Planning

Read this section to understand the process a business would use to develop and implement a strategic plan.

Core Values

Having defined your mission, your next step is to ask, what does this organization stand for? What values will define it? What principles should guide our actions as we build and operate the business? In Chapter 2 "Business Ethics and Social Responsibility", we explained that the small set of guiding principles that you identify as crucial to your company are known as core values – fundamental beliefs about what's important and what is and isn't appropriate in conducting company activities. Core values affect the overall planning processes and operations. At Volvo, for example, three core values – safety, quality, and environmental care – define the firm's "approach to product development, design and production". Core values should also guide the behavior of every individual in the organization. Coca-Cola, for instance, reports that its stated core values – leadership, collaboration, integrity, accountability, passion, diversity and quality – tell employees exactly what behaviors are acceptable. How do companies communicate core values to employees and hold them accountable for putting those values into practice? They link core values to performance evaluations and compensation.

In choosing core values for Notes-4-You, you're determined not to fall back on some list of the world's most popular core values: ethics/integrity, accountability, respect for others, and open communication". You want yours to be unique to Notes-4-You. After some thought, you settle on teamwork, trust, and dependability. Why these three? As you plan your business, you realize that it will need a workforce that functions as a team, trusts each other, and can be depended on to satisfy customers. In building your workforce, you'll seek employees who'll embrace these values.