| If organizations have intentions to enter a community, knowing the culture of that community may play a role in whether or not they are welcome. Community leaders that wish to welcome organizations into their midst may want to understand the type of culture they have and whether it will be a good fit with the organization they are seeking. Researchers may want to know what differences there are within communities that accept while others resist an organization's entry.; This study focuses on establishing a protocol from which community understanding can be researched and summarized to better analyze the values and culture of a community. In the future it may be possible to refine the understanding between community and organization so that organizations and communities can select each other based upon the cultural fit between the organization and the community.; Two communities were studied using a multi-case study methodology across five cultural dimensions, using five sources of data. Eleven hypotheses were tested against the data, using case research as the primary analytical tool. The results indicated that, five hypotheses were supported (H1, H2, H7, H9, H11), two hypotheses received moderate support (H4 & H6), two hypotheses received partial support (H8, H10) and two hypotheses had little or no support (H3, and H5).; The findings were that those communities which accepted or resisted supercenters differed across four of five cultural orientations. The four orientations that showed differences were the cultural dimensions of human activity, human relationships, time, and human nature. The cultural dimension of human relationship to nature showed little or no support.; The findings of the study indicate that there are differences between the two communities across cultural dimensions. Through the understanding of a particular community's culture the ability to predict a community's acceptance or resistance has been enhanced. Organizations, communities, and researchers will benefit by understanding the underlying community culture and its influence within the community at large. |
