ABSTRACT
Core values are important for an organization’s identity: all being well, they provide a concise and powerful guideline for collective action. They show what an organization wants to be, often in contrast to what an organization is. Core values capture shared ambitions. Whilst most modern universities do have such values, they often exist on paper alone, certainly not in such an active way that the university community is familiar with them. In future, however, there will probably be a greater need for them than in the past, when universities developed as a matter of course, were very small and faced little criticism from society.
