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The effect of
The effect of organizational organizational
culture and HR practices on culture and HR
practices
female managers’ commitment
and job satisfaction 105
Sunyoung Park Received 25 March 2019
Revised 1 August 2019
School of Leadership and Human Resource Development, Accepted 2 August 2019
Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA, and
Min Young Doo
Department of Education, Sejong University, Seoul, Republic of Korea

Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this study is to investigate the structural relationships among organizational
culture, human resources (HR) practices and female managers’ organizational commitment and job
satisfaction in South Korea.
Design/methodology/approach – Using data obtained from the Korean Women Manager Panel, 230
responses were analyzed using structural equation modeling.
Findings – The findings indicated that organizational culture directly affected HR practices and indirectly
affected job satisfaction and organizational commitment. In addition, HR practices directly influenced job
satisfaction and organizational commitment and indirectly affected organizational commitment through job
satisfaction. Finally, job satisfaction had a direct and significant effect on organizational commitment.
Originality/value – The authors provide an empirical analysis of how organizational culture and
functional factors influence organizational commitment and job satisfaction for female managers in the
Korean context. The findings of this paper are expected to encourage scholars to pay more attention to the
connection between organizational support and HR interventions to improve female managers’ commitment
and satisfaction within organizations by emphasizing the alignment between organizational culture and HR
practices.
Keywords Job satisfaction, Organizational commitment, Organizational culture, HR practices
Paper type Research paper

Introduction
Many researchers have paid attention to the role of organizational culture because
organizational culture is invisible, but consciously and unconsciously, it influences the ways
employees think and behave in an organization (Hartnell et al., 2011). Organizational culture
also affects the implementation of policies and practices of the organization. Human
resources (HR) practices are not an exception. HR practices play an important role in
practically and effectively implementing organizations’ strategies by attracting, developing,
motivating and retaining employees (Schuler and Jackson, 1987). These activities are
required for the survival of the organization by facilitating the organization to communicate
European Journal of Training and
values and expectations for how things should be done in the organization. At the same Development
time, the members of the organization always appreciate the importance of HR practices Vol. 44 No. 2/3, 2020
pp. 105-120
through recruiting, placement, promotion, compensation or annual performance review. HR © Emerald Publishing Limited
2046-9012
practices can enhance the psychological contract of employees and their job satisfaction by DOI 10.1108/EJTD-03-2019-0045
EJTD increasing consistency and transparency of the organization (Edgar and Geare, 2005;
44,2/3 Petrescu and Simmons, 2008).
Multiple scholars have discussed the significant effects of organizational culture on
employees, in particular, female managers (Bellou, 2010; Stocking and Armstrong, 2016;
Roebuck et al., 2018). For example, Stocking and Armstrong (2016) surveyed alumni from
Edward College in the UK, and found that 38 per cent of respondents pointed to an
106 unsupportive organizational culture for the greatest challenge to their careers. According to
the Korean Ministry of Gender Equality and Family (2017), only 20.1 per cent of manager
positions were held by females. Although the reasons for the low ratio of female managers in
Korea are diverse (e.g. glass ceiling), one of the possible reasons is the male-dominant
culture of Korea influenced by Confucianism (Park Matthews, 2005). Considering the
significance of the organizational culture on female managers, it would be interesting to
explore how organizational culture and practices can work to support female managers in
South Korea (hereafter Korea).
Based on the relevant literature, we selected four significant variables that influence
female managers’ work life: organizational culture, HR practices, organizational
commitment and job satisfaction (Ellickson and Logsdon, 2002; Locke, 1973; Meyer et al.,
1993). The purpose of this study is to investigate the structural relationships among
organizational culture, HR practices and female managers’ organizational commitment and
job satisfaction in Korea. The research questions guiding this study are as follows:

RQ1. What are the relationships among organizational culture, HR practices, female
managers’ organizational commitment and job satisfaction?
RQ2. Do HR practices mediate between organizational culture and female managers’
organizational commitment and job satisfaction?
The contribution of this study is that it is an empirical analysis of how organizational and
functional factors influence organizational commitment and job satisfaction for female
managers in the Korean context. Previous research on Korean female workers has focused
on increasing the number of female workers; however, this study attempts to examine the
realities inside organizations, especially how organizational culture and HR practices affect
organizational commitment and job satisfaction of female managers. The results of this
study provide practical implications for enhancing job satisfaction and organizational
commitment of female managers. Another contribution is that this study viewed HR
practices as a mediator of organizational culture and employees’ attitudes by emphasizing
the role of HR practices to link the variables. Our findings can encourage scholars to pay
more attention to the connection between organizational support and HR interventions to
improve female managers’ commitment and satisfaction within organizations by
emphasizing the alignment between organizational culture and HR practices. By
incorporating all four variables into one model, this study will help researchers to more fully
understand the critical factors affecting female managers’ commitment and satisfaction.

