Importance of Mission and Vision Statements in Shaping Organizational Strategy

Importance of Mission and Vision Statements in Shaping Organizational Strategy

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Importance of Mission and Vision Statements in Shaping Organizational Strategy

Rigby & Bilodeau (2015) asserts that a company’s mission and vision statement are essential features of the company’s organizational strategy. Established and successful companies usually have mission and vision statements that act as a guide in establishing and giving perspective to a company’s objectives.

Ideally, a mission statement is a company’s statement of purpose. This means that the mission statement acts as a guide for all decisions. Mission statement targets employees, shareholders and leaders and it should help guide employees towards making decisions and participating in activities that align with the company’s mission. For the leaders, a mission statement offers insight on what the leaders such as management and the board of governors should consider as the primary purpose for the company being in business (Rigby & Bilodeau, 2015). As such, different companies have different mission statements. While some statements are profit-motivated, others are customer-centered and others have altruistic intentions meant to propel the company towards making profits (Babnik et al, 2014). On the other hand, a vision statement offers a company a strategic sense of direction that includes a well-outlined perspective of the company’s corporate values. In addition to providing a short to long term direction of a company, a vision statement keeps the company committed to transparency, integrity, openness and other important values. A mission and vision statement are sometimes confused and used interchangeably. However, a good vision should add an element of human values to a company’s mission. In essence, a vision statement is supposed to inspire and give employees a sense of purpose (Rigby & Bilodeau, 2015).

Examples of organizations that seem to be living up to fulfilling their mission and vision  

One of the companies that seem to be living up to their mission and vision is Phacil, Inc. This company was founded with an objective to deliver exceptional services to the federal government. The company adopted a vision that promotes the company’s commitment to its customers and employees, promotes excellence in performance as well as promotes service to the nation. The company continues to focus on these pillars by providing an excellent place to work at as well as drive excellence by delivering exceptional customer satisfaction. In addition, the company offers exceptional Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS) appraisals. This has helped the company maintain its reputation as a responsible contractor aimed at serving the country exceptionally. Phacil provides mission-focused and result-driven technology solutions to the government. In addition, the company has aligned its capabilities with the federal spending priorities (Ben, 2016, November 14).

The company fulfills its commitment to customers by focusing on every detail during execution both internally and externally. The company remains steadfast in its commitment to quality and excellence in how it delivers its services. This excellence is supported by the company’s various certifications such as CMMI Maturity Level 3 for Development, ISO 9001 and ISO 27001 among others. To honor commitment to their employees, the company has put in place an exceptional performance model that gives incentives to employees to deliver exceptional services. Specifically, the company uses a an award program known as “ferocious execution” where employees that are recommended by customers are recognized for going out of their way to provide excellent services (Ben, 2016, November 14).

Another company that seems to be living up to its mission and vision is the Walmart. Walmart follows its mission and vision statement via enacting a cost-leadership generic strategy. In fact, Walmart uses its vision and mission as the bases for its strategic choices. The company’s vision is to achieve a leading position in the retail industry, which the company has already achieved. Walmart has already captured the minds of consumers as they save money due to the organizations strategy to charge low prices. In addition, the company’s strategic decisions are directly tied to its mission. The mission “Saving people money so they can live better” is related to Walmarts’s slogan “Save Money. Live better”. The company’s activities revolve around fulfilling the “saving people money”part. The firm has received criticism for focusing more on customers at the expense of its employees. The company pays very low wages. In addition, critics are wary of the long-term effects of Walmart’s large-scale import of cheap good, which can sometimes be hazardous (Jeremy, 2016, November 6).

As such, mission statements and vision statements play an important role in the strategic planning process of a company. Companies should ensure that their objectives both short-term and long-term are based on the mission statement and vision statement. Management should therefore give emphasis on a company’s vision statement to clarify the primary purpose and measurable objectives of the company. A mission statement is meant for both employees and management of a company. In some instances, strategic plans may require a change to the mission statement to reflect the new sense of direction of the company. Vision statements also help define an organization’s purpose for existence. It also defines an organization’s values and offers direction on how employees should behave and provide inspiration (Rigby & Bilodeau, 2015).

References

Rigby, D., & Bilodeau, B. (2015). Management tools & trends 2015. London, Bain & Company.

Babnik, K., Breznik, K., Dermol, V., & Trunk Širca, N. (2014). The mission statement: organisational culture perspective. Industrial Management & Data Systems, 114(4), 612-627.

Jeremy, B. (2016, November 6). Why Wal-Mart Will Never Pay Employees As Much As Costco. Retrieved from http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/11/06/why-wal-mart-will-never-pay-employees-as-much-as-c.aspx

Ben, W. (2016, November 14). Mark Cabrey: Leading Phacil to Deliver Outstanding Services to the Government. Retrieved from http://www.washingtonexec.com/2016/11/mark-cabrey-leading-phacil-deliver-outstanding-services-government/#.WCtJA9J97IUhttp://www.washingtonexec.com/2016/11/mark-cabrey-leading-phacil-deliver-outstanding-services-government/#.WCtJA9J97IU