Denison Culture Model vs. Competing Frameworks Explained
This paper examines three prominent models of organizational culture — Deal and Kennedy's Cultural Model, the Competing Values Framework, and the Denison Culture Model — and evaluates their respective strengths and applicability. Drawing on the core features of each framework, the paper explains how Deal and Kennedy categorize organizations by risk and feedback speed, how the Competing Values Framework maps culture across internal/external focus and employee/management control, and how the Denison Model takes a more integrative approach by aligning culture with organizational goals across four key dimensions. The paper concludes by justifying the selection of the Denison Model for a university setting based on its depth, flexibility, and alignment with institutional performance outcomes.
- Introduction to Organizational Culture: Why culture matters to all organizational stakeholders
- Deal and Kennedy's Cultural Model: Four culture types based on risk and feedback speed
- The Competing Values Framework: Culture mapped across focus and decision-making control
- The Denison Culture Model: Four dimensions aligning culture with organizational goals
- Rationale for Choosing the Denison Model: Why depth and flexibility favor the Denison approach
✍️ How to write this paper — guide, tools & examples ▾
What makes this paper effective
- The paper presents a clear, structured comparison of three well-known organizational culture models, making it easy for readers to weigh each framework against the others.
- It moves logically from overview to detail, introducing each model's defining criteria before explaining how those criteria translate into culture categories or dimensions.
- The conclusion ties directly back to the comparison by providing explicit justification for the chosen model, grounding the decision in organizational fit rather than arbitrary preference.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper demonstrates comparative analysis as a decision-making tool. Rather than simply describing three frameworks in isolation, it uses their differences — structural vs. integrative, category-based vs. dimension-based — as the basis for a reasoned institutional choice. This technique shows how academic frameworks can be evaluated in applied, real-world contexts.
Structure breakdown
The paper opens with a broad case for why organizational culture matters to all stakeholders, then narrows to the challenge a specific institution faced. It surveys the three candidate models in sequence, building detail with each, and closes with a synthesis section that explains the selection rationale. Each model section follows an internal pattern: defining criteria, then resulting categories or dimensions.
Introduction to Organizational Culture
Organizational culture is an emblem of each economic agent and directly impacts a company's chances of succeeding. It influences the firm at every level and is felt — in one way or another — by each individual employee, as well as by each member of the stakeholder categories, including clients, business partners, the general public, governmental institutions, and not-for-profit agencies.
The specialized literature presents managers and general readers with a wide array of models of organizational behavior, yet a leader cannot simply implement a model from a textbook and expect it to work. This is especially true in a context where some books — such as Corporate Cultures: The Rites and Rituals of Corporate Life — do not present readers with ready-made models, but with concepts of organizational culture and issues to consider when constructing and assessing one. As author Allan A. Kennedy explained: "Our original purpose in writing the book was to get the subject of culture on the management agenda and to sensitize managers to its importance" (Richman, 1999).
The manager must therefore devise his or her own model of organizational culture, based on the specifics of the entity represented. With this in mind, the executive team at the university evaluated and ultimately chose the Denison Culture Model, based on the higher level of correspondence between the model's features and the institution's organizational requirements. The team initially considered three models: Deal and Kennedy's Cultural Model, the Competing Values Framework, and the Denison Model.
Deal and Kennedy's Cultural Model
The Deal and Kennedy Model of organizational culture centers on the identification of four distinct types of organization, based on how quickly they receive feedback and reward after taking action, and the level of risk they assume (Changing Minds). These four culture types are:
The Competing Values Framework
The Competing Values Framework defines organizational culture through two lenses: the focus of the culture (internal versus external) and the primary source of decision-making (the role of employees versus management). Based on these criteria, the framework identifies four categories of organizational culture:
References
Richman, T. (1999). The culture wars. Inc. Magazine. Retrieved March 4, 2011, from http://www.inc.com/magazine/19990515/4702.html
Deal and Kennedy's Cultural Model. Changing Minds. Retrieved March 4, 2011, from http://changingminds.org/explanations/culture/deal_kennedy_culture.htm
Denison Culture Model. Denison Consulting. Retrieved March 4, 2011, from http://www.denisonconsulting.com/advantage/researchModel/model.aspx
The Competing Values Framework. Changing Minds. Retrieved March 4, 2011, from http://changingminds.org/explanations/culture/competing_values.htm
Create your account
Always verify citation format against your institution’s current style guide requirements.