The Competing Values Framework in the Norwegian Police: Paradoxical or Interacting?

Abstract

The Local Police Reform in the Norwegian police is a massive change process, and change efforts are still implemented. Interest in what facilitates effective change in the police is thus an important research topic. The following thesis investigated whether the four climate types of the Competing Values Framework could predict Change Readiness, and facet-specific climates. The relationship between Training Climate and Change was also investigated. This study is part of a long-term collaborative project between the Norwegian Police University College and the Department of Psychology at the University of Oslo. A self-report questionnaire was developed and data was collected in one police district prior to this thesis (N= 216). Structural equation modeling was used to investigate the relationship between variables, through 13 hypotheses. The results revealed that rational goal climate facilitated change readiness, while internal process climate was negatively associated with change readiness. Rational goal climate and human relations climate were positively associated with training climate, while the internal process model predicted training climate negatively. No indirect effects were found between the framework and change readiness, through training climate. This study suggests that rational goal climate is prevalent in the Norwegian police, and can help facilitate change readiness in the organization. Rational goal values might help the police organization transition into a learning organization. Finally, this study supports previous research suggesting an interacting relationship among the CVF quadrants.