Epic Systems Corporation, a provider of IT systems for hospitals and clinics, is widely recognized in its industry for its superior products and high customer satisfaction. One of the major reasons for its recognition is that the company is grounded in and shaped by its core values and ethical standards and drives a shared commitment to achieve the firm's strategic and financial objectives. True or false? For what reasons?
What will be an ideal response?
See Illustration Capsule 12.1. Epic's faith in its ability to acculturate new team members and stick true to its core values has allowed it to sustain its status as a premier provider of health care IT systems. Epic has nurtured a work climate where employees are on the same page and all have an overarching standard-its "10 Commandments"-to guide their actions. Epic fosters this high-performance culture from the get-go. It targets top-tier universities to hire entry-level talent, focusing on skills rather than personality. A rigorous training and orientation program indoctrinates each new employee. This culture positively affects Epic's strategy execution because employees are focused on the most important actions, there is peer pressure to contribute to Epic's success, and employees are genuinely excited to be involved. Epic is an exemplar in that the foundation of a company's corporate culture nearly always resides in its dedication to certain core values and the bar it sets for ethical behavior. The culture-shaping significance of core values and ethical behaviors accounts for why so many companies have developed a formal value statement and a code of ethics. CEO Judith Faulkner is a good example of an executive who wants the work climate at her company to mirror certain values and ethical standards, partly because of her personal convictions, but mainly because she and her team are convinced that adherence to such principles will promote better strategy execution, make the company a better performer, and positively impact its reputation. For Epic, its strongly ingrained values and ethical standards reduce the likelihood of lapses in ethical and socially approved behavior that mar a company's public image and put its financial performance and market standing at risk.
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