Cultures are formed by the behavior that is rewarded in a company, not words.

Via How Will You Measure Your Life?:

If you don't articulate a culture — or articulate one but don't enforce it — then a culture is still going to emerge. However, it is going to be based on the processes and priorities that have been repeated within the organization and have worked. You can tell the health of a company's culture by asking, "When faced with a choice on how to do something, did employees make the decision that the culture 'wanted' them to make? And was the feedback they received consistent with that?"

Where does company culture come from? In both good and bad cultures, it's the people at the top.

What differentiates the two is setting values and then making sure they are consistently enforced over time.

A good starting point is Dave Packard's 11 simple rules. That's David Packard of Hewlett-Packard.

These are things anyone can do to make their workplace better:

1. Think first of the other fellow. This is THE foundation — the first requisite — for getting along with others. And it is the one truly difficult accomplishment you must make. Gaining this, the rest will be "a breeze."

Actually the other 10 rules are also about empathy and emotional intelligence.