The Organizations Culture and Values

INTRODUCTION

Vision, Mission and culture are inter-connected. Vision and mission are shaped by
culture and culture comes alive through vision and mission.
Vision and mission are the major external focus for our actions. But an organizations
culture provides the underlying foundation for our actions and behavior.
Values are the bedrock of corporate culture and the essence of an organizations
philosophy. They provide guidelines for working with and relating to one another.

2.1 ORGANIZATIONS CULTURE

An organizations culture is an amalgam of Shared Values; a common mindset;

Characteristic behaviors- The way we do things around here; and symbols of
various kinds, as stated by [Link]:
1. Shared values are standards by which members of an organization
collectively see as important. Therefore, they tend to guide behavior,
relationships and interactions. There is an important difference, however,
between declared values to which mere lip service may be paid and operative
values that are actually put into practice and deeply seated. Organizations
may draw up fine sounding lists of values but embedding such values into
culture is much more difficult.
2. Common mindset or paradigm consists of a set of shared assumptions or
beliefs. For a long time, the only sensible policy for labor-management
relations was confrontation because it was believed that workforce was led by
radical socialistic or communistic unions
3. Characteristic behaviors cover a broad range of topics. Some key aspects
include the following:
a. Management Style:
i. Is the decision making style collaborative or autocratic?
ii. Are managers available and approachable?
iii. Do managers practice Management by walking about?
b. Relationships:
i. Do people address each other formally or informally
ii. Do people interact across different levels in the organization?
iii. Do people relate to each other socially as well as at work?
c. Dress:

i. Are people expected to wear formal business dress?

d. Symbols:
i. Image, I.e, use of green to symbolize concern for the
environment.
ii. Flag, Symbol of a country

2.2 ORGANIZATIONS VALUES

In search of excellence by peters and waterman states:
Every excellent company we studies is clear on what it stands for, and
takes the process of value shaping seriously. In fact, we wonder whether it is
possible to be an excellent company without clarity on values and without
having the right sort of values.
We all have beliefs and values we live by. An organizations values answer the
question: What is important to us?
Core organizational values are understandings about:
1. What is most important?
2. How to treat other people?
3. How to work together?
In most organizations, core values are understood or assumed but seldom
discussed. Exploring and discussing values enhances harmony and teamwork.
Values that remain unclear or unexplored can create tension or conflict and make
people feel understood, confused, or frustrated. Hence clarifying valuesboth
personal and professionalcan be a tremendous help in aligning and unifying the
organization.
Values provide an anchor when an organization or individual is buffeted by a storm
of change. They are the moral compass that gives direction when things get rough.
They are a guide to help you reach your destinationyour vision and mission.
Peters and Waterman stated that values will have a tremendous impact on
organization. They help to:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Create an atmosphere of common purpose and trust.

Clarify goals and ways those goals will be achieved.
Set priorities and sort out information overload.
Provide a clearer focus for performance and feedback.
Indicate which behaviors are acceptable and appropriate and which are not
within the organization.
6. Specify how the organization wants to deal with and be perceived by people
outside the organization.

7. Provide guidelines for selecting and orienting new members or employees

who will not have to spend much time identifying and understanding
organizational values.
When values are clear and consequently, people know what to do and how to do it,
the organizationss management can get out of the way and let employees do their
work. Autonomy and the entrepreneurial spirit rather than rules and regulations will
carry the day. More will be accomplished.
Leaders of the organization thus free themselves to focus on priority tasks and
achieve more by allowing employees to make their own day-to-day operating
decisions within assigned areas of responsibility. Organizations with effective
leadership teams are generally tight on values but loose on rules.
Values determine what the organization prize above all else and what its highest
priorities are. They provide boundaries and determine what the organization will
reward.
Many organizations talk about excellent service but few have defined what they
mean by it. One organization accepted improving service as a challenge. They put
together the following statement of values for leadership and management to
discuss, to debate, to refine and to commit to:
We accept service as a challenge. We will, Therefore:
1. Respond to the customers in a caring manner at all times by actively listening
to them and demonstrating empathy by thoroughly understanding their need.
2. Build customer first and showing genuine interest in satisfying their needs.
3. Develop expert product knowledge and deliver the product that best meets
the customers needs.
4. Conduct all business with honesty, integrity, and in an ethical manner.
5. Project a professional image by maintaining professional office appearance
and in personal dress and manners.
2.3 DECLARED AND OPERATIVE VALUES
According to Anthony Dsouza, Values also have two critical parts: intended or
declared values and operative or lived values. Declared values exist in the
corporations policies and mission statement. Operative values are lasting and are
lived from day-to-day by the members.
Frequently, there is a significant gap between those values that leadership and
management prefer and those expressed in their daily behavior.
There are times when individuals or organizations publicly espouse such values:
1. People are our most valuable asset.
2. The customer is always right.

