether there are pos-
sible revealing di erences in the organizational culture of municipalities with an
uneven ethnic composition and whether these di erences also have an impact on
the capacity of a municipality.
3. Theoretical background
e role of theory in this article is to help explain the di erences that emerge from
the interviews. To describe di erences in the organizational culture in municipali-
ties with di erent ethnic compositions, the theoretical framework of this research
builds on the studies of three main research elds. Firstly, the main elements or
aspects of organizational culture are de ned to be referred to later in the analysis.
Secondly, a broader background of studies of national cultures is provided, di er-
entiating between the elements of national culture and organizational culture. is
di erentiation helps generalize the results of the current study to ethnicities co-
habitating in a municipality as majority or minority groups other than Estonians
and Russians. And thirdly, the chapter introduces previous studies of ethnic com-
position to highlight possible parallels and echoes in the conclusions drawn in the
31
D O C E M …
current study. As this case study is based only on municipalities, the occupational
culture (Hofstede 1997) of municipality o cials is the unifying factor de ning the
case sample.
Although this article focuses on the connections between national culture
(ethnic composition) and organizational culture we acknowledge the other factors.
ere could be many other variables beside ethnic composition which shape orga-
nizational culture. Ethnic composition itself might not be the reason for di erences
in organizational culture. It could be the case of path dependency, where ethnic
composition is just an element or detail in a longer chain. Ethnic composition and
its e ect on organizational culture could also be a result of a state’s policies (e.g.
historical institutionalism – elen 1999 – and path dependency – Mahoney and
Schensul 1989; elen 1999). Other factors in uencing organizational culture in lo-
cal government are age, gender and tenure of o cials; occupational culture, salary,
reputation and the role of local government in society. In this study the in uence of
other factors is minimized as much as possible.
3.1 Organizational Culture
“ e culture of a group can be de ned as a pattern of shared basic assumptions
learned by a group as it solved its problems of external adaptation and internal inte-
gration, which has worked well enough to be considered valid and, therefore, to be
taught to new members as the correct way to perceive, think, and feel in relation to
those problems” (Schein 2010).
Organizational culture in its complexity is ubiquitous; it is wide enough to be
investigated in relation to di erent aspects of organizations, including performance,
success, or capacity; composition or diversity; communication; and attitudes to-
wards personal development. Cameron and Quinn (2011) and Schein (2010) have
a rmed the connection between the organization’s success and organizational
culture. More nuances and details from previous research about relations between
culture and performance are demonstrated by Abu-Jarad et al. (2010). Cameron
and Quinn (2011, 53) argue that when the leadership strengths of an individual are
congruent with the dominant organizational culture, those leaders and their units
tend to be more successful.
ere are di erent ways of categorizing organizational culture, and each of
them can open new perspectives for research. is article uses Schein for describ-
ing the general principles of organizational culture. Schein’s theory is used by many
researchers, and it enables comparisons between studies. Schein (1990, 1999, 2010)
identi es three levels in organizational culture: 1. manifest, visible, tangible arte-
facts that are easy to experience but hard to decipher; 2. espoused values and ideolo-
gies that are put forth as the explicit reasons why things are done the way they are;
and 3. shared, tacit assumptions about how things are and should be.
32
T NISPA J P A P, V. XI, N. , W /
In addition to levels of culture, there are divisions by topic or type. is article
also uses Cameron and Quinn (2011) for describing and analyzing municipalities.
Cameron and Quinn (2011) use labels like hierarchy, clan, adhocracy and market
to describe di erent orientations of organizations. “Hierarchy” is a very formalized
and structured place to work. Maintaining a smoothly running organization is most
critical. “Clan” resembles a family, where leaders are like parents and commitment
is high. Team-work, participation and long-term bene t are important. “Adhocra-
cy” means creativity, initiative, freedom, taking risks, and being on the leading edge.
“Market” is a results-oriented organization, where the major concern is getting the
job done. People in this organization are competitive.
Vinkel (2008) found that the prevailing dominant organizational culture in
Estonian municipalities is a clan-like culture (see Cameron and Quinn 2011). He
did not nd signi cant di erences between city and rural municipalities or between
di erent regions of the state; rural and smaller municipalities were only slightly
more clan-like than cities. Using Vinkel’s results provides the possibility to compare
the data from di erent times (his and current research). at is one of the best rea-
sons to use the same framework for the current article.
e current research makes use of some of the narrower studies of certain
aspects of organization culture. Roots (2003a; 2003b) concluded that in Estonia, in
many cases, management styles and leadership have stayed somewhere in industrial
society (path dependency). In his study, he also introduces and compares the results
of two master’s theses, Haage (2002) and Kütt (2002). e former analyzed public
sector organizations and the latter businesses. Roots (2003a; 2003b) concludes that
in the core factors of organizational culture there were few di erences. It is interest-
ing because earlier studies in other countries have concluded that public organiza-
tions are fundamentally di erent from private ones (Parker and Bradley 2000).
3.2 National Culture
National culture is one of the many factors shaping organizational culture (Hofstede
1998). Much of how people behave is determined by their national culture. e phe-
nomenon of national culture is observable and is based on the values of the nations.
Although this article focuses on national (ethnic) majorities and minorities and not
cultures themselves, it is necessary to have an understanding of what the categories
of di erences between di erent national cultures are.
