Chapter 2

Discovering and Developing the Core Values of Academic Ethos

How Should the Values of Academic Ethos be Discovered? Who Should do This? And How Should it be Done?

The first step toward academic ethos management is to discover the core values that constitute it. Collins said: “You can only discover them. Nor can you ‘install’ new core values into people. Core values are not something people ‘buy into’. People must be predisposed to holding them.”¹

Core values exist as an internal element that is strongly independent from the external environment. They are a small set of timeless values that do not require external explanation; they are of recognizable worth and importance for organizational members. They are inspiring for them but do not necessarily make a similar impression on people from the outside of an organization². Thus, the most important issue is that core values are not a result of trends in management, competition, or market requirements. Core values are those values that are shared by an academic community in the deepest and strongest way; they are not those values that are required or declared as core values by the management of a university. Those values are shared but are not preferred or declared. Core values do not have roots in imitating the values of other colleges or universities, and they cannot be imposed by someone from the outside. They also cannot be articulated after reading some books on management, and they do not come from sterile intellectual exercise connected with indicating those values that are the most pragmatic, popular, and profitable. Values cannot be a forgery. They also cannot be “intellectualized.” We should not ask: Which core values should we possess? Instead, we should ask: Which core values do we actually possess? Thus, it is obvious that there does not exist a universal and appropriate set of core values, but it is important that they are authentic, shared, and inspire passion. The key matter is not which core values a particular university have, but the fact that a higher school does possess them, is aware of them, and that those values are the most shared within an organization.³

A question emerges: How many core values should be discovered? Using the word “core” suggests that they should not be numerous. In their book Build to Last, Jim Collins and Jerry Porras argue that visionary firms seem to have a tendency to share just a few values, usually from three to six. If more than five or six values are indicated, they may be omitted from the list of those that are truly core. A particular institution not only defines its own core values, but also sets a limit to the number of them applicable to the institution at a given point in time. If a college or university thinks that three values are sufficient in defining its authentic core values, the number should be limited to 3. But if it identifies 10 core values and each of them is seen as authentic and gripping, there should be 10 values taken into account. A set of core values is not a closed set during the life of a university; there occur some moments when extending this set becomes necessary.⁴

The next question becomes: Who should be involved in the process of discovering core values of academic ethos? In the process of discovering core values, representatives of all the groups constituting an academic community should be involved, for example, managers (presidents, deans, or heads of departments), researchers, teachers, staff, and, of course, students. The difficulty in discovering core values depends on many factors, such as an organization’s age, its size, or geographical dispersion. However, despite the size and dispersion of a higher school, each group that constitutes an academic community needs to feel like a participant of this important process and needs to be convinced that its opinion is important and meaningful for the ultimate shape of a university’s core values. When having any opinion about the core values of one’s organization, academic community members need to be aware of their own personal core values that are crucial in the place of work or education. Thus, the process of core value identification should be provided on an individual level (What is important for me in my work or educational environment?), as well as on an organizational level (What are the core values of my university?). We should remember that wherever values occur, there should be involvement and trust. It is difficult to require involvement from an academic community in the realization of values that have been imposed and that are not believed in. Such a procedure can lead to cynicism and profound doubt. Truth is a fundamental academic value. This value penetrates all three basic spheres of academic activity: scientific research, education, and social service. The ethos of truth is supported by other values that are specific to academic life—mostly reliability and responsibility.⁵ The academic community is obliged to search for truth in a reliable and responsible way in scientific research.⁶ The main responsibility for initiating and conducting a study of a university’s core value lies with the top management. That is why, in most cases, the academic community expects advice and definitions from its leaders of what is important to them, what is important for the university, and how everyone should act.⁷

