Core ideologies

Core Ideologies In Visionary Companies
Excerpts from Built to Last, Chapter 3, pages 68-73, Jim Collins, Jerry Porras
with links to currents statements

Core ideologies = Core values + Purpose

• Core values = The organization's essential and enduring tenets; a small set of guiding principles
• Purpose = The organization's fundamental reasons for existence

3M
Innovation; “Thou shalt not kill a new product idea”
Absolute integrity
Respect for individual initiative and personal growth
Tolerance for honest mistakes
Product quality and reliability
“Our real business is solving problems”

American Express
Heroic customer service
Worldwide reliability of services
Encouragement of individual initiative

General Electric
Improving the quality of life through technology and innovation
Interdependent balance between responsibility to customers, employees, society, and shareholders
Individual responsibility and opportunity
Honesty and integrity

Hewlett-Packard
Technical contribution to fields in which we participate
“We exist as a corporation to make a contribution”
Respect and opportunity for HP people, including opportunity to share success
Contribution and responsibility to the communities in which we operate
Affordable quality for HP customers
Profit and growth as a means to make all of the other values and objectives possible

IBM
Give full consideration to the individual employee
Spend a lot of time making customers happy
Go the last mile to do things right; seek superiority in all we undertake

Johnson & Johnson
The company exists “to alleviate pain and disease”
“We have a hierarchy of responsibilities:
customers, employees, society at large, then shareholders"
Individual opportunity and reward based on merit
Decentralization = Creativity = Productivity

Marriott
Friendly service & excellent value (customers a guests)
“Make people away from home feel that they’re among friends and really wanted”
People are number 1 - treat them well, expect a lot, and the rest will follow
Work hard, yet keep it fun
Continual self-improvement
Overcoming adversity to build character

Merck
“We are in the business of preserving and improving human life.
All of our actions must be measured by our success in achieving this goal”
Honesty and integrity
Corporate social responsibility
Science-based innovation, not imitation
Unequivocal excellence in all aspects of the company
Profit, but profit from work that benefits humanity

Nordstrom
Service to the customer above all else
Hard work and productivity
Continuous improvement, never being satisfied
Excellence in reputation, being part of something special

Procter & Gamble
Product excellence
Continuous self-improvement
Honesty and fairness
Respect and concern for the individual

Wal-Mart
“We exist to provide value to our customers” – to make their lives better via lower prices and greater selection; all else is secondary
Swim upstream, buck conventional wisdom
Be in partnership with employees
Work with passion, commitment, and enthusiasm
Run lean
Pursue ever-higher goals

Walt Disney
No cynicism allowed
Fanatical attention to consistency and detail
Continuous progress via creativity, dreams, and imagination
Fanatical control and preservation of Disney’s “magic” image
“To bring happiness to millions, and
to celebrate, nurture, and promulgate “wholesome American values”