e current research takes its theoretical basis from a more generalized over-
view of various studies and approaches on cultural dimensions. Maleki and deJong
(2014) have systematized di erent theories and ended up with nine exclusive cul-
tural dimension clusters: Individualism vs. Collectivism; Power Distance; Uncer-
tainty Avoidance; Mastery vs. Harmony; Traditionalism vs. Secularism; Indulgence
vs. Restraint; Assertiveness vs. Tenderness; Gender Egalitarianism; Collaborative-
ness. Individualism vs. Collectivism characterizes the interrelatedness of individu-
33
D O C E M …
als. People in collectivist cultures are more loyal to the group, and individualistic
cultures value individual achievements. Power Distance re ects the extent to which
hierarchical relations and position-related roles are accepted. Uncertainty Avoid-
ance indicates to what extent people feel uncomfortable with uncertain, unknown
or unstructured situations. In uncertainty-avoidant cultures, many rules and pre-
scriptions exist, even though they may not always be followed. Being innovative to
improve performance is relevant to low uncertainty avoidance orientation. Mastery
vs. Harmony consists of those constructs which manifest the cultural attributes of
competitiveness, achievement and self-assertion, as opposed to consensus, equity
and harmony. Traditionalism vs. Secularism accounts for the cultural traits of re-
ligiosity, self-stability, feelings of pride, and consistency between emotion felt and
their expression vs. secular orientation and exibility. Indulgence vs. Restraint re-
ects the extent to which grati cation of desires and feelings is free or restrained;
it indicates whether people express emotions openly or control the expression of
emotions. Assertiveness vs. Tenderness refers to the cultural feature of being as-
sertive and aggressive vs. kind and tender in social relationships, manifested also
in communication styles. Gender Egalitarianism concerns discriminatory gender
roles as there are still modern societies with a stronger role division between gen-
ders. Collaborativeness shows the spirit of team-work. It might be confusing that
collectivism and collaborativeness are not considered synonyms, but there can be
individualistic cultures which are very good at team-work and collectivist cultures
in which team-work is not strongly developed (Maleki and deJong 2014).
e necessity to describe some other theories emerged only a er initial analy-
sis. It is relevant to give a short overview of them, too. Hall (1977, quoted in Schein
2010, 119) described high-context and low-context cultures. In low-context cul-
tures, communication is more explicit; in high-context cultures, on the other hand,
things can be understood only in context, like the rules of politeness coding every-
day interaction. Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck (1961, quoted in Schein 2010, 146 – 149)
note that cultures have di erent assumptions on how to act. At one extreme is the
“doing” orientation (“if you have a problem, do something about it”) and at the
other the “being” orientation (“we cannot in uence nature anyway; better accept
it as it is”). Between those two extremes lies “being-in-becoming”. is orientation
emphasizes self-development, ful lling one’s potential, the idea of achieving har-
mony with nature by controlling the things that can be controlled.
3.3 Ethnic diversity in organizations
Organizational demography in terms of heterogeneity and diversity of teams has
been studied for over half a century. Characteristics that have been studied are sex,
age, race / ethnicity, tenure, education, experience, personality, etc. Williams and
O’Reilly (1998) reviewed 40 years of research in that eld. ey concluded that re-
search results on the e ects of heterogeneity on group performance are variously
optimistic and pessimistic. e biggest potential advantage of a diverse group is
34
T NISPA J P A P, V. XI, N. , W /
better decision making and creativity. e most common problems concern com-
munication. Having one dissimilar member in a group creates less disturbance than
two or more. However, these small minorities in almost homogeneous groups tend
to feel dissatis ed with their work and leave (Williams and O’Reilly 1998).
Paletz et al. (2004) is one of the few studies on di erent proportions of sub-
groups. eir ndings are very di erent, demonstrating that there is no clear an-
swer which combination is the best for group performance. ere are many aspects
to consider: how many minorities are in the group, which group constitutes the
majority, is the majority group the majority in society as well, have they always been
a majority, etc.
According to Rollid ja hoiakud… (2009, 31), 54 % of o cials consider acting in
favour of some groups interests to be a strong violation, and 39 % consider it quite
a strong violation. A study of English local governments found that the represen-
tativeness of a bureaucracy is unrelated to the level of performance as measured
systematically and audited; surprisingly, it is negatively associated with public per-
ceptions of organizational performance (Andrews et al. 2005, 499).
Osbeck et al. (1997) note that there is more willingness to communicate with
the representatives of cultures with similar characteristics. e connection is espe-
cially strong in the case of minority groups. When Williams and O’Reilly (1998)
categorized research they called it “similarity / attraction”. is di erence in willing-
ness might be an important contributor to communication di culties and lead to
problems in performance.
4. Methodology
4.1 Case selection strategy
Interrelations of organizational and national cultures in the local municipalities of
one Estonian region, Ida-Viru County in North-East Estonia, have been chosen for
the case study in this paper. In this region, the two main ethnic groups are Estonians
and Russians. Russians living in Estonia have their own distinctive culture that is an
amalgam of Estonian and Russian cultures, in uenced by the minority status and
the overall history of the 20th century (Fein 2005). Besides national cultures, there
is an occupational culture (see Hofstede 1997), the culture of local governments in
Estonia. Hofstede et al. (2008, 3) say that comparisons “should be based on matched
samples of respondents: people who are similar on all criteria other than nationality
that could systematically a ect the answers.” In this case these similar criteria are
eld of work, position in an organization, and region.
In North-East Estonia, there were 22 municipalities (since the 2017 local elec-
tions, there have been 8 municipalities, but the most recent comparable data, used
in this study, is from 2011, when there were still 22 municipalities) with very di er-
35
D O C E M …
ent ethnic compositions (Graph 1). ere are municipalities where Estonians make
up 98 % of the local population, municipalities with a 96 % Russian population, and
municipalities with even ethnic compositions. e Estonian constitution states that
the o cial language of government agencies and local authorities is Estonian and
that “in localities where at least one half of the permanent residents belong to a eth-
nic minority, everyone has the right to receive responses from government agencies,
local authorities and their o cials also in the language of the national minority.”
To choose the municipalities for the case study, the state of the representative
bureaucracy in each municipality was assessed to help categorize the 22 municipali-
ties. Overall, there is a quite good state of representative bureaucracy in this region
(Graph 1). ere is a higher proportion of Estonians among o cials caused by the
requirement of very good knowledge of the state language. While reading the data
in Graph 1, it is relevant to consider that many administrations are so small that one
person makes a signi cant di erence in percentage points (up to 25 % on Graph 1).
Generally, administrations are representative enough to deduce the composition of
o cials from the municipalities’ ethnic compositions of the o cials.
As the second step, municipalities were divided into categories using mul-
tidimensional case selection. e most important dimension was ethnic compo-
sition (Census 2011). e second one was the capacity of local government, also
mentioned earlier (Geomedia 2011). 22 municipalities of North-East Estonia were
divided into six categories, as shown in Table 1. From each cluster, the most typical
case was chosen for the study. In addition, two other aspects were considered while
choosing the cases from each category: whether the municipality was urban or rural
and whether it was small or large in terms of the number of inhabitants; though not
under study, these factors were controlled to ensure a set of typical cases.