But in practice their personal actions seem to contradict publiclystated values.

When this happensstated values are not consistent with true valuesthe result is
a lack of confidence, lack of purpose and an atmosphere of low morale and stress.
Organizational effectiveness is maximized when stated values are consistent with
the personal values of the organizations leaders and members. When behaviors are
consistent with the organizations stated values, these values serve as unifying
principles for all organizational policies and actions. This provides a highly focused
approach for achieving the vision and mission.
The organizations values thus form the foundation of its culture. If groups within
the organization demonstrate values contrary to one another, they will be working
at loggerheads even though they may have the same goals.

2.4VALUES HELD AND PRACTICED CONSISTENTLY

Once values have been clarified, they must be held and practiced consistently.
Putting them into practice becomes most difficult at times.
Values must be both understandable and attainable. At least members of the
organization must constantly aspire to practice them. Values are the bedrock of
exceptional performance. People work harder if they feel they are working for a
higher purpose or a greater good. Shared values produce shared results.
Consider the core values of your organization holds or should hold. Here are some
suggestions:
P- Prosperity, Patience, Punctuality
U- Unity
P- Pro-people, Pro-peace

L- Loyalty to God and country

E- Empowerment
A Accountability
D Dignity and dedication
I Integrity and honesty
N Nobility

G Generosity

E- Excellence
D Discipline
G Good Governance
E Effectiveness and efficiency

Q Quality
U Understanding and goodwill
A Action oriented
L Leadership
I Innovations and ingenuity
T Truthfulness
Y Youthfulness

R Responsibilty
E Empathy
L Love
E Environmental Concern
V- Valor
A Academic Freedom
N Nationalism
T Teamwork

2.5 ORGANIZATIONS CORE VALUES

While you can create an impressive list of values to consider, its important that you
identify your core valuesthose that are central in your character and that of your

organization. Merely composing a long list of values or characteristics will defeat the
purpose of focusing on your core values.
Paul J. Meyer, Rex C. Houze and Randy Schechta, who have personally built effective
and winning organizations and wrestled successfully with the complex challenges of
everyday life, emphasize the importance of core values in building effective
leadership and effective organizations. In their recently published book, Bridging
the Leadership Gap, They remark:
Without core values as the foundation, a leadership bridge is impossible to
construct. A values-driven organization, however, builds for itself a lasting bridge.
Through values-centered leadership, it distinguishes itself from its competitors in its
ability to survive and thrive. A Value-driven organization is more likely to know what
it stands for and this maintain momentum overtime.
Outsiders observe these organizations, trying to uncover their competitive
advantage but they look in the wrong places. It is not the obvious visible elements
like product lines, manufacturing processes, or even individual talented people that
create the identity of the effective organization. It is the intangible values that
make the difference. What too many observers do not realize is that without values,
it is impossible to build a truly effective team or to become a truly effective leader.

The above-mentioned authors emphasize that highly effective leaders build their
organizations on a bedrock of three central values: Stewardship, shepherdship and
a servants heart. These three values form the basic foundation of effective
leadership and are critical to the emergence of successful and winning
organizations.
When aspiring leaders strive to become stewards of human potential, they
begin to achieve their own personal goals while making a unique contribution to the
lives of their team members
When highly effective leaders are possessed of personal and professional integrity
shepherdship, their efforts bring about solid and stable organizations that prosper,
grow, and stand the test of time.
And when extraordinary leaders develop a servants heart, they find a unique
synergy that springs from their sincerity. The more they give, the more they are
able to serve.

