Companies with unique core values outperform their industry peers.

That’s one of the conclusions Karsten Jonsen, Charles Galunic, John Weeks and Tania Braga made in their research paper published in April, titled “Evaluating espoused values: Does articulating values pay off?”

The researchers looked at Fortune 100 companies from 2005 to 2008 to determine whether their corporate values differed from other companies in the same industry and whether it had any correlation with the financial performance of those companies.

The researchers found that many of these companies listed the same values—32 in all. But when companies differentiated themselves by adopting uncommon values, it had a positive effect on their performance. In other words, companies that sought to create a unique culture within their industry outperformed their peers.

One of DPR’s four core values is uniqueness. We define it as “seeking to be different from and more progressive than all other construction companies."

DPR's purpose and core values are a starting point that help clearly define who we are and what we stand for as a company. In a recent survey, 100% of DPR employees said they “know, understand and support” our core values:

• Integrity
• Enjoyment
• Uniqueness
• Ever Forward
  

*This blog post is part of a series that celebrates DPR's silver anniversary and focuses on 25 great things from the company from over 25 years. Here's the last one. Follow #DPR25 on social media to learn more.