Core values

Author: Wu Hongbiao
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-12-01
Features: Since June 1996, when Beida Zhongxing was established, we have provided consulting services to a large number of enterprises. Through our interactions with these companies, my team and I have found that those that develop rapidly and manage well have a strong corporate culture. The owners and employees of these companies work with passion. In an environment where the average lifespan of a private enterprise is only 2.9 years, and on a stage where young Chinese companies must compete with strong multinational corporations, how can our businesses survive, grow, and thrive? How can we cultivate our core competitiveness? For a long time, the question of what constitutes a company's core competitiveness has been a focal point of attention and debate. Some say it's high technology, others say it's corporate systems, some say it's organizational development, and others say it's team spirit, with differing opinions and no consensus. But whatever the case, this exploration has gradually deepened people's understanding of corporate management. I believe that Mr. Wu Hongbiao's book "Core Values" is a product of this gradual deepening of understanding, and at the same time, it has raised people's perception of enterprises to a new level, proposing the idea that "core values are the core competitiveness of a company."
The concept that "philosophy takes precedence over systems, and systems are more important than technology" is widely accepted. Therefore, core values are the foundation of all philosophies, systems, and technologies. Technological advantages and the competitiveness they demonstrate are the product and embodiment of a company's core values. Only by having the correct core values and forming a corporate culture centered on these values can a company develop its core competitiveness.
Some international research results also support this conclusion. The "Transnational Corporation Competitiveness" research team at Columbia University's Business School found that the core philosophies of these companies are rarely related to commercial profits. When the Japanese government summarized the experience of rapid economic development during the Meiji Restoration, it published a white paper, attributing Japan's economic growth to three factors: spirit, secondly, regulations, and thirdly, capital. The proportion of these three factors was 50% for spirit, 40% for regulations, and 10% for capital. This conclusion highlights the important role of spiritual and cultural factors in corporate operations and economic development.
Research results from American RAND Corporation, McKinsey & Company, and other international management consulting firms show that the fundamental reason why the world's top 500 companies outperform others lies in their ability to infuse vitality into their corporate culture, paying special attention to the cultivation and improvement of core values such as teamwork, customer-centricity, equal treatment of employees, and innovation, thereby forming cultural strength to ensure long-term prosperity.
British-American scholar Charles Hamptom and Alphonse Tronpena's survey of 15,000 corporate managers in 12 countries, including the U.S., UK, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Japan, and Singapore, found that different companies are influenced by their unique value systems in the process of creating wealth. This shows that core values play a central role in the development of enterprises and other organizations.
To develop core competitiveness, a company must start by establishing core values and building a corporate culture centered on these values. Chinese enterprises have gone through stages of focusing on finance, marketing, and technology before finally realizing the importance of people, recognizing that talent is the foundation of the company. But how can we unite people and maximize their potential? The answer is: establish core values and a corporate culture centered on these values.
Lu Xun once said, "People need a bit of spirit." Companies also need spirit, and they need to use spirit to organize people and generate cohesion and creativity. This spirit is a corporate culture centered on core values. It can be said that a company's core competitiveness comes from its core values. I am delighted that these ideas have been thoroughly discussed in Mr. Wu Hongbiao's book "Core Values." This book not only explains the importance of core values but also clarifies their mechanism of action on enterprises, describing two main lines through which core values exert their influence.
First main line: Core values → corporate vision and mission → corporate strategic goals and plans → execution;
Second main line: Core values → corporate philosophy and principles → corporate systems → employee behavior.
These two lines will certainly guide companies in refining their core values and building a corporate culture. I believe that this book will deepen people's understanding of corporate management and promote the improvement of management levels and core competitiveness in Chinese enterprises.