Agencies and Services |

Identifying the main tendency of the organizational culture is more and more important in managing change. Change is often the most important issue that defines a successful strategy from an unsuccessful one. And part of this is whether the envisioned change is feasible.

The focus of this article is on corporate values in relation to the issue of product or service culture. How do corporate values reflect either culture and is there any difference at all?

Below there are two examples of corporate value statements related to either type of company. The first is fully focused on production:

A producer in the wholesale market:

Leadership (… in design, building and support of products), Integrity (this is a standard value), Quality (continuous quality improvement), Customer Satisfaction ( is also standard not revealing much specifics), Teamwork (continually learn, share ideas and knowledge), A Diverse and Involved Team, Good Corporate Citizenship (. … protect the environment), Enhance Shareholder Value.

Leadership is both possible for product oriented as for service oriented companies, but product leadership is easier (in comparing with rivals) services are more differentiated and therefore harder to compare.

Protecting the environment… logical that producer face environmental issues where servicing companies hardly use raw materials and their impact on the environment is less …

Another example: producer in healthcare market:

Set highest standards in science and business, Build trust and earn respect, Drive best decisions with … best practices, Be accountable, Balance creativity and innovation with business awareness and productivity, Communicate clearly and efficiently. Listen actively and learn, Teamwork….

Producer are often more technological involved (the role of science: car producer versus car maintenance), servicing companies less.

The other (two) example is concentrated on offering services:

The first is offering financial services:

Integrity, Teamwork (…. share our skills and resources across organizational boundaries for our clients’ and own benefit), Respect (We value the entrepreneurial spirit of everyone), Professionalism (highest standards, pursue innovation, deploy imagination, open to new ideas and we act decisively and consistently. … deliver outstanding quality … long lasting and close relation with clients)

Integrity fits the financial service focus. Respect is a standard value, sometimes a cliché, but fits better a servicing approach where diversity is more functional towards the objective of servicing, whereas could complicate the more “strict” production focus.

The best example showing the difference in values is expressed in the following example. This company is offering a location based service. Service center:

values: Friendly (always a positive attitude), Responsive (handle tasks in a timely and efficient manner), Fair (say what we do and do what we say), Proud (take ownership in our work, … contagious enthusiasm), Dedicated (exceed customer expectations), Professional (consistently deliver results at the highest standards).

These are values that only match with a service approach: friendliness has no function in a production environment, but is fundamental in a client-centered-approach. Fair is balancing the friendly value to make sure that emotion and ratio are balanced…

Otherwise, in case you are just an office employee who assumes responsibility of all inward and outward communications, you need to be equipped with sharp communication skills in order to discharge you job successfully. The business environment is so immense and dynamic that any laxity by you will consequentially push the clients to seek out other business firms.

Business communications are not exclusively restricted to utilizing office support systems like computers, telephones, fax machines, and such others. It also includes interacting with business partners and clients personally. Business communication skills therefore, should encompass expertise in both forms of communications - oral and written.

If you do not have proficiency in business communication abilities, there is no cause for concern, as there are scores of sources for refining these skills. These include books, leaflets, and even individual courses. So, you can select the best option that suits your needs in order to sharpen your business communication abilities.

A great deal of business communications takes place in the written form. There you need to be adept at writing reports, preparing proposals, wrapping up the staff study assigned to you, besides drafting a business letter addressed to a businessperson of another business establishment. Now, what needs to be borne in mind when composing a business communiqué? In the first instance, you need to be aware of the reason or issue to be dealt with in the missive, and thereafter you need to carefully compose the contents and draft the letter in order that the objective of communication is accomplished. Once you are done with this, you need to put your thoughts in order and note them down in a sequential order. While composing the draft, you should carefully weigh every single word that you use. Next comes editing. If any changes have to be incorporated in the draft, then you have to carry them out. This is followed by detailed editing once more, prior to dispatching the final draft. Business communications are official and proper and hence you should be equipped with the skills that will generate this kind of result.

You need to remember that business communications involve the exchange of significant ideas. Hence, appropriate words should be sensibly picked and employed in the sentence construction. Besides, there needs to be agreement in the thoughts conveyed in the paragraphs. People assigned the task of handling business communications should be familiar with the language that needs to be employed and should have excellent business communication skills. A truly competent business communication writer should be capable of getting across and arousing emotions and similarly should be equal to putting across concepts and information to the concerned party.

Now, in the company itself, there is constant occurrence of business communications, which include putting across concepts and opinions to suppliers, employers, employees, dealers, distributors, vendors, customers, manufacturers, community groups, and so forth. Therefore, it is of utmost importance that the communiqué is drafted in an official, clear-cut, and comprehensible manner or otherwise effective communication is just not possible. When it comes to oral business communications, you need to be articulate and eloquent in the language you choose to employ.

It is vital that you refine your business communication abilities every so often so that you retain your edge.
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