Which level comprises the stated beliefs and strategies of an organization?

• A. Espoused values
• B. Basic underlying assumptions
• C. Artifacts
• D. Norms

Answer: (A)

In organizational culture, the beliefs and strategies a company publicly says it upholds are called espoused values. These are the statements you’ll find in mission statements, codes of conduct, and strategic plans that articulate what the organization claims to value and aim to achieve. They steer decisions and guide behavior, even though real actions may sometimes diverge, revealing enacted values instead.

Artifacts are the visible surface—things like logos, office layout, rituals, and ceremonies—that express culture but aren’t the expressed beliefs themselves. Basic underlying assumptions are the deep, often unconscious beliefs about how the world works that people take for granted. Norms are the shared expectations about how people should behave, the unwritten rules that govern everyday actions. None of these capture the explicit beliefs and strategic intentions in the way espoused values do.