Research unveils new tool for analyzing organizational culture through digital data

Prof. Dr. Klaus Boehnke, Professor of Social Science Methodology at Constructor University, has published a research article in the European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology.

The study, titled "Extracting Organizational Culture from Text: The Development and Validation of a Theory-Driven Tool for Digital Data," marks a significant advancement in the field of organizational psychology.

The research, co-authored by Prof. Dr. Klaus Boehnke, Michael Schachner, Dr. M. Murat Ardag, Dr. Peter Holtz, Johannes Großer, Carina Hartz, Prof. Dr. Hester van Herk, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Michael Bender, and Dr. Henrik Dobewall, introduces the "Dictionary of Organizational Culture and Practices" (DOCP), the centerpiece of Michael Schachner's doctoral dissertation project.

This innovative tool utilizes natural language processing (NLP) to analyze and quantify organizational culture through digital data, offering an alternative to traditional survey-based methods. It was developed in cooperation with The Culture Factor Group, a research company incorporated in Helsinki, Finland.

The team developed the DOCP by analyzing a corpus of over 26 million words from employee reviews, mission and vision statements, and company websites. This comprehensive approach allowed the researchers to measure different aspects of company culture, such as how goal-oriented or customer-focused a company is.

The DOCP offers a new method for studying organizational culture that goes beyond traditional surveys. It has been shown to be reliable and effective, providing insights that can help managers and researchers better understand and improve the work environment in organizations.

The work of the DOCP research team, which encompasses three further current or former members of Constructor University (Hartz, Ardag, Holtz), highlights the potential of computational linguistics to provide deeper insights into organizational culture.

The study shows that text analysis can be a cost-effective and efficient method for assessing cultural dynamics within organizations, offering valuable implications for both academic research and managerial practice.

Prof. Dr. Boehnke has been a part of Constructor University Bremen since 2002 and played a prominent role in the establishment of the Bremen International Graduate School of Social Sciences (BIGSSS). His expertise in developmental psychology and his contributions to the understanding of organizational behavior have earned him international recognition.