Literature review and hypotheses

In this section, we review the literature on organizational culture, HR practices,
organizational commitment, job satisfaction and their relationships. Definitions of each
variable are provided and the relationship between variables is explained through the
literature review.
Organizational culture and human resources practices The effect of
Organizational culture refers to “the set of shared, taken-for granted implicit assumptions organizational
that a group holds and that determines how it perceives, thinks about and reacts to its
various environments” (Schein, 1997, p. 236). In other words, members of an organization are
culture and HR
consciously and unconsciously influenced by their organizational culture. Schwartz and practices
Davis (1981) explained that organizational culture has a critical impact on the organization’s
ability to carry out objectives and plans as well as to implement organizational change in a
strategic direction. When the organizational culture values employees’ needs and 107
attachments, employees tend to be satisfied with their jobs and be committed to their
organizations, which are required characteristics to improve organizational effectiveness
(Cameron and Quinn, 1999; Hartnell et al., 2011).
HR practices can be defined as intentional activities to attract, develop, motivate and
retain employees (Schuler and Jackson, 1987). For instance, opportunities to enhance
employees’ skills (e.g. recruitment, selection and training), motivation (e.g. compensation,
benefits, career development and job security) and work practice (e.g. job design, employee
involvement and knowledge sharing) can be part of HR practices (Jiang et al., 2012). These
activities are required for the survival of the organization and to facilitate job performance.
HR practices play a significant role in creating added value for organizations by managing
people and planning diverse activities such as recruitment and selection, employee training
and involvement (Boxall and Purcell, 2008; Marescaux et al., 2013). HR practices are
particularly important driving forces to enhance employees’ abilities and to cultivate and
maintain organizational capabilities (Wright and McMahan, 1992). Most research findings
have also reported that HR practices influence employee perceptions and performance in
organizations (Edwards, 2009; Macky and Boxall, 2007; Wayne et al., 2002; Allen et al.,
2003).
Relationship between organizational culture and human resources practices. Numerous
scholars have found strong evidence that organizational culture can influence HR practices
(Biswas, 2009; Chow, 2012; Park and Kim, 2019; Tang and Tang, 2012). Organizational
culture has an important impact on HR practices by influencing organizations to invest,
develop and revitalize members (Chan et al., 2004). Participative organizational culture can
enhance HR practices by valuing collaboration, communication and trust, thus motivating
employees to work together to solve organizational problems, while flexible culture can
support HR practices by offering more opportunities to develop employees and providing
their autonomy and empowerment to make decisions (Hartnell et al., 2019). The effects of HR
practices can be maximized when they are consistent with organizational culture (Arthur,
1994; Schuler and Jackson, 1987). Leaders can use organizational culture to facilitate and
distribute strong HR practices and systems (Schein, 2017). Based on the relevant literature
review, the first hypothesis is as follows:

H1. Organizational culture is positively related to HR practices.