Table 1
Clusters of municipalities of North-East Estonia. Sources used: Census 2011 and
Geomedia 2011
Capacity under average Capacity over average
State majority is local
majority (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 is local
minority (less than 20 %) Narva-Jõesuu, Alajõe Sillamäe, Narva, Kohtla-
Järve
e municipalities of Iisaku (rural, small), Toila (rural, big), Kohtla (rural,
small), Jõhvi (rural+urban, big), Narva-Jõesuu (urban, big) and Sillamäe (urban,
big) were chosen based on the aforementioned criteria. e same o cials were in-
terviewed throughout the study.
36
T NISPA J P A P, V. XI, N. , W /
Graph 1
e share of majority population in municipalities of North-East Estonia. Sources
used: Census 2011 and web-sites of the municipalities.3
3 In Estonia ethnicity is considered delicate information, which means nobody has to declare his
or her ethnicity. We do not have any statistical data for investigating representativeness. There
are few studies in Estonia on this topic. Roose-Reinthal (2010) conducted a poll for this, and Iva-
nov (in an email conversation on the methodology of determining the ethnicity of offi cials from
2014) determines ethnicity by the name of the offi cial. Since no method is perfect, determining
the ethnicity by the name (fi rst and surname) was chosen as the most realistic.
37
D O C E M …
4.2 The course of the study
Schein (1990, 110) is very sceptical if culture can be measured by surveys at all.
Using surveys assumes knowledge of the relevant dimensions to be studied. e re-
searcher might not know what cultural themes are relevant to the organizations. is
research is conducted ethnographically with some elements of clinical research. e
ethnographical approach is descriptive and thus provides a richer understanding of
organization. It also helps to build better theory. e clinical descriptive approach
(Schein 1990, 110) usually applies to consultants who rst observe the organiza-
tion, then suggest some improvements, then observe the result and then suggest
other improvements if necessary. e author of this article has supervised students’
practical training in municipalities for over ten years. Supervising also includes co-
operation with municipalities. rough that lens there is more rich information at
hand than just using data from the interviews. One cannot deny the possibility of
researcher bias, but there are strategies for overcoming it.
Schein (1990) suggests distinguishing three fundamental levels at which cul-
ture manifests itself: observable artefacts, values, and basic underlying assumptions.
Artefacts include the physical layout, the dress code, the manner in which people
address each other, the smell and feel of the place, its emotional intensity, and the
more permanent archival manifestations. e problem with artefacts is that they
are palpable but hard to decipher accurately: open-ended interviews are the most
appropriate method for studying a culture’s espoused values, norms, ideologies, and
philosophies – all parts of organizational culture. As mentioned earlier in this chap-
ter, it is di cult to detect whether the themes an outsider / researcher is asking about
are relevant in that culture. “ rough involving motivated members of the group in
intensive self-analysis, one can seek out and decipher the taken-for-granted, under-
lying, and usually unconscious assumptions that determine perceptions, thought
processes, feelings, and behaviour” (Schein 1990, 112).
To establish the topics municipalities themselves consider important, prepara-
tory open-ended interviews were conducted to help develop a framework for the
main interviews. Based on observations and previous cooperation, the two inter-
viewees for these preparatory interviews were chosen from Narva’s city government.
Both had worked in the same organization for over three years but also had experi-
ences from other organizations. One of the interviewees was of Estonian ethnicity
and the other of Russian ethnicity.
Extremely exploratory focus group interviews followed the preparatory
open-ended interviews. Barbour (2007, 16) suggests using focus group interviews
for clarifying sensitive topics (of which ethnic relationships could be one) and for
reaching “hard to reach” groups that might get lost in quantitative studies (see the
correlation between capacity and ethnic composition). e higher o cials (Heads
of Administration) from the six selected municipalities were invited together to
participate in one focus group interview. As Barbour (2007, 3) suggests, they have
38
T NISPA J P A P, V. XI, N. , W /
enough in common, yet have su ciently varying experiences or perspectives. e
Heads of Administration also have a broad enough perspective of the whole admin-
istration’s work to attempt making generalizations. e aim of the questions asked
in focus group interviews was to make people discuss. e actual answers were
usually less informative than the discussions. For example: “What are the ve most
important virtues of a local government o cial ? Put them in the order of impor-
tance” or “What are the factors that have the biggest impact on the local legislation
process ?” Analysis used in-vivo coding because of the exploratory character of the
interview. e codes appeared in the process of analysis. From this focus group
interview the most relevant topics were formulated and the following analysis is
structured by these topics.
A er the initial analysis of the material gathered in the focus group interview,
individual expert interviews with each of the focus interview participants were con-
ducted. Also, at a very late stage of the study, a er the material of the focus group in-
terview and expert interviews were analyzed, six additional expert interviews with
the mayors of the same six municipalities were conducted, resulting in a threefold
interview phase for gathering data.
5. Results and discussion
e most important ndings of this article come from the empirical part, which
uses a qualitative approach. Individually, without giving these results a meaning,
they are not very valuable or understandable. at is why the results and the discus-
sion are presented together, not in separate chapters. is chapter attempts to nd
some explanations with the help of theories and personal observations. is chapter
is structured by the main empirical ndings, complemented by a discussion. ese
are topics that municipalities consider important. During the analysis, the inter-
views revealed some signi cant di erences between municipalities with di erent
proportions of ethnic majority and minority populations. Communication di cul-
ties surfaced as the most pressing and nuanced issue showing di erences in orga-
nizational cultures. Secondly, attitudes towards personal development and training
varied among municipalities with di erent organizational cultures. e interviews
also illuminated how o cials themselves see ethnic diversity in municipalities, es-
pecially in comparison with earlier studies. Lastly, there were some observations of
the congruence of organizational culture and the leadership style and of the pecu-
liarities of public-sector hierarchy. e above topics were analyzed in the context of
success and performance.
