Competing values framework

Competing Values
Framework
How does it work?

The grid is based on two dimensions:
Flexibility vs. Stability
Internal orientation vs. External orientation
Flexibility
Stability
Internal
Orientation
External
Orientation

If a company is effective when they are
adapting, changing, and innovating, they
would be higher up on the grid (*).
Flexibility
Stability
Internal
Orientation
External
Orientation
*
If a company is effective when they
are consistent and predictable, they
would be lower on the grid (
*).
*

If a company is effective if they focus on their
internal processes and don’t worry so much
about the outside environment, they would
be more to the left on the grid (*).
Flexibility
Stability
Internal
Orientation
External
Orientation
*
If a company is effective if they pay
close attention to competition and
focus on their market niche, they
would more to the right on the grid
(*).
*

Putting these two dimensions together
determines which quadrant you would fall into.
For example, a company that prefers creativity
and flexibility while staying committed to the
processes they have in place would be in the top
left quadrant (*).
Flexibility
Stability
Internal
Orientation
External
Orientation
*
OK. Great. So why do I care about that?

This shows you which values, approaches,
and leadership style you should utilize to
be most effective based on your culture.
Each quadrant represents a different
culture type:
Flexibility
Stability
Internal
Orientation
External
Orientation
Clan Adhocracy
Hierarchy Market

The clan culture is focused around
collaboration.
Leaders have more success as facilitators or
mentors.
These organizations value commitment to the
group, teamwork, and development and
advancement of employees who are already
within the company.
Flexibility
Stability
Internal
Orientation
External
Orientation
Clan

Flexibility
Stability
Internal
Orientation
External
Orientation
Clan
Positives:
Organizations that have a clan culture tend
to have strong relationships among their
employees.
Employee involvement and job satisfaction
are important to these organizations.
Often seen as a family atmosphere.

Flexibility
Stability
Internal
Orientation
External
Orientation
Clan
Negatives:
Possible lack of diversity. These companies tend to
hire people like themselves. While this may be good
for getting along, it can cause a lack of differing ideas.
Groupthink can occur. Employees can go along with
wrong, or potentially harmful, ideas so they don’t
upset their co-workers.
Potential for abuse. Due to the strong relationships,
there can be tendencies to take advantage of
relationships.

Clan Culture Example…
Build-A-Bear Workshop
 Core values revolve around unity and
teambuilding
 Including “colla-bear-ate” and “cele-bear-ate”
 Internally focused on making sure employees are
able to advance from within
 Try very hard to create the family environment for
their employees
Clan

The adhocracy culture is focused around
creation.
Leaders have more success as innovators or
entrepreneurs.
These organizations value being innovative
and agile. They will keep a constant eye on
the marketplace to see where they can
respond to take advantage.
Flexibility
Stability
Internal
Orientation
External
Orientation
Adhocracy

Positives:
These organizations encourage employees
to take risks.
Employee autonomy and individuality are
important to these organizations.
Quick to adapt to the outside world, so
work rarely, if ever, gets monotonous.
Flexibility
Stability
Internal
Orientation
External
Orientation
Adhocracy

Negatives:
Due to quick changes, established policies and
procedures may be lacking. This can cause
frustration when addressing more routine issues
that arise.
Also due to these changes, risk management can
be an issue. With speed to market being important,
there may not be time to address every contingency.
These companies typically don’t have a strong
hierarchy in place, so communication can suffer at
times.
Flexibility
Stability
Internal
Orientation
External
Orientation
Adhocracy

Adhocracy Culture Example…
Facebook
 They have 5 core values. The first three are to
Be Bold, Focus on Impact, & Move Fast
 CEO Mark Zuckerberg once said to “Move fast and
break things – unless you are breaking stuff, you
are not moving fast enough.”
 The company constantly adapts and experiments
to try to stay ahead of the rest of the social media
platforms
Adhocracy

The market culture is focused around
competition.
Leaders tend to drive hard and be proven
producers.
These organizations value market share,
goal achievement, and profitability.
Flexibility
Stability
Internal
Orientation
External
Orientation
Market

