Ninety-two percent of the 1348 North American executives we survey believe that improving corporate culture would increase firm value. A striking 84% believe their company needs to improve its culture. But how can that be achieved? Our paper provides some guidance by documenting the following: executives’ views on what corporate culture is and how it operates, distinguishing between stated values and everyday norms; the extent to which culture is perceived to influence value creation (productivity, mergers), ethical choices (compliance, short-termism), and innovation (creativity, risk-taking); and a list of obstacles that can prevent culture from being where it should be (inattentive leaders, misaligned incentive compensation). Finally, we provide evidence that the executives’ survey responses are consistent with external data.

在我们调查的 1348 名北美高管中，有 92% 的人认为改善企业文化会增加公司价值。惊人的 84% 认为他们的公司需要改善其文化。但如何才能实现呢？我们的论文通过记录以下内容提供了一些指导：高管对企业文化是什么以及它如何运作的看法，区分了既定的价值观和日常规范；文化被认为影响价值创造（生产力、合并）、道德选择（合规、短期主义）和创新（创造力、冒险精神）的程度；以及一系列阻碍文化发展的障碍（不专心的领导者、错位的激励薪酬）。最后，我们提供证据表明高管的调查回复与外部数据一致。