The competing values framework

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore how the competing values framework (CVF) could be used by public service leaders to analyze and better understand public sector leadership challenges, thereby improving their ability in leading across borders and generations. Design/methodology/approach This paper applies the CVF, originally developed for understanding leadership in the private sector and shows how it can be adapted for analyzing and developing skill in addressing different leadership challenges in public sector contexts, including setting out specific learning exercises. Findings The paper has four parts. The first provides an overview of the origins, logic, and evolution of the CVF. The second part shows how the CVF is relevant and useful for assessing management and leadership values in the public sector. The third part identifies specific leadership challenges and learning exercises for public sector leaders at different stages of development. The final part concludes by reflecting on the CVF and similar frameworks, and where future research might go. Research limitations/implications Because of the chosen research approach, propositions within the paper should be tentatively applied. Practical implications This paper provides guidance for the better understanding of complex leadership challenges within the public sector through the use of the CVF. Social implications The social implications of the paper could include the more widespread use of the CVF within the public sector as a tool to lead more effectively. Originality/value This paper adapts and extends an analytical tool that has been of high value in the private sector so that it can be used in the public sector.

A leadership-organisational performance model for state-owned enterprises in emerging economies

“…The public sector's focus includes financial and social objectives and is affected by various internal and external stakeholders with different perspectives. These perspectives determine how organisational outcomes are interpreted -often leading to competing demands and expectations (Lindquist & Marcy, 2014;Martz, 2008). As multiple goals are pursued simultaneously, multi-dimensional performance evaluation systems are more effective in the case of public organisations (Mihaiu, 2014).…”

Competing Values Framework as Decoding Tool: Signature Pedagogy in Teaching Business Communication

“…The competing values framework (CVF) is a classical theory often invoked in the scholarship of management and organization (Quinn et al, 1991). Developed through the lens of leadership communication as competing or paradoxical in complex organizational structures, CVF has, over the years, been developed as a decoding tool for the profiling of human resources at the workplace (Ikramullah et al, 2016), a framework in understanding both leadership challenges (Lindquist & Marcy, 2016) and an approach in interrogating shifts in leadership communication styles (Belasen & Frank, 2010), among others. While the theorization of CVF has contributed extensively to the scholarship of management and organization, it has received little attention, as intended by Quinn et al (1991), as a communicative model among communication scholars and educators.…”