Positives:
There is a strong understanding of why
decisions are made.
These companies typically will have a better
understanding of their market, so will be
more effective with their marketing efforts.
Concentrated effort and market awareness
usually will lead to better long-term
profitability.
Flexibility
Stability
Internal
Orientation
External
Orientation
Market

Negatives:
With a more stable structure and
strategy, changes don’t occur as quickly.
New entrants to the market may have a
greater impact.
Corporate perceptions can be an issue if
the company is focused on profits as
opposed to sustainability or other factors.
Flexibility
Stability
Internal
Orientation
External
Orientation
Market

Market Culture Example…
General Electric
 CEO Jack Welch vowed that every G.E. business
unit must rank first or second in its respective
market or face being sold off.
 Glassdoor.com employee reviews (May, 2017)
showed G.E. to be a company that makes big
changes at once, instead of making small
adaptations.
Market

The hierarchy culture is focused around
control.
Leaders tend to be monitors and
coordinators.
These organizations value efficiency,
consistency, and processes that are
proven to be effective.
Flexibility
Stability
Internal
Orientation
External
Orientation
Hierarchy

Positives:
Authority structure is clear. There is no guess work about who
is responsible for a task or employee.
The ladder is very present for moving up in these
organizations. Each employee knows what they need to master
to move up.
Due to employees knowing how to climb the ladder, they tend
to have more faith in their managers’ confidence since they
know they have mastered the lower level jobs to move up.
Flexibility
Stability
Internal
Orientation
External
Orientation
Hierarchy

Negatives:
With organizations that have a lot of structure, there can be a
lack of innovation and change.
Due to the strong hierarchy of these organizations,
collaboration can be hard to come by.
These companies can be overly bureaucratic in how they
operate.
Flexibility
Stability
Internal
Orientation
External
Orientation
Hierarchy

Hierarchy Culture Example…
McDonald’s
Stereotypical, large corporation that has
widely known structure and stability.
The basis for the term “McDonaldization,”
meaning everything has a routine or set
process.
Even their marketing campaigns have
emphasized the processes they have in place.
Hierarchy

Resources
Blodget, H. (2009, October 01). Mark Zuckerberg On Innovation.
Retrieved June 02, 2017, from http://www.businessinsider.com/mark-
zuckerberg-innovation-2009-10
Cameron, K.S. (n.d.), “An introduction to competing value
framework”, available
at: www.haworth.com/en‐us/Knowledge/Workplace‐Library/Docume
nts/An%20Introduction%20to%20the%20Competing%20Values%20F
ramework.pdf (accessed 1 June 2017).
Facebook. (n.d.). Retrieved June 02, 2017, from
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1655178611435493.1
073741828.1633466236940064&type=1&l=e6f7df8a2c
GE Reviews. (n.d.). Retrieved June 02, 2017, from
https://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/GE-Reviews-E277.htm
Johnson, S. (n.d.). What Are the Advantages & Disadvantages of
Hierarchical Structure? Retrieved June 02, 2017, from
http://smallbusiness.chron.com/advantages-disadvantages-
hierarchical-structure-66002.html
Kokemuller, N. (n.d.). The Advantages of Marketing Orientation.
Retrieved June 02, 2017, from
http://smallbusiness.chron.com/advantages-marketing-orientation-
20975.html
McQuerrey, L. (n.d.). The Disadvantages of Market Orientation.
http://smallbusiness.chron.com/disadvantages-market-orientation-
15818.html
Rossi, H. L. (2017, May 10). Best Company Slogans: 7 Core Values
Statements That Inspire. Retrieved June 02, 2017, from
http://fortune.com/2015/03/13/company-slogans/
Strain, M. (n.d.). The Disadvantages of Clan Culture in Business.
http://smallbusiness.chron.com/disadvantages-clan-culture-
business-34708.html
The Four Types of Organizational Culture. (2017, March 08).
Retrieved June 02, 2017, from https://popinnow.com/four-types-
organizational-culture/

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