Vision and Mission of Organizations

Sumit Mitra

IIMK

Strategic Vision• A strategic vision is a road map showing the

route a company intends to take in developing and strengthening its business. It paints a picture of a company’s destination and provides a rationale for going there.

• Aspirations of a company

• How is it developed ?

Examples: Vision Slogans

Scotland Yard

“To make London the safest major city in the world.”

Greenpeace“To halt environmental abuse andpromote environmental solutions.”

Charles Schwab“To provide customers with the most useful and

ethical financial services in the world.”

Characteristics of Effective VisionTo make London the safest major city in the world

• Graphic – paint a picture of what the company is trying to strive for

• Directional – say something about future destination

• Focused – specific enough to allow managers to make decisions and allocate resources

• Flexible – needs to be less specific• Feasible – should be within the realm of

achievement• Desirable – address all stakeholders• Easy to Communicate – easy to explain

Communicating the Strategic Vision

Very Important is Effective Communication of Vision to stakeholders-

• Levi Strauss & co.: we will clothe the world by marketing the most appealing and widely worn casual clothing in the world.

• Nike: to bring innovation and inspiration to every athlete in the world.

• Winning support for the vision involves– Putting “where we are going and why” in writing

– Distributing the statement organization-wide

– Having executives explain the vision to the workforce

Core Purpose OR Mission

• Mission defines organization core purpose– Answer to What Business Are We IN or

Should Be In? In terms of customers– Ask ‘Why’?

• Purpose statement from Apple Computer: "To make a contribution to the world by making tools for the mind that advance humankind."

Characteristics of a Mission Statement

• Defines current business activities, highlighting boundaries of current business – Present products and services

– Types of customers served

• Conveys– Who we are,

– What we do, and

– Why we are here

e.g. Google’s states ‘to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful’

A company’s mission is not to make a profit! Its true mission is its answer to “What will we

do to make a profit?” Making profit is an objective or intended outcome!

Are these good Mission statements?

- ‘to benefit and refresh everyone it touches’

- To help people and businesses throughout the world realize their full potential

Do these say ‘who we are or what we do?’

Strategic Vision vs. Mission• A strategic vision concerns a

firm’s future business path - “wherewe are going” – Markets to be pursued– Future product/market/

customer/technology focus– Kind of company

management is trying to create

• The mission statement of a firm focuses on its present business purpose - “who we are and what we do”– Current product and

service offerings– Customer needs being

served– Technological

and businesscapabilities

Linking Vision/Mission to Values

• Core values are beliefs, traits that guide pursuit of vision and strategy besides conduct and behaviour of individuals

e.G DuPont’s- safety, ethics, respect for people and environment

- May need to conduct value workshops to create support for values.

- Values are DNAs of company

Setting Objectives

• Purpose of setting objectives– Converts vision into specific performance targets

– Creates yardsticks to track performance

– Pushes firm to be inventive, intentional, andfocused in its actions

Establishing objectives converts the vision into concrete performance outcomes

[links strategy making to strategy execution]

Characteristics of Good Objectives

• Represent commitment to achieve specific performance targets- both financial and strategic

• Spell-out how much of what kind of performance by when

• Well-stated objectives are

– Quantifiable

– Measurable

– Contain a deadline for achievement

Bill Hewlett of HP said ‘ you cannot manage what you cannot measure… what gets measured gets done..”

• All objectives need to stretch organization.

Thank You