Aligning employee and organizational values to build organizational reputation

Abstract

Strong organizational reputation is essential, but its relationship with the process of aligning organizational and employee values is not well understood. Our detailed case study of a private hospital demonstrates for the first time how organizational reputation can be enhanced by better alignment between individual and organizational values. We argue that value congruence is a precondition for building a favorable reputation, particularly through the improved service quality that flows from it. Our framework extends the effects of value congruence to reputation and explains how alignment occurs through four key remediation phases: awareness, articulation, acceptance, and action. Our model highlights the dynamic relationship between organizational and individual values, and the complex interplay between value congruence, employee behavior, communication, and reputation. Our study advances theoretical understandings of the link between value congruence and reputation via improved service quality and provides practical insights for organizations both within and beyond the healthcare sector.