The Connotation and Evaluation Index of Organizational Core Values: A Multi-case Study Based on Value Co-creation

Abstract

In the era of value co-creation, the organization and its customers create values together. This also requires the organization to focus on the resonance of values between its customers and itself while building culture or shaping core values, so as to enable itself to achieve sustainable competitive advantages, and create maximum values. Compared with traditional organizational core values, the connotation of organizational core values and evaluation systems under the background of value co-creation will be changed radically. Based on the rooted theory, this paper takes three private, state-owned and mixed enterprises as the object of the multi-case study. Through the three stages of initial coding, focused coding and theoretical coding, the connotation of organizational core values in the context of value co-creation is redefined. The beliefs and concepts formed in the long-term interaction between the organization and its customers are recognized by employees and customers, and they are the core criteria for judging behavior. On this basis, a universal, logical and systematic evaluation system of organizational core values is further summarized and constructed, and six main dimensions have been refined: customer, responsibility, team, innovation, humanism and win-win. Meanwhile, 18 specific indicators are identified: Customer dimension includes three specific evaluation indicators: customer service, customer value and customer relationship; responsibility dimension includes three specific evaluation indicators: initiative, responsibility and execution; team dimension includes three specific evaluation indicators: team consciousness, team cooperation and external cooperation; innovation dimension includes three specific evaluation indicators: innovation consciousness, improvement of management and innovation of products and sevices; humanistic dimension includes three specific evaluation indicators: moral and talent, identity development and value contribution; win-win dimension includes three specific evaluation indicators: conceptual consensus, cooperative development and benefit sharing. This paper defines six dimensions and related indicators of organizational core values, defines the evaluation mechanism of organizational core values based on the practice of enterprises and previous theoretical literature, and uses the commonly used 3-point system or 5-point system for specific evaluation based on the definition of dimensions and indicators. This study can provide guidance for the core-value-shaping and soft-power-building of the organization in the era of value co-creation.