Introduction
The work of every organization should be regulated by the ethical principles and code of conduct that all its employees share. The company’s core values typically determine these regulations, and they reflect the views of the organization’s leaders on their mission, goals, and acceptable ways to achieve these aims. Baldridge Core Values are not the exception because they also provide the rules for leaders’ behavior (NIST, 2019).
It is possible to find examples of principal applications in all spheres of work, business, education, and healthcare (NIST, 2019). These values include systems perspective, focus on results and creating value, societal responsibility, management by fact, and managing for innovation (NIST, 2019). There is also emphasis on the future, agility, valuing workforce members and partners, organizational and personal learning, customer-centered excellence, and visionary leadership (NIST, 2019). It allows assuming that applying Balbridge Cove Values is effective in all organizations focused on positive corporate change.
Application of Core Values to the Course
A clear vision of implementing theoretical assumptions in practice is the essential component of education provided by the Malcolm Baldrige School of Business. For instance, the Baldridge Core Values allowed me to understand how to achieve performance excellence. I understood how the company could learn from practical experience and change its tactics according to required circumstances (NIST, 2019). For example, this program helped me understand the actions behind such values as customer-centered excellence, societal responsibility, and personal and organizational learning.
I discovered that visionary leadership aligns standards and principles with the leaders’ vision, demonstrated, shared, and modeled. Client fulfillment is measured and used to enhance procedures, and advancement highlights the offers that contribute to client-centered excellence (NIST, 2019). Developing organizational and personal development skills is focused on creating better products and individuals.
It progressively integrates into all processes, bringing about a shift for the better (NIST, 2019). A leader must be dedicated to employees’ enjoyment, growth, and wellness, and appreciate staff members and stakeholders. They must become contemplative regarding strategic connections with vendors, promote taking chances, and observe the appreciation mechanisms.
A business leader must be able to adapt quickly to changes in cycle time and adapt to be agile. Future-focused thinking entails a long-term outlook, a dedication to stakeholders over the long term, and an organizational emphasis on personnel, assets, and the development of products (NIST, 2019). I discovered how to connect these ideas to real-world business situations. I realized how crucial it is to treat your employees respectfully and constantly demonstrate visionary leadership.
I acquired the ability to connect the disparities between the theories and their applications. Leadership is a concept that I comprehend in the context of excellence (NIST, 2019). Taking all things and assumptions as facts is impossible, and the leader should question them and think critically. In this case, the organizational performance will be more effective.
Key Takeaways
Studying the Baldrige Core Values showed me that strategic planning is essential in making all organizational decisions. For instance, it is impossible to pursue the goals of sustainability or client-oriented services without analyzing the situation in detail and setting more minor aims to achieve (NIST, 2019). In other words, my key takeaway from the study is learning how to create long-term plans and how to make the results in these plans attainable. The appropriate choice of actions to achieve the goal can make any ambitious aim possible, which is the way to revolutionize business.
In addition, I learned about the importance of quality in creating business products and providing services to clients. All people understand that quality is essential in professional work, but not all have a clear vision of how to achieve it. The study of the Core Values emphasized the components vital for attaining the high quality of everything the organization does (NIST, 2019). The division into such elements as the importance of visionary leadership, focus on the future, education of the employees, sustainability, and other values is among the vital components that make high-quality outcomes possible.
Another critical takeaway from studying the Core Values is the importance of legacy in the organization’s work. This principle can be applied to business and educational institutions, which shows that this aspect is crucial. For instance, when the person understands that the organization follows all business ethical principles and has provided people with high-quality services for many decades or even centuries, it is unlikely that they will ruin this tradition (Ramanujam & Roberts, 2018). Therefore, respecting the organization’s history and legacy and following tradition leads to preserving quality in its work.
The characteristics and behavior of a leader are essential takeaways from the program. A leader must challenge prevalent beliefs and continuously test different hypotheses to become proficient at reading corporate reality (Ramanujam & Roberts, 2018). They must take a position regardless of confrontation with conflicting information and opinions to make a wise decision. They need to be aware of what motivates another person’s goals, mainly what is concealed, to coordinate processes while cooperating successfully (Ramanujam & Roberts, 2018).
One must promote and serve as an example of sincere, thorough debriefs to draw lessons. When defining goals, one must ensure they are time-limited, pertinent, precise, quantifiable, and reachable (Ramanujam & Roberts, 2018). It has to be clearly stated, have checkpoints, be feasible, concentrate on the overall impact, and give sufficient time to complete.
I discovered that in a business partnership, one of the shareholders is the owner or holder of the shares. Anyone interested in or affected by a company is a stakeholder. The employees, the families of the representatives, the suppliers, the consumers, the team, and other individuals are all stakeholders in an enterprise (Alvehus, 2022).
The people who work for the business, or perhaps a partner to whom the business offers services to deliver the company’s goods or services, are referred to as internal customers (Alvehus, 2022). In turn, external clients acquire goods or services from your company (Alvehus, 2022). In other words, I now know what kinds of measures quality control systems can utilize.
Utilizing Core Values in Future Career
I plan to use the knowledge I acquired through studying the discussed Core Values in my career. The critical issue in business leadership is developing clear corporate strategic plans and creating practically applicable recommendations to realize them. It allows assuming that this information will help achieve the corporate goals by finding the required human and financial resources, organizing the work, and setting priorities for the team members (Alvehus, 2022). As a result, I can complete projects that will be competitive in the market where I will work.
The organization’s structure has become more apparent after completing the course, and I plan to utilize this knowledge in my career. For example, I learned that every individual has to develop personally as a professional to contribute to the team’s work. Still, the leader should also conduct the organizational change (Alvehus, 2022).
The most vital detail I will apply in practice is establishing effective communication between all stakeholders and team members to achieve good results. A leader should manage organizational processes flexibly, adapting to the requirements of the company, society, and employees (Alvehus, 2022). Their actions should correspond to the principles of client-centered services, sustainability, and orientation on positive change for the community in general. The detailed investigation into these processes behind the organizational functioning, which I learned during the course about the Core Values, shows the importance of implementing them in my future career.
Conclusion
Organizations typically have a complex structure, which makes the leader’s work challenging. The Core Values discussed in the course emphasize the significant aspects that require attention for the prolific functioning of the company. It states that implementing the Baldridge Core Values is an effective way to integrate theory and practice and achieve the set goals ethically. As a leader, I often hesitate concerning the decisions I should make, and the precise set of values makes making choices in controversial situations easier.
In other words, the core values discussed in this paper reflect the primary ideals leaders should consider in their work and communication with all stakeholders. They have a universal character, which allows them to be applied in various situations and diverse companies. The Core Values are the components that make positive change in the company possible, which makes them critical to learn for leaders.
References
Alvehus, J. (2022). The logic of professionalism: Work and management in professional service organizations. Bristol University Press.
NIST. (2019). Core values and concepts. Nist.gov. Web.
Ramanujam, R., & Roberts, K. H. (Eds.). (2018). Organizing for reliability: A guide for research and practice. Stanford University Press.