Perceptions of espoused values on an educational organization

The values declared by organizations have an important role since they orient the organizations to fulfill their objectives and guide peoples’ behavior towards them. Their main function is to build a bond and set a commitment between the employees and the organization so that they can stay within it and fulfill the tasks they are assigned. The objective of this research was to identify the workers’ perception of the different hierarchical levels on the value declarations in the institution where they work. The data was collected through direct and indirect source of information, through interviews and institutional documents. The interviewed participants’ verbalizations made it possible to identify the perceptions in the different hierarchical levels concerning the following dimensions: meaning, appropriateness, function, understanding, coherence, incoherence and importance. These dimensions were not found in any literature. They will allow future researchers to evaluate the different perceptions concerning organizational values. The study showed that the workers, whatever their hierarchical level might be, were not aware of the importance of the organizational values and most of them didn’t even know what those values are and what functions they play in the organization. Keywords: organizational values; espoused organizational values; organizational culture; perceptions; hierarchical levels.