Does Organizational Culture Influence the Innovativeness of Public-Listed Housing Developers?

Problem statement: The benefits of innovation and the need to be innovative have been highlighted by many. However, it is doubtful whether the players in the housing industry, in particular housing development firms, have the characteristics that are favorable for innovation. This study investigates the relationship between organizational culture and the innovativeness of public-listed housing developers in Malaysia. Approach: A survey was conducted among all housing developers registered with the Bursa Malaysia. Descriptive statistics, a reliability test, correlation analysis and multiple regressions were used to analyze the data. Results: The results revealed that 4 out of 8 dimensions of the organizational culture were statistically significantly correlated with organizational innovativeness with moderate strength. Specifically, performance orientation, humanitarianism and assertiveness culture had highly significant relationships with organizational innovativeness, while future orientation had a significant relationship with organizational innovativeness. There is no evidence, however, to support that any of the eight cultural dimensions can predict organizational innovativeness. Conclusion/Recommendations: The results imply that the culture adopted by publiclisted housing developers is not significant in influencing their innovativeness and there is a need to seek for other factors that can increase the developers’ innovativeness.