Organizational Authenticity Quiz

In today’s highly competitive marketplace organizations of every size from multi-nationals to start-ups, from private sector companies to government agencies, national associations and not-for-profits are facing unprecedented challenges. They are being asked to deal with the enormous impact that globalization, new sciences, digital technologies and the web are having on every aspect of our lives. As if this were not enough of a challenge, organizations face new levels of competition for market share and whole new set of demands arising from rapidly changing customer and stakeholder needs and their access to information and alternate sources for their services and goods. As a result every organization is being tested and far too many are coming up short. Short in what way? Their adherence to and practice of fundamental core values; their commitment to excellence in design, delivery and pricing of products and services; their support of their customers and employees; their practice of fair and ethical standards and, in the most blatant cases, their flaunting of the fundamentals of ethics, honesty and integrity.

We have written Authenticity (Emmis, 2004) and designed this Organizational Authenticity Quotient to help organizations and the people who work within them to address these issues and to evaluate how they are doing in a number of important categories that retard on advance productivity, performance, profitability, and sustainability. This quotient is also designed to assist these organizations and the people who comprise them to improve performance if they so choose.

In creating this quotient we have drawn on our own extensive experience in the fields of organizational and individual change, conducted our own informal, multi-year study of our clients and customers and examined the case studies of a number of organizations in both the public and private sectors who have come up short.

So we invite you and other people in your organization to take a few moments to answer these questions and to explore your Organizational Authenticity Quotient. This evaluation is self-scoring and will provide you with some recommendations and insights that you can put to work today to assist your organization to improve its performance, profitability and, of course, its authenticity. You might also want to take the Personal Authenticity Quiz.

Please know that we will never sell or give your information to anyone else. This information is only for us.

Part One -

• Does your organization operate in alignment with its stated vision and is that vision well communicated to employees and customers?

Rarely Occasionally Sometimes Frequently Almost Always

• Does you organization have a well defined set of core values that it practices to support its vision, core values that align with the best and highest values of society?

Rarely Occasionally Sometimes Frequently Almost Always

• Does your organization conscientiously seek to add genuine value through its products and services to its customers?

Rarely Occasionally Sometimes Frequently Almost Always

• Does your organization do business in a way that you would describe as socially responsible and ethical?

Rarely Occasionally Sometimes Frequently Almost Always

• Does your organization place as much focus on the quality of its products and services and the well being of its employees as it does on its profitability?

Rarely Occasionally Sometimes Frequently Almost Always

• Does your organization encourage innovation and risk taking?

Rarely Occasionally Sometimes Frequently Almost Always

• Does your organization make it a practice to encourage career development and reward and elevate people from within?

Rarely Occasionally Sometimes Frequently Almost Always

• Does your organization model and promote open communication, not only from the top down, but from the bottom up?

Rarely Occasionally Sometimes Frequently Almost Always

• Does your organization maximize the use of its assets and seek to create the best possible return on its investments for its financial stakeholders and employees?

Rarely Occasionally Sometimes Frequently Almost Always

• Does your organization recognize its relationship to global strategies and pay attention to the long view?

Rarely Occasionally Sometimes Frequently Almost Always

• Does your organization operate ethically, seeking to model and champion behaviors, values and practices that best serve its customers, its employees, its financial stakeholders and the greater good?

Rarely Occasionally Sometimes Frequently Almost Always