Mission statement

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A mission statement is a formal, short, written statement of the purpose of a co
mpany or organization. The mission statement should guide the actions of the org
anization, spell out its overall goal, provide a sense of direction, and guide d
ecision-making. It provides "the framework or context within which the company's
strategies are formulated."[1] Historically it is associated with Christian rel
igious groups; indeed, for many years, a missionary was assumed to be a person o
n a specifically religious mission. The word "mission" dates from 1598, original
ly of Jesuits sending ("missio", Latin for "act of sending") members abroad.[2]
The vision and the mission are powerful statements that help drive an organizati
on forward. They are often confused with one another, and some organizations eve
n use them interchangeably. In simplest terms, the mission is why you exist, and
vision is what you want to be.
Contents [hide]
1 Contents
2 Wording
3 See also
4 References
5 External links
Contents
Effective mission statements commonly clarify the organization's purpose.
Mission statements often include the following information:
Purpose and aim(s) of the organization
The organization's primary stakeholders: clients/customers, shareholders, congre
gation, etc.
How the organization provides value to these stakeholders, for example by offeri
ng specific types of products and/or services
According to Bart (1997), the mission statement consists of 3 essential componen
ts:
1) Key market who is your target client/customer? (generalize if needed)
2) Contribution what product or service do you provide to that client?
3) Distinction what makes your product or service unique, so that the client wou
ld choose you?
Examples of mission statements that clearly include the 3 essential components:
McDonalds - "To provide the fast food customer food prepared in the same high-qu
ality manner world-wide that is tasty, reasonably-priced & delivered consistentl
y in a low-key décor and friendly atmosphere."
Key Market: The fast food customer world-wide
Contribution: tasty and reasonably-priced food prepared in a high-quality manner
Distinction: delivered consistently (world-wide) in a low-key décor and friendly a
tmosphere.
Courtyard by Marriott - "To provide economy and quality minded travelers with a
premier, moderate priced lodging facility which is consistently perceived as cle
an, comfortable, well-maintained, and attractive, staffed by friendly, attentive
and efficient people"
Key Market: economy and quality minded travelers
Contribution: moderate priced lodging
Distinction: consistently perceived as clean, comfortable, well-maintained, and
attractive, staffed by friendly, attentive and efficient people
The mission statement can be used to resolve trade-offs between different busine
ss stakeholders. Stakeholders include: managers & executives, non-management emp
loyees, shareholders, board of directors, customers, suppliers, distributors, cr
editors/bankers, governments (local, state, federal, etc.), labour unions, compe
titors, NGO's, and the community or general public. By definition, stakeholders
affect or are affected by the organization's decisions and activities.
According to Vern McGinis, a mission should:
Define what the company is
Limited to exclude some ventures
Broad enough to allow for creative growth
Distinguish the company from all others
Serve as framework to evaluate current activities
Stated clearly so that it is understood by all
The mission statement ultimately seeks to justify the firm's reason for existing
.
Wording
Some mission statements are complex, long, and very broad, for example:
Since its inception in 1982, La Unidad Latina has remained on the vanguard of po
litical and community empowerment by developing influential leaders that strive
to exert knowledge and power into its peers in order to attain mutual success. L
UL is committed to academic excellence, leadership development and cultural enli
ghtenment, enhanced by a diverse cognizant membership. LUL strives to preserve a
nd promote an inclusive intellectual environment for its members, in addition to
the general community.[3]
In contrast, other mission statements are simple and direct, for example:
"To protect and promote the interests of motorcyclists while serving the needs o
f its members." -American Motorcyclist Association
"We organize the world s information and make it universally accessible and useful
" - Google
"We inspire and nurture the human spirit one person, one cup, and one neighborho
od at a time" - Starbucks
A classic example of the mission statement is the Preamble to the Constitution o
f the United States:
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, estab
lish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promo
te the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our
Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of A
merica.[4]

Strategic planning
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
It has been suggested that Strategic Technology Plan be merged into this article
or section. (Discuss)
This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues
on the talk page.