Job satisfaction and organizational commitment

Job satisfaction refers to “the pleasurable emotional state resulting from the appraisal of
one’s job [is important for] achieving or facilitating one’s job value” (Locke, 1969, p. 317).
Kotler (1997) also defined job satisfaction as individuals’ feelings of pleasure and
disappointment about the results of their job performance or consequences compared to
their expectations. One critical employee behavior in organizations is job satisfaction, which
has been widely used to measure employee effectiveness and job performance (Ellickson and
Logsdon, 2002).
EJTD Organizational commitment is “the strength of an individual’s identification with
44,2/3 and involvement in a particular organization” (Porter et al., 1974, p. 604). O’Reilly and
Chatman (1986) defined organizational commitment as the individual’s psychological
attachment to the organization. In other words, organizational commitment has been
characterized as the psychological tie between individuals and the organization. As the
most popular concept of organizational commitment, Meyer and Allen (1987) viewed
108 organizational commitment as having multifaceted constructs including affective,
continuance and normative commitment. Although their three-component model of
organizational commitment has been widely applied in research, the emphasis in this
study is organizational commitment, so we focus on affective commitment, which
describes employees’ emotional attachment to the organization. We chose this
approach because most Korean organizational commitment studies have synthesized
the three organizational commitment dimensions and, thus, adopted this single-
dimension approach of affective commitment (Lee and Moon, 2014).
Relationships between human resources practices. Scholars have provided evidence that
HR practices play an important role in job satisfaction and organizational commitment (Choi
and Lee, 2013; Kehoe and Wright, 2013; Kim and Wang, 2016; Lee et al., 2017; Ng and
Sorensen, 2008; Park and Kim, 2019). For example, HR practices could promote employees’
organizational commitment and job satisfaction by enhancing organizational support, open
communication, promotions, decision-making processes and compensation (Ng and
Sorensen, 2008). Specifically, female managers feel less engaged, committed and satisfied
when they experience discrimination in HR practices such as career opportunities,
promotions and working environments (Gress and Paek, 2014).
How employees perceive and experience HR practices within their organizations
can determine their behavior and attitude (Kehoe and Wright, 2013). When HR
practices create conditions where employees become involved in the organization and
work hard to accomplish organizational goals, employees show high levels of job
satisfaction and organizational commitment (Bhatnagar, 2007; Choi and Lee, 2013;
Fabi et al., 2015). Employee commitment and satisfaction could also improve when HR
practices ensure employees’ well-being and equality and provide motivation and
opportunities that foster employee performance (Allen et al., 2003; Gong et al., 2009).
Thus:

H2. HR practices are positively related to job satisfaction and organizational

commitment.

Relationship between job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Many studies have
supported that job satisfaction positively influences organizational commitment (Dirani and
Kuchinke, 2011; Fabi et al., 2015; Froese and Xiao, 2012; Lopez-Cabarcos et al., 2015; Lee
et al., 2017; Yang, 2010). When employees are more satisfied with their jobs, they feel more
attached to the organization to which they belong (Brown and Peterson, 1993; Yang, 2010).
Employees who are satisfied with their jobs are more likely to have higher organizational
commitment because they tend to also be satisfied with their careers (Carson et al., 1996).
When employees are not satisfied with their current jobs, they do not feel committed to the
current organization, which can solidify their decision to leave the organization (Allen et al.,
2003). Thus:

H3. Job satisfaction is positively related to organizational commitment.

Mediating role of human resources practices The effect of
Many scholars have discussed a mediating effect of HR practices on the relationship organizational
between organizational culture and various outcomes (Biswas et al., 2006; Sikora and
Ferris, 2014). HR practices could play a critical role in linking organizational culture
culture and HR
and job satisfaction and linking organizational culture and commitment based on the practices
positive relationship between organizational culture and employees’ attitudes (Choi and
Lee, 2013; Ng and Sorensen, 2008). Considering that organizational culture can affect 109
employees’ job satisfaction and commitment by clarifying their goals and empowering
employees to do work autonomously (Liou et al., 2014), HR practices can be a bridge
between organizational culture and employees’ satisfaction and commitment.
Organizational culture can contribute to establishing stronger HR practices by
conveying organizational value (Hartnell et al., 2019), and then HR practices can
determine employees’ positive behavior (Jiang et al., 2012; Kehoe and Wright, 2013). In
other words, without effective HR practices, organizational culture is less likely to
impact employees’ job satisfaction or commitment because of a lack of the influence on
employee behavior from the organizational structure level. HR practices, in turn, could
promote employee well-being and support employees’ work (Gong et al., 2009), which
leads to the fourth hypothesis:

H4. HR practices mediate the relationships between organizational culture and

organizational commitment and between organizational culture and job
satisfaction.

