Katarina Babnik

The mission statement: organisational culture perspective

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the understanding of mission statement contents and its function in guiding employees behaviour from the organisational culture (OC) perspective. Design/methodology/approach – The research is based on a mixed method approach. The quantitative content analysis of mission statements was performed on a sample of 222 Slovenian companies. Mission statements keywords were analysed with exploratory factor analysis. Advanced network analytic approaches such as PathFinder algorithm were utilised to obtain better understanding of interrelatedness of underlying mission components. Three interviews with the top managers were performed as well. Findings – The mission statement content analysis identified five associated organisations’ orientations: concern for stakeholders, orientation towards stability, orientation towards cooperation and innovation, and development and growth. The interviews confirm missions’ role in communicating the espoused or declared OC,...

Knowledge creation, transfer and retention: the case of intergenerational cooperation

Intergenerational cooperation is an important source of individual learning, and a vehicle for creation, transfer and retention of organisational knowledge. This paper presents and describes a theoretical model of intergenerational cooperation in organisations that emphasises the cultural and institutional determinants of such age management practices. On the societal level it identifies four determinants: national legislation, prevalence of intergenerational cooperation programs in different areas of social life, higher educational system and institutions, and societal culture. All the aforementioned variables have an interrelated impact on organisational leadership and management, HRM systems and organisational culture that promote intergenerational activities.