Behind all the technology and product and business activity in a company is a group of people. Increasingly, that group is diverse in culture, language and experience. It has never been more important to clearly define the basic beliefs and intentions of the company in a way that the team can understand. This is the purpose of establishing values within a company.
A complete solution provides what we call a business philosophy. It contains three elements, and may include more:
- Three to five values that underlie all other activities for the company
- A mission statement that clearly defines the focus of the company’s activities and how they benefit the customer
- A vision statement that places the mission and values in a much larger context, communicating the ultimate “good works” to which the company is committed.
Additional elements may include:
- A tag line that summarizes the company’s value proposition in a catchy way for marketing purposes
- A customer bill of rights that establishes how customers can expect to be treated in all their dealing with the company.
None of these issues are the same as business strategy or positioning, but they all play an important role in creating corporate focus. They can be developed through workshops and interviews, in a relatively rapid process. It is very important that the vision, mission and values come from the grass roots in the company. We have found that once the values are determined with a team that represents all levels in the company, the mission and vision can be created by a smaller team. This results in an efficient and cost-effective process.
Here’s a link to our vision, mission and values – our business philosophy.
