The importance of organizational culture to organizational performance has become widely recognized in recent years, and this relationship unquestionably applies to military organizations as much as to any other type of organization. Theorists on organizational culture conceive of it as a multilayered phenomenon. At the surface level it is exhibited in observable behaviors and physical artifacts (such as the layout of an organization's facilities or how they are decorated). Underlying these observable behaviors and artifacts are norms and values that are shared by members of the organization. Underlying these norms and values, in turn, are a set of assumptions that are also shared by members of the organization but are often not consciously recognized.

There is no universally recognized set of cultural characteristics that have been identified as key to organizational success. Indeed, which characteristics are most important depends on the specific circumstances of the organization – that is, its goals, the environment in which it operates, and so on. Two widely used methodologies, however, one developed by Cameron and Quinn and one developed by Denison, focus on the norms-and-values level of culture. Both methodologies group values that have been identified as associated with organizational effectiveness into four clusters. The four clusters represent the degree to which the organizational culture is internally focused or externally focused and the degree to which it emphasizes stability and control or flexibility and discretion.

Although there are slight differences, the four clusters of values used by the two methodologies are largely similar to each other. One cluster consists of values associated with participation and collaboration in the organization. These include the importance of teamwork, of the welfare of individuals within the organization, of developing the capabilities of individuals within the organization, of the organization's mission, of involving all members of the organization to some degree in generating new ideas and making decisions, and of loyalty to the organization. A second cluster of values consists of those associated with consistency and predictability. These include the importance of following established rules and procedures, of efficiency, of coordinating activities within the organization, of smooth operations, and of reliability and dependability. A third cluster consists of values associated with mission accomplishment.