The Impact of Organizational Culture in the Public Management Leadership Style ()
1. Introduction
Organizational culture studies emerged in the 1970s, although their magnificence was in the 1980s, due to the numerous publications that were successful at that time (Neves, 2021) .
In general, we can define organizational culture as a set of beliefs, values and norms that influence the climate of a company, aligning employee behaviour and the strategic way in which the company positions itself in the market. Organizational culture is the essence of an organization.
Culture is important in its organizational dimension, according to Ribeiro (2006) organizational culture must be a system where all its members share the same concept, through central values, thus characterizing the dominant culture of the organization, that is, its identity.
The concept of organizational culture has been perfected. The conceptualist below demonstrates the various concepts over the decades.
As for the structure of this work, in the first chapter a brief introduction is made, with the theoretical framework of the theme, definition of the problem, the methodology to be used and its structure. The second chapter presents a brief theoretical framework through a literature review centered on organizational culture, public administration, contrasting values model, leadership and management, addressing the concepts, models and relationship between the constructs. The third chapter presents the methodology followed, revealing the various techniques and analysis tools used. It is also in this chapter that the main objective of the study and the questions asked are explained. In the next chapter, the results of the study and its discussion will be presented. Finally, a critical look will be inferred, conclusions and final considerations of the study, pointing out limitations and sketching some possible future suggestions for the scientific enrichment of the theme.
The objective of the study is to understand the importance that organizational culture has in municipal management, operationalizing it as follows:
• Analyze the perception of employees regarding the organizational culture installed in the organization where they are inserted.
• Analyze the organizational culture regarding leadership and its influence on the problem.
• Propose actions that promote improvements in policies and performance processes, in order to respond to the initial problem.
The knowledge and understanding of these relationships will allow understanding the organizational culture in the civil service, namely the development and change in this type of organizations.
Some corrective actions were presented, to promote the possibility of acting to change the installed cultural profile, in order to generate a change, in the Autarchy, contributing in a still embryonic way to a possible change in the organizational culture of the Portuguese AP. These actions are in line with the 8 steps model of the distinguished scholars Quinn & Thakor (2018) , based on their widely acclaimed article in the Harvard Business Review, where they state that this method will help any organization to discover its authentic purpose, integrating it o in its organizational structure, leading to unprecedented levels of workers’ personal satisfaction, innovation in services and products, as well as economic growth.
However, this investigation has some limitations, resulting in a partial analysis of the AP’s organizational culture, as it focused only on one Municipality. Another of the limitations found was the lack of total adherence to the study by workers in the Municipality of Aljezur, although participation was above 50%, the study would be even more reinforced with the totality of workers.
In future terms, the study could be enhanced if applied to other municipalities, in order to understand whether the organizational culture of rules is rooted in the AP. If the Municipality of Aljezur implements the actions presented, in the medium term this could be a line of future investigation, in order to understand their impact on the organizational culture.
2. Literature Review
Authors Definition of Organizational Culture (Romana, 2014)
Unique configuration of norms, values and beliefs that guide behaviour and characterize the way groups and individuals combine to do things.
Social or normative glue that holds an organization together, reflecting the social values or ideals and beliefs shared by the members of the organization.
A pattern of basic assumptions developed by a given group over time, resulting from their learning in dealing with the problems of external adaptation and internal integration, that worked well enough to be considered valid and therefore to be instituted as the correct way to perceive, think and feel in relation to these problems.
Social system of meanings, characteristic of the organization’s own reality, shared and accepted by organizational actors and, therefore, is considered unique, distinctive and indelible mark of its origin.
System of meanings accepted by organizational actors and which serves as a basis for the interpretation of everyday situations in the organization in question.
Set of values, symbols and rituals shared by members of an organization that guide their behavior, namely in solving internal and external management problems.
Set of values, myths, rites, taboos, signs and meanings that are shared by members of the organization.
