A Matter of Principles For Business

Companies are like living entities that have a unique identity and defining character, they can be best identified by their vision and purpose. They have distinct corporate cultures, ideologies and ethics and tend to live and prosper by their values. Companies with profound principles are best geared up to adapt to changing environments and realize superior, long-term and sustained prosperity.

To build truly professional regional organizations that are capable of competing favorably with international companies, business leaders are encouraged to establish a clear vision for their businesses. Such a vision will encapsulate the organization's core ideology and values that unite and bond their workforce towards common goals.

What differentiates good companies from their mediocre counterparts is the clarity of vision and values that great companies are willing to live and die for. Great enterprises that experience lasting success tend to have core values and a clear purpose that remain unchanged, irrespective of how business strategies, practices and business models adapt to an ever changing environment.

Preserving core values, whilst advancing business forward is arguably the main reason that some companies become a class act of their own. They can adapt and reinvent themselves, and achieve a superior long-term sustained performance. The workforce of such successful companies have over the time mastered adaptation to changes in market environments, business practices, cultural standards, as well as business strategies. In the process, they recognize the need to adhere to their company's core values and principles. Whilst some may frequently question their organization's structure, revamp their processes, adopt new technologies and expand into new markets, they remain faithful to their ideals.

Great companies live by their principles and inner beliefs that characterize the way they do business. Such principles are universal, never change and remain genuinely sacred all time, they often act as a unifying force amongst multi-national companies, operating across many countries with different cultures and customs.

Although vision preserves core values and steers companies forward, it is unfortunately wrongly overused and is a misunderstood term. To many people, visions are abstract and represent blurred and conflicting images of an illusion of many things; values, achievement, breathtaking goals and motivating forces.

A well-crafted vision addresses two key aspects; namely the core ideology and envisioned future. The core ideology, in harmony with the core values, defines what the organization stands for. The envisioned future represents what the organization aspires for; something that requires significant change and progress to attain.

The core ideology depicts the perpetual character of an organization, a solid identity that rises above the line of business, product or service, business life cycles, technological advancements, management trends, people and leadership. In fact, the most significant contribution of those who build visionary companies is the lasting core ideology, which guides the business for many future years. It includes profound respect to employees, quality and reliability of the product(s) or service(s) and a commitment to the local community and society at large.

Business leadership recognizes that understanding the identity of an organization is more fundamental than recognizing where an organization is heading, since the destination may change as the environment changes. Leaders are mortal, products become obsolete, markets change, technologies emerge, and practices are superseded, however, core ideology in great companies endure as a source of guidance, motivation and inspiration.

Core ideology acts as a bond that unites the organization and the workforce towards a common goal as it progresses towards its long-term objectives; albeit growth, diversification, or expansion into new territories. Ideology keeps people together, irrespective of time and location

For any vision to be effective and yield the desired outcome, it must exemplify the core ideology of the organization, which consists of two distinct elements; namely core values, a system of guiding principles and tenets; and a core purpose, the organization's most profound reason for existence.

Core values are the essential and enduring code of belief of an organization. It represents ever lasting principles that guide the organization forward, core values require no external justification or explanation; they have fundamental and inherent value and relevance to the organization workforce and leadership.

The core values of a company may represent the founder's inner belief and/or be derived from market requirements. They may last for centuries and be passed down from one generation to another by the company's employees.

The core values embodied in the organization's belief are on the whole a competitive advantage and companies should adhere to them even when they may represent a competitive disadvantage. Corporate values are best reinforced by the principle-centered leadership's inner beliefs which are demonstrated by their actions and behaviors.

Yahya Shakweh is a Vice President at Advanced Electronics Company, Saudi Arabia. The views expressed in this article are the author's personal opinion. He can be reached on Email: yahya.shakweh@theiet.org