Core values held by organizational leadership provide a scale by which all behavior
is ultimately judged. And shared values provide strong feelings of personal
effectiveness among members of the organization. They promote high levels of

loyalty and commitment, develop deep consensus about mission and goals to
inculcate a strong sense of ownership and caring about the organization. Hence
vitality of the organization depends upon and is directly proportionate to the
existence of a set of core values shared by all.
2.6ORGANIZATIONS CORE VALUES AND BELIEFS
Values and beliefs of leadership are the shaping force of the entire
organization. They generate attitudes and specify behavior. In practice, they
affect everything about the organizationthe priorities established, the
decisions made, the conflicts resolved, the problems solved, and many more.
Core values and key beliefs like other permeate every aspect of the
organization.
Lyle E. Schaller, in Getting things Done, writes: The values of any organization
control priorities, provide the foundation of formulating goals, and set the tone and
direction of the organization. Core values and beliefs are the basis for all
organizational behavior and actions and the bottom-line by which you and your
organization will be judged. For as the leadership goes, so goes the organization.
2.7EXAMPLES OF CORE CORPORATE VALUES
Here are examples of the core values of Two multinational organizations now
operating worldwide:
1. Herman Miller Inc: Its corporate values
Herman Miller is a leader in participative management and has a clearlydefined set of corporate values:
1. Innovation- We seek and encourage appropriate problem-solving designs
and innovative solutions that deliver results for our customers and meet
our business challenge.
2. Excellence- We create value for our customers by providing quality and
excellence in all that we do and the way in which we do it.
3. Participation- We work together in teams, with each person contributing to
the level of his or her capabilities.
4. Ownership- We each have a stake in the organization in which we invest
our lives and share the risks and rewards of ownership.
5. Leadership- We can lead best by enabling others and by being dedicated
to achieving our corporate vision.
Herman Miller Inc. sums up the companys values as:
innovation and excellence through participative ownership and leadership. The
companys then CEO Max DePree, who is also a leading business author, thinks that

Millers participative ownership and its strong commitment to shared values

provides a competitive edge for superior performance.
2. IBMs Values: the foundation of Vision
Tom Watson, Sr. Was a man of grandiose vision dedicated to well-defined and
fundamental values. IBMs corporate values, probably the oldest and best
known in the world, were developed specifically by Tom Watson, SR. in the
very early days. They are:
1. Respect for the individual: Respect for the dignity and the rights for each
person in the organization.
2. Customer Service: To give the best customer service of any company to
the world.
3. Excellence: the conviction that an organization should pursue all tasks
with the objective of accomplishing them in a superior way.
These short and simple values statements were the foundation of the IBM vision.
Both Tom Watson and his successor, Tom Watson Jr. attribute a great deal of the
corporations success to those fundamental values which over time, were converted
into broad principles, policies, and practices.
2.8ORGANIZATIONS VALUES AND BELIEFS STATEMENT
A values and beliefs statement is not a mission statement. Rather, it expresses
the principles most important to the organization and is a powerful influence to
energize, guide, and align everyone in a common direction.
We all operate within a set of certain values and beliefs in our personal and
professional lives. And as we do spend a considerable amount of our lives at
work and with one another, it is reasonable that it should reflect our shared
values and beliefs. Shared values and beliefs are the underlying principles that
influence our ways of operating and decision-making based on what s important
to us.
Discussion about values and beliefs will not only help build an atmosphere of
open, candid communication but will also ensure independent critical thinking on
important and difficult issues.
Here are some questions that will help to build your values-and-beliefs
statement suggested by Anthony DSouza:
1. What are the values you want to live by: Integrity? Stewardship?
Shepherdship? A servants heart? Companionship?
2. How would you like to be known and seen: Efficient? Service minded?
Customer oriented? Community minded?

3. How can we create and open atmosphere where together we can learn to
relate to one another and work consistently with our groups and
organizations values?