Michigan Business School created an interesting model to determine and diagnose the culture type of an institution or business after extensively researching various attributes that drive organisation effectiveness. This Culture archetype model ultimately managed to distil all attributes to just four significant drivers. This model referred to as – Competing Values Framework is attributed to Robert Quin and Kim Cameron. They used four simple and insightful quadrants and classified organisations based on –
An organisation that is Flexible and Externally driven is entrepreneurial, visionary and experimental. Such an organisation was referred to as Adhocracy Culture. This entity is focused on being the first in the market. This culture is often chaotic, open and inefficient, but innovative. An example would be Telsa. The theme of this organisation is likely to be – We create.
An organisation that is Flexible but Internally driven is a mentorship driven organisation focused on empowering people. This culture is about collaboration and facilitation. Such a culture maybe referred to as the Clan Culture. Netflix and Pixar are examples of this. These are very team driven cultures where jerks are not tolerated and results are paramount. The theme of this organisation is likely to be – We collaborate.
An organisation that is Focused and Internally driven maybe referred to as a Command and Control culture. Here roles are clearly determined, status is well defined and hierarchy reigns supreme. Classic examples are most Government institutions, Army and a majority of traditional business entities. Here the focus is on order, efficiency, well defined KPIs etc. The theme of this organisation is likely to be – We control.
An organisation that is Externally driven but Focused is singularly driven by its competitiveness – ie, keeping track of the market and outsmarting competitors with a view to beating them. This entity is very efficient and very competitive. Such a culture plays great emphasis on speed. Xiaomi and Huawei are examples of this type of culture. The theme of this organisation is likely to be – We compete