Complex set of ideologies, commitments, traditions and values that are shared by the entire organization and that influence its performance management, constituting a potential source of advantage, advancement and innovation
Social knowledge shared within an organization about the rules, norms and values that shape the attitude and behavior of its elements.
The organizational culture has a preponderant role, contributing to an organization motivated in the performance of its functions, generating a feeling of identity, uniqueness and collective participation of all the members of the organization, stimulating the commitment and guiding the behavior of the people through a model to follow.
Organizational behavior studies the behavior of people within organizations and how this affects organizational performance, including basic concepts such as motivation, leadership, interpersonal communication, group structure and processes, change processes and conflict resolution and negotiation (Robbins, 2009) .
All these concepts are relevant to the development of an organization and people management, where leadership plays an important role with regard to change management. This influence can be conferred by a direction/management position, although not all leaders are managers, not all managers are leaders (Robbins et al., 2014) .
Organizational culture is supported by various approaches and models, with Robert Quinn’s model of contrasting values being identified in the literature. It is a model for measuring organizational culture and effectiveness. It is a model composed of two axes or dimensions: structure and focus. The horizontal axis presents internal focus vs external focus while the vertical axis is composed of flexibility and change vs stability and control. These two dimensions form four quadrants that reflect four different types of culture: human relations—support culture, open systems—culture of innovation, internal processes—culture of rules and finally, rational objectives—culture of objectives (Romana, 2014) .
In order to better identify the cultures of the four quadrants and according to Cameron & Quinn (2006, 2011) , each one has a characteristic profile.
The supportive culture or clan culture presents a pleasant work environment, with a united organization that endures through loyalty and traditions, where interpersonal relationships are created, success is defended by teamwork, participation and consensus between employees and the organization.
Leaders are considered mentors and there is a high level of commitment. The organization is focused on internal balance, flexible, attaches great value to people and is open to customer needs.
In the culture of rules or hierarchical culture, there is a strongly structured work environment, where clearly defined rules and procedures predominate. The organization is bureaucratic and emphasizes authority and control. In this culture, leaders are conservative in solving technical problems. The focus is on internal stability and results for efficient execution.
The culture of objectives or market culture is oriented towards results, with productivity and competitiveness being the dominant values. Leaders are demanding, emphasizing planning and setting measurable goals and objectives. The organization maintains an external and competitive focus.
In the culture of innovation or culture of open systems, there is an entrepreneurial and creative environment. There is greater adaptability and readiness on the part of employees. Leaders are innovators and visionaries, taking risks and seeking to obtain external resources for new knowledge in products and services. Individual initiative and freedom of decision are encouraged. The organization’s focus is external with an emphasis on growth and emerging reality.
2.1. Leadership Concept
Leadership is a topic that has aroused the interest of researchers from different areas of study (Rocha et al., 2021) . It is a phenomenon that has accompanied human beings since their beginnings. The researchers focused on the leader as having innate characteristics that are different from others (Van Genderen, 2010) .
Over the years, the subject of leadership has been studied, with concepts associated with various theories, although there is no consensual definition, as a rule and according to the various definitions found in the literature, leadership is the way in which people are influenced to join efforts to execute the intended objectives, on a voluntary basis (Rosa, 2016) .
Chiavenato (2012: p. 130) defines leadership “as an interpersonal influence exerted in a given situation and directed by the process of human communication towards the achievement of one or more specific objectives”.
Leadership capacity can be developed at any time in life, where the ability to lead can be improved, depending on the will and motivation of each one (Goleman et al., 2007) .
According to Drucker’s vision (2001) a leader has to be responsible, define mission and goals, without this there is no effectiveness. An effective leader does not fear the strength of his employees, on the contrary, he recognizes their value, gaining trust from others and being consistent.
An emotionally intelligent leader must know how to listen, must motivate, be positive, create conditions for problem solving, always give assertive feedback. These must keep employees satisfied and committed to the company’s objectives, thus stimulating their skills to the maximum, because when these conditions are met, people have greater productivity and organizational happiness (Goleman, 2012; Chiavenato, 2014) .
