OCAI model: Competing Values Framework and 4 culture types

The OCAI model (Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument) is a questionnaire developed by Kim Cameron and Robert Quinn to map the culture of an organisation. It is based on the Competing Values Framework and distinguishes four culture types: clan culture, adhocracy culture, market culture and hierarchy culture. For each question, respondents divide 100 points across four descriptions, once for the current culture and once for the preferred culture.

Culture shapes how people work together, make decisions and respond to change. Yet it is hard to put your finger on. The OCAI model, often simply called the Cameron and Quinn model, makes culture discussable with a clear vocabulary and a simple measurement. In this article you will learn what the OCAI model is, how the questionnaire works, how to calculate and interpret the scores, where its limitations lie and which related models you can use.

What is the OCAI model?

OCAI stands for Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument. It was developed by Kim Cameron and Robert Quinn at the University of Michigan and described in their book Diagnosing and Changing Organizational Culture. It is one of the most widely used instruments for measuring organisational culture worldwide.

The OCAI model is built on the Competing Values Framework. That framework emerged in the early 1980s from research by Quinn and Rohrbaugh into what makes organisations effective. They found that effectiveness runs along two tensions. Together those tensions form four quadrants, and each quadrant represents a culture type.

OCAI, Competing Values Framework and Quinn model: what is the difference?

The terms are often used interchangeably, but they mean slightly different things:

• Competing Values Framework (CVF): the underlying framework with two dimensions and four quadrants.
• OCAI: the questionnaire that measures an organisation’s culture on that framework.
• Quinn model: a common umbrella term for both. It is sometimes also used for Quinn’s eight leadership roles, an application of the same framework to management.

The two dimensions of the Competing Values Framework

The OCAI model places organisations on two axes. There is no right or wrong position: every position has benefits and a price.

• Flexibility versus stability and control. Werkt de organisatie vooral met ruimte, eigen inbreng en aanpassingsvermogen, of juist met structuur, voorspelbaarheid en controle?
• Internal versus external focus. Ligt de aandacht vooral bij de eigen mensen, processen en samenhang, of bij klanten, markt en concurrentie?

Combining the two axes gives four quadrants. Flexible and internally focused is the clan culture. Flexible and externally focused is the adhocracy culture. Stable and externally focused is the market culture. Stable and internally focused is the hierarchy culture. The types that sit diagonally opposite each other clash the most: clan versus market and adhocracy versus hierarchy. That is where the name competing values comes from.

The 4 types of organisational culture according to Cameron and Quinn

Clan culture

In a clan culture the organisation feels like a close-knit group. Loyalty, teamwork and personal development are central, and managers act mainly as coaches. Its strength is engagement and trust. The pitfall is that difficult conversations are avoided and the group turns inward.

Adhocracy culture

The adhocracy culture is dynamic and entrepreneurial. People get room to experiment, taking risks is part of the job and innovation is the yardstick. Its strength is agility. The pitfall is a lack of focus and commitments that are not followed through.

Market culture

A market culture is results-driven. Goals are clear, performance is measured and the focus is outward: customers, competitors and market position. Its strength is decisiveness. The pitfall is high pressure, internal competition and too little attention to the long term.

Hierarchy culture

In a hierarchy culture everything revolves around structure, procedures and care. Roles are clear and processes are predictable. Its strength is reliability, which can be essential in sectors such as healthcare, government or manufacturing. The pitfall is slowness and little room for initiative.

In practice, no organisation has a single pure culture type. Every organisation is a mix, usually with one or two dominant types. So the question is not which type is best, but which mix fits what your organisation wants to achieve. You can read more about the different types of company culture in our overview.

How does the OCAI questionnaire work?

The OCAI questionnaire consists of six dimensions. Each one describes an aspect of the culture:

1. Dominant characteristics: what does the organisation feel like as a whole?
2. Organisational leadership: how do leaders behave?
3. Management of employees: how are people treated?
4. Organisational glue: what holds the organisation together?
5. Strategic emphases: what does the organisation steer on?
6. Criteria of success: when do we call something a success?

Each dimension has four descriptions, A to D. Each description belongs to one culture type: A to clan, B to adhocracy, C to market and D to hierarchy. The respondent divides 100 points across those four descriptions. The better a description fits, the more points it gets.

This happens twice: first for the culture as it is now, then for the culture the respondent would prefer. Completing it usually takes about fifteen minutes.

A simplified example of one dimension (illustrative, not the official wording of the questionnaire):

Because you divide points instead of rating each statement separately, the questionnaire forces choices. You cannot rate everything as important. That makes the outcome sharper than a regular 1 to 5 scale.

How to calculate OCAI scores

1. For each culture type (A, B, C and D), add up the points from the six dimensions and divide by six. This gives each respondent a score per culture type for now and for preferred.
2. Take the average of all respondents in a group, such as a team, department or the whole organisation.
3. Plot the averages in a radar or kite chart with four axes: one line for the current culture and one for the preferred culture.

A worked example for a fictional department:

In this example the current culture is mainly hierarchical and results-driven. Employees want more collaboration and more room for innovation, and fewer rules and less control.

How do you interpret an OCAI profile?

You read an OCAI profile on five points:

• Dominant culture type: which type scores highest? It tells you what is taken for granted in the organisation.
• Strength of the culture: how pronounced is the dominant type? A high score means a strong, recognisable culture.
• Congruence: do the six dimensions point the same way? If leadership scores on market while the organisational glue scores on clan, mixed signals often follow.
• The gap between now and preferred: the bigger the difference, the bigger the need for change. A common rule of thumb is that differences of around 10 points or more are worth discussing.
• Differences between groups: do the board, managers and employees see the culture the same way? That is often where the most interesting insights are.

