The Transfer of Military Culture to Private Sector Organizations: A Sense of Duty Emerges

As a government institution, the United States (US) Department of Defense (DOD) wields powerful influence on private sector organizations in the defense industry beyond the implications of public policy. In our conceptual research, we study the DOD as a key customer stakeholder in these organizations and investigate the influence of its military culture on these private sector organizations. By analyzing the culture of the DOD, we uncover a new dimension, sense of duty, not previously studied in mainstream organization literature. We propose that this dimension transfers from the DOD to its private sector suppliers in the defense industry via interorganizational relationships, characterized by type, strength and tenure. Finally, we review the implications of culture transference for both entities and discuss generalizability of findings beyond the setting of this study.