Values have always been important for organizations, but it has only been in the last decade that they have become important topics for organizational leaders to address. As competitive advantage became associated with a less controlling management style and organizations worked to empower more of their people, an important question was: What keeps people behaving in a way that supports the goals of the enterprise? Any thinking person would ask, “Will they accept responsibility? Empowering people who avoid responsibility is a good strategy for failure. One important answer was: Their behavior is significantly controlled by the code of acceptable behavior which governs their work lives, their code of ethics. This has popularly been called “organizational values.” The relevant definition in The American Heritage Dictionary is: Value...4 A principle, standard, or quality considered worthwhile or desirable.” They are organizational values because they are shared by large numbers of people in the organization.
The fact that values are a “principle or standard” suggests they go beyond current desired pleasures, such as having a drink or quarterly profits. Indeed Collins and Porras in their book Built To Last (1994) found that values contribute not only to success, but long-term survival. There are many shared values in any group and knowing which are the most important or fundamental is necessary to diminish confusion. A work group may value: getting to work on time; being cheerful; accepting responsibility (“If you see a problem you own it.”); and being nice. All of those can be part of a more fundamental value, such as dedication to quality client service. If you accept that basic value, the others follow, and you know when to make exceptions for some. For example, it may not be useful to be cheerful when you find a serious quality problem. Those few