Theoretical framework
To examine the relationship among the variables of this study, social exchange theory
and affect theory were applied. Social exchange is explained as a joint activity of two
or more actors (e.g. individuals or organizations) with a reciprocal relationship when
pursuing the values or benefits of each actor (Emerson, 1976). In other words,
according to social exchange theory, people estimate the benefits or returns of their
investment when they initiate or continue the relationship (Blau, 1964). This theory
explains most of behaviors, including employees’ loyalty or commitment to the
organization (Settoon et al., 1996). To maintain the relationship between two parties,
the exchange equation should be satisfied. Otherwise, individuals may consider
alternatives to the current relationship. In this study, when organizational culture and
HR practices are rational and supportive enough for female managers, female
managers are satisfied with their jobs and are committed to the organization.
Organizational commitment and job satisfaction have been the most extensively used
dependent variables in business research using the social exchange theory (Wilson, 1995);
hence, this study also applied the social exchange theory to examine the effects of
organizational commitment and HR practices on job satisfaction and organizational
commitment of female managers. The affect theory of social exchange explains how the
instrumental conditions of exchange facilitate expressive relations and influence individuals
through an emotional process (Lawler, 2001). Individuals experience emotional ups and
downs whether or not the exchange is successful. These emotions influence how individuals
perceive the relationship with their affiliations. The research model of this study was
developed on the basis of the social exchange theory and affective theory of social exchange,
as illustrated in Figure 1.
EJTD Methods
44,2/3 Sample and research context
To investigate the effects of organizational culture and HR practices on female managers’
commitment and job satisfaction, this study analyzed Korean Women Manager Panel
(KWMP) data from the Korea Women Development Institution, a government-sponsored
research institute in Korea. We chose KWMP because it is the only nationwide survey that
110 solely focuses on female managers in Korea from a multidimensional perspective. Many
types of labor force surveys have been conducted in Korea, but they do not contain large
enough samples of female managers, as the ratio of female managers is fairly low compared
to their male counterparts. Thus, this study analyzed the recent data set of KWMP to
explore the research questions.
The purpose of the KWMP is to explore female managers’ reality in the workplace to
make suggestions on how to increase female workforce participation. The KWMP has
surveyed around 1,800 female managers every other year since 2007. They have inquired
about various aspects of female managers’ perspectives in the workplace including working
conditions, benefits and compensation, HR policies and practices, promotion, career
development, work and family conflict, job satisfaction, organizational commitment, work
stress and organizational culture (Kim et al., 2016).
We selected the fifth panel data collected in 2015, the most recent available data, and the
response rate was 91.4 per cent. Of the 2,170 female managers who participated in the fifth
panel data survey, 1,627 participants were available for data analysis excluding those with
missing data. Among the 1,627 female manager participants, 230 female managers were
selected for this research. The criteria for selecting the participants included:

having direct subordinates; and

performing the roles and responsibilities as a team leader, such as completing
subordinates’ performance reviews, making an impact on promotion and job
opportunities of subordinates and participating in the decision-making process of
company-wide issues.

The average age of the participants was 43.78 years (SD = 5.12) and continuous service
years in the current job was around 16.05 years (SD = 7.37), on average. In terms of
education level, more than half (51.1 per cent) of the participants were four-year university
graduates, 31.3 per cent had a master’s degree or doctoral degree, 11.9 per cent were two- to
three-year college graduates and 5.7 per cent had only a high school diploma. The
distribution of business sectors was 21.7 per cent manufacturing, 9.6 per cent wholesale/
retail, 21.7 per cent financial sector, 24.3 per cent service sector and 22.7 per cent others. As
for the firm size, 40.9 per cent of the participants worked for large firms with more than

Figure 1.
Research model
1,000 employees. Those who worked for medium-size firms with between 300 and 1,000 The effect of
employees made up 22.6 per cent and small-size firms with less than 300 employees organizational
comprised 36.5 per cent in the participants.
culture and HR
Measures practices
In this study, four variables of the KWMP data were used for analysis: organizational
culture, HR practices, job satisfaction and organizational commitment. The participants
were asked to answer each question on a five-point Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree, 5 =
111
strongly agree).
Organizational culture was measured with five items about affiliation, membership,
support and open communication. Sample statements include: “In my organization, all
employees are considered with respect and dignity as human resources” and “In my
organization, subordinates are welcome to suggest their opinions to bosses.” Cronbach’s
alpha for the five items was 0.81.
HR practices were measured with four items from the High Performance Work Practice
(HPWP) taxonomy by Posthuma et al. (2013). The questions were related to promotions,
communication, performance management and appraisal. Sample statements are: “All
employees have a good understanding of promotion policies” and “Announcements about
major management issues, such as business strategies and results, are delivered to
employees on a regular basis.” Cronbach’s alpha for the four items was 0.84.
Job satisfaction was measured with six items adopted from the Minnesota Satisfaction
Questionnaire (MSQ) by Weiss et al. (1967). The questions asked were about participants’
satisfaction with compensation, supervision, co-workers, the work itself and working
conditions such as working hours and work environment. Cronbach’s alpha for the six items
was 0.83.
Organizational commitment was measured with six items from the Affective
Commitment Scale by Meyer et al. (1993). Sample statements are: “I would be very happy to
spend the rest of my career with this organization” and “I really feel as if this organization’s
problems are my own” Cronbach’s alpha for the six items was 0.90. SPSS 23.0 program and
AMOS 20.0 program were used to analyze the data of this study.