In the same line of thought Goleman et al. (2018) , states that emotional intelligence skills are important for excellent leadership, making leaders efficient by using empathy and self-awareness, in addition to intelligence and competence. Leaders’ emotions are propagable, if they transmit enthusiasm, the organization advances, but if they transmit negativity, it regresses.
However, for Chiavenato (2012) among the various styles of leadership that stand out in the literature, there are essentially three, which are: the autocrat, the liberal and the democratic. 1) Autocratic leadership: comes from an authoritarian style, known for rigidity and autonomy in decision-making, done unilaterally. It is a leadership model that follows traditional and well-established processes, leaving no room for creativity. 2) Liberal leadership: as opposed to autocratic leadership, this style gives the team complete freedom by delegating tasks and decision-making, without any supervision, where the leader only intervenes when asked. 3) Democratic leadership: it is a participative style of leadership, where the leader consults and asks for information from the group, becoming part of the group, thus giving you to the collaborators, through meetings, debates, where they outline their objectives and share tasks, thereby creating higher levels of commitment and a more satisfying work environment.
In practice, depending on the circumstances, the leader consistently uses the three styles. The difficulty is to understand when each of them should be applied (Chiavenato, 2012) .
For Chiavenato (2012) leadership can be centered on tasks or on people, however task-oriented leadership leads to low efficiency, leading to dissatisfaction and undesirable attitudes towards work and leaders.
How a task-oriented leader behaves how a people-oriented leader behaves
• Plans and defines how the work will be done;
• Assigns responsibilities for the task;
• Clearly defines work standards;
• Finds ways to complete the task;
• Monitor performance results;
• Focuses on productivity and quality;
• Concerned with work methods;
• Acts as support and backup for people;
• Seeks to teach and develop people;
• Show people work objectives;
• Develops social relationships with people;
• Is sensitive to people’s needs;
• Respects people’s feelings.
The literature refers to several styles of organizational leadership and according to Robbins (2009) after 1990, neocharismatic theories emerged, where some leadership styles emerged: Charismatic Leadership, when the leader has a natural gift and are seen as remarkable people by their followers; Visionary Leadership, when you foresee situations, creating a vision of the future; Transactional Leadership, motivated to achieve goals through defined objectives; Transformational Leadership, inspires those led, leading to a transformation of consciousness and attitudes. The latter, although different, are approaches that complement each other, because transformational leadership is created based on transactional leadership, an effective leader must be transactional and transformational.
According to Robbins et al. (2014) transformational leaders inspire their followers to go beyond their interests in favour of the organization, causing a great impact on them, while transactional leaders motivate their followers to reach the stipulated goals, through the clarification and fulfilment of functions and tasks.
2.2. Performs the Alignment of Values and Main Objectives
We can also highlight the model of six leadership styles identified by Goleman et al. (2007) which are related to leadership and emotional intelligence: Visionary, Advisor, Democratic, Relational, Leader and Persuader.
2.3. Leadership vs Management
At a certain point, leadership and management become confused, as leadership in the management of organizations is extremely important, and a leader who manages to manage the use of his skills, adapting his profile to each situation, creates an impact on the management team work as well as the financial performance of the company. This success is due to the manager’s ability to influence people to achieve their maximum performance, relying on all the resources available within the organization, whether financial, material, technological or human (Teixeira, 2013) .
The distinction between leadership and management is presented by Hooper and Potter (2018) in which management is focused on planning, organizing and controlling, working directly with financial, material and human resources, while leadership establishes the vision and mission, inspiring and motivating people.
2.4. Leaders Create Culture
To be effective, a manager must possess: 1) technical skills, achieving the ability to apply specific knowledge; 2) human skills, the ability to work with people, understanding and motivating them, either individually or in groups; 3) conceptual skills, cognitive ability to analyse, understand and detect situations of greater complexity (Robbins, 2009) .
