Exploring Competing Value Framework Models And Their Role In Organizational Success

Models of the organizational competing value framework

Competing models of management refer to those models that attempt to explain the competing value framework of organizational management. The organizational management sometimes faces the management challenge of balancing between two or more important processes that affect the operation of an organization. The competing value framework is a model that was developed by Robert Quinn and Kim Cameron to assess the organizational culture (Cameron & Quinn 1999).

The theory of competing for value framework, in essence, shows the interrelationship between processes that enable the organization to focus on the internal environment or external environment. The area of focus of an organization leads to the development of the organizational culture and often results in a balancing of two or more competing value factors. This implies that the organizational competing value framework models have a role in the success of an organization. The following paper, therefore, explores organizational models on competing for value framework citing their role in the success of the organization.

1. Models of the organizational competing value framework

There are many different management models of competing value frameworks that can be used to study organizational management. Competing value framework has been described in numerous ways or models. These models try to explain the concept of the competing value framework theory and some of the models include organizational effectiveness model and organizational culture model.  

2.1 Organizational effectiveness

Organizational effectiveness is one of the models that attempt to explain or describe the competing value framework.  Organizational effectiveness is model that attempt to show them how an organization organized itself that foster stability or flexibility (Modaff, DeWine & Butler, 2011). To understand this model, the analysis of the organizational effectiveness is conducted based on the internal emphasis on people at the expense of external focus on the organization. The second area of focus is on the comparison of stability and control alongside flexibility and change. Overall the model results in the development of four quadrants that include internal process, open systems, rational goal, and human relations.

These four quadrants can be grouped into other models that interact within the organization resulting in organizational effectiveness. Firstly, the internal process involves processes that result in stability and control within the organization. An example includes information management and hierarchy (Hartnell, Ou & Kinicki 2011). Secondly, an open internal system is another aspect of the competing value framework and consists of processes that bring creativity and innovation.

Organizational effectiveness

For example, adaptability, growth and resource acquisition that result in inspiring people and not control. Thirdly, the rational goal is another aspect of the organizational effectiveness that explains the competing value framework and this is based on planning and goal setting that has an effect on productivity and efficiency. Lastly, human relations are another aspect of organizational effectiveness that is based on the cohesion and morale that is engraved on training and human resource corporation (Lunenburg 2012).

2.2 Organizational culture model

Organizational culture model is another model that attempts to provide explanations to the competing for value framework. The model shows the effects of culture in an organization that is tied to human and organizational activities. This model embarks on the interpersonal relations within the organization leading to competition between flexibility and control or internal versus external orientation. This result into four quadrants and these include collaborating, create, compete and control.

At the level of competitions, the four factors include external, internal, flexibility and stability. Firstly, collaborate is based on internal factors that ensure that clan culture is enhanced leading to collaboration between people working within the organization. Secondly, control or hierarchy include internal factors that lead to an internal focus in order to control the working environment. Thirdly, create is an external factor that ensures adhocracy culture through the creation of new things to foster the external interest of the organization. Lastly, compete include market focus culture that ensures an organization is focusing on market competition (Marquis & Tilcsik 2013).

2.3 Empirical research example

An example from an empirical research is on research conducted Ohio state university to establish the dominant culture among students (University of Twente 2017). The research explored dominant culture, preferred culture and current culture among students. The aim of the research was to describe the strength of culture which is an aspect of organizational competing value framework. This implies that internal culture and the current culture were tested to show the interrelationship within student fraternity. The overall result shows that more than two third of students across universities and colleges prefers human relations culture within an organization (Marcella 2017).

2.4 Real-world examples

There are some real-world examples of competing models of management and this highly affects the effectiveness of organizational management. An example of the competing value of management is competing for value between mutual and stock insurers that exited within the insurance market.

Organizational culture model

The risk management strategies underwriting profitability of different organizations in Sweden’s property fire insurance that existed between 1903 and 1939 (Michael, Lars, Magnus & Veprauskaite 2012). On this example, mutual insurers store huge reserves to help in balancing of fluctuating in claims experience as compared to local insurance pools that rallied on social obligation or trust that can mobilize funds in the event of an adverse fire. This shows the competition between internal factors and external factors that ensure flexibility against control (Adams, Lars-Fredrik, Jia & Lindmark, 2011).