5.1 Communication
e main communication-related topic occurring frequently in the interviews
without direction by the interviewer was the communication between the admin-
39
D O C E M …
istration and the local citizens and the language issue. On one hand, it seems ex-
pected that language-related complications may rise in bilingual environments, but
on the other hand, the sub-themes reveal the unexpected depth and diversity of
the subject. Dealing with language related issues is distinctive to minority munici-
palities. O cials in minority municipalities spend a signi cant amount of time on
language-related communication problems, while colleagues in other municipali-
ties can spend their working time on their main responsibilities. For example, in
municipalities with a high proportion of Russian speakers, most administrative acts
are translated into two languages, requiring considerable resources. In addition to
the time-consuming translating, some di culties are caused by overly literal trans-
lations that fail to capture the ideas expressed. Media consumption habits disrupt
participation and government attempts to inform citizens. Citizens in Russian-con-
centrated municipalities do not follow Estonian news, so everything the municipal-
ity does needs to be more thoroughly explained. O cials have to explain not only
their own work, but also that of the state. Citizens in these areas follow Russian me-
dia. Neither media consumption nor translation di culties can be easily explained
by cultural di erences. is situation makes serving local people and their needs
more di cult. As a consequence, these municipalities spend more time and energy
on informing people than Estonian-concentrated municipalities. All three factors
might a ect the administration’s performance and explain the correlation between
ethnic composition and the capacity to deliver local public services (0.35). Here,
some process tracing might reveal more interesting research perspectives.
Other communication di erences can be understood within Hall’s (1977,
quoted in Schein 2010, 119) framework of high-context and low-context cultures.
is framework informs di erences in what is considered polite, which is not con-
nected to belonging to a majority or minority group. Still, di erent understandings
of politeness can have an impact on the municipality’s capacity as well.
An Estonian o cial described a recent incident in which a citizen called her
and asked if he could come to the council meeting. e o cial was glad about it and
put an extra chair into the room so the citizen could attend the council meeting.
One Russian o cial described how citizens call her and tell her what they believe
is wrong and the local government should do. Another Russian interviewee added
that there are certain activists (“loyal customers”) who always make suggestions.
It was implied these suggestions are quite emotional (or even aggressive). ese
are examples of the indulgence vs. restraint cluster (Maleki and deJong 2014; all
dimensions are brie y described in the theory section). In relation to citizens, both
ethnicities consider it important to explain things rather than merely to give brief
instructions. e di erence is that ethnic Russians called it politeness and Estonians
call it e ciency.
Another di erence connected to communication style was that Russians tend
to see arguing and criticism as impolite. In the focus group interview, Russian of-
40
T NISPA J P A P, V. XI, N. , W /
cials said that a good employee must not criticize much. ese examples demon-
strate the di erences in the mastery vs. harmony, power distance and uncertainty
avoidance clusters (Maleki and deJong 2014).
5.2 Personal development and change
In the chapter introducing the research object, an intriguing issue was raised: given
that Russian o cials feel the need for training, why do they attend training cours-
es less frequently, even though by law they should not have the language barrier ?
Š kerlavaj et al. (2013) argue that little is known about how the learning process is
in uenced by workers’ ethnic backgrounds.
One question in the focus group interview was about the virtues of local gov-
ernment workers, and many Estonian o cials gave the same answer: knowledge
and skills. A Russian o cial stressed the importance of interpersonal skills. is is
an example of mastery and harmony (Maleki and deJong 2014).
Interviews revealed more of a “doing” orientation among majority or Esto-
nian governments, although it is not clear whether this is a result of ethnic back-
ground or majority status (see Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck 1961, quoted in Schein
2010, 146 – 149).
Development entails change. In the focus group interview, Estonian o cials
were persistent in emphasizing the ability to go along with changes and the im-
portance of innovative thinking. is is considered to be an example of low uncer-
tainty avoidance (Maleki and deJong 2014). For clari cation, the interviewees were
asked about the procedure of choosing training courses and deciding whether to
go. Normally, every o cial monitors the courses and decides on the need. Some
experts acknowledged that sometimes o cials need extra motivation or even to be
commanded to attend a training course. ese answers came from the minority-
concentrated municipalities. It could be tied to uncertainty avoidance (Maleki and
deJong 2014); at trainings, people (hypothetically Russians) might feel bad because
they do not know everything. Š kerlavaj et al. (2013) see the connection with power
distance. ey found that in those cultures where members are more likely to accept
and expect the power to be distributed unequally, they are also willing to conform to
managerial control and modify their behaviours according to corporate values. For
those people who are less tolerant of the managerial control, they would be more
likely to act independently and di erently from the organizational learning culture.
In this context it actually makes sense if Russian o cials (bigger power distance)
say they need their employer to motivate them to take courses. Here the di erence
is marked and the question is raised, but it needs to be tested in further research.
Schein sees attitude towards personal development as a part of organizational
culture (a sub-theme of human activity and human nature), pointing to the gen-
eral underlying question as to whether human nature is perfectible or xed (Schein
1990).
41
D O C E M …
Based on limited empirical data, whether there is any causal connection be-
tween attitude toward training and the capacity index cannot be stated. Still, previ-
ous research can support the hypothesis.
Knowledge (training) is the rst and most easily achievable step toward
changing organizational culture. Acquiring knowledge helps to prepare for future
changes. Changing attitudes or behaviour of individuals and groups is much hard-
er, as changing values starts with changing the leaders’ understanding of manage-
ment and leading (Siimon and Vadi 1999, 220 – 221 amended, based on Hersey and
Blanchard 1993).
As the surrounding environment is constantly changing, the organizations
need to learn and adapt to cope and enhance their performance and capacity.
Changing the organizational culture is possible, but di cult (Cameron and Quinn
2011), and the changes are mainly in uenced by the leaders (Schein 1999; Cameron
and Quinn 2011).