Results
The results of the study are reported in two parts. First, the preliminary analysis, including
descriptive data and the results of the measurement model, are reported. Second, the
structural equation modeling results and the results of hypotheses testing are addressed.

Preliminary analysis
To determine if the data of this study are appropriate for structural equation modeling,
descriptive data, reliability, construct validity and convergent validity of the measurement
model were tested.
Table I summarizes the correlations among the six constructs and the descriptive
statistics. The correlations among the variables are all significant. The correlation between
job satisfaction and organizational commitment shows the highest value (r = 0.57), followed
by the correlation between organizational culture and HR practices (r = 0.55) and between
organizational commitment and HR practices (r = 0.45). The result of the skewness and
kurtosis test shows that there were no serious multicollinearity issues among the variables
used in the data (Table I). To identify potential multicollinearity problems, we also
examined the variance inflation factor (VIF) values. All VIF values for our models ranged
from 1.45 to 1.60, far below the conventional threshold maximum value of 10 (Kline, 2011).
EJTD Variables 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
44,2/3
1. Age –
2. Education 0.13* –
3. Tenure 0.01 0.02 –
4. CU 0.03 0.03 0.12 –
5. HR 0.04 0.03 0.21** 0.55** –
112 6. JS 0.00 0.12 0.22** 0.32** 0.44** –
7.OC 0.04 0.00 0.36** 0.42** 0.45** 0.57** –
Mean 43.78 3.09 16.05 3.33 3.39 3.60 4.05
Standard deviation 5.12 0.83 7.37 0.71 0.85 0.58 0.70
Skewness 0.78 0.69 0.40 0.05 0.36 0.76 0.50
Kurtosis 0.63 0.47 0.22 0.23 0.13 1.69 0.12
Table I.
Descriptive statistics Notes: n = 230; *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01; Organizational culture (CU), HR practices (HR), Job satisfaction (JS)
and correlations and Organizational commitment (OC)

For reliability, the Cronbach’s alpha and the composite reliability (CR) were examined. The
Cronbach’s coefficients ranged from 0.81 to 0.90. In addition, the composite reliability (CR) of
the latent variables were between 0.71 and 0.85, which were both higher than 0.70, the
minimum critical value for good internal consistency (Fornell and Larcker, 1981). Our
validity analyses involved both convergent and discriminant validity. The standardized
factor loadings of all the elements measured were between 0.55 and 0.80. The average
variance extracted (AVE) values were between 0.43 and 0.51. Table II shows that all
variables have good convergent validity.
Overall confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was performed to estimate the convergent
and discriminate validity of the indicators of the five constructs. CFA is most appropriate

