The Effect of Organizational Culture on Employees’ Performance in Public Organizations of Addis Ababa City Administration: The Mediating Role of Employees’ Commitment

Abstract

The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between organizational culture and employee performance, taking into account the mediating effect of employee commitment in the Addis Ababa City Administration. Five out of the city's 20 bureaus were selected, consisting of a total of 1,090 employees with a bachelor's degree or higher. The participants included 285 staff members, determined using the Krejcie & Morgan sample determination table. Stratified proportionate sampling techniques were employed to allocate the proportionate samples for each bureau, and systematic random sampling techniques were used to select respondents from each bureau. Data was collected using a survey questionnaire with a five-point Likert scale. In addition, five focus group discussions (one for each bureau with 10 members) were conducted to complement the quantitative data findings. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics such as mean and standard deviation. An explanatory research design was adopted to investigate the effect of independent variables on dependent variables. Structural equation modelling was utilized to examine the effect of organizational culture on employee commitment and performance. The results revealed that employees in the public sector of Addis Ababa City Administration had a low perception of organizational culture, employee commitment, and performance management practices. The findings indicated that organizational consistency, employee commitment, mission orientation, and employee involvement all had a positive and significant effect on employee performance. Furthermore, the mission orientation of employees had a positive and significant effect on their level of commitment to the organization. In conclusion, it could be inferred that employee commitment mediates the influence of organizational culture components, such as consistency and mission orientation, on employee performance. To enhance employee performance, it is recommended that the city focus on improving both organizational culture and employee commitment.