Defining Corporate Values Frameworks

Process model (Defining Values is not an isolated process but works within a framework of an Organizations Development and Human Capital and Knowledge Management Strategy).

In the world of commerce there have been many critical turning points which have had a significant impact on how organizations conduct business. The industrial revolution was one which moved economies based on farming to large scale manufacturing based economies. The onset of the microcomputer, the internet and communications revolution has subsequently had a significant impact on how business is conducted with a massive growth in the financial services sector. The move to a Knowledge Economy yet another leap and in public service organizations significant Cash Releasing Efficiency Gains (CREG) are going to have to be made in order to realign state expenditure with tax income due to massive borrowings to bail out financial institutions.

Recently we have all become aware of the effects of climate change and the growth in EM (Environmental Management), the global impact of climate change will completely change which businesses thrive and survive and those that will disappear. The second significant change is associated with the economic meltdown of global economies which is thought to be a consequence of poor business practices, regulation and business ethics.

We at Jasper International see a new significant growth area brought about by this latter issue BE (Business Ethics). Corporate values are critical in sending the messages to employees, suppliers, clients and stakeholders, whether you operate in the private or public sectors, about what your business stands for.

Business ethics is central to governance, audit, well founded business relationships, trust and transparency. Jasper International wish to collaborate, work with in partnership and conduct business with those organizations that share its values of ethical business practices.

When problems relating to corporate or business ethics are exposed in the media, people can be quick to blame the organization for a lack of standards. Others consider that a lack of ethics only matters if you get caught. However, good corporate ethics involves a lot more than staying out of the news or even simply making sure that people comply with company policies, laws, standards and financial regulations. Ethics is more about the day-to-day behaviour and decisions of individuals. This is not just about individuals near the top of the organization but every individual, in every team at every level.

Peoples values as individuals are critical to success as is their understanding of the ethical standards and values of the organization they belong to. We can offer in brief to look at the whole subject of corporate ethics and offer some ideas on how good standards can be created and maintained.

Trust is fundamental to effective organizational performance. It’s an integral part of an organization’s social capital, the set of relationships between individuals and groups that bind people together.

But trust is a fragile thing – hard to create and easy to destroy. Creating high trust organizations is the challenge faced by all leaders, because trust doesn't’ just happen. It requires an inter-related set of policies, such as promoting a culture that values relationships between people, creating opportunities to meet informally, and ensuring that people are able to perform effectively. At the same time the organization needs mechanisms for dealing with under performance and bad conduct. The basis of trust is behaviour what you do or what you don't do.

A trusted party is presumed to seek to fulfil policies, ethical codes, law and their previous promises. Trust does not need to involve belief in the good character, vices, or morals of the other party. Persons engaged in a criminal activity usually trust each other to some extent. Also, trust does not need to include an action that you and the other party are mutually engaged in. Trust is a statement about what is otherwise unknown -- for example, because it is far away, cannot be verified, or is in the future.

In the social sciences, the subtleties of trust are a subject of ongoing research. In sociology and psychology the degree to which one party trusts another is a measure of belief in the honesty, benevolence and competence of the other party (See Downloads link Index of Leadership Trust).

A critical characteristic of modern organizations is the speed at which they are able to respond to social, market and technological changes. Unfortunately there is the "Speed and Greed Formula", couple this with wrongly incentified performance criteria can lead to suspect risk management, rule and legal framework problems.

Please visit the Institute of Business Ethics.