INTRODUCTION

Organizational culture is the established values, trust, expectations, norms and symbols created by certain groups of people and shared by the employees of the institution, which affect the way the institution works or the results of its activities. It is one of the important concepts that has recently affected the actions and thinking styles of professionals from constitutions from all world. This concept has grown as a result of pressures that demand better understanding and increased competitiveness of organizations and their components so that they can endure and thrive in new situations. The evolution of the idea of organizational culture has been supported by a major rethinking of the role played by human resources.

Although there are many different definitions of organizational culture, they all describe the same process. In the process, it is sharing. Organizational researchers define organizational culture as the assumptions, priorities, meanings and values shared by organizational members. In other words, it is a system of values shared collectively within the organization. Members of the organization show different sensitivities to the demands, expectations, situations and difficulties they encounter in the workplace. Culture is a tool that members use to organize their experiences in relation to the environment. From this point of view, organizational culture acts as a social glue within the organization and between the departments of the organization.

In this paper it was explained the importance and concepts of organizational culture and its effect on the process of change and improving performance. Turkish Airlines was chosen as a model where the company strategies explained in the process of change and the consolidation of the organizational culture.

The dimensions are developed according to the study of Ginevičius & Vaitkūnaite, (2006). This study shows a relationship between organizational culture and performance. It has been added extra dimensions after evaluating the organizational culture dimensions in three companies.

The research also discussed the companies organizational culture, its diversity, and its impact on improving performance and enhancing the company’s competitive advantage. It explores the relationships between tangible and intangible elements in companies.

Literature Review

Organizational Culture

The thinking process basically helps to form one member from another (Hofstede, 1980). Success guidance based on different values and norms that make culture effective (Schein, 1990). Beliefs, behaviors, norms, and a set of values are helpful tools for making the culture most effective (Kotter & Heskett, 1992).

Culture is an abstract concept and the forces created in the social and organizational situations that arise from it are powerful. Cultural forces operate outside of our awareness. It is necessary to study them not for their strength, but because they help explain our diverse experiences in social and organizational life. Most importantly, recognizing cultural forces allows us to better understand ourselves (Schein, 1993; AlShaya et al., 2021)

Organizational culture encompasses core group values and messages; group presents shared organizational ideas and feelings to its members. This situation is not easily understood by those outside the organization. Organizational culture, continuity of actions, compliance in organizational behavior thus, it has an important role in the emergence of the organizational climate.

Employee performance is considered to be the backbone of the organization and it effectively leads its development. Employee commitment is based on cultural knowledge and awareness that improves the behavior of the organization (Ian, 2006). Organizational culture was first defined quarterly by Administrative Sciences (Pettigrew, 1979).

Company Performance

Company performance generally refers to the financial and operational success of a business. This can include measures such as revenue, profitability, market share, and efficiency. Company performance is often used to assess the overall health and success of a business. Corporate performance can include company performance as well as other factors such as sustainability, corporate social responsibility, and reputation.

Organizational outcomes refer to the results or effects that an organization is trying to achieve. These outcomes may be related to financial performance, but they can also include non-financial goals such as improving customer satisfaction, increasing employee engagement, or achieving certain operational or strategic objectives.

Effective coordination between business functions is essential to ensure that the organization can meet the needs of its customers in a timely and cost-effective manner. This may involve aligning the goals and objectives of both functions, as well as establishing clear communication channels and processes to facilitate the exchange of information and coordination of activities.

In addition to coordination at an intra-organizational level, it is also important to consider the inter-organizational relationships between business functions. This may involve working with external partners, such as suppliers and distributors. It is complex and multifaceted, and requires careful planning and coordination to ensure that both functions are working effectively to support the overall goals and objectives of the organization. In summary, company performance and corporate performance are generally used to describe the financial and operational success of a business, while organizational outcomes refer to the specific results or effects that an organization is trying to achieve (Schramm-Klein & Morschett, 2006; Madhukar, 2021).

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A case study is a research method that involves an in-depth, detailed examination of a specific subject, such as a person, group, or organization. a multiple-case study consists of two or more cases or replications across the cases to examine the same phenomena. It is aimed to highlight different industries.

Multiple cases are used in a descriptive viewpoint. Multiple case studies are conducted for exploring the similarities and differences among different subjects or cases. It is possible to gain a more comprehensive understanding of a particular phenomenon or issue, and identify patterns or trends that may not be apparent when studying just one case. It raised convergence and divergence (Carrier et al., 2004).

