Derrick J Richards



“Competing Values Framework Current Assessment and Future Direction”Derrick J. RichardsMaster of ArtsEducation LeadershipSiena Heights UniversityAdrian, Michigan“Competing Values Framework Current Assessment and Future Direction”Intro: The Competing Values FrameworkThe Competing Values Framework (CVF) is a model or an instrument used for leadership of an organization. The framework was created through a research project on what makes an organization effective (Faerman, McGrath, Quinn, St. Clair & Thompson, 2011). The CVF “serves as a map, an organizing mechanism, a sense-making device, a source of new ideas, and a learning system” (Cameron, K., Quinn, R., & et al, 12). (Faerman, McGrath, Quinn, St. Clair & Thompson, 2011)The framework is made up of four quadrants. The open systems or the creative quadrantInnovative: Live with change, think creatively, manage changeBroker: Presenting ideas, negotiating agreement and commitmentsThe human resources or the collaborate quadrantMentor: Understanding self and others, developing employeesFacilitator: Building teams, Using participation in decision makingThe internal processes or control quadrantMonitor: Monitor individual performance, analyze information with critical thinkingCoordinator: Managing projects, designing workThe rational goals or compete quadrantProducer: Working productively, managing time and stressDirector: Developing and communicating a vision.(Faerman, McGrath, Quinn, St. Clair & Thompson, 2011)One key idea or concept of the Competing Values Framework is each quadrant has an opposite or competing quadrant. The open systems/creative quadrant vs. internal/control quadrant and the Human Relations vs. Rational Goal Model (Faerman, McGrath, Quinn, St. Clair & Thompson, 2011). . An example of this relationship is when an organization such as a school decides to give their employees more creative ability that takes away some of the internal processes or control that has been built within the organization. There have been multitudes of examples of this within the Adrian Public School systems (APS). For example four years ago teachers were able to develop curriculum primarily on their own basis dependent upon state standards. That is no longer the case as all teachers within APS now must use Kent County Curriculum Crafter. This was a major shift in the continuum that caused some unrest with the staff. Another consideration in the CVF is that it has an internal orientation and an external orientation (Cameron, 2004). For example in schools there is always a focus from within the school district for development of teachers to create a better product for students. This is part of the internal focus of the CVF. This is the “maintenance of the system that is in place”. There is also an external process component that focuses toward a “competitive position of the system” (Faerman, McGrath, Quinn, St. Clair & Thompson, 2011). An example of an external orientation was when school districts created change to due to a federal school program called “race to the top” created by the Obama Administration to have schools compete for extra funding for their respective schools. An example of internal orientation would be a school having staff take part of professional development to maintain teacher skills. Another dimension of the CVF is the continuum of flexibility vs. control. The Open Systems Model and the Human Relations Model are in the flexibility component of the CVF model. The Internal Process Model and the Rational Goal Model is in the control component of the CVF model (Faerman, McGrath, Quinn, St. Clair & Thompson, 2011). An example of this is if a school district is using a large amount of innovation in their organization they will be less likely to be controlled due to the freedom to change or challenge the status quo. On the contrary an organization that decides it must have tight controls will less likely have innovation or flexibility within their organization.McKinley Education Center Current AssessmentTo measure McKinley Education Center culture a tool developed by Kim Cameron and Robert Quinn was used. The tool consists of the four competing values that directly relate to the four types of organization culture (Public Administration, 2010). ("Organizational culture assessment," 2010)On October 20, 2012 I took the OCAI assessment to assess where I believe McKinley Education Center is currently. If you look at the above diagram it gives the results from the questionnaire. The results show: McKinley Education Center is focused almost exclusively on being an open systems model with change and adaptability. There is a culture of creativity. There is a focus on the external rather than the internalThe organization focuses more on flexibility rather than control.The organization has a human relationship model of commitment and morale.The organization does have some rational goal model of productivity and accomplishment.The first area to consider is McKinley’s focus on being an open systems model with change and adaptability. Every school district is or will be looking at ways to develop an alternative education system with students not being able to drop out of school at the age of 16. At the same time there has been a move in the state of Michigan for more creativity for online directed schooling. There has been a marriage between these two entities at the McKinley Education Center. In 2012 the McKinley Education Center has went from running as a regular school to a full 100% seat time waiver designed school. The only issue with that approach is the demographic of students that McKinley consists of. Many of the students have a past struggle in school so merely throwing them on a computer would not be the greatest way to educate these