Its references would be clearer with a different or consistent style of citation
, footnoting or external linking. Tagged since February 2008.
It uses first-person or second-person inappropriately. Tagged since May 2009.
It may need a complete rewrite to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Tagged sin
ce June 2008.
Strategic planning is an organization's process of defining its strategy, or dir
ection, and making decisions on allocating its resources to pursue this strategy
, including its capital and people. Various business analysis techniques can be
used in strategic planning, including SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Oppo
rtunities, and Threats ), PEST analysis (Political, Economic, Social, and Techno
logical), STEER analysis (Socio-cultural, Technological, Economic, Ecological, a
nd Regulatory factors), and EPISTEL (Environment, Political, Informatic, Social,
Technological, Economic and Legal).
Strategic planning is the formal consideration of an organization's future cours
e. All strategic planning deals with at least one of three key questions:
"What do we do?"
"For whom do we do it?"
"How do we excel?"
In business strategic planning, some authors phrase the third question as "How c
an we beat or avoid competition?". (Bradford and Duncan, page 1). But this appro
ach is more about defeating competitors than about excelling.
In many organizations, this is viewed as a process for determining where an orga
nization is going over the next year or - more typically - 3 to 5 years (long te
rm), although some extend their vision to 20 years.
In order to determine where it is going, the organization needs to know exactly
where it stands, then determine where it wants to go and how it will get there.
The resulting document is called the "strategic plan."
It is also true that strategic planning may be a tool for effectively plotting t
he direction of a company; however, strategic planning itself cannot foretell ex
actly how the market will evolve and what issues will surface in the coming days
in order to plan your organizational strategy. Therefore, strategic innovation
and tinkering with the 'strategic plan' have to be a cornerstone strategy for an
organization to survive the turbulent business climate.
Contents [hide]
1 Etymology
2 Vision statements, Mission statements and values
3 Strategic planning outline
4 Methodologies
5 Situational analysis
6 Goals, objectives and targets
7 References
8 Further reading
9 See also
[edit]Etymology
Coined in English 1825, the word strategic is of military origin, from the Greek
"st?at??????" (strategikos), "of or for a general",[1] from "st?at????" (strate
gos), "leader or commander of an army, general",[2] a compound of "st?at??" (str
atos), "army, host" + "????" (agos), "leader, chief",[3] in turn from "???" (ago
), "to lead".[4]
[edit]Vision statements, Mission statements and values
Vision: Defines the desired or intended future state of an organization or enter
prise in terms of its fundamental objective and/or strategic direction. Vision i
s a long-term view, sometimes describing how the organization would like the wor
ld to be in which it operates. For example, a charity working with the poor migh
t have a vision statement which reads "A World without Poverty."
Mission: Defines the fundamental purpose of an organization or an enterprise, su
ccinctly describing why it exists and what it does to achieve its Vision.
It is sometimes used to set out a "picture" of the organization in the future. A
mission statement provides details of what is done and answers the question: "W
hat do we do?" For example, the charity might provide "job training for the home
less and unemployed."
Values: Beliefs that are shared among the stakeholders of an organization. Value
s drive an organization's culture and priorities and provide a framework in whic
h decisions are made. For example, "Knowledge and skills are the keys to success
" or "give a man bread and feed him for a day, but teach him to farm and feed hi
m for life". These example values may set the priorities of self sufficiency ove
r shelter.
Strategy: Strategy, narrowly defined, means "the art of the general" (from Greek
stratigos). A combination of the ends (goals) for which the firm is striving an
d the means (policies) by which it is seeking to get there.
Organizations sometimes summarize goals and objectives into a mission statement
and/or a vision statement. Others begin with a vision and mission and use them t
o formulate goals and objectives.
While the existence of a shared mission is extremely useful, many strategy speci
alists question the requirement for a written mission statement. However, there
are many models of strategic planning that start with mission statements, so it
is useful to examine them here.
