Why Do Companies Define Values and Then Fail to Practise Them?
By [Author name] · [Month 2026]
Why Do Companies Define Values and Then Fail to Practise Them?
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You're reading the key passages · 3 min
These are the author's own words, unchanged. Mimansa editors picked the passages, and · · · marks where parts are left out. The full article adds how the values trend began, the research on values and behaviour, and the story of the Taj during 26/11.
You're reading the full article · 5 min
Parts that are not in the key passages have a line beside them, like this one.
Kyun · your host
Today's question: why do companies write down their values, and then not live by them? Over to the author.
Fig. 1 · The poster at the service centre
I was surprised to see a poster displaying company values at my bike service centre in Mumbai. I had associated org values with large organisations, but apparently even a service centre now needed to tell customers what it stood for.
Those values made no noticeable difference to the service I received, and when I casually asked the staff what their company values were, they had no idea. It made me wonder how defining values had become so common when so little attention was being paid to practising them.
· · ·
So what made Tata and many other organisations define their values in the 1990s?
Kyun
The author goes back to the 1990s to find out. Let's follow.
How did defining values become popular?
But the bestselling book Built to Last, by Jim Collins and Jerry Porras, published in 1994, claimed that defining values was the key to lasting organisational success, and it used examples of some large companies like J&J and its Credo.
· · ·
Defining values has become something organisations do because they believe a professionally managed company is expected to have them.
· · ·
Why does so little change?
· · ·
Research published by MIT Sloan Management Review found virtually no correlation between the values companies emphasised and employees’ assessments of those companies on the same values.
Companies treat defining and communicating values as completing the work. The leadership team attends an offsite, selects familiar terms such as integrity, ownership and customer focus, and asks HR to organise the launch. Employees receive presentations, posters and merchandise, while performance reviews, promotion decisions and management behaviour remain unchanged.
Employees understand which expectations affect their careers. When someone receives a promotion despite repeatedly mistreating colleagues, the organisation has demonstrated how little that behaviour matters in its assessment of performance.
· · ·
What should happen after the launch?
I would put defining and launching values at five percent of the work. Yes, 5% is too little, but almost 70% of all Fortune 500 companies have similar values like integrity, customer success, etc., and with AI, generating fancy-sounding values is no longer difficult.
The remaining ninety-five percent requires sustained changes in how the company operates.
Kyun
Four steps follow. Notice who has to act in each one.
Step 1 of 4
1. Identify behaviours relevant to your business.
· · ·
Step 2 of 4
2. Explain what each value requires employees to do.
· · ·
Step 3 of 4
3. Make behaviour count in performance decisions.
Values must influence bonuses, promotions and disciplinary action. Someone who repeatedly mistreats colleagues should face consequences even when they deliver strong results, and senior leaders must be held to the same standards.
Exempting powerful employees makes the entire exercise lose credibility.
Step 4 of 4
4. Reinforce the expectations continuously.
· · ·
An annual presentation cannot achieve this.
What has actually changed?
Business pressure tests whether leaders will follow their stated values. Correcting a customer’s bill costs money, and confronting a senior leader about misconduct can create conflict. Companies must be prepared to accept those consequences if they expect employees to take their values seriously.
Now that even bike service centres have org values, what matters is how honestly and how frequently employees are living these values.
The question it leaves
Since introducing your values, what have you changed in your decisions, rewards and employee behaviour?
Kyun
One more story, from Mumbai in 2008. People lost their lives. Read it slowly.
Values in action: The Taj during 26/11
Values in action · The Taj, 26/11
During the November 2008 terrorist attacks, employees at the Taj stayed to help guests despite knowing the danger they faced. They knew the hotel’s exits, yet continued assisting people through the siege, and some lost their lives while helping guests.
Harvard Business School examined their response alongside the Taj’s approach to recruitment, training and recognition. Its account described an organisation that consistently reinforced responsibility towards guests through its management practices.
The employees’ extraordinary courage cannot be attributed to publishing their company values, but to living them each day through small actions.
I was surprised to see a poster displaying company values at my bike service centre in Mumbai. I had associated org values with large organisations, but apparently even a service centre now needed to tell customers what it stood for.
Those values made no noticeable difference to the service I received, and when I casually asked the staff what their company values were, they had no idea. It made me wonder how defining values had become so common when so little attention was being paid to practising them.
If you think about it, even Tata introduced its Code of Conduct only in 1998, after 130 years in business. In those 130 years, Tata was known for doing a lot of social interventions and for its employee-friendly approach, but no official values were defined.
So what made Tata and many other organisations define their values in the 1990s?
Kyun
The author goes back to the 1990s to find out. Let's follow.
How did defining values become popular?
But the bestselling book Built to Last, by Jim Collins and Jerry Porras, published in 1994, claimed that defining values was the key to lasting organisational success, and it used examples of some large companies like J&J and its Credo.
This became a trend, and soon management consultants picked this up as a service they provided to organisations.