The functions of leader and manager are both necessary in an organization, relating and committing themselves, whether they are reconcilable or not in the same individual, as referred by Cunha et al. (2016) where outside the research groups, leadership is seen as an emotional process, with management being more rational.
According to Rego & Cunha (2004) , the role of managers in the 21st century, in addition to planning, organizing, directing and controlling, there is now a need to improvise, plan in real time as opportunities and threats arise, demanding a future vision.
2.5. Characterization of Public Administration (PA) in Portugal
According to Tavares (2019) , the AP encompasses the central or concentrated services of the state, the peripheral or deconcentrated services of the direct and indirect administration and, finally, the autonomous administrations.
Tavares states that “Public administration is, to a large extent, the operational arm of the government, which ensures management functions, implementation of policies defined by different governments, taxation, inspection and regulation” (Tavares, 2019: p 13) .
According to the General Directorate of Administration and Public Employment (DGAEP) PA “is understood in a double sense: organic sense and material sense. In an organic sense, public administration is the system of organs, services and agents of the State and other public entities that aim at the regular and continuous satisfaction of collective needs; in the material sense, public administration is the very activity carried out by those bodies, services and agents”.
However, and referring to the organic sense, the PA is divided into three large groups of entities, namely the Direct State Administration, Indirect State Administration and Autonomous Administration.
The Direct Administration of the State is regulated by Law No. 4/2004 of January 15, in its current version, and establishes the principles and norms to which the organization of the direct administration of the State must comply. Under the terms of paragraph 1 of article 2 of this Law, “central and peripheral services are part of the direct administration of the State which, due to the nature of their competences and functions, should be subject to the power of direction of the respective member of the Government”, that is, these institutions are hierarchically subordinated to the Government.
But the services that comprise it have different territorial competences, so that the central services have competence throughout the national territory, while the peripheral services have a territorially limited competence.
Then we have the Indirect State Administration, which is established in Law No. 3/2004 of January 15, in its current wording, which approves the framework law for public institutes, establishing the principles and norms by which they are governed. In accordance with the provisions of paragraph 1 of article 2 of the same Law “Public institutes form part of the indirect administration of the State and the Autonomous Regions” and are subject to guidance and supervision by the Government.
This administration comprises three types of entities, the personalized services which are legal persons of an institutional nature endowed with personality, of public character, but independent of the legal person State; personalized funds, which are legal persons governed by public law, with a patrimonial nature, and finally, public business entities, which are legal persons of a business nature, with a profit-making purpose, in which the State or state public entities hold all the capital.
Finally, we have the Autonomous Administration, which is composed of entities that aim to pursue the public interest of the people who constitute them, with autonomy and independence in their activities and decisions.
They are entities that are grouped into three categories, Regional Administration (autonomous), Local Administration (autonomous) both of territorial nature and Public Associations of associative nature.
2.6. Public Administration Reforms and Their Impact
PA has evolved continuously over the last few decades and according to Rocha (2014) , this evolution is divided into four time periods, as shown below.
This investigation has contributed to reinforce that nowadays, we are still facing a hierarchical and bureaucratic Public Administration (Tavares, 2019) , following rules and legal norms, with no room for creativity and innovation, but with a need to take the leap, both internally, due to workers’ lack of commitment to the organization and lack of identification with the purpose, and externally, with the complexity of new matters and demands from citizens for a lighter and faster service.
3. Methodology
3.1. Model Time Periods
Scientific or Traditional Management (1887-1945) Typically bureaucratic and hierarchical model, typified by laws and regulations, where maximum responsibility is attributed to the top.
Political Administration/Professional (1945-1975) Model with an intervening character that gives rise to pluralism and incrementalism and the introduction of a professional public manager, possessing the technique with access to policies. Greater professionalization of workers.
