Strategic success factors are fundamentally factors and leverage points specific to the industry which have a decisive and positive effect on company success in the long run. Along with the classical success factors, a value-oriented corporate culture is playing an increasingly decisive role as a differentiation criterion. A value-based culture or the identity of the company co-determines which companies position themselves strategically in international competition over the long run. In particular, the anchoring of the values in the supporting structures of a company, not merely the formulation of the corporate culture, lays the foundation for sustained value management.

The subject of “value orientation“ is attracting attention

The media landscape at this time paints a dark picture on the theme of values and culture. The role of companies in society has become distorted. Moral standards and value orientation has come under attack and is in decay even in established religious congregations. Thanks especially to the worldwide financial crisis and its consequences, the “discussion about values” has become the subject of more intense attention.

The general public has become more sensitive with respect to moral standards, subsequently applying more pressure on organizations to demonstrate their legitimacy, because ultimately the values of a society cannot be truly separated from those of the organizations active within them. The nation and its body of workers are demanding a clear change of direction in thinking and more awareness of their responsibility on the part of corporate management in their actions. Scandals about data protection, embezzlement, and cyber-crime, just like the current social transformations and paradigm shifts, are driving the discussion forward. A rapidly accelerated growth in knowledge as well as the constantly changing living conditions of a media society are raising the pressure for action in companies.

The borders between cultural imprinting and educational role played by companies and the securing or claiming of employment contract obligations are becoming more and more diffuse and will in the future make even greater demands on companies.