Construct Factor loading Cronbach’s alpha Composite reliability AVE

Organizational culture CU1 0.72 0.81 0.82 0.47

CU2 0.78
CU3 0.66
CU4 0.57
CU5 0.69
HR practices HR1 0.59 0.84 0.71 0.51
HR2 0.62
HR3 0.60
HR4 0.66
Job satisfaction JS1 0.65 0.83 0.74 0.43
JS2 0.58
JS3 0.56
JS4 0.61
JS5 0.62
JS6 0.58
Organizational commitment OC1 0.76 0.90 0.85 0.50
OC2 0.70
Table II. OC3 0.80
Factor loading, OC4 0.64
Cronbach’s alpha, CR OC5 0.66
and AVE OC6 0.66
for confirming whether or not construct measures load on their respective a priori-defined The effect of
constructs (Browne and Cudeck, 1993). The overall CFA showed that all factor loadings organizational
were over 0.60, and the measurement model indicated a good fit to the data ( x 2 = 54.62; df =
culture and HR
38; x 2/df = 1.44; TLI = 0.98; SRMR = 0.04; CFI = 0.99; RMSEA = 0.04).
practices
Structural model assessment and hypothesis testing
As the fitness index of the measurement model satisfied the fitness index criteria and 113
the estimate possibility of the structural model was theoretically confirmed, the fitness of the
initial research model was estimated through a maximum likelihood estimation method. The
initial structural model provided a good fit to the data ( x 2 = 59.62; df = 40; x 2/df = 1.49;
TLI = 0.98; SRMR = 0.05; CFI = 0.98; RMSEA = 0.05).
To test the hypotheses, the statistical significance of the path coefficient among the
variables was examined. As shown in Table III, all path coefficients were statistically
significant (t > 1.96, p < 0.05). Thus, H1 was supported: organizational culture directly
affected HR practices ( b = 0.76, t = 7.58). H2 was also supported: HR practices positively
and significantly influenced job satisfaction ( b = 0.56, t = 6.44) and organizational
commitment ( b = 0.28, t = 3.38). HR practices also indirectly affected organizational
commitment through job satisfaction. Thus, H3 was supported: job satisfaction had direct
and significant effects on organizational commitment ( b = 0.51, t = 5.79). Finally, H4 was
supported: organizational culture had an indirect effect on job satisfaction and
organizational commitment through HR practices. Figure 1 presents the final model with
standardized path coefficients (Figure 2).

Paths Direct effect Indirect effect

H1 Organizational culture ! HR practices 0.76**

H4 (Through HR) ! Job satisfaction 0.43*
(Through HR) ! Organizational commitment 0.43*
H2 HR practices ! Job satisfaction 0.56**
(Through JS) ! Organizational commitment 0.28** 0.28*
Table III.
H3 Job satisfaction ! Organizational commitment 0.51** Path coefficient
estimates in the final
Notes: **p < 0.01; *p < 0.05 model

Figure 2.
Final model
EJTD Discussion and implications
44,2/3 This study examined the relationships among organizational culture, HR practices, job
satisfaction and organizational commitment of female managers in Korea. The findings
indicated that:

Organizational culture directly affected HR practices.

HR practices directly influenced job satisfaction and organizational commitment.
114
Job satisfaction had a direct and significant effect on organizational commitment.

In addition, HR practices are mediators that are a link between organizational culture and
satisfaction and between culture and organizational commitment. Based on our findings,
organizations can provide enough support and investment to establish HR practices. Well-
prepared HR practices can provide employees with better and respectful working
environments, so they can commit to the current organization and be satisfied with their job.
Our study emphasized the important role of HR practices to convey organizational culture
and to link organizations and employees.

