So whether we are being introduced to a person or business, our greatest desire is to reduce risk by making a series of sometimes brief, sometimes quite complex assessments of the person or organisation (or offering). However these initial assessments or judgements must be reinforced by all further points of contact if trust is to be gained and a profitable long term relationship forged. Hence the need for a consistent, unified approach, where for example, accounts, sales and customer service all deliver the same message or quality of service.

For one person to demonstrate this consistency is instinctive but for a company, with it’s many services, departments and points of contact it is much more of a challenge. To reduce the immense complexity that this challenge brings, companies must seek to define the ‘personality’ they wish to present to their stakeholders (Corporate Culture). This can be achieved in two primary ways:

• the rule book approach
• the purpose and values approach

Smaller companies can seek to impose culture through rules but the inherent inflexibility that this brings falls down when applied to larger institutions. Here the Purpose and Values approach is the predominant approach. The key tenants of this approach are that with direction (the purpose of the company defined) and with a set of values instilled that are consistent with the brand image and offering, you can allow each division or department to interpret how to behave at a local level without the need for constraining rules.