5.3 Attitude towards ethnic diversity
According to the studies of organizational composition and especially of ethnic di-
versity in organizations, there is contradicting evidence on how diversity a ects
performance. In the current research, actual performance (or capacity or success)
was not measured. Instead, subjective observations and interpretations of the inter-
viewees were the basis of the analysis. Operating in the same legal framework and
the same region, similar tasks of municipalities seem to have a stronger impact on
comprehension than the ethnicity or mother tongue of the o cials (see occupa-
tional culture in Hofstede 1997; cultural di usion in Schein 2010). Although the in-
terviewed o cials give several examples of cultural di erences between o cials of
Estonian and Russian ethnicities, they unanimously state that the ethnic composi-
tion of the municipality has no e ect on how administration works. Sepp (2008) has
also found that the deeper misunderstandings lie outside municipal institutions; a
strong sense of loyalty is formed by the closeness to power, greater participation in
decision making, and perceived responsibility and control over policy.
e interviewed o cials did not support the concept of representativeness in
bureaucracy because it con icts with the concept of o cials’ objectivity. is is in
accordance with Rollid ja hoiakud… (2009, 31) and Andrews et al. (2005, 499).
In the interviews, a hypothesis about a stronger willingness to communicate
with the representatives of cultures with similar characteristics was proposed (Os-
beck et al. 1997; Williams and O’Reilly 1998). Some experts guessed it could be
possible in larger organizations. According to them, the reason is language: citizens
prefer using their mother tongue with the o cials.
In multiethnic communities, o cials seem to take diversity for granted; it is
considered a norm, and o cials are accustomed to ethnically diverse environments.
42
T NISPA J P A P, V. XI, N. , W /
Diversity being a norm, the o cials’ and citizens’ “similarity / attraction” dimension
(Williams and O’Reilly 1998) does not apply, especially in small municipalities. In
the light of research on perceived diversity (Shemla et al. 2014), given the contro-
versial results of previous ndings, the results of the current study are expected.
e theoretical chapter claimed that a possible advantage of ethnically diverse
organization is in decision-making and the biggest threat to communication. It is
up to the competency of leaders to see the existing similarities or diversity of the
o cials as an asset or a distraction.
5.4 Hierarchy and power
Communication, personal development and homogeneity-heterogeneity are all
components of organizational culture. In this section, the focus is on something
characteristic of the public sector: hierarchy (as a dimension of organizational cul-
ture) and power distance (as a dimension of national culture), but it will be looked
at in the context of performance / capacity. With regard to performance it is neces-
sary to study the congruence of organizational culture and leadership style, which
will be brie y looked at in this chapter and in more detail in the next one. Like all
topics in this chapter this one also arose from the focus group interview. Intercon-
nections between these subchapters are not studied here.
e preparatory interviews revealed some topics that could be interesting for
comparison in Estonian- and Russian-concentrated municipalities. Some of them
supported the personal observations accumulated during many years. First, inter-
viewees had di erent preconceptions of the status of o cials and di erent under-
standings of o cials’ tasks, and attitudes towards the civil service di ered among
Estonians and Russians. Second, Russians address their colleagues formally, and
there are few cases of avoiding addressing superior authority. ese are represen-
tations of power distance (Maleki and deJong 2014). Interestingly, there were no
good examples about power distance in the focus group interviews. Since these in-
terviewees were higher o cials, Schein’s observation is more applicable here; he
sees similarities inside occupational cultures; higher power distance is found more
among unskilled or semiskilled workers than among professional and managerial
workers (2010, 151). It is also possible that o cials have long ago silently acknowl-
edged that Russians in general have a bigger power distance than Estonians.
ere are some other factors of national cultures that a ect organizational cul-
ture. Collaborativeness (Maleki and deJong 2014) seems to be di erent in Estonian
and Russian cultures. An Estonian o cial from the focus group observed that “ e
whole team cannot do everything. Somebody has to be the one who watches the
progress and realizes it’s time to move on”, while a Russian o cial said of a team
member, “… [he or she] thinks about the team – that’s what I expect from an em-
ployee.” ese examples can demonstrate that Estonians are more task- and Rus-
sians more relations-oriented.
43
D O C E M …
If power distance is clearly di erent between Estonians and Russians, not ev-
erything is clear about hierarchy in local governments. Next, this article examines
the connections of power distance within occupational culture (local government
o cials) and “hierarchy” as a type of organizational culture.
Cameron and Quinn (2011) use labels like “hierarchy”, “ clan”, “ adhocracy”
and “market” to describe di erent orientations of organizations (in Graph 2,
marked with the letters h, c, a, and m, respectively). As mentioned earlier, focus
group discussions did not reveal any noteworthy di erences in power distance.
Expert interviews, on the other hand, showed that Russian- or minority-concen-
trated municipalities characterize their organizations as hierarchical rather than
some other culture type. At the same time, all experts (both Estonian and Rus-
sian) assess their own management style at least partially as hierarchical. It may
be just a result of habit that the public sector is hierarchical, or as Roots (2003a;
2003b) argued, “leadership has stayed somewhere in industrial society.” Cameron
and Quinn’s (2011) own study shows that hierarchy was the widest spread leader-
ship type in the public sector.
Vinkel’s (2008) quantitative data helped to see whether anything outside his
main results was revealing regarding majority- and minority-concentrated munici-
palities (in the same Ida-Viru region of the current research). Since the sample of six
municipalities is quite narrow, statistically relevant conclusions cannot be drawn,
but these observations were used in the further stages of this study. Vinkel con-
cluded that the most dominant culture is clan-like. Vinkel’s data show that Esto-
nian-concentrated municipalities consider themselves less clan-like than Russian-
concentrated ones, but Estonians want to be more clan-like, and Russians prefer
to be less clan-like. Curiously, Estonian-concentrated municipalities in North-East
Estonia preferred more hierarchy (2008). Expert interviews of this study includ-
ed descriptions of Cameron and Quinn’s (2011, 75) four dimensions. e expert’s
opinions on the organizational culture in his or her municipality was marked with a
responding letter (h, c, a, and m). e experts held the same positions as those Vin-
kel questioned. It was expected that some changes in organizational culture might
surface (between 2008 and 2015) and give a deeper insight to municipalities with
majority and minority populations. Graph 2 shows that majority (Estonian-con-
centrated) municipalities in 2015 are still clan-like, with elements of adhocracy and
hierarchy (in 2008 they wanted more hierarchy). Minority (Russian-concentrated)
municipalities seem to have lost any clan-like organizational culture completely (as
they wanted). A comparison of the results of Vinkel’s (2008) study and current ex-
pert interviews gave con dence in the reliability of the data.
