Guide
Most organisations don't have one culture — they have a dominant one, a few competing sub-cultures, and a gap between what's stated and what's lived. The Competing Values Framework, developed by Cameron and Quinn, is the most widely used model for naming those patterns. Below is a practical summary for HR and OD leaders, with the human values that sit underneath each type.
The Competing Values Framework plots culture on two tensions: internal vs external focus and stability vs flexibility. That produces four archetypes. No type is "best" — each is suited to a different strategy, stage and market.
The family
Internal cohesion, collaboration, mentorship and long-term people development. Leaders act as coaches and parent figures.
You'll see it in
Underlying Schwartz values
Watch-outs: Can struggle with hard accountability, drift into groupthink, and resist change that threatens relationships.
The pioneer
External agility, experimentation and bold bets. Leaders are visionaries who reward risk-taking and original thinking.
You'll see it in
Underlying Schwartz values
Watch-outs: Can burn out talent, neglect operational rigour, and lose customers who want consistency rather than novelty.
The competitor
External results, competitive advantage and measurable performance. Leaders are demanding drivers focused on winning.
You'll see it in
Underlying Schwartz values
Watch-outs: Short-termism, internal politics and disengagement among people who feel reduced to a number.
The system
Internal stability, control, process and predictability. Leaders are coordinators who keep the machine running smoothly.
You'll see it in
Underlying Schwartz values
Watch-outs: Slow to adapt, frustrating for autonomy-seekers, and prone to confusing 'how we do things' with 'why we exist'.
Culture types are useful as a shared language. They are less useful as a measurement tool, because two organisations can both be "Clan" cultures and feel completely different to work in. What's actually different is the underlying values — what people prioritise when they're forced to trade off cohesion against challenge, or stability against speed.
Shalom Schwartz's research into human values has identified a small, stable set of motivations that show up across every country and industry studied. Mapping those values across a workforce gives a much sharper picture of culture than a single archetype label — and it explains why two teams under the same logo can feel like completely different companies.
The Values Alignment Index® measures the human values driving behaviour, decision-making and culture across your organisation — the layer beneath any culture-type label.
Explore the Values Alignment Index®