BUSINESS FOR ENGINEERS: COMPANY VALUES

Jan Isakovic @iYan

USUAL REACTIONS TO THE CONCEPT

• What a silly thing

• Marketing BS

• Something to put on a web page

• Can I go back to work now?

PERSONAL VALUESEnable us to make decisions

• personal freedom: should an authority regulate something

• morals: gay marriage

Enable us to forge bonds with others

• common values are a good indicator if we are compatible with somebody

Enable us to form communities

• Jewish kibbutz

• Amish town

• “Open carry” towns in USA

COMPANY VALUESEnable us to make decisions

• “Customer satisfaction first!” (Zappos)

• Warranty, attitude, ..

Enable us to form relationships with customers

• “I’ll pay a bit more because I like their customer service policy”

Enable companies to find suitable employees

COMPANY VALUES

So when Zappos hires new employees, it provides a four-week training period. After that it's time for what Zappos calls “The

Offer.” !

“If you quit today, we will pay you for the amount of time you've worked, plus we will offer you a $1,000 bonus."

!If you're willing to take the company up on The Offer, you obviously

don't have the sense of commitment they are looking for.

Source

LET’S SEE SOME EXAMPLES!

Our Values

As a company, and as individuals, we value integrity, honesty, openness, personal excellence, constructive self-criticism, continual self-improvement, and mutual respect.

We are committed to our customers and partners and have a passion for technology. We take on big challenges, and pride ourselves on seeing them through.

We hold ourselves accountable to our customers, shareholders, partners, and employees by honoring our commitments, providing results, and striving for the highest quality.

• Customer Obsession

• Ownership

• Invent and Simplify

• Are Right, A Lot

• Hire and Develop the Best

• Insist on the Highest Standards

• Think Big

• Bias for Action

• Frugality

• Vocally Self Critical

• Earn Trust of Others

• Dive Deep

• Have Backbone; Disagree and Commit

• Deliver Results

1. Deliver WOW Through Service

2. Embrace and Drive Change

3. Create Fun and A Little Weirdness

4. Be Adventurous, Creative, and Open-Minded

5. Pursue Growth and Learning

6. Build Open and Honest Relationships With Communication

7. Build a Positive Team and Family Spirit

8. Do More With Less

9. Be Passionate and Determined

10. Be Humble

Ten things we know to be true 1.Focus on the user and all else will follow. 2.It’s best to do one thing really, really well. 3.Fast is better than slow. 4.Democracy on the web works. 5.You don’t need to be at your desk to need an answer. 6.You can make money without doing evil. 7.There’s always more information out there. 8.The need for information crosses all borders. 9.You can be serious without a suit. 10.Great just isn’t good enough.

CREATING COMPANY VALUES

• You usually cannot create them, unless you are building a start-up

• But you can discover them

More info 1 More info 2 More info 3

So - what are your company’s core values?

BUSINESS FOR ENGINEERS

Jan Isakovic @iYan

1: Customers and sales 4: Value proposition

2: Product conception 5: Core competencies

3: Minimum Viable Product 6: Company values

BUSINESS FOR ENGINEERSThanks for checking these out - if you have ideas for more

topics let me know!

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