Mission Statement

"We will crush, squash, and slaughter Yamaha" -Honda

"To give ordinary folk the chance to buy the same thing as rich people." -Walmart (1990)

"Become the dominant player in commercial aircraft and bring the world into the jet age." -Boeing (1950)

If any of the above mission statements caught your attention, then these mission statements were effective in accomplishing their objective. A mission statement may be the most important statement that will be written on behalf of your organization. Vision statements are also responsible for raising awareness on behalf of your organization. This article will detail the differences between mission and vision statements, guidelines that may be helpful in creating a mission and vision statement of your own and the impact mission and vision statements are capable of having on an organization.

Definitions of Mission and Vision Statements

A mission statement is responsible for being alluring and responsible for providing insight into your organization. Wording and composition of the mission statement is crucial; a mission statement is typically short and approximately a sentence and should be “so memorable that it flows easily off the tongues of board, staff, and volunteers” (Angelica 2001). Jeffrey Abrahams, author of The Mission Statement Book, notes that in terms of mission statement length, “all that is necessary is that the mission statement be long enough to reach the target audience” (Angelica 2001). A mission statement, according to Emil Angelico, author of Creating Effective Mission and Vision Statements, “must possess four important qualities: breadth, durability, challenge and distinction” (Angelica 2001). A mission statement provides marketing to the organization and it should provide the public insight into the objectives and goals of your organization without the use of difficult terminology or confusing jargon (Angelica 2001). Establishing a mission statement that encompasses the overall objective of the business is important as the mission statement is not typically changed for decades. Also, a company may have more than one mission statement. This is only the case in the event that it is appropriate “for each division of an organization to have its own mission, vision, values and objectives – especially if that organization is heavily diversified” (Abrahams 1999).

A vision statement expands an organization’s mission statement; it provides more detail or insight into the organizations functions and objectives in the long-term (five years into the future). A vision statement is usually about a paragraph in length. A quality vision statement should:

• “Inspire and challenge the board, staff and volunteers without overwhelming them – they must believe they can accomplish it” (Angelica 2001).
• Reflect what all teams are striving for as a collaborative effort, it should describe the greater goal of the organization (Angelica 2001). The organization should keep the vision statement in mind during their everyday tasks to understand how their individual efforts are impacting the overall goal of the organization.

Developing a Mission Statement

A mission statement should be developed upon establishment of the organization; it should serve to distinguish your organizations from others like it and provide awareness to the public. A good quality mission statement is not easy to develop; it is often a long thought out process complete with many revisions. Mission and vision statements should be rewritten only when the organization has changed in such a way that the mission or vision statement is no longer applicable to the organization. Whether you are writing your mission or vision statement for the first time or re-writing a mission or vision statement, the following steps detailed by Emil Angelica in his book “Crafting Effective Mission and Vision Statements” provide concrete guidance on developing mission statements:

Selecting the Mission Statement Writing Team

• The mission statement team is typically appointed by an executive director and includes a range of senior individuals within the company with varying job responsibilities to accurately reflect all parts of the organization. This is important in ensuring that the objectives of the company as a whole are reflected as part of the mission statement rather than the objective of a specific team.
• Another option Angelica notes as a viable route to selecting a mission statement writing team is to hire an external consultant with experience in writing mission statements to observe the organization and its operations to devise an objective mission statement that will represent the organization in an accurate way (Angelica, 2001).

Clarifying Core Values

• To establish the most pervasive underlying core values of an organization, Angelica suggests having all members of the mission statement board be involved in brainstorming lists of values they deem most important with regards to the organization. Once every board member has completed this exercise, values are reviewed and the values that are reoccurring from each list are retained for incorporating into the mission statement. The mission statement should reflect these pervasive values (Angelica, 2001).

Review the Organization’s Underlying Strategies

Underlying strategies of operation outlined by the organization should be kept in mind during the drafting of the mission statement. It is important to reflect operation within the organization (Angelica 2001).

Evaluate the Current Mission Statement

If a current mission exists, it should be examined to note which part of the mission statement needs to be redrafted (Angelica 2001).

