ORGANIZATIONAL SOCIALIZATION: A COMPARATIVE STUDY AMONG BRAZILIAN AND NORWEGIAN CIVIL SERVANTS

Abstract

The aim of the study was to analyze the organizational socialization outcomes among civilservants at two public universities, from different countries (Brazil and Norway), comparingthe results obtained in a cross-cultural perspective. The samples were composed of professorsand technical-administrative employees at a Brazilian university (N=72) and a Norwegianuniversity (N=63). The data collection instruments used were the Organizational SocializationInventory (OSI) and a sociodemographic form. Data analysis was preceded by a number oftests to verify possible distinct response styles among the respondents, as they came fromdifferent cultures. Descriptive analysis, t-tests and ANOVA were performed to identify andcompare organizational socialization outcomes. The results showed that the Norwegian civilservants, in general, reported better integration to people compared to Brazilians, whichtended to be more integrated to organization than Norwegians. It was also observed andinteraction effect between nationality and occupation, so that only among Norwegians civilservants in distinct occupations the organizational socialization outcomes were homogeneous.At the Brazilian university, professors related to be more socialized than technicaladministrativeemployees. Furthermore, Norwegian technical-administrative employeestended to be more socialized than their Brazilian counterparts, while Brazilian professorsshowed better socialization outcomes comparatively to Norwegian professors. Given thedifferent contexts in which the two universities operate, some considerations about culturalorientations and their possible influence in the findings were proposed.