Organizational Leadership: Core Values of Top Tech Firms [Infographic]

MidAmerica Nazarene University http://www.mnu.edu 2m 582 #corevalues

The views of this article are the perspective of the author and may not be reflective of Confessions of the Professions.

Core Values and Characteristics of Top Tech Firms

Ask someone to name the most common characteristics of all technology companies, and chances are you’ll hear terms like innovative, nimble, or fast growth. In fact, you might even assume that technology companies are somewhat unstable, since they tend to undergo so much change in such a short period of time.

However, the reason these companies can change so quickly without crashing and burning is because their organizational leadership has determined certain core values that the company is able to hold steady to in tumultuous times. In fact, the leaders of each of the top tech firms steer the corporation by pointing to these core values and allowing their trust in these values to trickle down through their employees.

For example, Apple has long been synonymous with simplicity, a core value heralded by Steve Jobs, who once said, “It takes a lot of hard work to make something simple, to truly understand the underlying challenges and come up with elegant solutions.” Similarly, Bill Gates of Microsoft preaches self-criticism in his employees, reminding them that “it’s fine to celebrate success, but it is more important to heed the lessons of failure”- a sentiment that encourages experimentation, testing, and a constant quest for improvement.

In times of chaos and when decisions need to be made, adhering to these core values can help a tech company stay true to itself.

This infographic shows the core values of America’s Top 7 Tech Firms.

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Core Values of America’s Top 7 Tech Firms by Market Cap

1. Ownership
2. Simplicity
3. Courage
4. Fairness / Generosity
5. Communication
6. Respect
7. Selectivity
8. Collaboration
9. Openness
10. Ethics / Corporate Citizenship
11. Frugality
12. Freedom
13. Stockholder Obligation
14. Self-Improvement
15. Speed
16. Compliance
17. Integrity / Honesty
18. One World
19. Being Right
20. Innovation / Thinking Big
21. Fun
22. Detail Oriented
23. Excellence
24. Self-Criticism
25. Saying No

People should own their information. – Facebook, Core Values

“It takes a lot of hard work to make something simple, to truly understand the underlying challenges and come up with elegant solutions.” – Steve Jobs, Apple

We believe in saying no to thousands of projects so that we can really focus on the few that are truly important and meaningful to us. – Apple, Core Values

“Really big people are, above everything else, courteous, considerate, and generous – not just to some people in some circumstances – but to everyone all the time.” – Thomas J. Watson, Sr., IBM

“Your margin is my opportunity.” – Jeff Bezos, Amazon

Our basic belief is respect for the individual, for his rights and dignity. – IBM, Leadership Principles

“It’s fine to celebrate success but it is more important to heed the lessons of failure.” – Bill Gates, Microsoft

“When you give everyone a voice and give people power, they system usually ends up in a really good place.” – Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook

“When you innovate, you’ve got to be prepared for everyone telling you you’re nuts.” – Larry Ellison, Oracle

“Basically, our goal is to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.” – Larry Page, Google

Our founders built Google around the idea that work should be challenging, and the challenge should be fun. – Google, Ten Things We Know To Be True

Oracle employees make excellence and quality a part of day-to-day work processes and seek continuous imporvement in all that they do. – Oracle, Core Values

The Top 7 Firms

1. Facebook
2. Google
3. Oracle
4. Amazon
5. IBM
6. Microsoft
7. Apple

Presented by:

MIDAMERICA NAZARENE UNIVERSITY

mnu.edu/graduate

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