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The analysis of organizational culture using a multiple case study method allows for a deeper understanding of the cultural dimensions within an organization. This approach involves studying multiple organizations within a specific industry or sector to identify commonalities and differences in their cultural characteristics. The case study method allows for the collection of both quantitative and qualitative data, providing a comprehensive understanding of the organizational culture. The dimensions that are typically analyzed in an organizational culture study include involvement, cooperation, information systems, learning, care for clients, adaptability, strategic direction, reward and incentive systems, control systems, communication, agreement, and coordination.

The findings of such a study can reveal the multidimensional nature of organizational culture and how different dimensions interact with each other. It can also provide insight into how the organizational culture may impact the performance of the company and the engagement and productivity of employees. Additionally, understanding the cultural dimensions of a company can be valuable for stakeholders such as investors and customers, as it can give them a better understanding of the values and practices of the organization.

The study of Oliver, S., & Kandadi, K. R. (2006) explains ten major factors which are influencing knowledge culture like leadership, organizational structure, and evangelization, communities of practice, reward systems, time allocation, business processes, recruitment, infrastructure and physical attributes.

Santti, et al. (2017) focused on the effects of business model development projects on organizational culture. This study shows the difficulties to create a business culture with a multiple case study in SME’s.

However, it is important to note that studying organizational culture can be challenging as it is a complex and multifaceted concept. Additionally, limited time and information can make it difficult to fully explore the cultural dimensions of an organization. Despite these challenges, understanding the cultural dimensions of a company can be critical for its success in today's globalized business environment.

Turkish Airlines Incorporation

Turkish Airlines is the flag carrier airline of Turkey founded in 1933. It is a joint stock company operating in the airline sector, and its major activity is passenger and cargo transportation around the world. The airline flies 305 cities and carries passengers from all around the world.

Having the title of "Europe's Best Airline" in the Skytrax passenger rating for the last six years, together with its subsidiaries, Turkish Airlines employs around 60 thousand people worldwide.

Turkish Airlines has doubled its growth twice in the last 10 years, becoming one of the airlines with the largest global network in the world, maintaining a solid profitability ratio and reaching one of the highest margins in the industry.

Openness, fairness and safety form the basis of Turkish Airlines' unique organizational culture. There are 11 in total, mainly consisting of companies providing services in the fields of training, ground handling, maintenance, catering and fuel supply (THY, 2022).

Fajr-e-jam (Kangan) Gas Refining Co

JAM GROUP CO. as a prominent manufacturer and supplier of Chemical Additives for various industrial fields, such as Oil & Gas, Mining, Water Treatment, Textile, Leather Tanning, PVC, Detergent and etc. was established in 2014 by an experienced group of business and technical experts. Based on observance of the commercial and technical principles, JAM GROUP managed to pave the way into international markets promptly.

All the sub-organizations of this group started to extract from the 6 million phase of South Pars gas by creating a dynamic, continuous and permanent process in improving the quality of the produced gas, which was a great change in R&D research and development that had not started in previous years.

Value chains in Jam Complex provide quality products based on customer satisfaction and market demand in the organizational system is defined. Selling all kinds of products of this complex with the aim of distributing products to its representatives in each region and then selling products from representatives to sub-groups, therefore, customer demand from the representatives of this complex is registered in each region. Submits proposals for its gas products to agents who request them from customers in accordance with the organization's internal rules.

In general, its management in its annual general in 2018, by creating the TQM process, succeeded in obtaining customer satisfaction and increasing its share in the regional markets.

Corporative Agriculture Credit Bank (Bank, 2012)

The Cooperative Agricultural Credit Bank was established pursuant to Law No. 9 for 1982, as a result of a merger between Agricultural Credit Bank, set up in 1975 and National Cooperative Development Bank, founded in 1979. As a consequence of the economic reform programs adopted by the Government in line with the requirements of globalization, the amalgamated Cooperative Agricultural Credit Bank has entered the banking industry market, reorganizing its structure, transforming the Bank by orderly stages, providing material and technological resources and selecting capable and qualified human cadres. All of these has been reflected in the development of the Bank’s business to include more comprehensive banking services thus widening the size and activities of the Bank (CAC Bank, 2017).