5.5 Congruence between organizational culture and management style
Since Cameron and Quinn (2011, 53) predicted success for an organization if the
organizational culture is congruent with management style, and there was a slight
44
T NISPA J P A P, V. XI, N. , W /
correlation in the present study between capacity and ethnic composition of mu-
nicipalities, a more detailed investigation is needed. Expert interviews revealed how
interviewees describe their own management styles. A list of keywords and adjec-
tives about leadership types from Cameron and Quinn (2011, 53) was shown to
the experts, who chose some keywords and explained the reasons for their choices
as well as how they understood the word. e data collected was not enough to
con rm Cameron and Quinn’s (2011, 53) prediction, although it showed some evi-
dence of the above-mentioned connection. e mayors’ styles were also studied
because main experts of this study, Heads of Administration, do not make strategic
decisions. However, their position is more stable and hence more in uential for
organizational culture, which is also quite stable. How much the mayors a ect or-
ganizational culture depends on how long they work as mayor. eir positions are
political and sometimes temporary. e answers of the mayors were added. e
hypothesis from Cameron and Quinn (2011, 53) cannot be convincingly con rmed
or disproved, but there is some relationship.
Graph 2 presents the general results of the expert interviews. e number in
the middle of the chart is the total number of answers (coded labels) given by the
interviewees. Under the chart is marked the type of the municipality (Estonian / ma-
jority, heterogeneous, or Russian / minority) and whether the capacity index of this
municipality is over or under the Estonian average. To keep the focus on organi-
zational culture and leadership style, in the bold and black striping is the number
and proportion of congruent answers from the two categories, and in the grey the
non-congruent answers.
e graphs reveal that for the heterogeneous and minority municipalities, bet-
ter congruence in answers correlates with a better capacity index. When comparing
two of the same type of municipalities, in the case of heterogeneous and minority
municipalities, the one with capacity above average also has higher congruence in
answers. But this correlation does not exist among majority municipalities, where
the congruence in both above- and below-average capacity municipalities is higher
than in heterogeneous and minority municipalities.
Next, the greatest congruence occurs in Estonian majority municipalities,
with less in heterogeneous municipalities and the least in Russian minority munici-
palities. Among Russian minority municipalities, even the ones with the greatest
congruence feature less than half. Although this chart aimed at demonstrating the
correlation between the organizational culture, management style and capacity of
a municipality (based on the hypothesis from Cameron and Quinn 2011), it once
again underlines the importance of the language issue. Based on the current case
study, two main conclusions can be drawn:
1) In organizations with higher congruence between organizational culture and
management style, there are fewer communication problems, but this does not
guarantee a strong capacity index;
45
D O C E M …
2) Cameron and Quinn’s 2011 hypothesis is con rmed, but complicated by the
component of language.
Graph 2
e results of the expert interviews4
To summarize, monolingual (Estonian majority) municipalities (with capacity
indices either above or below average) have generally good congruence. e bilin-
gual (heterogeneous and Russian minority) municipalities, on the other hand, have
less congruence in capacities both above and below average.
Anecdotally, it is interesting to observe how many market-related characteris-
tics managers believe they have which are not actually present in the organizational
culture, but this observation is not related to the main research interest of this study.
4 The number in the middle of the chart is the total number of answers given by the interviewees.
Numbers and letters next to the striped sections represent the answers which are congruent or
not congruent. The letters represent clan, adhocracy, hierarchy and market. Under the chart is
marked the type of the municipality (Estonian / majority, heterogeneous, or Russian / minority)
and whether the capacity index of this municipality is over or under the Estonian average. The
bold and black striping shows the proportion of congruent answers, and in the grey the non-
congruent answers.
46
T NISPA J P A P, V. XI, N. , W /
5.6 Practical implications
As a result of this analysis, some conclusions can be drawn which may be practi-
cal for the heads of local municipalities. Firstly, the success of a municipality is
seen in the congruence of leadership style and organizational culture as well as the
state of the language issues. Given similar language situations, municipalities with
more congruence in leadership and organizational culture tend to be more suc-
cessful. erefore, it is advisable to enhance the congruence, as this is more easily
achieved than improving the overall language situation. Secondly, managers and
mayors should acknowledge that Estonian-concentrated municipalities have more
clan-like organizational cultures and Russian-concentrated municipalities have
more hierarchical organizational cultures for the sake of the overall performance
of the municipality, especially as it was con rmed that managers can change orga-
nizational culture. In this case, organizational cultures (clan-like and hierarchical)
are most probably related to the national cultures of Estonians and Russians rather
than related to majority or minority concentration in a municipality. irdly, what
is generalizable to other municipalities with other ethnic cultures is the sugges-
tion to acknowledge the e ect of national culture on organizational culture. Leaders
should be aware of this and of their own management styles, which would result in
better performance if they tried to bring them closer together. It is also useful to
understand how language usage a ects the capacity to deliver local public services
(the correlation between ethnic composition and the component of performance
index). Ethnic composition also relates to attitude towards training, as discussed
previously. Bringing organizational culture and management style closer together
implies changes, and making changes inevitably implies learning.
5.7 Contribution to organizational culture theory and future research
possibilities
e outcome of this exploratory research is a description of the di erences between
majority- and minority-concentrated Estonian municipalities in terms of their or-
ganizational cultures. e main contribution to organizational culture theory is the
statement that there is a di erence, and it does not arise only from national culture
or composition in general. e di erences are brought out by municipalities them-
selves, which is di erent from most studies in the eld.
e in uence of the language issue is more nuanced than expected and de -
nitely deserves more research. e topic of congruence between organizational cul-
ture and leadership style is not new itself but in relation with language it needs more
insight. Also the topic of learning in di erent cultures needs further attention. It is
also an important contribution that most local government o cials in a multicul-
tural environment are notably indi erent towards representative bureaucracy and
diversity management altogether.
