A Unique Combination Of Values: Bertelsmann’s Essentials As Compared With Other Corporate Constitutions

Bertelsmann isn’t the only company that offers its employees, executives and shareholders an overarching understanding of shared goals and values (the Bertelsmann Essentials). Many other companies have adopted guiding principles – often referred to as "Mission Statements" – as well. According to a survey of 365 top companies in thirty countries performed by the international strategy and technology consultants Booz Allen Hamilton and the Aspen Institute, codified values have come to play an important role. 98 percent of the companies surveyed have institutional standards for employee and corporate conduct and have put them down in writing. "Only a society that knows what it believes in can muster the energy to shape the future," stresses Burkhard Schwenker, CEO of Roland Berger corporate consulting, in his foreword to the book "Was uns wichtig ist. Eine neue Führungsgeneration definiert die Unternehmenswerte von morgen" (What’s Important to Us: A New Generation of Leaders Defines Tomorrow’s Corporate Values).

However, the actual content of such commitments varies from one company to the next. "There is no one corporate culture that is ideal for all," as Knut Bleicher, Professor emeritus at the University St. Gallen, told the newspaper "Zeit" shortly after Hilti AG had won the Carl Bertelsmann Prize 2003, for "Corporate Culture and Leadership Behavior as Success Factors." Depending on a company’s industry, social status or strategy, different variations could ensure the best possible adaptation to future challenges. The differences begin with the naming of the documents in question. What the Essentials are to Bertelsmann is referred to as "The Seven Values" at Deutsche Post, as "Values and Mission" at Deutsche Bank and simply as "Mission Statement" at AOL Time Warner. Like Bertelsmann, most companies have condensed their shared goals and values to a few key points.

For instance, the sporting goods manufacturer Puma has summed them up in four points, just like our media company. One is entitled "Entrepreneurship" – and would suggest parallels to Bertelsmann’s essential value "Entrepreneurship." But the actual content differs: While Bertelsmann’s "Entrepreneurship" emphasizes the principle of decentralization as a key to success, Puma takes "entrepreneurship" mainly to mean a willingness to draw inspiration from the world outside the sports industry in developing ideas. The other three values that Puma strives to cultivate and incorporate in its brand personality are "fascination," "openness" and "self-confidence."

The Deutsche Bank and Siemens mission statements each contain five basic principles. Deutsche Bank cites performance, trust, teamwork, innovation and customer focus. Siemens words its values as concise messages: "We give our customers strength," "We drive innovation," "We advance our employees" and "We bear a responsibility to society."

Like Bertelsmann, more and more companies are striving to integrate citizenship, or a responsibility to society, in their corporate cultures. However, according to the Booz Allen Hamilton and Aspen Institute study, there are still strong regional differences regarding this issue. 55 percent of the companies in Europe and Asia emphasize environmental protection and social responsibility – as opposed to 34 percent in North America. By contrast, 95 percent of US companies emphasize ethical behavior and integrity–ten percent more than among the European and Asian companies surveyed. A look at the U.S. media corporation AOL Time Warner shows that along with values like creativity, customer focus, alertness, teamwork, diversity and responsibility, its Mission Statement especially stresses ethical standards and integrity. The two latter terms primarily refer to ensuring editorial independence, in order to live up to the readers, viewers, listeners, members and subscribers’ trust. Here, Bertelsmann chooses the core value of creativity. The goal is to be a home to artists, authors and creative talent, to champion the protection intellectual property worldwide and to promote artistic and intellectual freedom, protection of democracy and human rights, and respect for traditions and cultural values. Accordingly, the content produced reflects a wealth of different attitudes and opinions.

And then, the Bertelsmann Essentials feature some comparatively specific wordings. It’s a rare company that will include a sentence like "We are committed to the professional development of our employees and seek to provide long-term employment" – which serves to underscore the company’s commitment to the idea of partnership. Above all, it is the combination, the emphasis on leadership through partnership, on entrepreneurial spirit, decentralism and citizenship, that set the Bertelsmann Essentials apart from other corporate missions – and that make it such a special media company.