Table 1. Dimensions of organizational culture in Turkish Airlines, Fajr-e-jam (kangan) Gas Refining Co. And CAC Bank

Company Performance

Company performance refers the financial and non-financial aspects of an organization. These aspects measure how well companies executes their business strategy. There are several measures for improvement of companies.

It was reported that Fajr Jam Gas Refining Company produced more than s 6% higher amount compared with the same period of last year by company directors Finanacial Tribune (2021).

Cooperative & Agricultural Credit Bank (Bank, 2012) founded in 1982 as a state bank and it served as a specialized lender for specific development sectors i.e. (Fisheries & Farmers).

Since 2004, and under its new management, the bank supported by the government has extended its line of services to cover all commercial banking services for both corporate and retail customers.

Within only 7 years of commercial banking operations, the bank has reflected excellent performance indicator, and as revealed by the financial statements of 2010 the bank achieved the highest growth rate in the market in terms of customers deposits - more than 141% (Bank, 2012).

Turkish airlines focused on growth strategies with new destinations and more focus on cargo transportation. The staff is raised % 10 and the profitability %2.

In the light of this information, it can be stated that THY completed 2019 as it had targeted. Although there have been epidemics in the past, it has been observed that not enough experience has been gained from the past during the COVID-19 epidemic. As it is known, crisis management is also expressed as a strategic process. Considering the effects of the crisis, flexible, mobile and easy-to-control management strategies can be created. In other words, reactive, proactive and interactive strategies can be implemented against the crisis. With reactive strategies, the emergence of the crisis is expected and appropriate actions are started to be implemented. In the proactive strategy, on the other hand, the emergence of the crisis is not expected and various measures can be taken by foreseeing its possible effects. Interactive strategy, on the other hand, means that with the crisis process, continuous learning and carrying out activities to improve the system according to the effects of the crisis. In this context, the whole world has not been able to display a proactive behavior. With the crisis starting to make its impact felt all over the world, it has been observed that all airlines have started to take measures to manage the crisis with an interactive strategic approach. It did not take long for Turkey to be included in this process. In the first quarter of 2020, it was determined that THY management started to manage the crisis with an interactive strategic approach. The basis of crisis management is to minimize the effects of the crisis and to return to normal as soon as possible. For this reason, when THY annual reports and the interviews given by the executives to the print media are examined in depth, it is determined that THY management has implemented the crisis management process quickly and has started the necessary studies to minimize the effects of the crisis. It has been seen that the areas that THY was affected by the crisis are the operational and administrative parts. There was no loss in their cooperation. However, with the effect of the crisis; It has been determined that the authorities become more centralized, the burden of the top management increases, there is a change in the organizational climate, high economic costs occur and the business is under a significant stress (Sucu, 2021).

CONCLUSION

The pandemic changed the lifestyle and expectations of the consumer. The purchasing behavior is influenced by many factors. Price, quality and convenience were important factors. But it can be observed that the customers are ready to pay extra for a safety in shopping, lodging, traveling etc.

The increase and change of customers affect the employees also. The decisions were taken faster because of the changes in the circumstances. The resilience is dependent on Agility and fast response. The Work from home Policy brings advantages to the employees and companies but also some difficulties. The workload is higher. The several meetings take time. It’s also difficult to sustain the motivation.

Turkish Airlines, CAC-Bank and Fajr-e-jam Gas Refining Co. maintains the basic elements of culture, but brings together the cultural aspects of different countries. One of the most important factors that increase success is brand culture and management. Organizational culture has a vital role in performance improvement for consistently success-oriented organizations. In addition, leadership has an important role in changing the organizational culture, adopting it and creating a healthy working environment.

Adopting the principles of transparency, fairness and responsibility in all its activities, the company pays utmost attention to comply with the mandatory and non-obligatory principles.

Limitations and Dimensions for Future Research

This study aims to show cultural differences in three different companies. Primary and secondary data is used to highlight in limited time frame. There are so many dimensions which show the organizational culture and performance. Culture is a complex phenomenon which has so many aspects. There are so many visible elements which are not in the web-sites. It's also important to consider the ethical considerations involved in conducting case studies, such as obtaining informed consent from participants and protecting their privacy. The study can be conducted longitudinal and with mixed methods for future research.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS: The authors would like to thank anonymous reviewers for their suggestions which were most helpful in improving this article.

CONFLICT OF INTEREST: None

FINANCIAL SUPPORT: None

ETHICS STATEMENT: None