■

[Andersen, D.]

Andersen, D. F. (1981). 'A System Dynamic View of the Competing Values Approach to Organizational Life Cycles'. Public Productivity Review 5(2): 160
http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=1264309&Fmt=7&clientId=44986&RQT=309&VName=PQD
The documentation and description stages of growth in an organization's life cycle can be measured by applying the competing values approach. The competing values approach provides a series of insights on how performance criteria shift as an organization moves through predictable transitions in the growth process. The competing values approach is combined with a 4-stage model of organizational life cycles for the best results. The performance criteria shift because the causal forces governing organization growth also shift. The view of organizational life cycles is mutually supportive of the feedback view of life cycles for several reasons:

1. The 4 stages map almost directly onto the 4 behavioral stages shown in the feedback view.
2. In 2 of the phases, the system dynamics model provides an explicit causal model able to generate life cycle behavior within a simulated environment.
3. The causal model corresponds well to the 4 stages.
4. The description of shifting criteria for organizational effectiveness has a strong similarity to the system dynamics model.

The competing values approach and the system dynamics approach, taken together, provide a powerful tool for organizational understanding.