Does it matter what is actually on your list of values? Is it only something that you present to the world, that won't have any impact on your business? When you seek to make your company stand out from the industry norm, even when choosing your corporate values, it helps your company to perform better, claims an article on the knowledge.insead.edu website.
In the paper Evaluating espoused values: Does articulating values pay off?, by analysts at the INSEAD business school, they examined the values that were published on the corporate websites of Fortune 100 firms from 2005 to 2008. Researchers tried to determine how these values differed within the same industry and in comparison with other Fortune 100 companies. They also looked at financial performance to see if there is a correlation between profit and values.
Difference makes the difference
In total, there were 32 values listed. Across industries there was no extreme difference, but when companies did differentiate themselves from the others, there was a positive impact on their performance. It is also important to change your values over time. When you keep your corporate values unchanged, the effect on your performance is weaker. Discussions and articulation of your values all enable you to reform and improve your company.
Counting values
Generally speaking, the list that contains more values beats the shorter lists. However, it is obvious that simply writing down a long list of values is worthless. You want to avoid confusion, but don’t just list the bare minimum, and don’t be afraid to deal with potential inconsistencies. When comparing stability versus innovation, both can be important. Demonstrate your willingness to find effective tradeoffs.
1. Try to articulate all the things that are core to your company.
2. Differentiate your company from your competitors.
3. Update your corporate values as the organization and whole market evolve.
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