Bruce MacEwen over at the Adam Smith, Esq. blog (http://www.bmacewen.com/blog/) offered up an interesting commentary on how law firm "core values" can often produce unintended negative results.



According to a study by Harvard Business School, a firm that characterizes itself as results-driven and community-oriented may get more than it bargained for. While such boasts sound good, its tougher to live up to those goals than one might suspect. And even if the firm does live up to those goals, employees may still become cynical.





In the Harvard study, employees at a company that espoused the virtues of "openness, diversity, unpretentiousness, a sense of community and lack of hierarchy," found their employers to be hypocritical for not living up to their own core values. The employees perceived the company's everyday corporate activities as being in conflict with the stated core values.



MacEwen provides a few solutions on how to reconcile capitalism with decent corporate core values. Number one on the list is transparency. Firms that are willing to take the heat from their employees on tough decisions are more likely to maintain the employees' respect. He also advises being honest about how core values can sometimes come in the way of progress (and vice versa).