Strategic Value Essay

Strategic Values

An organization is defined by its values. The article reviewed discusses how an organization’s values attracts and motivates employees, suppliers and investors, (Crawford & Scaletta, 2006). The author suggests that in order to be successful an organization would need to employ a value based strategy. The purpose of this paper is to determine the importance values play when developing a business strategy. The author indicates that in order for a business to be successful they need to exemplify their values and incorporate them into their overall business strategy. The article notes that stakeholders want to work with an organization that share their values and if organization does not take this in consideration than their

The author notes that the biggest challenge for any business today is attracting top talent. According to Crawford & Scletta (2006), “Ninety-seven per cent of the MBAs surveyed as part of the Stanford study stated they prefer to work for an employer that shares similar values, or organizations that have a positive reputation, can demonstrate good ethical performance, and focus on corporate social responsibility (CSR),” (p. 1). The author states that for an organization to be competitive they need to match the values of the top tier talent there attempting to acquire. The article suggests this could be accomplished through value focused strategy. The article also states the consequences of losing valuable employees may cost an organization up to $50,000. The article makes it clear that it makes financial sense for an organization to meet the goals of prospective and current employees. The author suggests that each person defines their values differently and organization will need to address these differences. The article also suggests that an organization needs to find the correct tools to evaluate values. The author uses Walmart has an example of successful company with value based strategy, “values that helped create the world 's largest retailer: treat the customer right, take care of your people, be honest in your dealings, pass savings along to the customer, keep things simple, think

According to Sam Walton, “"Each Wal-Mart store should reflect the values of its customers and support the vision they hold for their community, “(Crawford & Scletta, 2006, p.2). One may disagree with this assertion due the recent criticism of Walmart in the press. One could argue that the organization is bad example of a value based organization based on the current bad press regarding its treatment of employees and suppliers. Walmart would be great example of an organization that does incorporate their values in their strategic plan. Another criticism of the article is that author recommends using tools to evaluate the success of values integration, but does not provide more detail to how best to evaluate organization. One would agree that if organization is trying to achieve values based strategy than they would need to incorporate some type of evaluation system. The author provides several studies to support that it makes financial sense to employ value based strategy. “A 2004 study conducted by the Stanford Graduate School of Business of more than 800 MBAs at 11 leading North American and European business schools provides ample evidence that organizational values are critically important to both recruitment and retention of employees,” (Crawford & Scletta (2006), p. 2). One would conclude that stakeholders are looking to work with