The "core values" are for the drones, specifically to keep them in line and not cause any issues. The board members can keep doing what the $%%$ they want as the only values they have are economic, the generation of profit for the company.
Just remember that corporationa are not "ethical" so having "core values" is an oxymoron. The only thing a corporation exists for is profit, so "core values" is the clown face painted on a psychopath. A corporation will lie, rape and destroy to make a profit.
Human beings have values. Human beings can be ethical. But most corporate leaders leave their humanity at the door when running a corporation. It is just business.
"Core values" are a delusion for the masses, a stupid form of mind control to keep the losers in thrall [1].
Many more people realize that than you realize, but I think you're misunderstanding the Gervais Principle link. "Losers" in the Gervais model are completely aware that their company is getting a much better economic deal than they are. They just don't think that's a big deal, because, after all, human beings have values but corporations are basically amoral. So a corporation is just a tool for a Gervais Loser to feed, clothe, and shelter himself; he directs his emotional energy toward his personal relationships.
Core values are useful for attracting and keeping the Clueless in the Gervais model. But in doing so, they make the company more than just a purely amoral economic engine. In order to sustain the delusions of the Clueless, the Sociopaths at the top need to pay at least lip service to preserving their illusions, else they leave in a huff and start acting like a wrecking ball, as a certain other prominent HN poster who likes to throw around Gervais Principle links has done. That lip service is pretty much the entire social purpose of the corporation.
One often-unstated corollary of the Gervais Principle is that the whole idea of "money" and "profit" is a social construction developed by Clueless and Losers to rein in the will-to-power Sociopaths. Genghis Khan, Alexander the Great, and Napoleon Bonaparte went on killing sprees to satisfy their need for power. Steve Jobs and Richard Branson go on building sprees. That's entirely because the Clueless and Losers have created a society where the only way to the top is to take a bunch of people with you.
Larry took over as CEO. This isn't intended as a judgment of his management, but when the company goes from being run by the triumvirate of Larry/Sergey/Eric to just Larry, the culture will necessarily change, and I think you've seen echoes of that both in their external actions and in things ex-Googlers say.
As for the wage suppression agreement - I'm not exactly happy with that, but when I read the Apple/Google e-mails uncovered by discovery, I see a stunning example of realpolitik. Make nice with the 800-lb gorilla until you're ready to compete with him, which Google did with Android. While I'm not exactly thrilled that this came at my expense, I think a world where mobile developers have a viable alternative to going through Apple's App Store is significantly less evil than one in which Apple is the sole determinant of who can launch.