A Mission statement tells you the fundamental purpose of the organization. It de
fines the customer and the critical processes. It informs you of the desired lev
el of performance.
A Vision statement outlines what the organization wants to be, or how it wants t
he world in which it operates to be. It concentrates on the future. It is a sour
ce of inspiration. It provides clear decision-making criteria.
An advantage of having a statement is that it creates value for those who get ex
posed to the statement, and those prospects are managers, employees and sometime
s even customers. Statements create a sense of direction and opportunity. They b
oth are an essential part of the strategy-making process.
Many people mistake the vision statement for the mission statement, and sometime
s one is simply used as a longer term version of the other. The Vision should de
scribe why it is important to achieve the Mission. A Vision statement defines th
e purpose or broader goal for being in existence or in the business and can rema
in the same for decades if crafted well. A Mission statement is more specific to
what the enterprise can achieve itself. Vision should describe what will be ach
ieved in the wider sphere if the organization and others are successful in achie
ving their individual missions.
A mission statement can resemble a vision statement in a few companies, but that
can be a grave mistake. It can confuse people. The mission statement can galvan
ize the people to achieve defined objectives, even if they are stretch objective
s, provided it can be elucidated in SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Rel
evant and Time-bound) terms. A mission statement provides a path to realize the
vision in line with its values. These statements have a direct bearing on the bo
ttom line and success of the organization.
Which comes first? The mission statement or the vision statement? That depends.
If you have a new start up business, new program or plan to reengineer your curr
ent services, then the vision will guide the mission statement and the rest of t
he strategic plan. If you have an established business where the mission is esta
blished, then many times, the mission guides the vision statement and the rest o
f the strategic plan. Either way, you need to know your fundamental purpose - th
e mission, your current situation in terms of internal resources and capabilitie
s (strengths and/or weaknesses) and external conditions (opportunities and/or th
reats), and where you want to go - the vision for the future. It's important tha
t you keep the end or desired result in sight from the start.[citation needed] .
Features of an effective vision statement include:
Clarity and lack of ambiguity
Vivid and clear picture
Description of a bright future
Memorable and engaging wording
Realistic aspirations
Alignment with organizational values and culture
To become really effective, an organizational vision statement must (the theory
states) become assimilated into the organization's culture. Leaders have the res
ponsibility of communicating the vision regularly, creating narratives that illu
strate the vision, acting as role-models by embodying the vision, creating short
-term objectives compatible with the vision, and encouraging others to craft the
ir own personal vision compatible with the organization's overall vision. In add
ition, mission statements need to be subjected to an internal assessment and an
external assessment. The internal assessment should focus on how members inside
the organization interpret their mission statement. The external assessment whic
h includes all of the businesses stakeholders is valuable since it offers a diff
erent perspective. These discrepancies between these two assessments can give in
sight on the organization's mission statement effectiveness.
Another approach to defining Vision and Mission is to pose two questions. Firstl
y, "What aspirations does the organization have for the world in which it operat
es and has some influence over?", and following on from this, "What can (and/or
does) the organization do or contribute to fulfill those aspirations?". The succ
inct answer to the first question provides the basis of the Vision Statement. Th
e answer to the second question determines the Mission Statement.
[edit]Strategic planning outline
The preparatory phase of a business plan relies on planning. The first chapters
of a business plan include Analysis of the Current Situation and Marketing Plan
Strategy and Objectives.
Analysis of the current situation - past year
Business trends analysis
Market analysis
Competitive analysis
Market segmentation
Marketing-mix
SWOT analysis
Positioning - analyzing perceptions
Sources of information
Marketing plan strategy & objectives - next year
Marketing strategy
Desired market segmentation
Desired marketing-mix
TOWS-based objectives as a result of the SWOT
Position & perceptual gaps
Yearly sales forecast
According to Arieu, "there is strategic consistency when the actions of an organ
isation are consistent with the expectations of management, and these in turn ar
e with the market and the context" (S.K. Sharman in Human Resource Management: A
Strategic Approach to Employment)
[edit]Methodologies
There are many approaches to strategic planning but typically a three-step proce
ss may be used:
Situation - evaluate the current situation and how it came about.