Draft the Mission Statement

While drafting the mission statement it is important to keep in mind that “the key to writing the mission statement lies in understanding the overall organization, its stakeholders and its future direction and then writing an umbrella statement that answers the question ‘what good, for whom’” (Angelica, 2001). It is also important to keep in mind that the wording should be alluring and easy to understand from the perspective of individuals outside of the organization. The mission statement should distinguish your organization from others that may or may not be similar to it. Also, tone of the mission statement is essential to how it is received by individuals both internally and publicly. “If the tone is too lofty, haughty or ponderous, it won’t be taken very seriously” (Abrahams 1999). Key words and phrases must be examined and chosen carefully in order to convey the appropriate tone. The following are some key words utilized in mission statements today (Abrahams 1999):

• Ability
• Accomplished
• Assett
• Best
• Change
• Commitment
• Communicate
• Communities
• Conscience
• Customers
• Dedication
• Dedicated
• Dignity
• Direct
• Diversity

Circulate the Mission Statement for Review and Modify It

It is important to be responsive and constructive feedback to the initially drafted statement. The mission statement should be able to reflect characteristics of every individual’s job within the organization. If it does not, perhaps that is something that should be revisited (Angelica 2001). Mission statements should be distributed in as many forms as possible in order to circulate awareness. Ways to circulate the statement include business cards, brochures, booklets and handbooks (Abrahams 1999).

7. Adopt the Mission Statement. The board will formally review the drafted mission statement and its criticisms/feedback with regards to the statement. Once it is approved, it should be internally and publicly circulated to promote awareness of the organizations purpose.

Examples of Mission Statements

Some examples of powerful and effective mission statements taken from successful organizations are shown below:

“Habitat for Humanity works in partnership with God and people everywhere, from all walks of life, to develop communities with people in need by building and renovating houses so that there are decent houses in decent communities in which every person can experience God's love and can live and grow into all that God intends.” Habitat for Humanity

“Our mission is to build enduring financial alliances with the private sector that connect donors with community-based projects where our volunteers serve.” Peace Corps

“The mission of Anheuser-Busch is to:

• Be the world’s best beer company
• Enrich and entertain a global audience
• Deliver superior returns to our shareholders” Anheuser-Busch

“LSI Logic’s mission is to offer competitive advantages to our customers worldwide by providing them with the capability required for the rapid design and volume production of electronic systems” LSI Logic Corporation

“Provide reliable natural gas services to customers in Oklahoma” Oklahoma Natural Gas Company

Developing a Vision Statement

The steps noted by Angelica for crafting a vision statement are as follows:

1. Select the Vision Statement Writing Team

Please refer to step 1, “Select the Mission Statement Writing Team” above. The criteria for selecting qualified individuals to write the vision statement is comparable to selecting qualified individuals to write a mission statement.

1. Generate Alternate Visions

In order to create a vision statement, knowledge “of the organization’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats (competition) and mission” (Angelica 2001) should be taken into account. A vision statement can be developed to either reflect the employee’s perspective of what the organization will accomplish within the future or from the perspective of what the stakeholders see the organization accomplishing within the future.

1. Identify Common Themes

Common themes in regards to where the employees/stakeholders see the organization in the near to long term should be kept in mind for drafting of the vision statement.

1. Draft the Vision Statement

“The key to writing the vision statement is for the team to project itself into the future and then write above the future as if the team were in it” (Angelica 2001). The vision statement should encompass common themes from previous steps which are thought to be the direction in which the organization is headed.

1. Circulate the Vision Statement for Review and Modify It

Please refer to step 6, “Select Circulate the Mission Statement for Review and Modify it” above. Vision statements can be circulated, reviewed and modified in the same manner as mission statements.

1. Adopt the Vision Statement

Step 7 of, “Adopt the Mission Statement” above also applies to adopting a vision statement.

Examples of Vision Statements

Some examples of powerful and effective vision statements taken from successful organizations are shown below. “City Year's citizen service vision is that citizens of all ages and backgrounds will unite to serve their community, nation and world, and that one day the most commonly asked question of an eighteen year-old will be: "Where are you going to do your service year?" City Year's civic leadership vision is that one day every citizen will have the skills, values and inspiration to be a leader for the common good. City Year's social entrepreneurship vision is that one day human inventiveness and compassion will be unleashed systematically to solve the pressing social problems of the day. City Year's mission is to build democracy through citizen service, civic leadership and social entrepreneurship.” City Year “The Vision Statement is an organizational goal of what JFK would like to become. JFK Memorial Hospital's vision is to become the first choice for health and medical services for residents of the Eastern Coachella Valley. By performing tasks, assignments and responsibilities with these statements in mind, the Governing Board, Medical Staff and employees of John F. Kennedy Memorial Hospital will maintain a unified effort in providing high quality patient focused services to our community” John F Kennedy Memorial Hospital “Through all our products, services and relationships, we will add to life’s enjoyment” Anheuser-Busch Companies, Inc. “We will be a recognized model of excellence, challenging traditional boundaries, seizing opportunities, setting the standard to become a renowned provider of energy and innovative products and services” Oklahoma Natural Gas Company “Lowe’s is in the business of providing the products to help our customers build, improve and enjoy their homes. Our goal is to out service the competition and be our customers 1st Choice Store for these products” Lowe’s The Effects of Mission and Vision Statements on an Organization A well written and unifying mission and vision statement can be responsible for positive outcomes from a business perspective.

