Abstract
Studying organisations from a systemic perspective is more relevant than ever. The literature on the organisations as systems, developed over several decades, encompasses approaches that conceptualize them as complex, social, or living systems. All these share the understanding that organisations function though dynamic interactions among their components, giving rise to emergent properties, such as organisational culture. These cannot be explained solely by analysing isolated elements; instead, they arise from the patterns and quality of relational processes within the system. While previous studies have explored cultural interventions in organizations, few have applied a system model to assess the emergent effects on employee well-being over time. This gap highlights the need for innovative approaches that consider the dynamic interactions between elements of organisational culture as regards employee well-being. To approach this study, existing literature on the proposed cultural principles and their relationship with well-being was first reviewed. A methodological design was developed to measure both these principles and employee wellbeing at two points in time. A questionnaire was administered to employees of 18 organizations located in the Basque Country, which allows for the observation of effects across different contexts. The aim of this study is to analyse how changes in a range of cultural principles, can generate emergent psychosocial processes that in turn contribute to changes in organisational culture, and to evaluate their impact on employee well-being. This offers practical implications for designing interventions that promote well-being in complex organisational environments, and highlights the value of systemic perspectives for capturing dynamic phenomena.
Presenters
Maria RoldanPredoctoral Researcher, Wellbeing Lab, Orkestra - Basque Institute of Competitiveness, Guipúzcoa, Spain
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
2026 Special Focus—Organization in Uncertain Worlds
KEYWORDS
Organisational Culture, Employee Well-being, Intervention, Organisational Effectiveness