Then translate the outcome into behaviour. A practical format is to agree, per culture type, what you will do more of, what you will do less of and what you will keep. That turns an abstract profile into something concrete: “more room for teams to decide for themselves” says more than “more adhocracy”.

Running an OCAI assessment in 5 steps

1. Define the question. Why do you want to measure culture? A merger, a change of strategy or a collaboration problem calls for different questions than a periodic check.
2. Choose the target group and level. Will you measure the whole organisation, or teams and departments separately? The lower the level, the more concrete the conversations.
3. Have people complete the questionnaire. Leg goed uit hoe het verdelen van punten werkt en waarom je zowel de huidige als de gewenste cultuur vraagt.
4. Discuss the outcome together. The chart is the beginning, not the end. Let teams interpret what they see and which examples go with it.
5. Agree on actions and measure again. Kies een paar concrete gedragsveranderingen en meet na een aantal maanden of de cultuur beweegt.

Strengths and limitations of the OCAI model

The OCAI model is popular for good reasons. At the same time it has limits you should know before basing decisions on it.

Strengths

• Simple and recognisable. Vier cultuurtypen zijn makkelijk uit te leggen en geven teams een gedeelde taal.
• Current and preferred side by side. De kloof maakt direct zichtbaar welke kant mensen op willen.
• Well researched. Het concurrerende waardenmodel is uitgebreid onderzocht en wereldwijd toegepast.
• Quick to administer. Zes onderdelen, twee rondes, ongeveer een kwartier.

Limitations

• Forced distribution of points. Because the points always add up to 100, a higher score on one type automatically comes at the expense of another. This limits some statistical analyses and does not always match reality, where an organisation can be both customer-focused and careful, for example.
• Four broad types. A label such as market culture stays abstract. Teams soon ask what it means for their daily work.
• Preferred is not the same as needed. The preferred culture is what respondents find pleasant. That is not automatically the culture the strategy requires.
• Averages hide differences. Een organisatiegemiddelde kan teams maskeren die juist ver uit elkaar liggen.
• A snapshot. One measurement says little about movement. Only by measuring again do you see whether interventions work.

Related models and alternatives to the OCAI model

If you look beyond the OCAI model, you will find several related models:

• Quinn’s leadership roles. An application of the same Competing Values Framework to leadership. For each quadrant Quinn describes two roles, such as mentor, innovator, producer and coordinator.
• Hofstede. Het model van Geert Hofstede beschrijft organisatiecultuur langs dimensies zoals procesgericht tegenover resultaatgericht en open tegenover gesloten.
• Trompenaars. Fons Trompenaars werkt met dilemma’s tussen tegengestelde waarden, zoals regels tegenover uitzonderingen.
• Denison. Het Denison-model koppelt cultuur aan prestaties via betrokkenheid, consistentie, aanpassingsvermogen en missie.
• Schein. Edgar Schein beschrijft cultuur in lagen: zichtbare uitingen, uitgesproken waarden en onderliggende aannames.

What many of these models share is the idea that culture is about tensions between values that are both worthwhile. That insight is also the basis of a more modern way of measuring culture.

From OCAI to Deepler Culture: measuring culture on opposites

Deepler Culture builds on that thinking. The method is inspired by the theories of Quinn and Cameron, Hofstede and Trompenaars, and translated into daily practice. Instead of four broad culture types, Deepler Culture measures six cultural opposites:

• Conservative versus innovative
• Internally focused versus customer-focused
• Non-committal versus committed
• Fragmented versus connected
• Indirect versus direct feedback
• Results now versus long term

In doing so, Deepler Culture addresses several limitations of the OCAI model:

• Ambition instead of preference. Alongside the current culture, an intake establishes which culture your organisation needs to reach its goals. So the gap is about what the strategy requires, not only about what feels pleasant.
• Concrete axes instead of labels. “Hoe hard tellen afspraken bij ons?” is makkelijker te bespreken dan “we zijn te weinig marktcultuur”.
• Teams side by side. Je ziet per tegenstelling waar teams schuren en waar de samenwerking vanzelf loopt, ook bij een fusie of overname.
• Low burden. Medewerkers zijn minder dan twee minuten bezig, zodat je makkelijk opnieuw meet en de beweging volgt.

Want to see how this works for your organisation? Explore Deepler Culture or request a demo. Curious which work culture suits you best? Take the free culture mini-analysis: twelve short dilemmas on the same six opposites, and your personal culture profile within three minutes.

Frequently asked questions about the OCAI model

What does OCAI stand for?

OCAI stands for Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument. It is a questionnaire by Kim Cameron and Robert Quinn for measuring organisational culture based on the Competing Values Framework.

What are the 4 culture types of Cameron and Quinn?

The four culture types are clan culture (collaborate), adhocracy culture (create), market culture (compete) and hierarchy culture (control). Every organisation is a mix of these four.

How many questions does the OCAI questionnaire have?

The questionnaire has six dimensions, each with four descriptions. You complete it twice, for the current and for the preferred culture. For each dimension you divide 100 points.

Can I use the OCAI questionnaire myself?

The questionnaire is published in Cameron and Quinn’s book and the copyright belongs to the authors. If you want to use it in your organisation, check the terms of use of the rights holders or work with a provider that is licensed to use the instrument.

What is the difference between the OCAI model and Hofstede’s model?

The OCAI model works with four culture types on two dimensions and compares the current with the preferred culture. Hofstede’s model describes organisational culture along several separate dimensions and has no fixed culture types.

Can you use the OCAI model per team?

Yes. You can calculate the scores per team or department. That is often more useful than an organisation-wide average only, because culture can differ greatly between teams.

How often should you measure organisational culture?

Culture changes slowly. So do not measure too often, but often enough to see whether interventions have an effect. After a change project or a change of strategy, measuring again after a few months makes sense.