In 1997, ABN AMRO defined and globally implemented its four corporate values: integrity, respect, teamwork and professionalism. After the implementation process the question remained whether the employees of ABN AMRO around the world had received the corporate values differently because of their various cultural characteristics.
This question formed the central theme for Ton van Nimwegen’s study, in which he examines the perception and reception of the bank’s values of about two thousand employees in twenty countries. Besides the examining the four corporate values, the author has also been able to score the countries on the cultural dimensions from the Hofstede model. By doing so the author concludes that a strong corporate culture and processes of accultur-ation result in a similar perception of ABN AMRO’s corporate values in different countries. The author furthermore argues that organizations should stimulate local responsibility for global corporate values and suggests value programs for specific countries and specific employee groups.
Ton van Nimwegen studied business administration at Nyenrode University in Breukelen and business economics at Erasmus University in Rotterdam. Since 1995 he has worked for ABN AMRO in South Africa, Brazil and Greater China. Since 2000 he works for the bank in Global Financial Markets in Hong Kong.