students especially with a focus of them actually graduating high school. With these concerns we know that there will be challenges with students being seat time waived and still succeeding. So at all times the staff must be willing to change and adapt the courses, time constraints for students, individual assignments, and any other needs the students may have. The graph also shows that there is a culture of creativity. At McKinley we are challenging ourselves to be the most creative staff that we possibly can for these students. For example we have a base for our curriculum called GradPoint. However, we know that GradPoint does not fit all of the states needs/requirements as well as our students’ needs/requirements. We hired highly qualified teachers in all content areas to develop curriculum, projects, and assignments. All teachers have a green light to try any innovative way for students to learn content and be able to demonstrate the knowledge. The graph also shows that we are focused more on the external rather than the internal. The reason for this is that overall we have had graduation rate issues with students at APS. Some of these problems were due to many students from other districts coming over to McKinley for the alternative education programming. This has caused a shift in not only not taking new students from outside the district but also a focus on making sure students come to McKinley with an end outcome in place. They must graduate either with a high school diploma or a G.E.D if they are not going to finish on time. The graph also shows that McKinley has a focus on flexibility rather than control. With a seat time waiver there are controls that the director must be aware of such as the auditing, paperwork, etc. With so much innovation or creativity trying to take place in the first year of the program there is a major emphasis on flexibility rather than control. The graph also shows that there is a human relationship model. The staff is relatively new and understands the challenges of working with alternative education students. These students are often the most troubled students. There has been a feeling of supporting each other and doing this as a unit. This is most likely none of the staff first choice of job. With that mentality they know that they must stick together lean on each other and work with one another. I understand what each of them have to deal with on a daily basis because I am teaching one hour a day and have worked at the building at a previous time.The final observation from this graph is that there is some rational goal model of productivity and accomplishment. McKinley has to. There has to be success in what we are trying to do. There has to be data in showing us what works or doesn’t work so that we can change on the fly to adapt to the students’ needs. We know we won’t be able to reach every single student in every situation but having data to navigate is a necessity. The Future at McKinley Education Center("Organizational culture assessment," 2010)The OACI CVF future inventory assessment tool assessed what the future for McKinley Education Center will hopefully look like in the next year. The assessment results show a slight shift from the current assessment. The plan is to move more toward a balance approach each year. There is still a focus of being mainly in the quadrant of open systems /creativity which is a necessity of working in this type of education system and population. However there is a shift more towards the rational goals/compete quadrant and a move towards an internal process/controls. What must happen for this approach to make this progression?McKinley must assess at the end of the year what worked and what didn’t. After documenting what worked procedures and systems must be considered policy for the next school year. Teachers will have formally approved changes in curriculum that will lend itself to less need of so much creativity. Projects and assessment models will be mostly uniform throughout the building. There will be a necessity for students to show academic growth and success in all classes assigned. McKinley will reduce focus on the humanity relations model. Many decisions will fall towards the administration rather than so much collaboration in decision making. There will be a possible reduction in the amount of students who are on the seat time waiver program.The overall necessity of McKinley Education Center is to understand what worked and what didn’t and have data to back up the claims. The competing values framework will help drive the overall process of creating change. There must be change from year to year in any organization to progress and that is my goal for next school year. The concept of the push and pull property of the competing values framework is important for any leader to acknowledge and understand for organization change to be successful. With that concept in mind I realize that all school leaders must understand that any changes within the school organization will lead to some change in the culture of the building it affects all aspects of a school (Deal & Peterson, 2010). That is the hard part of being a leader but a task that I welcome. Works Cited Cameron, K. (2003). A process for changing organization culture.Cameron, K., Quinn, R., & et al (2003). Competing values. Retrieved from , T. E., & Peterson, K. D. (2009). Shaping school culture, pitfalls, paradoxes, and promises. Jossey-Bass Inc Pub.Faerman, S., McGrath, M., Quinn R St. Clair, L., & Thompson, M. (2011). Becoming a master manager: A competing values approach. (5th ed.). United States: Wiley.Public adminstration, (2010). Organizational culture assessment instrument. Retrieved from website: ................
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