Target - define goals and/or objectives (sometimes called ideal state)
Path / Proposal - map a possible route to the goals/objectives
One alternative approach is called Draw-See-Think
Draw - what is the ideal image or the desired end state?
See - what is today's situation? What is the gap from ideal and why?
Think - what specific actions must be taken to close the gap between today's sit
uation and the ideal state?
Plan - what resources are required to execute the activities?
An alternative to the Draw-See-Think approach is called See-Think-Draw
See - what is today's situation?
Think - define goals/objectives
Draw - map a route to achieving the goals/objectives
In other terms strategic planning can be as follows:
Vision - Define the vision and set a mission statement with hierarchy of goals a
nd objectives
SWOT - Analysis conducted according to the desired goals
Formulate - Formulate actions and processes to be taken to attain these goals
Implement - Implementation of the agreed upon processes
Control - Monitor and get feedback from implemented processes to fully control t
he operation
[edit]Situational analysis
When developing strategies, analysis of the organization and its environment as
it is at the moment and how it may develop in the future, is important. The anal
ysis has to be executed at an internal level as well as an external level to ide
ntify all opportunities and threats of the external environment as well as the s
trengths and weaknesses of the organizations.
There are several factors to assess in the external situation analysis:
Markets (customers)
Competition
Technology
Supplier markets
Labor markets
The economy
The regulatory environment
It is rare to find all seven of these factors having critical importance. It is
also uncommon to find that the first two - markets and competition - are not of
critical importance. (Bradford "External Situation - What to Consider")
Analysis of the external environment normally focuses on the customer. Managemen
t should be visionary in formulating customer strategy, and should do so by thin
king about market environment shifts, how these could impact customer sets, and
whether those customer sets are the ones the company wishes to serve.
Analysis of the competitive environment is also performed, many times based on t
he framework suggested by Michael Porter.
[edit]Goals, objectives and targets
Strategic planning is a very important business activity. It is also important i
n the public sector areas such as education. It is practiced widely informally a
nd formally. Strategic planning and decision processes should end with objective
s and a roadmap of ways to achieve them.
One of the core goals when drafting a strategic plan is to develop it in a way t
hat is easily translatable into action plans. Most strategic plans address high
level initiatives and over-arching goals, but don t get articulated (translated) i
nto day-to-day projects and tasks that will be required to achieve the plan. Ter
minology or word choice, as well as the level a plan is written, are both exampl
es of easy ways to fail at translating your strategic plan in a way that makes s
ense and is executable to others. Often, plans are filled with conceptual terms
which don t tie into day-to-day realities for the staff expected to carry out the
plan.
The following terms have been used in strategic planning: desired end states, pl
ans, policies, goals, objectives, strategies, tactics and actions. Definitions v
ary, overlap and fail to achieve clarity. The most common of these concepts are
specific, time bound statements of intended future results and general and conti
nuing statements of intended future results, which most models refer to as eithe
r goals or objectives (sometimes interchangeably).
One model of organizing objectives uses hierarchies. The items listed above may
be organized in a hierarchy of means and ends and numbered as follows: Top Rank
Objective (TRO), Second Rank Objective, Third Rank Objective, etc. From any rank
, the objective in a lower rank answers to the question "How?" and the objective
in a higher rank answers to the question "Why?" The exception is the Top Rank O
bjective (TRO): there is no answer to the "Why?" question. That is how the TRO i
s defined.
People typically have several goals at the same time. "Goal congruency" refers t
o how well the goals combine with each other. Does goal A appear compatible with
goal B? Do they fit together to form a unified strategy? "Goal hierarchy" consi
sts of the nesting of one or more goals within other goal(s).
