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International Index of Corporate Values®, 2009
20-10-2009
The 2009 International Index of Corporate Values® provides a profile of more than 3,700 companies operating in 11 countries. The Index reveals a rise in the number of values expressed by companies compared to 2006 with ‘Innovation’ and ‘Quality’ remaining the top two values overall; with a rise in community values such as ‘Social responsibility’ and ‘Sustainable development’ being the notable results from new research announced today.
The main findings of the 2009 survey
The 2009 Index shows that corporate values are becoming more diversified, suggesting that companies are increasingly using ‘values’ to define and distinguish themselves from the competition.
> The global crisis has led to an expectation that companies should adopt a more ‘moral’ attitude. This expectation understandably appears in their statements of core values, which are therefore gaining in importance.
> Companies are becoming permeable to values that go beyond their own particular activities and markets. Societal, moral and behavioural values are gaining in importance in corporate culture. A company that confines itself to professional and/or combative values alone could appear to be lacking in openness and sensitivity to social issues.
> There has been a decline in the influence of combative values; or rather, a combination of combative and societal values has become more prevalent. It is as though combative values were now being ‘moderated’ or ‘orientated’ by value guides that provide some indication as to the type of society towards which companies are moving.
The Top 10 corporate values, overall
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Pilot values, 2009
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%, 2009
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1
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Quality
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39.7%
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2
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Innovation
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38.8%
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3
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Customer satisfaction
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25.5%
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4
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Integrity
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19.2%
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5
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Environment
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17.6%
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6
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Social responsibility
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17.2%
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7
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Success
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16.4%
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8
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Know-how
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16.1%
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9
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Responsibility
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15.3%
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10
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Team spirit
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12.9%
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As in 2006, ‘Quality’ and ‘Innovation’ are considered the top two values across the board. And with some exceptions – France, for example, which places ‘Quality’ in 7th position – they are among the top five values everywhere.
Perhaps surprisingly the top five values have remained unchanged between 2006 and 2009. But ‘Customer satisfaction’, though still in 3rd position overall, has lost ground in relation to the top two values. Another change to be noted is that ‘Respect’ has dropped out of the overall top 10 values, being replaced by ‘Responsibility’.
Download press release as PDF
Download summary of the Corporate Values Report 2009
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Publication date: 20 October 2009
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The study was carried out with the assistance of the international ECCO network, of which Wellcom is a founding member. The report analyses and interprets the changes that appeared in 2009, based on data from 3,726 organisations in 14 sectors of activity, across 11 countries, including 247 multinational companies.
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About ECCO International Communications
ECCO is a network of independently owned and operated PR and marketing communications consultancies located in over 40 countries around the world and headquartered in London. ECCO member agencies are successful in their own right and are owner-managed by senior people with big agency/big client experience. ECCO’s clients range from fast growing businesses such as Regus, MEGA and Interface FLOR to long established global brands like Xerox, Sony, Conoco Jet Nordics and UPS Logistics Group.
For further information contact:
Sara Render
Chairman
ECCO International Public Relations
+44 (0) 207 592 3100
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