Role of Founder's Values in Building Successful Organisations

 

A company’s culture, particularly during its early years, is undoubtedly tied to the personality, background, and values of its founder or founders, as well as their vision for the future of the organization.  Culture is inevitably shaped in the early days of a company’s history. When entrepreneurs establish their own businesses, the way they want to do business determines the organization’s rules, the structure set-up in the company, and the people they hire to work with them. Founder values become part of the corporate culture to a degree that they help the company be successful.

One of the most important things that founders must do for their business and organization as a whole is to establish the tone of culture they want, and cultivate that culture in the organization, from the very beginning. The company's culture has to be conceived, fostered and then beautifully applied to the company - much like parenting. Just how a child becomes a reflection of the values imbibed by his or her parents, a business or organization’s culture is also a reflection of its founder's vision and purpose.

In their pursuit to be unique and successful, business founders often focus their attention primarily on building their products and gain market growth. In this single-minded pursuit, they may miss out on paying the required attention on building the company culture. An organization’s success largely depends on its ability to attract and retain good employees, and the right culture plays an important role in achieving that. While it makes the work environment exciting and motivating for the employees, it also gives the employees a sense of purpose that resonates with their personal beliefs.

For example, as per modern business philosophies, companies can offer autonomy to its employees, while giving them the confidence to contribute ideas freely. This lays foundation of a culture that is non-hierarchical and more welcoming.

Founders must acknowledge their role in shaping organizational ethics and seize this opportunity to create a climate that can strengthen the relationships and reputations on which their companies’ success depends. Not only are ethical values the building blocks of any business, they can be useful in determining how a company deals with certain situations and how it handles internal and external issues.

The founder’s or founders’ core values are the soul of the business, so defining them early on is essential. Your core values inform your hiring practices, business operations, company culture, and business strategy.

Speaking about the differences in business philosophies between traditional and modern organizations, the traditional concept states that the objective of the business is to earn profit through the production and marketing of products. On the contrary, consumer satisfaction is the focal point of the modern concept of business. The modern business philosophy states that a business earns profit through customer satisfaction. Business without consumers is not business.

While many businesses still operate on traditional philosophies that provides control and stability, the contemporary organizational philosophy – in which employees are given power and autonomy to make decisions and implement changes – is becoming more popular.