What is a mission statement?
According to Bain & Company, mission statements are one of the most frequently used management tools. Organizations spend thousands of hours and dollars developing mission statements and then more resources again on public relations to unfold them to their stakeholders. This is not surprising when you review the often-stated benefits of mission statements:
- To communicate the direction of the organization.
- To help make day-to-day operating decisions.
- To keep the organization focused.
- To motivate employees.
Many authors have a variety of beliefs of what should be included in a mission statement. Ireland and Hill (1992) state that the mission statement should include the organizations goals, purpose, product and market scope and philosophical views. Davies and Glaister (1997) believe that it should include the organizations statement of purpose and inspirational view for the future. While Jamieson and Justice (1999) state that the framework for the development of a mission statement should begin with the organizations primary purpose, target market, core products or services, critical values and measures of success. One of the better practical definitions has been provided by Bartkus, Glassman and McAfee (2000) who basically state a mission statement is a statement to communicate a description of the firm to its current and prospective stakeholders to determine if they want to be involved with it.
The reality is, there is no one agreed definition of what should and should not be included in a mission statement. We believe a mission statement is a simple, short statement that clearly communicates the purpose of the organization to its stakeholders. Nothing more, nothing less. For practical purposes, many of the other aspects of mission statements cited above are actually found in other sections of an organization’s planning documents.
What is a vision statement?
The delineation between vision and mission statements is far from clear. This is understandable when many of the benefits attributed to mission statements are also attributed to vision statements.
Like mission statements, there are many definitions for vision statements. Warren Bennis describes a vision as something you’ll never forget. Tom Peters, in his book Thriving on Chaos, describes a vision statement as inspiring, clear and challenging, makes sense to the marketplace, stable but challenged, a beacon and control, empowering, prepares for the future, honors the past and is lived in the details.
Both are useful definitions. We like to describe a vision statement as a ‘picture of the future’. While a mission statement talks about the organization’s purpose, (i.e. direction), a vision statement talks about what the organization would like to be. The easiest and most practical way of simply delineating between a mission and vision is to describe the mission as the journey and the vision as the destination.
How useful are these definitions?
Although we have found these definitions to be simple and practical, there are two points to remember when discussing mission and vision statements during your strategic planning process:
- There is no one accepted definition.
- Agreement on the definition you use is more important than the definition itself.
Do you really need a mission and vision statement?
It depends. What you do need is to ensure that the organization has a direction and goal(s), that your key stakeholders support that direction and goal(s), and that your structure, resources and skills are aligned to facilitate moving in that direction and maximize your opportunity to achieve those goals. If you believe you need a mission and/or vision statement, then you probably do. However, just having a mission and/or vision statement, even if they are included in a planning document, posted on a plaque on the wall or provided to employees on business cards certainly does not, unto itself, ensure success.
Mission and vision statements are management tools that if used appropriately, have the potential to help improve your organization’s probability of success. However, it’s important to keep in mind, that these are only two of the many tools available to your organization in the development of your strategy.
Selected References
Bart, C.K. “Sex, Lies, and Mission Statements”, Business Horizons. November-December 1997, 9-18.
Bartkus, Barbara, Myron Glassman, and R. Bruce McAfee. “Mission Statements: Are They Smoke and Mirrors?”, Business Horizons. November 2000.
Davies, Stuart, and Keith Glaister. “Business School Mission Statements–The Bland Leading the Bland?”, Long Range Planning. August 1997, 594-604.
Ireland, R. Duane, and Michael A. Hitt. “Mission Statements: Importance, Challenge, and Recommendations for Development”, Business Horizons. May-June 1992, 34-42.
Justice, Thomas, and David W. Jamieson. The Facilitator’s Fieldbook. AMACOM, 1999.
Mintzberg, Henry, Bruce Ahlstrand, and Joseph Lampel. Strategy Safari. The Free Press, 1998.
Peters, Tom. Thriving on Chaos. Alfred A. Knopf, New York 1988.
Ron Robinson is the president of ABARIS Consulting Inc. He can be reached at (519) 472-9788 or rrobinson@abarisconsulting.com. This article is provided free of charge, for information purposes only and is not intended, represented or to be inferred as providing advice. ABARIS Consulting Inc. makes no warranty, express or implied, or assumes any legal liability for accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information provided in whole or in part within this article.
