Relevance of mission to mgt

• Every successful organization has a clear notion of what it does and what it does not do. That is, successful businesses clearly understand what business they are in. Organizations that have a clear sense of purpose tend to be much more successful than organizations that wander aimlessly from project-to-project, gig-to-gig, and situation-to-situation.

Who defines?

It is the duty of every leader to understand the mission of the organization and communicate

that mission to its employees and other interested parties.

What is a Mission Statement?

• A mission statement generally explains to the reader what products/services are provided by the organization, which defines its chief source of “differential advantage” or “competitive advantage.”

competitive advantage

• grows fundamentally out of value a firm is able to create for its buyers that exceeds the firms’ cost of creating it.

• a firm experiences competitive advantages when its actions in an industry or market create economic value and when few competing firms are engaging similar actions.

competitive advantage

• is an advantage over competitors gained by offering consumers greater value, either by means of lower prices or by providing greater benefits and service that justifies higher prices.

The only way that any organization, regardless of industry, can survive in the

marketplace is to do at least one thing better than every

other organization.

When starting a business…

• …must begin with a source of differential advantage or “wedge” for entering the marketplace.

When starting a business…

• …an organization must bring something to the marketplace that is not currently offered.

What is the goal or “mission” of all companies?

To attract and retain customers

Profits…

• are by-products of very well run companies. The organization exists to serve customers, provide outstanding products and do these things better than competitors. The reward to the owners for providing excellence to the marketplace is wealth.

mission

• Defines also what you DON’T do.

• The mission of the organization serves to keep the organization on track and prevent it from getting involved in extraneous opportunities that prevent it from achieving its objectives.

Mission statement

• All employees should know the mission of the organization and how the mission adds purpose to his/her efforts. Even suppliers should know how their relationship is founded on mutually satisfying missions of the two companies. Even customers should know the mission.

Mission statement

• The most important aspect of the mission and its associated mission statement is that it influences the behavior of all the people involved in the enterprise. All decisions, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant, should be made consistent with the mission of the organization.

Vision statement

• Where does the org want to go

• All in org must work to get there

• Any opps that distract from the vision must be discarded

• Vision must be realistically attainable

Vision

• Unlike missions, which are relatively stable things, visions are subject to change.

• As the marketplace changes, the vision must change to accommodate opportunities.

• Leaders must be willing to change the vision, when appropriate, because organizations that do not change eventually die.

Setting the vision

• The leader should set the vision, and employees should be hired who can embrace that vision.

• Individuals who do not embrace the vision of the organization should never be hired.

Tying it together

• Organizations do much more than make money and satisfy customers; organizations are “living things” that have a “soul.”

• If the mission is the vehicle and the vision is the destination, then the values are the fuel that goes into the tank.

Tying it together

• People want to work for organizations that stand for something—something about which they can feel a sense of belonging and from which they can draw inspiration and motivation.

• As a leader of your musical enterprise, you should establish a set of values upon which you are going to found your organization.

Summary

• a cohesive view puts boundaries around what the organization does and, sometimes more importantly, what it does not do.

• having a cohesive mission, vision and values helps make decision making a relatively straightforward exercise.

• the mission, vision and values are important because they define those you accept as employees in the organization.

What is the true mission

• Create an emotional connection w/ your constituency

Holy grail

• Emotional connection combined with passion, connections, & capital is unstoppable

Continuation of Core Concepts

9/3/08