47
D O C E M …
6. Conclusions
e current study aimed at describing the di erences in organizational culture
between majority- and minority-concentrated municipalities. e value of the re-
search is in its exploratory and qualitative approach. e stresses are laid by inter-
viewees and are also re ected in the structure of the paper. is article describes
the di erences which municipality o cials consider to be most important in their
daily work. As the case study of Ida-Viru County municipalities demonstrated, the
di erences are not remarkable but, still, to some extent generalizable to other mu-
nicipalities, and of some practical value. e opening question for this study was to
learn whether the ethnic diversity of the local administration or the composition of
the local population has any impact on municipalities’ organizational culture and
on their capacity.
e main results that surfaced from analyzing the individual and focus group
interviews can be classi ed according to the components of organizational culture,
gathered under ve main topics: communication, personal development, ethnic di-
versity, hierarchy, and congruence of organizational culture with management style.
Under the general topic of communication, primarily questions concerning
language appeared. Two dominant traits occurred with regard to language issues:
poor or unequal language skills causing extra e ort for local government o cials,
and, when citizens do not follow the news in the state language, municipal o cials
needing extra time to explain and forward information to local people. Interviewed
o cials explained how sometimes misunderstandings occur even when language
skills are strong. Solving these misunderstandings takes time which could other-
wise be spent on main responsibilities. In some municipalities, legal acts are trans-
lated into the other language. In this case, there are constant additional costs that
other municipalities do not have. is language situation is probably one of the
reasons for a positive correlation between the share of Estonians in the municipal-
ity and its capacity to deliver local public services, which was 0.35. Neither of these
sub-themes can be explained by cultural di erences. According to Schein (1990),
it is a question of the relationship between the organization and its environment.
e next most prominent theme, personal development, particularly o cials’
attitude towards continuing training courses, is a possible topic for further study.
O cials of minority ethnicity, or in minority municipalities, sometimes avoid
training courses, which might a ect the productivity of the o cial and hence the
municipality’s capacity. Training is one of the easiest options for changing organi-
zational culture. us, a positive attitude towards training supports the process of
change. Based on previous analysis (Rollid ja hoiakud… 2009, 31), one can conclude
that it is one of the factors that di er in majority and minority municipalities. Ac-
cording to Schein (1990), it is a question of whether people consider human nature
perfectible or xed.
48
T NISPA J P A P, V. XI, N. , W /
e third of the revealing focus topics, ethnic diversity, does not itself have a
notable impact on organizational culture in local governments. Educated and expe-
rienced leaders can turn it into an asset, but actual di erences in everyday work are
more likely caused by language use and attitudes towards training. is has to be con-
sidered a positive tendency, since national diversity cannot be altered in democratic
societies, whereas language skills and attitude towards training are changeable.
Lastly, organizational cultures are in uenced by national culture and manage-
ment style. If organizational culture and management style are not congruent, it
might predict lower capacity. In this study, the prediction was partly con rmed. e
causal mechanisms behind the di erence in congruence in minority and majority
municipalities and the “distracting” role of language remains partly unexplained.
Because of the di erences in capacity, this area of possible correlations is worthy
of further study. If congruence between the organizational culture and the leaders’
management style really predicts success, this understanding can have an actual
practical value in working to bring them closer to each other. e comparison be-
tween Vinkel’s study (2008) and the current one on organizational culture shows
municipalities’ exibility and capability to change. Organizational culture does not
change accidentally, but managers and leaders can steer it. According to Schein
(1990), it is a question of human relationships that is considered to be the best way
of organizing society and distributing power.
e main results of this exploratory research are connected to communica-
tion, especially language issues. Language has been demonstrated to have a connec-
tion to the congruence between leadership style and organizational culture, though
this connection is not fully con rmed. e evident di erence in attitudes towards
training is a subject for further research. Although this paper aimed to describe the
di erences in the organizational cultures of minority and majority municipalities, it
also revealed a similarity: municipalities with di erent ethnic compositions do not
show any di erences in attitudes towards ethnic diversity.
References
Abu-Jarad, Ismael Younis, Nor’Aini Yusof and Davoud Nikbin. 2010. “A Review
Paper on Organizational Culture and Organizational Performance.” Interna-
tional Journal of Business and Social Science 1(3), 26 – 46.
Andrews, Rhys; George A. Boyne, Kenneth J. Meier, Laurence J. O’Toole Jr and
Richard M. Walker. 2005. “Representative Bureaucracy, Organizational Strat-
egy, and Public Service Performance: An Empirical Analysis of English Lo-
cal Government.” Journal of Public Administration Research and eory 15,
489 – 504.
Barbour, Rosaline. 2007. Doing Focus Groups. ousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage Publica-
tions.
49
D O C E M …
Barkov, Sergei A. 2004. [Sociology of Organizations].
Moscow: Moscow State University.
Cameron, Kim S. and Robert E. Quinn. 2011 [1999]. Diagnosing and Changing Or-
ganizational Culture. 3rd edn. San Francisco: Jossey Brass Publishing.
Statistics Estonia 2011. Census. Available at http://www.stat.ee/phc2011 (last ac-
cessed 4 April 2014).
European Charter of Local Self-Government Strasbourg. Council of Europe 1985.
Fein, Lisa C. 2005. “Symbolic Boundaries and National Borders: e Construction
of an Estonian Russian Identity.” Nationalities Papers 33(3), 333 – 344.
Geomedia Local Government Index Analysis. Available at http://geomedia.ee/eng/
local-government-index-analyses/ (last accessed on 8 April 2014).
Haage, Sigrid. 2002. Organisatsioonikultuuri diagnostika Eesti riigiasutustes kultuu-
ritüübi määramise meetodil [Diagnostics of organizational cultures in Esto-
nian public service institutions applying the method of culture types] Master
thesis. Tallinn University.
Hall, Edward T. 1977. Beyond Culture. New York: Doubleday.
Hersey, Paul, Blanchard, Kenneth H. 1993. Management of Organizational Behav-
iour: Utilizing Human Resources. 6th ed. Prentice Hall.
Hofstede, Geert. 1997. Cultures and Organisations: So ware of the Mind. New York:
McGraw-Hill.