One approach recommends having short-term goals, medium-term goals, and long-ter
m goals. In this model, one can expect to attain short-term goals fairly easily:
they stand just slightly above one's reach. At the other extreme, long-term goa
ls appear very difficult, almost impossible to attain. Strategic management jarg
on sometimes refers to "Big Hairy Audacious Goals" (BHAGs) in this context. Usin
g one goal as a stepping-stone to the next involves goal sequencing. A person or
group starts by attaining the easy short-term goals, then steps up to the mediu
m-term, then to the long-term goals. Goal sequencing can create a "goal stairway
". In an organizational setting, the organization may co-ordinate goals so that
they do not conflict with each other. The goals of one part of the organization
should mesh compatibly with those of other parts of the organization.

Goal
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For other uses, see Goal (disambiguation).
A goal or objective is a desired result a person or a system envisions, plans an
d commits to achieve a personal or organizational desired end-point in some sort o
f assumed development. Many people endeavor to reach goals within a finite time
by setting deadlines.
It is roughly similar to purpose of aim, the anticipated result which guides rea
ction, or an end, which is an object, either a physical object or an abstract ob
ject, that has intrinsic value.
Contents [hide]
1 Goal
2 Short-term goals
3 Personal goals
3.1 Achieving personal goals
4 Goal management in organizations
5 See also
6 References
7 Further reading
[edit]Goal
Main article: Goal setting
Goal-setting ideally involves establishing specific, measurable, attainable, rea
listic and time-targeted objectives. Work on the goal-setting theory suggests th
at it can serve as an effective tool for making progress by ensuring that partic
ipants have a clear awareness of what they must do to achieve or help achieve an
objective. On a personal level, the process of setting goals allows people to s
pecify and then work towards their own objectives most commonly financial or car
eer-based goals. Goal-setting comprises a major component of Personal developmen
t. A goal can be long-term or short-term.
[edit]Short-term goals
Short-term goals expect accomplishment in a short period of time, such as trying
to get a bill paid in the next few days. The definition of a short-term goal ne
ed not relate to any specific length of time. In other words, one may achieve (o
r fail to achieve) a short-term goal in a day, week, month, year, etc. The time-
frame for a short-term goal relates to its context in the overall time line that
it is being applied to. For instance, one could measure a short-term goal for a
month-long project in days; whereas one might measure a short-term goal for som
eone s lifetime in months or in years. Planners usually define short-term goals in
relation to a long-term goal or goals. Everyone has goals.
[edit]Personal goals
Individuals can set personal goals. A student may set a goal of a high mark in a
n exam. An athlete might run five miles a day. A traveler might try to reach a d
estination-city within three hours. Financial goals are a common example, to sav
e for retirement or to save for a purchase.
Managing goals can give returns in all areas of personal life. Knowing precisely
 what one wants to achieve makes clear what to concentrate and improve on, and o
ften subconsciously prioritizes that goal.
Goal setting and planning ("goal work") promotes long-term vision and short-term
motivation. It focuses intention, desire, acquisition of knowledge, and helps t
o organize resources.
Efficient goal work includes recognizing and resolving all guilt, inner conflict
or limiting belief that might cause one to sabotage one's efforts. By setting c
learly-defined goals, one can subsequently measure and take pride in the achieve
ment of those goals. One can see progress in what might have seemed a long, perh
aps impossible, grind.
[edit]Achieving personal goals
Achieving complex and difficult goals requires focus, long-term diligence and ef
fort. Success in any field requires forgoing excuses and justifications for poor
performance or lack of adequate planning; in short, success requires emotional
maturity. The measure of belief that people have in their ability to achieve a p
ersonal goal also affects that achievement.
Long term achievements rely on short-term achievements. Emotional control over t
he small moments of the single day makes a big difference in the long term.
