Company Values: Definition, Importance and Examples

Core values are one of the defining factors of the business. They affect their day to day operations and what employees are hired. However, each business is unique, and, therefore, manifest their own values making each one distinguishable.

It is very important for a business to hold their own core values, and practice them through their daily work. Companies want to make sure that their core values are clearly outlined, so their employees know what expectations they are being held to.

If the employees are aware of the company’s values they are more likely to ensure that the standards are being met and will help make a positive work environment. Another reason it is important for companies to hold and practice their core values is to build a good reputation with their customers. If a company occasionally practices their core values then its customers will not have a true sense of what values the company upholds. Operating a company that adheres to a well defined set of values is very appealing to customers in today’s market.

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In my opinion, customers today are more drawn to companies that provide consistent quality service and uphold their values through all their services. In essence, by establishing a reputation of consistent work that practices the company core values companies, such as Delta, will create a competitive advantage drawing people to buy their services.

Two of the primirary stakeholders discussed throughout the article are the CEO, Ed Bastain, and the Delta customers. Ed Bastain’s main task as a CEO is to be prepared for upcoming challenges the future may present when investing money into the company.

He is also concerned with maintaing a positive relationship and upholding the company’s core values with employees, customers, and investors as they serve as the foundation of the company. Futhermore, as professional, Baistain is to stay conscious of the company’s repuation, and make sure it is generating profits. In terms of the customers, they also serve as a stakeholder because they are placing their trust in Delta to fly them from point A to point B. Addtionally, they are concerned with getting customer service and purchasing services from a company that upholds similar core values as them.

Delta works to align their services with the two primary stakeholders mentioned in the article through practicing their core values in their customer service. Baistin works triesly to ensure that he has solutions to possible future challenges, and that Delta’s customers are getting the best service provided to them. On the other side, the customers are just concerned about getting from point A to point B with the least amount of inconviences. Like many things in lie, not everything can go as planned. For example, the article discusses one scenario where a woman lost her enagement ring in the airplane bathroom. Delta went to extreme lengths to find this ring and return it to the owner. This scenario illustrates how the interests of Baistin (maintaing strong customer service) and the interests of the customer (focused on getting to her destination, until she lost her ring and was focused on that) align in which Delta employees went the extra mile to get this woman’s ring back to her, and would do the same for any other customer.

Another example of Delta aligning their services with their two primary stakeholders is the “listen, respond, listen model.” This model is a resource that Delta employees follow when interacting with customers. It ensures that the customers feel valued and are being listened to, while also giving employees a method to use that will best serve the customer. In essence, the model helps maintains high customer satisifaction, what Baistin is working toward, and will aid in helping solve the issue. The Creating Shared Values article brought up the point that cocoa farmers need to put down a high initial investment than other farmers, however it will raise their incomes by over 300%. Similar to the cocoa farmers, if Delta puts the time and money into properly training their employees about their core values, in the long run the company will benefit from the strong customer loyalty they have built.

A company whose values closely align with mine is McDonalds. McDonalds core values are responsible leadership, progressiveness, and local integration. As an young individual and consumer I find eash of these values extremly important, and align with my own personal values. In terms of responsible leadership, McDonalds states that they are committed to serving food that is good for customers, dedicated to eliminate their waste, serve as a good employer for their employees, and stay involved with their communities, specifically through the Ronald McDoanld House. Each of these goals, in my opinion, directly correlate with a type of leadership all companies should implement. As young college student that is very passionate about various social issues and volunteering, their awareness and committment to find ways they can help with pressing problem is very impressive.

The value of progressiveness shows McDonalds passion to constantly improve to be the best they can. I am the type of person that always want to do more, and is never really fully satisfied with my work. However, in a world that is constantly changing, it is sometimes hard to keep up. Therefore, the fact that McDonald's’ is dedicated to evolving with the world shows how they work be better each day. Finally, the value of local integration also aligns with my personal values. Similar to McDonalds, I love to meet new people and learn about their backgrounds. I understand the importance of respecting others values and cultures, so I think it is very admirable that McDonald's works to implement each restaurant's location culture.

The alignment of McDonald's and my own values could help me be the most professional person I can be for several reasons. To start, if I was working at McDonald's and came across something that I think is wrong, chances are the people with higher positions will also share the same opinion. I would, therefore, feel comfortable bringing up my finding, as I know that the company shares similar values to me. Furthermore, if I feel comfortable bringing up immoral things in the workplace, I would probably feel comfortable challenging things in my community that are not right. In essence, working for a company that aligns with your values will be a great aid as a professional because you feel valued and will contribute more to making your company or even community better.

Core values are an important aspect of every business. They shape the way the business functions on a daily basis, and the types of employees that are hired to work there. Overall, an individual should take into account what the core values are a business hold, as finding a place that you feel connected to will greatly aid in developing one’s professionalism.