• Mission and vision statements can be kept in mind to aid in decision making when it comes to deciding what course of action will be best for the business.
• A mission and vision statement is what board members can utilize to “anchor decisions on” (Angelica 2001).
• Mission and vision statements will also serve to promote awareness in regards to what the organization stands for and strives to achieve.

Mission and vision statements can be helpful when debating whether an opportunity will serve to better the organization as a whole. By comparing what that opportunity will accomplish for the organization to the overall goal of the organization, a choice can be clearly made. Without basic understanding of an organization’s operations, stakeholders and individuals may not be aware of the organizations objectives; and therefore, less likely to invest in or fund the organizations efforts. In the book, The Mission Statement Book, by author Jeffrey Abrahams, he notes “creating a mission statement will also aid nonprofit groups in its applications for grants and other forms of financial aid. In some cases, a grant proposal isn’t complete unless it includes a mission statement” (Abrahams 1999). Mission and vision statements can be critical to gaining funding.

Studies have been done on the effects of mission statements on the success of organizations. In a study conducted by Bart and Baetz, it was noted that “analysis showed, where firms: a) develop mission statements with which they are satisfied b) user a mission development process with which they are satisfied and c) have high levels of internal stakeholder involvement in the mission development process, then, mission statements appear to have a particularly strong affinity with employee behaviour – and a highly selective relationship with our financial measures” (Bart and Baetz 1998). From this study, it appears that involvement of the individuals directly impacted by the mission statement and their satisfaction with the mission is critical to the mission being able to motivate employees and help the organization obtain success. In a study in regards to mission statement impact on firm performance conducted by Bart, Bontis and Taggar, the study showed “from their (mission statement) pre-development to their post development alignment with employee behaviors – have a positive association with performance and make a positive contribution towards it. However, for a mission to be successful there are several provisos. Ultimately, it must have the proper rationale, contain sound content, have organizational alignment and bring about sufficient behavioral change in the desired direction” (Bart, Bontis and Taggar 2001). What the studies seem to be showing is that while it is a difficult task to construct a widely well received and accurate mission statement, an organization will only see the positive benefits when this type of well crafted mission is established.

Mission and vision statements are crucial for all organizations. Although the drafting and composition of quality mission and vision statements is an arduous process, when done correctly the payback to the business is significant and well worth the time taken to refine each statement. Mission and vision statements will give the organization new awareness to its goals and tasks, new visibility and promising new opportunities both internally and publicly.

Bibliography and Links

1. Abrahams, Jeffrey. 1999. The Mission Statement Book: 301 Corporate Mission Statements from America’s Top Companies. Berkeley, California: Ten Speed Press.
2. Angelica, Emil. 2001. The Wilder Nonprofit Field Guide to Crafting Effective Mission and Vision Statements. Saint Paul, Minnesota: Amherst H. Wilder Foundation.
3. Bart, Christopher Kenneth and Baetz, Mark C. 1998. The Relationship Between Mission Statements and Firm Performance: An Exploratory Study. Journal of Management Studies 35 (6): 22 – 2380.
4. Bart, Christopher K, Bontis, Nick and Taggar, Simon. 2001. A Model of the Impact of Mission Statements on Firm Performance. Management Decisions 39 (1): 19-35.
5. Mission & Vision BizPlanIt Newsletter. http://www.bizplanit.com/vplan/mission/newsletter.html
6. About: Human Resources. Building a Strategic Framework: Mission Statement, Vision and Values. http://humanresources.about.com/cs/strategicplanning1/a/strategicplan_2.htm
7. Family Business Experts. Sample Mission Statements for Inspiration. http://www.family-business-experts.com/sample-mission-statements.html
8. Habitat for Humanity. http://www.habitat.org/giving/report/2004/mission.html
9. Peace Corps. http://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=resources.donors.whowe
10. City Year. http://www.cityyear.org/about/who/mission.cfm#vision
11. JFK Memorial Hospital. http://www.jfkmemorialhosp.com/CWSContent/jfkmemorialhosp/aboutUs/VisionStatement.htm