Vision and culture Use in conjunction with the Virgin Trains case study summary THE TIMES 100

Vision and values A vision is a motivating summary of what an organisation hopes to achieve. It links the objectives with the core values of the business Values are a set of ethical or operating principles and beliefs that guide decision-making

THE TIMES 100 Vision, Values and Virgin Trains Virgin Trains’ vision is: ‘To become the most safe, consistent, reliable and profitable of the train operating franchises in a climate that respects different views and people need not be afraid to be open and honest.’ How are employees encouraged to support the vision and values at Virgin Trains?

THE TIMES 100 Culture Culture refers to the typical way of working within an organisation as demonstrated by the behaviours of the people that work for it

THE TIMES 100 Culture and Virgin Trains What is the central premise of the culture at Virgin Trains?

THE TIMES 100 From vision to culture Vision and culture are closely linked A clear vision enables organisations to change culture in a positive way To embed vision into an organisation, it must permeate every aspect of work

THE TIMES 100 Embedding the vision at Virgin Trains The vision needs to be part of every aspect of an organisation’s work. Give examples of how this happens at Virgin Trains.

THE TIMES 100 Types of business culture CultureCharacteristics Power culture Power is held by a small number of people Swift decisions are made Role culture Highly structured and defined roles May be bureaucratic and lack creativity Task culture Based on team-working within groups set up for a particular task Can respond quickly to changing environment Person culture Trained workers are given the freedom to share knowledge and expertise Entrepreneurial culture Encourages risk-taking and creativity Failure is often accepted and learned from

THE TIMES 100 Reviewing the vision Key performance indicators (KPIs) can be used to assess the achievement of the vision KPIs include measures such as: Percentage of repeat custom Levels of absenteeism

THE TIMES 100 KPIs and Virgin Trains Give examples of the KPIs that Virgin Trains uses to review whether its vision is being achieved.

THE TIMES 100 Useful resources Vision and culture lesson suggestions and activities Virgin Trains case study Virgin trains website