Modeling the Effect of Organizational Culture on the Performance of Iranian Sports Federations

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of organizational culture and its dimensions (involvement, integrity, compatibility, and mission) on the performance of Iran sports federations. This study was a descriptive-correlation research. The population included presidents, vice presidents, general secretaries, committee managers and experts of all sports federations of Iran. The sample consisted of 300 subjects who were selected with stratified and purposive sampling method. To collect data, the Denison et al. (2007) organizational culture and Winand et al. (2009) performance measurement questionnaires were used. For data analysis, Pearson correlation coefficient test and structural equation modeling (path analysis and confirmatory factor analysis) were applied. The validity of the questionnaires was confirmed by the experts and confirmatory factor analysis. The reliability of organizational culture questionnaire was determined as 0.96 and performance questionnaire as 0.85. Results showed that the model of the effect of OC on the performance of all sports federations had a good fit (P=0.001, RMSEA=0.068, AGFI=0.92, GFI=0.96). OC had an effect of r=0.78 on organizational performance and it can predict 61% ofperformance changes. Overall, the results of this study showed that measuring and improving organizational culture was an important factor to improve the performance of sports federations. Also, Denison organizational culture model can be applied as a powerful cognitive tool to understand organizational culture and its effects on performance.