The ECO VI Organizational Climate Scale: An Invariance Study in Four Latin American Countries

Abstract

Introduction. Cross-cultural research is fundamental for the development and validation of work and organizational theories and to guide evidence-based practices around the globe. Although organizational climate is one of the most investigated higher-level constructs in organizational psychology, there is a lack of research analysing the invariance of measurements across national cultures in Latin America. This prevents scientists and practitioners from having a deeper understanding of this variable across the different countries and cultures composing this continent.Objectives. This study aims at examining the measurement invariance of the Encuesta de Clima Organizacional scale in its VI version (ECO VI) in Colombia, Costa Rica, Panama, and Dominican Republic. Method. Data were gathered from 38 companies operating in the manufacturing sector based in the four abovementioned countries and the sample sizes were as follows: Colombia was represented by 1007 employees, Costa Rica by 1090 employees, Panama by 372 employees, and Dominican Republic by 213. Measurement invariance was examined by testing the configural, metric, scalar, and structural models of invariance. Results. The results supported with empirical evidence that the ECO VI scale is characterized by measurement invariance. More precisely, 6 of its 8 dimensions are unbiasedly interpreted and can be considered for making meaningful comparisons across the considered national cultures, while the outputs deriving from the dimensions of “resources availability” and “interpersonal relationships” should be treated with more caution. Indeed, for such dimensions support for only configural and metric invariance wasfound. Conclusions. The main contribution of the present study was to provide evidence about the measurement invariance of the ECO VI scale. Thus, providing the community of scientists and practitioners operating in different Latin American countries with a molar organizational climate scale that can be used for conducting cross-cultural research. Hence, it is now possible to have a deeper understanding of how theories and practices involving the organizational climate for well-being can be better applied across the countries and cultures composing this continent.

The Joint Role of Focused and Molar Climates and Eudaemonic Well-being as Mediators of the Relationship between Flexible Telework and Scientific Productivity in Spanish ERC-Granted Teams

“…As to the climate for well-being, or molar climate (Schneider et al, 2011), it was measured by means of the ECO VI scale (Martinolli et al, 2024). The scale, initially developed by Toro (1992Toro ( , 1996Toro ( , 2008, is theoretically framed into the Vitamin Model by Warr (1987Warr ( , 2007, which is particularly suitable since it theoretically identifies the relevant workplace features that affect employees' well-being.…”