How could we discover the values that constitute academic ethos? In the subject literature and on websites of many consulting firms, we find examples of numerous methods enabling to realize this task. Following are three examples that will illuminate these points. One way to identify academic authentic core values is to form what Collins calls “the Mars Group.”⁸ He described the idea of this approach in the following way: “Please, imagine you’ve been asked to re-create the very best attributes of your organization on another planet, but you only have seats on the rocketship for five to seven people. Who would you send? They are the people who probably have a gut-level understanding of your core values, have the highest level of credibility with their peers, and demonstrate the highest levels of competence. The Mars group should wrestle with certain basic questions: What core values do you bring to your work—values you hold to be so fundamental that you would hold them regardless of whether or not they are rewarded? How would you describe to your loved ones the core values you stand for in your work and that you hope they stand for in their working lives? If you awoke tomorrow morning with enough money to retire for the rest of your life, would you continue to hold on to these core values? And perhaps most important: can you envision these values being as valid 100 years from now as they are today? Would you want the organization to continue to hold these values, even if at some point one or more of them became a competitive disadvantage? If you were to start a new organization tomorrow in a different line of work, what core values would you build into the new organization regardless of its activities? The last three questions are key because they help groups make a crucial distinction: core values are timeless and do not change, while practices and strategies should be changing all the time.”⁹

The next method has been suggested by Hultman and Gellerman. It is connected with the identification of core values with the use of a table of values. The members of an organization get it in a written form or as an electronic online survey. Participants are asked to indicate from 5 to 10 the most important values that lead the organization’s activity (from their point of view). This method enables to:

• identify current values of an organization, a group, or an individual;

• establish desired values of an individual, team, or an organization;

• make the following comparisons within values:

1. comparison between values of an individual and current values of an organization (or of a team);

2. make comparisons between current and desired values of an organization (or of a team);

3. make comparisons between current values of a team and desired values of a team;

4. make comparisons between current values of an organization and values that are declared by it.

• indicate the most important values of the values that are verbally declared as the core ones:

1. within a team;

2. within an organization.

After such research, all answers should be summed up and presented with a list of those indicated most often.¹⁰,¹¹

Another method of discovering core values was proposed by Lebow and Simon.¹² This method starts with a session for the top management. Managers prepare their own list of core values. Each participant gets a set of 10 to 15 paper sheets and each one writes down a simple phrase consisting of one to five words. This phrase represents one idea of a core value. This single statement is called a “cept” as it is just a part of the concept that should be included in the value expression of an organization. For instance: “Hiring of scientists that are outstanding and righteous (in ethical way)” will be written on two paper sheets: “Outstanding Scientists” and “Righteous (ethical) People.” When everyone finishes (after 15 minutes), each person chooses the seven best ideas and ranks them according to their priority. Then each person partners another, and these both choose the best ideas and rank them again. In this way, a group reaches a consensus and formulates the first version of declared core values.¹³

One of the general principles of organizational psychology is a statement that people are more willing to comply with particular declarations, policies, or codes if they are actively involved in the process of their creation and development. That is why the essence of success of this and other methods of discovering a university’s core values is to ensure that representatives of each group that constitutes academic community (students, faculty, staff, administration, and so on) are active participants in discovering and developing core values. Understanding and trusting academic community participants in core values may be achieved through their involvement in the discovery process, granting them a right to object as well as giving them opportunities to study core values and relate them to their own lives.

Development of Core Value Through Description and Definition in Behavioral Terms

The next step of this phase is the description of core values. Defining the core values of an organization starts with the answer to the basic question: What does a particular value mean for our organization? Values such as excellence, integrity, or diversity are just general statements that may have a different meaning for various universities.

On the basis of her research analyzing core values in American organizations, Rose Ann Stephenson argued that the same value (such as integrity) was defined in 185 ways.¹⁴ Without a common agreement on the actual meaning of a value for a higher school in practice, the value that is even known and widely communicated will never result in its development. Giving a clear answer to the question “What does a particular value mean to our university?” is a base for effective implementation of those values.

Core values may be described in different ways. The most crucial is to use a simple and understandable description. The main responsibility of value description lies with management as managers initiate the process of defining values. A university’s authorities should make the core values clear and understandable for its academic community. Effectiveness and efficiency of defining values depend on the cascade approach to this process. Top management of a university shows its basic understanding through core values descriptions, but each organizational unit, each faculty member, and each employee should define a particular value for taking one’s work specifically into account.¹⁵

Examples of descriptions of higher school core values are presented in Table 2.1.