2. Role of Organizational Effectiveness in the success of the organization

Competing value framework plays an important role and contributes to the success of the organization. Firstly, the effectiveness of the competing value framework determines the response of the organization towards changing business environment. The organizational focus on the external market forces requires high flexibility that competes with control of the organization. The market forces such as competition that require the response of the organization in order to perform within the external environment. The success of the organization is determined through the ability of the organization to respond to changing the environment (Luthans & Doh 2015).

Secondly, the volatile market invokes external orientation and this also has implication on the internal organization flexibility or control. The organization has to channel the organizational information management which is an internal organizational aspect of the competing value framework. The internal orientation of the competing value is that rests on the effectiveness of orientation of the internal processes (Boddy 2011).

Role of organization culture on the success of the organization

The organizational culture is another model of the competing value framework that plays an important role in organizational success. Firstly, The organizational culture that determines the flexibility of the organization through good interpersonal relations is important for the stability of the organization. The flexibility of the organization culture enables the organization to respond to internal forces that compete such as flexibility control and stability (Lim 2017).   

3. Conclusion

In conclusion, competing value framework models have a high influence on the operation and success of an organization. The competing value framework shows the interactions and completion between two or more organizational factors based on the internal or external orientation of an organization. This leads to either focus on internal or organization itself or external (market) environment.

This implies that the organizational competing value framework has a high influence on the success of an organization. Some of the models that attempt to describe competing for value framework include the organizational effectiveness and organizational culture assessment. There are many different real work examples of the organizational cultures or orientations that result in competing value.  

4. References

Adams, M.B., Lars-Fredrik, A., Jia, J.Y., & Lindmark, M. (2011) Mutuality as a Control for Information Asymmetry: A Historical Analysis of the Claims Experience of Mutual and Stock Fire Insurance Companies in Sweden, 1889 to 1939. Business History, vol.53, no.7, pp 1074–91.

Boddy, C. R. (2011) Corporate Psychopaths: Organizational Destroyers, Palgrave Macmillan

Cameron, K. S., & Quinn, R. E. (1999) Diagnosing and changing the organizational culture: Based on the competing values framework. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.

Hartnell, C. A., Ou, A. Y., & Kinicki, A. (2011, January 17) Organizational Culture and Organizational Effectiveness: A Meta-Analytic Investigation of the Competing Values Framework‘s Theoretical Suppositions. Journal of Applied Psychology (online publication). doi:10.1037/a0021987

Lim, M. (2017) Examining the literature on organizational structure and success. College Mirror, vol.43, no.1, pp 16-18. Available at https://www.cfps.org.sg/publications/the-college-mirror/article/1098 [accessed on 13, November 2018]

Lunenburg, F.C. (2012) Organizational Structure: Mintzberg’s Framework. International Journal of Scholarly Academic Intellectual Diversity, Volume 14, Number 1

Luthans, F. & Doh J. P. (2015) International Management, Culture, Strategy, and Behavior (9th ed.). Mc Graw Hill

Marcella, B. (2017) Competing Values Framework Culture Model. Organizational Culture

Assessment Instrument (OCAI) Online. Available at: https://www.ocai-online.com/blog/2017/Competing-Values-Framework-Culture-Model [accessed on 13, November 2018]

Marquis, C. & Tilcsik, A. (2013) “Imprinting: Toward A Multilevel Theory”. Academy of Management Annals: 193–243.

Michael, A., Lars, F.A., Magnus L.  & Veprauskaite  E. (14 December 2012) Competing Models of Organizational Form: Risk Management Strategies and Underwriting Profitability in the Swedish Fire Insurance Market Between 1903 and 1939. pp. 990-1014. Available at: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-economic-history/article/competing-models-of-organizational-form-risk-management-strategies-and-underwriting-profitability-in-the-swedish-fire-insurance-market-between-1903-and-1939/E7ED835EC1868CE621F033631CD020C7 [accessed on 13, November 2018]

Modaff, D.P., DeWine, S., & Butler, J. (2011) Organizational Communication: Foundations, challenges, and misunderstandings (2nd Ed.). Boston: Pearson Education. (Chapters 1–6)

The University of Twente, (2017) Competing Values Framework: Judging effectiveness of organizations. The University of Twente. Available at https://www.utwente.nl/en/bms/communication-theories/sorted-by-cluster/Organizational-Communication/Competing_Values_Framework/ [accessed on 13, November 2018].