Managerial Administration (end of the 70’s) Rational model, considered essential to overcome the administrative crisis, with managerial approaches: Reinventing the Government with the new public management.
Governance (1990s) Mixture of several models, where the structure becomes horizontal, greater cooperation and interaction between the various actors, providing greater citizen participation. Greater openness, transparency, communication and sharing of knowledge and information within the AP.
Despite all the changes, according to Lira (2014) , the Napoleonic tradition continues to persist in the AP, due to the strong conservative culture and legal imposition in the Portuguese public sector, translating into bureaucracy, continuing to remain part of the Traditional Administration.
We are witnessing a coexistence of models, with a more transparent, decentralized administration, with a focus on the citizen, but which still decides centrally, castrating the efficiency and modernization of the country (Carvalho, 2020) .
According to Bilhim (2021) , over the last 20 years, some reforms have been carried out in the PA in Portugal, listed below.
Governments Organization Performance Measurement Human Resources.
XV Reform of public institutes; norms for organizing the direct administration of the State; identification Management by objectives; (SIADAP) Statute of the managing staff of central administration services and bodies.
3.2. XVII PLACE
Simplex. Alteration of SIADAP (LVCR), (LCTFP), training for managers, reduction of careers, mobility.
XIX PREMAC, Framework Law for Public Institutions, Framework Law for Foundations, Framework Law for Independent Entities Revision of Law No. 66-B/2007 Creation of CReSAP. Statute of the Public Manager, equalization of public and private social security regimes.
Rate of up to 20% of salary in force during the crisis period, transfer of autonomous pension funds to Social Security.
Resistance to change within the system itself hampers change processes. Organizations have knowledge, values, rules and skills that identify them, creating a unique identity, with low performance in terms of efficiency, effectiveness and quality, which is the basis of imbalance and organizational change (Bilhim, 2013a) .
According to Bilhim (2021) , depending on the environment, values, culture and power structures, so will be the results of the reforms, the results differ in different contexts. The reforms carried out in Portugal in the last 20 years took place due to external pressure from the EU.
“The success of the reforms in Portugal, although important, was not as impactful as it would have been if they had been introduced into an administrative culture with an Anglo-Saxon or Webwrian matrix in Central and Northern Europe. The administrative culture of Southern Europe—France, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Greece—is marked by the Napoleonic matrix, essentially legal.” (Bilhim, 2021) .
The empirical study began with a formal request to the executive of the Municipality of Aljezur (CMA), to exercise full-time functions, which was granted in September 2022. In this way, the data collection process took place between October 28 on December 16, 2022.
Given that the characterization of the organizational culture of the Municipality of Aljezur is the objective of this study, the mixed method was used, of the exploratory sequential type, converting it into two phases. The first phase was the exploratory study, collection and analysis of qualitative data through a non-structured interview with a general and open question, applied to the three members of the collegiate executive body of the Municipality: President, Vice-President and Alderman.
The second phase was the questionnaire survey, where the collection and analysis of quantitative data was applied to workers in the Municipality of Aljezur, in office. The questionnaire consisted of 100 questions, each question was scored from 1 to 7, where the number 1 means never and the number 7 means always. The questionnaire was developed based on the original genesis of the OCAI (Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument) model, based on the contrasting values model developed by Cameron & Quinn (2006, 2011) , and adapted to the Portuguese reality being studied, scientifically validated by Romana (2007, 2014) .
4. Results
In this chapter, the results obtained will be presented, through the description and interpretation of the data under investigation, which were collected by an instrument applied to the sample under study.
It is intended with the analysis and discussion of the results, to classify, categorize and organize the data collected, in order to compare the results with the exploratory study and the theoretical-conceptual information applied in the literature review of this investigation and to present a conceptual model that brings together guidelines for the application of certain actions, which enable an intervention model to change the cultural profile, in order to achieve the desire of the executive body of the CMA and respond to the presented problems.
