Types of Organisational Culture and Performance

The Competing Values Framework sorts organisational cultures into four main types: clan, adhocracy, market, and hierarchy. Each type emphasises different things, has different strengths and weaknesses, and connects to performance in its own way. The framework helps a school head locate her own school on the map and decide where development is needed.

Four types of culture

The handout names four types based on what the culture emphasises.

Clan oriented cultures are family-like, with a focus on mentoring, nurturing and doing things together.

Adhocracy oriented cultures are dynamic and entrepreneurial, with a focus on risk taking, innovation and doing things first.

Market oriented cultures are results oriented with a focus on competition, achievement and getting things done.

Hierarchy oriented cultures are structured and controlled with a focus on efficiency, stability and doing things right.

This is the Competing Values Framework developed by Cameron and Quinn. The four types sit on two dimensions:

1. Internal focus vs external focus. Does the culture look inward (Clan, Hierarchy) or outward (Adhocracy, Market)?
2. Flexibility vs stability. Does the culture prize adaptability (Clan, Adhocracy) or structure (Hierarchy, Market)?

Clan culture in a school

A school with clan culture feels like a family. Teachers know each other personally. New teachers are mentored, not just trained. Difficulties are handled by collective support. The principal is more parent figure than boss.

Strengths: high cohesion, low turnover, strong loyalty, warm community. Weaknesses: slow to change, can become insular, may avoid hard performance conversations.

Many small private schools in Pakistan, especially family-run ones, have clan cultures. The culture works well when the school is small and stable; it becomes a constraint when growth or change is needed.

Adhocracy culture in a school

A school with adhocracy culture is innovative and experimental. Teachers try new things. Curriculum evolves rapidly. The school adopts new technologies and methods. The principal models risk-taking.

Strengths: adaptive, innovative, attractive to creative staff, responsive to change. Weaknesses: can be chaotic, may sacrifice consistency, sometimes weak on execution.

Adhocracy is rare in traditional schools but common in newer innovative schools, especially in international or progressive education.

Market culture in a school

A school with market culture is results-focused and competitive. Test scores matter. Comparisons with other schools matter. Staff are evaluated on outcomes. The principal pushes hard for performance.

Strengths: high performance on measurable outcomes, attracts ambitious staff, drives results. Weaknesses: can become high-pressure and burnout-prone, may neglect non-measurable outcomes, weak on relationships.

Elite competitive schools often have market cultures. The culture produces strong board exam results; it can also produce damaged students and teachers.

Hierarchy culture in a school

A school with hierarchy culture is structured and process-driven. Rules are followed. Processes are documented. Authority flows clearly. The principal manages the system.

Strengths: predictable, stable, low risk, fair, scalable. Weaknesses: slow to change, can feel bureaucratic, may suppress innovation, can become rigid.

Many large government schools and large established private schools have hierarchy cultures. The culture works for large operations; it can become a constraint when the school needs to adapt.

Most schools are mixed

A school rarely has one pure culture. Most have a primary type with elements of others.

A common Pakistani private school: dominant clan culture (family feel) with elements of hierarchy (structured operations). A government school: dominant hierarchy with elements of clan (within sub-groups). An international school: may have adhocracy or market elements.

A school head can ask of her own school: what is the dominant type? What other types are present? Is the mix serving the school’s purpose?

Stability and adaptability

The handout makes an important strategic point.

Hierarchy and market focus on stability. Clan and adhocracy focus on flexibility and adaptability.

The four types divide on a stability-vs-flexibility axis.

A school choosing its cultural direction is partly choosing how stable or flexible it wants to be.

A hierarchy culture based on control will lead mainly to incremental change.

A hierarchy school changes slowly. The structure resists big shifts. Improvements come in small steps.

A focus on adhocracy will lead to innovative, breakthrough change.

An adhocracy school can pivot. The culture supports trying new things. Big shifts are possible.

This matters for change management (covered in the previous chapter). A school head trying to launch a major change in a hierarchy culture faces strong cultural resistance. The same change in an adhocracy culture is easier.

Culture and performance

The handout makes the strategic case for culture.

Kandula (2006)

The key to good performance is a strong culture. A positive and strong culture can make an average individual perform and achieve brilliantly. A negative and weak culture may demotivate an outstanding worker to underperform.

This is the central claim. Culture is not a soft addition to performance; it is a primary driver of performance.

A school with a positive strong culture gets above-average performance from average staff. A school with a negative weak culture gets below-average performance from above-average staff. The culture is the multiplier.

Magee (2002)

Without considering the impact of organisational culture, organisational practices such as performance management could be counterproductive because the two are interdependent and change in one will impact the other.

A school that introduces a new performance management system without considering the culture often produces unintended effects. A new appraisal system in a clan culture (where personal relationships matter) feels cold and may damage trust. The same system in a market culture (where competition is expected) is welcomed.

The same strategy produces different results

Due to difference in organisational culture, same strategies do not yield same results for two organisations in the same industry and in the same location.

Two schools in the same city, with the same curriculum, can run the same initiative and get very different results. The difference is the culture.

This has practical implications.

1. A school head adopting a practice from another school should ask: would this fit our culture?
2. A successful practice elsewhere may not work the same way here.
3. The school’s culture is part of why some interventions succeed and others fail.

Organisational vs corporate culture

A small terminology note from the handout.

Both are usually used interchangeably. Both refer to the shared values, outlooks and approaches within an organisation. However, corporate culture focuses on for-profit corporation.

In Pakistani educational context, “organisational culture” is the more accurate term for schools, including for-profit ones. The dynamics are the same; the label is slightly different.

How a school head shapes culture

Bringing the chapter together, three practical practices.

1. Diagnose the current culture

Use the elements (artifacts, values, assumptions) and the types (clan, adhocracy, market, hierarchy) to understand what culture the school currently has.

2. Decide the desired culture

What culture would best serve the school’s mission? The desired culture is often not the same as the current one.

3. Shape gradually

Culture shifts slowly. The school head shapes it through:

1. Modelling. Her own behaviour signals values.
2. Hiring. New staff who fit the desired culture strengthen it.
3. Recognition. What gets praised gets repeated.
4. Confrontation. Behaviour that contradicts desired values gets addressed.
5. Storytelling. Sharing stories of staff who exemplify the desired culture.
6. Structures. Policies and processes that support the desired culture.

Over years, these practices produce real cultural change. The work is patient but the leverage is high.

Flashcard

What are the four types of organisational culture, and which dimension distinguishes them?

Tap to reveal

Answer

Clan, Adhocracy, Market, Hierarchy. Distinguished by internal-vs-external focus and flexibility-vs-stability.

Type	Focus	Emphasis
Clan	Internal	Flexibility, mentoring, family
Adhocracy	External	Flexibility, innovation, risk-taking
Market	External	Stability, results, competition
Hierarchy	Internal	Stability, structure, efficiency

Each type has strengths and weaknesses. A school is usually a mix with one dominant type.

Culture is a primary driver of performance (Kandula 2006). A strong positive culture lifts average staff to brilliant performance; a weak negative culture demotivates strong staff. The same strategy produces different results in different cultures, so practices that work elsewhere may not work the same way in your school.