But not every business owner displaying values has read these books. Companies also copy competitors. If your competitor has customer service as a core value, how can you not?
Defining values has become something organisations do because they believe a professionally managed company is expected to have them.
Why do companies want values?
The first reason is that everyone else has them. When competitors publish their mission, vision and values, leaders want their own. The leaders want something to talk about in media interviews.
The second reason is that values support company positioning. They provide material for recruitment campaigns, media articles, leadership presentations and communication around workplace recognition such as GPTW. Leaders can describe the company as principled, customer-focused or committed to employees without explaining what those commitments require them to do. The company wants to show that it is principled and does not compromise…it is to show itself in a positive light. Values become part of all the careers pages on its website and its investor reports.
The third reason is that companies need to send a message when results are achieved in the wrong ways. A salesperson can exceed targets while misleading customers, bullying colleagues or making commitments the company cannot deliver. Written behavioural expectations give managers a basis for challenging that conduct and imposing consequences.
This is a legitimate use of values. Employees need to know that achieving their targets does not excuse unacceptable behaviour, and managers need to include that behaviour in performance decisions.
Why does so little change?
Enron listed integrity among its values and used “Ask Why” as its advertising slogan. Those declarations did not prevent the conduct that led to its collapse.
Research published by MIT Sloan Management Review found virtually no correlation between the values companies emphasised and employees’ assessments of those companies on the same values.
Companies treat defining and communicating values as completing the work. The leadership team attends an offsite, selects familiar terms such as integrity, ownership and customer focus, and asks HR to organise the launch. Employees receive presentations, posters and merchandise, while performance reviews, promotion decisions and management behaviour remain unchanged.
Employees understand which expectations affect their careers. When someone receives a promotion despite repeatedly mistreating colleagues, the organisation has demonstrated how little that behaviour matters in its assessment of performance.
When someone receives a promotion despite repeatedly mistreating colleagues, the organisation has demonstrated how little that behaviour matters in its assessment of performance.
What should happen after the launch?
I would put defining and launching values at five percent of the work. Yes, 5% is too little, but almost 70% of all Fortune 500 companies have similar values like integrity, customer success, etc., and with AI, generating fancy-sounding values is no longer difficult.
The remaining ninety-five percent requires sustained changes in how the company operates.
Fig. 2 · Five percent, ninety-five percent
Kyun
Four steps follow. Notice who has to act in each one.
Step 1 of 4
1. Identify behaviours relevant to your business.
Study how employees deliver good work responsibly, including the difficult decisions they make and the conduct that helps others succeed. These examples provide a more useful starting point than copying another company’s values.
Step 2 of 4
2. Explain what each value requires employees to do.
At my service centre, customer focus should mean providing an accurate estimate, seeking permission before additional repairs and explaining mistakes honestly. Even a small thing like asking customers if they would like a cup of tea when they visit the centre has an impact. Employees should understand these expectations clearly enough to apply them without needing HR to interpret the value.
Step 3 of 4
3. Make behaviour count in performance decisions.
Values must influence bonuses, promotions and disciplinary action. Someone who repeatedly mistreats colleagues should face consequences even when they deliver strong results, and senior leaders must be held to the same standards.
Exempting powerful employees makes the entire exercise lose credibility.
Step 4 of 4
4. Reinforce the expectations continuously.
Managers should discuss actual examples, including misleading sales they rejected, mistakes employees disclosed and customer complaints handled properly. New employees need to learn these expectations, while existing employees need to see them consistently applied. Stories about these values spread far and are more memorable.
An annual presentation cannot achieve this.
Kyun
Managers carry much of this work. What does each value ask of them?
Business pressure tests whether leaders will follow their stated values. Correcting a customer’s bill costs money, and confronting a senior leader about misconduct can create conflict. Companies must be prepared to accept those consequences if they expect employees to take their values seriously.
Now that even bike service centres have org values, what matters is how honestly and how frequently employees are living these values.
The question it leaves
Since introducing your values, what have you changed in your decisions, rewards and employee behaviour?
Kyun
One more story, from Mumbai in 2008. People lost their lives. Read it slowly.
Values in action: The Taj during 26/11
Values in action · The Taj, 26/11
During the November 2008 terrorist attacks, employees at the Taj stayed to help guests despite knowing the danger they faced. They knew the hotel’s exits, yet continued assisting people through the siege, and some lost their lives while helping guests.
Harvard Business School examined their response alongside the Taj’s approach to recruitment, training and recognition. Its account described an organisation that consistently reinforced responsibility towards guests through its management practices.
The employees’ extraordinary courage cannot be attributed to publishing their company values, but to living them each day through small actions.
Kyun
Now you. Where do you land?
Tap one to see how other readers answered.
Kyun
Those were the key passages. The full article has the history of the values trend, the research, and the Taj story.
Use this at work · Toolkit
Values to Behaviours Kit
Turn each written value into behaviours people can see and managers can act on.
