CATALOGUE OF BUSINESS VALUES

- wave of future business -

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From: F R I D A Y F A X: February 13, 2004

FridayFax archive: http://www.cmd.org.nz/ffax
Wolfgang Simson web site: http://www.simsonwolfgang.de

BUSINESS: Catalogue of business virtues
"Imagine you work in a company in which people put others' interests
first. Everybody supports everyone else, honesty and trust are the
order of the day." That's how Friedbert Gay's consulting group
describes their aim. Business consultant Marcus Hausner from
southern Germany recommends that companies orient themselves
around such traditional values. He focuses on more than simple
maximisation of profit. "The time of short-term thinking, in which huge
profits could be made in a short time, is over," he says, "and
customers want to be able to trust companies again." His strategy is
based on long-term studies across all continents and cultures which
revealed eight values held in high regard in all societies.

Companies discover the Shared Values process
Control mechanisms help little when it comes to making employees do
what the company leadership wants. "It often leads to 'work to rule',"
says trainer Friedbert Gay. A growing number of large businesses are
recognising that they cannot permanently monitor and control their
employees. One solution is the introduction of a value system for the
enterprise - values with which staff at all levels can identify. Such a
Shared Value process is not a programme to turn a company around
in a crisis, but a long-term process which changes the work
environment itself. It requires three to five years, and transforms a
tactically-oriented organisation into a value-oriented one. "It's like
playing chess," says Gay. "I can play chess because I want to win,
putting my opponent in mate. Then I will attack my opponent, trying
to harm him. Or I can play because I want to spend a pleasant
evening with a friend. Then, I will appreciate my friend's good moves.
There are no winners or losers; the 'winner' is the evening shared with
a friend."

Eight proven key values for companies:
1. Be honest - without compromise
2. Trust your colleagues and partners
3. Be a selfless mentor
4. Be open for new ideas, without prejudice
5. Support unpopular decisions if they help the organisation
6. Give appropriate and true recognition
7. Hands off dirty money!
8. Put others' interests before your own

In 1997, Robert Haas of the Levi Strauss company said "The
enterprises of the next century will stand or fall by their values."
"Values present the organisation to outsiders, and reduce complexity
within. In the end, turnover and profits grow, productivity increases
and costs decline. The Shared Value approach is not only idealistic, it
also pays off," says Gay. Source: Friedbert Gay, DISG Training
GmbH, http://www.shared-values.de