Bringing values to life - Discovering and implementing organizational values together with employees
Holmström, Lauriina (2019)
2019
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2019112722866
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2019112722866
Tiivistelmä
Self-organizing organizations are at risk to become chaotic, and well implemented and internalized organizational values can work as the organizers of the disorder. Values play a
particularly important role in self-organizing organizations, as they are set to guide the
company´s functionalities. Values can be seen as the essence of the organization´s idea of
how it will achieve success. Values give people a sense of shared direction, help them in
decision-making and guide to operate in everyday life at work.
The main objective of this master’s thesis is to find a way to discover company values together
with the employees and implement them as a part of the organization’s daily life at
the case-company. This study will also examine ways to help employees internalize the
values in a way that they can understand how the history of the organization reflects the
values and how they can use the values to guide their behavior and help them in decision making.
The theoretical framework for this study is built by using a wide range information retrieval
tools and sources, in order to create a comprehensive and theoretically accurate perception
of the topic. This study focuses on defining organizational values, their effects on organizational performance and the processes of discovering and implementing the values.
The theoretical part will also discuss ways to help organizational members to internalize
the discovered values.
This thesis is conducted as an action research. Action research was chosen as a method
for this study because of its participatory characteristics, focus on co-generation of
knowledge and its iterative nature which enables the development as the research proceeds.
The main way of conducting the research is workshops and research data is
formed by observations and queries made during and after the workshops.
According to the findings of this study a working together with the employees, through for
example a workshop, is an efficient way to disclose what employees think the organization
values and represents. Organizational values implementation and internalization is a time consuming process that requires management support and a dedicated values team which
ensures that values are communicated adequately and together with employees, so they
are able see how the values are reflected in their daily work.
particularly important role in self-organizing organizations, as they are set to guide the
company´s functionalities. Values can be seen as the essence of the organization´s idea of
how it will achieve success. Values give people a sense of shared direction, help them in
decision-making and guide to operate in everyday life at work.
The main objective of this master’s thesis is to find a way to discover company values together
with the employees and implement them as a part of the organization’s daily life at
the case-company. This study will also examine ways to help employees internalize the
values in a way that they can understand how the history of the organization reflects the
values and how they can use the values to guide their behavior and help them in decision making.
The theoretical framework for this study is built by using a wide range information retrieval
tools and sources, in order to create a comprehensive and theoretically accurate perception
of the topic. This study focuses on defining organizational values, their effects on organizational performance and the processes of discovering and implementing the values.
The theoretical part will also discuss ways to help organizational members to internalize
the discovered values.
This thesis is conducted as an action research. Action research was chosen as a method
for this study because of its participatory characteristics, focus on co-generation of
knowledge and its iterative nature which enables the development as the research proceeds.
The main way of conducting the research is workshops and research data is
formed by observations and queries made during and after the workshops.
According to the findings of this study a working together with the employees, through for
example a workshop, is an efficient way to disclose what employees think the organization
values and represents. Organizational values implementation and internalization is a time consuming process that requires management support and a dedicated values team which
ensures that values are communicated adequately and together with employees, so they
are able see how the values are reflected in their daily work.