The competing values framework: Implications for strategic leadership, change and learning in public organizations

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.

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.

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.

Because of the chosen research approach, propositions within the paper should be tentatively applied.

This paper provides guidance for the better understanding of complex leadership challenges within the public sector through the use of the CVF.

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.

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.