Theoretical implications
One of the key findings of this study is that organizational culture affected HR practices,
confirming previous studies about the relationship between organizational culture and HR
practices (Wright and McMahan, 1992; Chan et al., 2004). Organizational culture has evolved
over a long period of time based on the business philosophy, core values, norms and
expectations influencing individuals as well as organizations. In particular, it has affected
systems, rules and policies, decision-making processes and HR practices. However, other
researchers have suggested that the organizational culture and HR practices should be
aligned to make the best use of HR practices from a contingency perspective (Arthur, 1994;
Schuler and Jackson, 1987). This study particularly focused on the relationship between HR
practices and clan (organizational) culture among many culture types. As Cameron and
Quinn (1999) concluded, no single organizational culture is best, as they can be classified
based on values and priorities and the perspective of performance effectiveness of each
organization. As employee attachment, affiliation and membership are emphasized in clan
(organizational) culture, it appears that there was a good fit between clan culture and HR
practices in this study.
Another key finding is that the significant roles of HR practices in employee attitudes. As
an antecedent, HR practices affected job satisfaction and organizational commitment. This
result also confirms the research findings of previous studies about the effects of HR
practices (Edwards, 2009; Allen et al., 2003; Macky and Boxall, 2007; Wayne et al., 2002). As
a mediator, HR practices provide links between organizational culture and organizational
commitment and between organizational culture and job satisfaction. To understand these
research findings, it is necessary to take a look at the relationship between organizational
culture and HR practices. If there is a good fit between organizational culture and HR
practices or if organizational culture is strongly supportive of HR practices, then the
outcomes of HR practices will be maximized (Schuler and Jackson, 1987). However, HR
practices without the necessary organizational culture may not be effective.
The reasons why HR practices act as a mediator between organizational culture and job
satisfaction is that organizational commitment could be related to an intimate relationship
between organizational culture and HR practices. In other words, HR practices can be a tool
to convey the norms and values that the organizational culture emphasizes. Previous studies
also viewed HR practices as a mediator to enhance individual and organizational
performance by linking HR practices to organizational culture, climate or systems (Dubey The effect of
et al., 2015; Van De Voorde and Beijer, 2015). By using HR practices as a mediating variable, organizational
this study showed that organizational culture would be distributed in different ways to
affect employees’ attitudes and behaviors.
culture and HR
Job satisfaction also affected organizational commitment in this study. This finding practices
confirms the research results of previous studies examining the relationship between job
satisfaction and organizational commitment (Dirani and Kuchinke, 2011; Froese and Xiao,
2012; Yang, 2010; Carson et al., 1996). According to the results of a meta-analysis by Cooper- 115
Hakim and Viswesvaran (2005), there is a stronger relationship between job satisfaction and
affective commitment than other commitment types. As organizational commitment was
measured with affective commitment as a single approach in this study, this may affect the
strong relationship between job satisfaction and organizational commitment.

Practical implications
This study points to the significance of an integrative perspective of organizational culture
and HR practices. The characteristics of organizational culture in the company should be
reflected when designing and developing HR policies and practices. Arthur (1994) used the
terms “control and commitment” as HR approaches, indicating that there are numerous
ways to influence individuals in organizations. Individuals are affected by the
organizational culture both consciously and unconsciously, so HR practices should be
aligned with the organizational culture and the individuals in the organization. This also
explains why human integration using HR practices is considered an important factor for a
successful post-merger integration process (Birkinshaw et al., 2000).
Given the research findings of this study, business firms and organizations in Korea
should examine their organizational culture and HR practices and check the alignment of
these factors to increase job satisfaction and organizational commitment of female
managers. For example, examining organizational culture using an organizational culture
survey on a regular basis (e.g. annually or biannually) is a practical way to understand
organizational culture. Organizational culture is invisible and ever changing; however, its
influence is extensive and pervasive throughout the organization.
HR managers should also monitor HR practices to ensure that they are compatible with
their current organizational culture. Given that many organizations still have a hierarchical
and male-dominant organizational culture in Korea, the results of this study provide a clear
message that organizations in Korea need to pay more attention to organizational culture
and HR practices to facilitate female managers’ organizational performance. In addition,
foreign multinational firms that apply the HR policies and procedures of their headquarters
to local offices should keep in mind that it is ineffective to incorporate HR initiatives without
a deep understanding of the local organizational culture.

Limitations and recommendations for future research

It is important to acknowledge the limitations of this study for future research. First, this
study used panel data, which means that the survey structures, measurement items and
participants were already determined apart from the purpose of this study. Thus, there were
restrictions in designing the research model, setting up the hypotheses and analyzing the
data. To compensate for the weaknesses of panel data, future researchers are encouraged to
use a longitudinal design to investigate the relationships among variables and changes over
time. Second, related to the first limitation of this study, organizational commitment and
organizational culture were measured from a unidimensional perspective (i.e. affective
organizational commitment and clan culture). Future researchers are strongly encouraged to
EJTD use multidimensional measurements to yield additional meaningful research findings. In
44,2/3 addition, the participants of this study were Korean female managers, so generalizing the
research findings to female managers in other countries is limited. Future studies should
invite participants with diverse backgrounds including different cultures and countries to
examine the influence of demographic variables on the research results. Finally, as the focus
of this study is the mediating role of HR practices, future studies could examine the role of
116 HR practices as a moderator to determine the interactive effect of organizational culture and
HR practices or expand the mediating role of HR practices by exploring the relationships
between organizational culture and different outcomes (e.g. work engagement, turnover
intention and organizational performance).

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Corresponding author
Min Young Doo can be contacted at: scion2006@gmail.com

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