The results will be presented with the help of conceptualist, in order to better understand the presented information. For a better contextualization, the global results of the sample (n = 112) were presented, and in particular the results of the managers only (n = 7), to infer the importance of managers in the organizational culture of the Municipality of Aljezur.
Leaders in Public Administration
In order for the services provided to the population to be of quality, leadership with goals and objectives is necessary (Pereira, 2020) , thus leadership is challenging in the PA, as they work with a diverse audience, and must be knowledgeable of the sector’s problems, as well as the way of resolving problems that may arise, presenting comprehensive solutions, moderating and reconciling interests, ensuring transparency in all processes, knowing how to communicate efficiently and effectively to different audiences, ensuring that the final result represents the majority of citizens (Pereira, 2020) .
Management and leadership skills are fundamental in the profile of public leaders, in addition to being concerned with efficiency and effectiveness, they must have the ability to understand collective needs, reconcile expectations, social and economic reflections to solve problems, emerging the importance of knowing how to reconcile the response to the needs of citizens and knowing how to manage human resources (da Silva et al., 2021) .
According to Ferraz (2016) in the evolution of administration models and governance processes, the role to be played by leaders in the implementation of public policies, in a growing context of participation and active citizenship, is of an important character, allowing to anticipate the leader profile in this new paradigm.
• Aggregate social preferences the public leader must know the main problems of the sector in which he exercises functions, defining strategies for the pursuit of the public interest.
• Fostering network participation public leaders must be able to influence citizens to participate, individually or collectively, in defining and implementing the public interest, creating cooperation networks.
• Moderating and reconciling interests the public leader should be a moderator in the context of antagonistic points of view between the different social actors
• Build consensus the public leader must present comprehensive solutions that generate the maximum consensus among the intervening parties, so that all actors see themselves in the decisions
• Guarantee the representation of all interested parties the public leader must guarantee that the final result, resulting from participatory public policies, is representative of the social will, regardless of whether or not the interested party has participated in the definition of the policy
• Ensure the neutrality and independence of proposals the public official must ensure that public participation does not jeopardize the neutrality and independence of the proposals presented.
• Ensuring the transparency of participatory processes, the public leader must ensure the transparency of processes, providing the necessary information, making the whole process public and transparent, so that it is not confused with the pursuit of particular interests
• Streamline information and knowledge the public leader must promote the reduction of bureaucracy, making information and knowledge available to citizens so that they can use it within the scope of their participation
• Communicating the public leader must communicate efficiently and effectively to different audiences. This is a core task that cuts across all the others.
For Carmo (1989) , AP leaders are required to have a complex profile that can be grouped into three types of skills: specialist, generalist and animator, as shown in the conceptual list.
Manager as a specialist ability to plan having the ability to define images of a desirable future, objectively portraying the present and identifying intermediate goals to get there.
Capacity to organize create, organize and rationally articulate resources in a strategic way.
5. Discussion
Ability to control compare the results obtained with the desired ones and introduce the necessary corrections, through the development of observation and listening skills.
Ability to motivate knowing how to identify the potential and needs of workers, managing to provoke synergy effects between them, in order to achieve the objectives.
Ability to communicate knowing how to listen, speak and write, setting up correct communication circuits for effective communication, whether horizontally, vertically or in external relations, respecting the existing rules.
Leader as a generalist multidisciplinary capacity being an integrator of the different types of technical discourses of the organization.
Leader as animator ability to animate having skills in the field of interpersonal, group and organizational relationships, enhancing their capacity for innovation.
Due to the characteristics and specificities of the public sector, there is a growing need for directors/leaders to develop and deepen specific skills and abilities, thus responding to the sector’s new demands.
But beyond the characteristics of civil service, leaders must be able to put conventional leadership strategies into practice.
Despite the fact that there has been a change in relation to public leadership over time, it is still trapped in a traditional view in an instrumental form, strongly limited in efficiency and effectiveness, due to the bureaucratic context. AP needs transformational leadership, which involves changing the organizational culture.
