Organizational culture in Ethiopian public research universities: testing Denison’s framework in a non-Western context

This study examines the dominant dimensions of organizational culture (OC) as perceived by academic and administrative staff in Ethiopian public research universities, addressing the limited understanding of cultural dynamics in developing-country contexts. Using a quantitative, cross-sectional design, data were collected from 726 respondents across three randomly selected universities through a structured questionnaire adapted from Denison’s OC model. Descriptive and inferential statistical techniques, including one-way ANOVA, chi-square, and independent samples t-tests, were used to analyze the data with SPSS version 26. ANOVA results revealed that significant differences between academic and administrative staff were found only in perceptions of adaptability ( p = .024) and mission ( p = .001), but not in involvement and consistency. Theoretically, the study applies Denison’s framework in a non-Western university context. Practically, it highlights the importance of aligning OC with diverse staff perceptions to enhance collaboration. Given the cross-sectional survey design, the findings should be interpreted as associational patterns rather than causal relationships among the study variables.