The purpose was to determine whether people would make an effort to return them to their owners. Surprisingly, about half of the people who found the wallets, did not return them. Presumably, most of these people would profess that they believed in honesty. If you take a moment to reflect, no doubt you will be able to identify recent situations where you, or a employee has acted in a way inconsistent with what they say they believe in. The truth is that behaviour is influenced far more by environmental variables, expected rewards and punishments, than beliefs and values.
People act according to the specific situation at the time.
In general values clarification exercises don't do much. That is not to say they are totally useless. They have a potential to increase communication, and allow people to get to know each other a bit better. They probably won't act any different, though. If you want to use values clarification as an organizational tool consider the following tips.