One formula for achievement reads A= I*M[citation needed] where A = achievement,
I = intelligence, and M = motivation. When motivation equals zero, achievement
always equals zero, no matter the degree of intelligence. Similarly for intellig
ence: if intelligence equals zero, achievement always equals zero. The higher th
e combination of both intelligence and the motivation, the higher the achievemen
ts.
[edit]Goal management in organizations
Organizationally, goal management consists of the process of recognizing or infe
rring goals of individual team-members, abandoning no longer relevant goals, ide
ntifying and resolving conflicts among goals, and prioritizing goals consistentl
y for optimal team-collaboration and effective operations.
For any successful commercial system, it means deriving profits by making the be
st quality of goods or the best quality of services available to the end-user (c
ustomer) at the best possible cost. Goal management includes:
Assessment and dissolution of non-rational blocks to success
Time management
Frequent reconsideration (consistency checks)
Feasibility checks
Adjusting milestones and main-goal targets
Morten Lind and J.Rasmussen distinguish three fundamental categories of goals re
lated to technological system management:[citation needed]
Production goal
Safety goal
Economy goal
An organizational goal-management solution ensures that individual employee goal
s and objectives align with the vision and strategic goals of the entire organiz
ation. Goal-management provides organizations with a mechanism to effectively co
mmunicate corporate goals and strategic objectives to each person across the ent
ire organization. The key consists of having it all emanate from a pivotal sourc
e[citation needed] and providing each person with a clear, consistent organizati
onal-goal message. With goal-management, every employee understands how their ef
forts contribute to an enterprise's success.
An example of goal types in business management:
Consumer goals: this refers to supplying a product or service that the market/co
nsumer wants
Product goals: this refers to supplying a product outstanding compared to other
products[citation needed] perhaps due to the likes of quality, design, reliability
and novelty
Operational goals: this refers to running the organization in such a way as to m
ake the best use of management skills[citation needed], technology and resources
Secondary goals: this refers to goals which an organization does not regard as p
riorities

objectives=Definition: The desired or needed result to be achieved by a specific

time. An objective is broader than a goal, and one objective can be broken down
into a number of specific goals.

Functional Strategy
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The topic of this article may not meet the general notability guideline. Please
help to establish notability by adding reliable, secondary sources about the top
ic. If notability cannot be established, the article is likely to be merged, red
irected, or deleted. (November 2009)
This article does not cite any references or sources.
Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsour
ced material may be challenged and removed. (February 2010)
Functional strategy- selection of decision rules in each functional area. Thus,
functional strategies in any organization, some (eg, marketing strategy, financi
al strategy, etc.). It is desirable that they have been fixed in writing.
In particular, functional strategies are as follows:
Production strategy( "make or buy") - defines what the company produces itself,
and that purchases from suppliers or partners, that is, how far worked out the p
roduction chain.
Financial Strategy- to select the main source of funding: the development of the
ir own funds (depreciation, profit, the issue of shares, etc.) or through debt f
inancing (bank loans, bonds, commodity suppliers' credits, etc.).
Organizational strategy- decision on the organization of the staff (choose the t
ype of organizational structure, compensation system, etc.).
May be allocated and other functional strategies, for example, the strategy for
research and experimental development (R & D), investment strategy, etc.
In addition, each of the functional strategies can be divided into components. F
or example, organizational strategy can be divided into three components:
strategy of building organizations - to select the type of structure (divisional
, functional, project, etc.);
strategy to work with the staff - a way of training (mainly administrative staff
), training of staff (in a business or educational institutions), career plannin
g, etc.;
Strategy wages (in the broader sense - rewards and penalties) - in particular, t
he approach to the compensation of senior managers (salary, bonuses, profit shar
ing, etc.).
Organization for the implementation of the strategy at the functional area respo
nsible senior specialist (Ch. Engineer, Director of Finance), at the enterprise
level - the general director or director of the department, at the level of grou
ps of companies - a collegiate body (management, board of directors).