Person-organization fit in Japan: A longitudinal study of the effects of clan culture and interdependence on employee well-being

Studies of person-organization fit (P-O fit) have shown that a fit between the values of the individual and the values of the organization leads to higher job satisfaction. Here, we extended past research by investigating P-O fit on employees’ well-being. We tested what characteristics of the person and the organization contributed to an effective P-O fit in Japan. Specifically, we examined the role of employees’ levels of interdependence and perceptions of their organizational contexts as clan culture or market culture. This allowed us to test what type of organizational culture formed an effective P-O fit for employees with highly interdependent cultural values in Japan. A longitudinal survey of 456 workers in Japan conducted in 2021 and 2022 revealed that clan culture—organizational culture emphasizing interpersonal harmony—was positively related to employees’ well-being, and the effects were stronger for employees with high levels of interdependence. Conversely, market culture—organizational culture emphasizing competition and achievement—was unrelated to employees’ well-being. In fact, it was negatively related to those employees’ well-being who scored high on interdependence. Taken together, these results showed that the effects of organizational culture on employees’ well-being depended on the levels of their interdependence. It seems that interdependence (P) and clan culture (O) provide an ideal P-O fit for Japanese companies.