Leadership is intertwined with organizational behavior, so culture is forcibly created and strengthened through the interventions and attitudes of leaders. When the culture is dysfunctional, leadership is needed to recover organizations, when this does not exist, change does not take place, always remaining in the same culture, without adapting to new strategies (Filipe, 2018) .
However, the directors have the task of organizing and controlling processes and procedures, and should aim at merit and not the political choice of the Government, thus balancing the different interests involved in the decision-making processes, between the Government, AP workers and citizens (Bilhim, 2013b) .
Thus, under the terms of article 3 of Law 2/2004 of January 15, which approves the status of the management personnel of the services and bodies of the central, regional and local administration of the State, the mission of the directors is to “ensure the fulfilment of the attributions committed to the respective service, ensuring its good performance through the optimization of human, financial and material resources and promoting the satisfaction of the recipients of its activity, in accordance with the law, the guidelines contained in the Government Program, and the determinations received from the respective member of the Government”.
These clues are in line with the 8 steps listed above by Quinn & Thakor (2018) , regarding the need to inspire others through purpose, influencing them to achieve excellence in the workforce, finding the goal through employee involvement. The behaviour must be congruent with the Purpose and with the values, otherwise the process becomes fallacious, leading to the worker’s disengagement. Understanding the nature of the purpose is a job of perseverance and conviction, which must be communicated with authenticity and continuity, so that workers recognize their commitment and believe in said purpose, reorienting themselves. The change is flagged at the top and applied at the bottom.
6. Conclusion
According to Quinn & Thakor (2018) , when leaders become involved in the purpose, they recognize that learning and development are powerful tools, which meet the desires of workers who want to learn and grow, gaining confidence, commitment to the organization, propelling them toward the purpose of the organization. The reflection between the purpose and the learning process is extremely important for workers. If the purpose is clearly communicated, so that it is understandable by all, workers can make use of their skills and initiatives without needing control from the leader.
Managers, in addition to knowing the organization’s purpose, will have to deeply connect to it in order to lead with moral power, only then will they be able to convey their personal purpose authentically to workers and share the impact on their professional and community lives, organization, sharing expectations with those led. After the purpose is internalized by the top and middle managers, it must be passed on to employees, connecting them with daily tasks. If workers are involved in the process, it will be easier to achieve the purpose by reinforcing cultural characteristics. After the purpose is ingrained throughout the organization, employees are more satisfied with their work and the level of commitment increases (Quinn & Thakor, 2018) .
In the same line of thought Quinn & Thakor (2018) , refers to the need to identify people who are agents of change, they are people motivated by purposes, optimists who naturally inspire others, they are people open to taking initiatives. Once identified, they can be of fundamental help in all stages of cultural change, creating a network of positive drivers who, by being faithful to their purpose, will be able to pass on that commitment to all team members.
Regarding the present study, it intended to identify the characteristics of the organizational culture of Local Administration and its relationship with leadership, through a case study applied to the Municipality of Aljezur, in order to understand the importance of organizational culture in municipal management. The investigation saw an answer to the problem found during the exploratory study, as it was found that the organizational culture installed in the Municipality of Aljezur is the one perceived by the executive body in office, confirming the first hypothesis of this study. It is an organizational culture of rules, hierarchical, internally focused and with its structure in a management control transversal to all professional categories, where workers do not have any participatory role in the decision-making process. It was also detected that managers collaborate and corroborate this type of hierarchical culture, focused on internal processes, developing the normal state of leadership, focused on themselves, internally closed, centered on comfort and defining themselves as they think they are seen by others. It is in this way that the importance of the role of leaders in an organizational culture is verified, because if the leaders are connected and involved with the purpose of the organization, in order to pass it on to the workers, involving them in the process, they are more satisfied and committed to the organization, making it easier to reinforce the desired cultural characteristics (Quinn & Thakor, 2018) .