Hofstede, Geert. 1998. “Attitudes, Values and Organizational Culture: Disentan-
gling the Concepts.” Organization Studies 19 / 3, 477 – 492.
Hofstede, Geert, Gert Jan Hofstede, Michael Minkov and Henk Vinken. 2008. Val-
ues Survey Module 2008 Manual. Website of Geert and Gert Jan Hofstede
https://geerthofstede.com (last accessed 5 May 2012).
Jackson, Susan E., Aparna Joshi and Niclas L. Erhardt. 2003. “Recent Research on
Team and Organizational Diversity: SWOT Analysis and Implications.” Jour-
nal of Management 29(6), 801 – 830.
Kiisla, Aet. 2009. “Impact of Cultures on Local Government Administration and
Management in Ida-Viru County.” In Aet Kiisla (ed.). Acta et commentationes
collegii Narovensis. Tartu: Narva College of the University of Tartu, 153 – 174.
Kluckhohn, Florence R. and Fred L. Strodtbeck. 1961. Variations in Value Orienta-
tions. New York: Harper & Row.
Kü tt, Maria. 2002. Organisatsioonikultuuri diagnostika kultuuritü ü pide mä ä ramise
meetodil [Diagnosing organizational culture using the method of determin-
ing culture types] Master thesis. Tallinn University.
50
T NISPA J P A P, V. XI, N. , W /
Mahoney, James and Daniel Schensul. 1989. “Historical Context and Path Depen-
dence.” In Robert E. Goodin and Charles Tilly (ed.). Oxford Handbook of
Contextual Political Analysis. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 454 – 471.
Maleki, Ammar and Martin de Jong. 2014. “A Proposal for Clustering the Dimen-
sions of National Culture.” Cross Cultural Research 48(2), 107 – 143.
Osbeck, Lisa M., Fathali M. Moghaddam and Stephane Perreault. 1997. “Similarity
and Attraction among Majority and Minority Groups in a Multicultural Con-
text.” International Journal of Intercultural Relations 21, 113 – 123.
Paletz, Susannah B. F., Peng Kaiping, Miriam Erez and Christina Maslach. 2004.
“Ethnic Composition and its Di erential Impact on Group Processes in Di-
verse Teams.” Small Group Research 20(10), 1 – 31.
Parker, Rachel and Lisa Bradley. 2000. “Organisational Culture in the Public Sec-
tor: Evidence from Six Organisations.” International Journal of Public Sector
Management 13(2), 125 – 141.
Rohl ng, Ingo. 2012. Case Studies and Causal Inference: An Integrative Framework.
Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Rollid ja hoiakud avalikus teenistuses [Study about the roles and attitudes in civil
service]. 2009. Tallinn: TNS Emor, Riigikantselei.
Roose-Reinthal, Anneli. 2010. Avaliku teenistuse etniline esinduslikkus: Eesti perspe-
ktiiv. [Ethnic representativeness of public sector: Estonian perspective] Mas-
ter esis. University of Tartu.
Roots, Harry. 2003a. Organisatsioonikultuur ja juhtimisstiil [Organizational culture
and management style]. Riigikogu toimetised 8.
Roots, Harry. 2003b. Studying the Types of Organisational Culture. Organisational
culture in Estonia: Manifestations and Consequences 47 – 64.
Schein, Edgar H. 1990. “Organizational Culture.” American Psychologist 45(2),
109 – 119.
Schein, Edgar H. 1999. e Corporate Culture Survival Guide: Sense and Nonsense
About Culture Change. San Fransisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Publishers.
Schein, Edgar H. 2010. Organizational Culture and Leadership. San Fransisco, CA:
Jossey-Bass Publishers.
Sepp, Veiko and Rivo Noorkõ iv. 2006. Kohalike omavalitsuste üksuste pikaajalise
koolitusvajaduse uuring [Study of training needs of local o cials] Tartu-Tal-
linn: Geomedia OÜ, Riigikantselei.
51
D O C E M …
Sepp, Veiko. 2008. Eesti ü hiskonna integratsioon kohaliku omavalitsuse sü steemis
[Integration of Estonian society in the system of local government]. RIP
2008 – 2013 vajadus ja teostatavusuuringu lõ pparuanne, VII osa, lk 244 – 315.
Tallinn-Tartu: Praxis, Tartu Ü likool, Balti Uuringute Instituut, Hill ja Knowl-
ton, Geomedia.
Shemla, Meir, Bertolt Meyer, Lindred Greer and Karen A. Jehn. 2014. “A Review
of Perceived Diversity in Teams: Does how Members Perceive their Team’s
Composition A ect Team Process and Outcomes ?” Journal of Organizational
Behavior. Available at https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/sites/gsb/ les/publica-
tion-pdf/A%20review%20of%20perceived%20di.._0.pdf (last accessed 11
January 2016).
Siimon, Aino and Maaja Vadi. 1999. Organisatsioon ja organisatsioonikultuur [Or-
ganization and organizational culture]. Tartu: TÜ Kirjastus.
Skerlavaj, Miha, Chunke Su and Meikuan Huang. 2013. “ e Moderating E ects of
National Culture on the Development of Organizational Learning Culture: A
Multilevel Study across Seven Countries.” Journal for East European Manage-
ment Studies 18(1), 97 – 134.
Šmihula, Daniel. 2009. “De nition of National Minorities in International Law.”
Journal of US-China Public Administration vol 6, 45 – 51.
elen, Katleen. 1999. “Historical Institutionalism in Comparative Politics.” Annual
Review of Political Science 2, 369 – 404.
UN. 1994. Council of Europe’s Framework Convention for the Protection of National
Minorities. UN Guide for Minorities Pamphlet 8. Available at http://www.
ohchr.org/Documents/Publications/GuideMinorities8en.pdf 1994 (last ac-
cessed 20 November 2017).
Vinkel, Priit. 2008. Organizational Culture of Estonian Local Government in the Light
of a Multi-Dimensional Approach on Administrative Culture. Master esis.
Tallinn University of Technology.
Williams Katherine Y. and Charles A. O’Reilly. 1998. “Demography and Diversity in
Organizations: A Review of 40 Years of Research.” Research in Organizational
Behavior 20, 77 – 140.
