The Competing Values Model

The Competing Values Model: Redefining Organizational Effectiveness and Change Shahla Borjalilou Sharif University of Technology School of Management

How to Organize? • In the abstract , the question seems very straightforward. In reality ,it is often the difficult one to answer or even to discuss. • Each of us tends to have unconscious values,that tell us the “right” way to organize and manage.these values can lead to much confusion. • In every organization there are at least four general perspectives on what “good” organizations are and what “good” managers do. At the perceptual level these perspectives are contradictory.

Reframing the question • The old question : what are the characteristics of effective organization? • many studies produced lists of variables that characterized effective organizations . The problem was that these variables differed from one study to another. • The new question : how experts think about effective organizations ? • This would allow us to get to the assumptions behind the studies and perhaps make sense of what was causing the confusion.

Competing Values Framework • In a series of studies ( quinn and Rohrbaugh,1983) ,we had organizational theorists and researchers make judgments regarding the similarity or dissimilarity between pairs of effectiveness criteria. • The data were analyzed using the technique called multidimensional scaling. • Results of the analyses suggested that organizational theorists and researchers share on implicit theoretical framework or cognitive map.

The framework as the diagnostic tool • The first task in this diagnosis was administration of a questionnaire measuring the concepts in the competing values framework. Scores from the management team were averaged to create the group profile of the organization’s orientation. • The second task in the analysis involved using this organizational profile to generate a list of possible steps for future action.