How is Mars different to your expectations before joining?

I think I expected Mars to be more of a 'Corporate Machine', "how else does a company scale to operate in more than 80 countries around the world, and bring in $35bn of net sales every year" is pretty much what I thought to myself. From the moment I connected with my now line manager in my interview, and right throughout my first year in Mars, I quickly realised I was wrong though. Mars is a really collaborative workplace which really cares about it's associates, and the way we do business. We're not just out to generate as much profit as possible, but we truly want to make a positive impact on the world we all live in - which is refreshing. The second thing that shocked me was the Five Principles. I've worked in places before that have had their company motto and mantra posted all over the walls, and that was the end of it's impact. At Mars though, we really do business with the 5 principles in mind, they're more than just writing on the wall.