Mission and vision literature review free essay sample

Mission and Vision statements tell others who we are and where we want to go as an organization. Through the literature review, this paper aims to examine the importance of an organizational mission and vision statement. This paper outlines the details to show how business experts and practitioners have suggested that creating and communicating mission and vision statements are a critical part to the success of an organization. In addition, it also addresses the differences that exist between a mission and a vision. In 1997 during an interview with Leader to Leader Journal the social philosopher and management scholar Charles Handy was asked, â€Å"How do leaders find meaning to their accomplishments? † To which he replied The companies that survive longest are the ones that work out what they uniquely can give to the world—not just growth or money but their excellence, their respect for others, or their ability to make people happy. Some call those things a soul (Handy, n. d. ). That soul that Handy refers to, can be found in an organization’s mission and vision statements. When establishing a Mission and Vision statement for an organization, one must be careful and particularly attentive in choosing the appropriate words. However more important than the words used in a mission and vision statement is that an organization must truly believe in what it is saying and be able to live up to their statements. Only then will an organization be able to define with precision and rigor what their mission and vision is and provide clarity to the sometimes over used trendy words. The success or failure of an organization could be attributed to an effective or flawed mission and vision statement. This essay will address the purpose and importance of establishing an effective mission and vision statement. Additionally it will discuss what consideration should be taken when creating mission and vision statements and the difference between the two. Discussion Despite the ambiguities in what a mission vs. vision is, experts have established many reasons why organizations should have a mission and a vision statement. Whether you are a fortune 500 company or a non-profit organization, a mission and vision makes people internal and external of the organization know who you are and where you are going. As a part of the strategic planning process of any business, establishing a mission and vision will design the future of the organization. The direction in which the organization intends to go will define these two elements. Organizational change can be a difficult process but incorporating and making employees a part of the process can make change less painful. Involving employees as part of the change can be articulated through the organization’s mission and vision statement. Many businesses have delighted in success for many years because they developed clear and well-conceived missions and visions as their foundation. However, what makes up these two elements must be more than just some fancy words put together to sound good; it must have feeling, meaning and support the core ideology of the organization. These values are essential and long lasting visions of an organization and they are what bonds people together inside of an organization without needing external justification, it â€Å"Provides the glue that holds an organization together through time†. If an organization is careless in developing their statements and attempts to use fanciful, inadequate words such as ‘stakeholders’, ‘proactive’, ‘value added’, ‘outside the box’ as an attempt to make themselves sound important or canny, they may find that people are irritated by use of such business speak â€Å"When one digs through the jargon to discover the heart of what is asserted, one finds the piece either (1) makes no real sense, (2) states something more obvious than it pretends, or (3) is a patent absurdity†. When creating the mission and vision statement it is important to remember that the statement is intended to be used, not just framed and hung on a wall or stored away in the organizations handbook. It should be relevant and a key ingredient to the organizations daily activities. Many organizations use mission and vision statements as a tool to reward their employees who uphold them (Johnson, n. d. ). If an organization does not take the mission and vision creation  process seriously, it is at risk of losing opportunities to build an organizational culture and undermines the ability to engage and retain workforce talent. The results of a study conducted by Bain and Company indicate that organizations with well-defined mission and vision statements have outperformed those without one (Rigby and Bilodeau, 2013). On the other hand, this is opposite of what Pearce determined in a study conducted in 1987, he indicated â€Å"present findings do not suggest that the inclusion of desired components in a firms mission statement will directly improve organizational performance†. This may be an indicator that today people are paying more attention to mission and vision statements of organizations. Mission and vision statements have both an internal and external purpose. Internally, it assists in defining an organizations performance standard and by providing focus on common goals it inspires employees to become more productive and aids in establishing a structure for ethical behavior. Externally, it can be used as a public relations tool to increase relations with customers, strategic partners and suppliers . So, if all we have to do is choose the correct words, align those words with the core ideology of an organization and then live up to the statements, it should be easy to create a mission and vision statement, right? Well, the answer is â€Å"yes†, but only if you really know everything about your organization, its strengths, weaknesses and environmental challenges and opportunities. In order to establish effective mission and vision statements, one must know and be able to honestly answer the following questions: What does my organization do? Who are our customers? Why do we do what we do? Where do we want to be in the future? How are we going to get there? And this is just the beginning because an important aspect of creating an effective mission and vision statement is to be able to distinguish between the two (Lewis, 1995 p. 24-25). What? You mean there is a difference between a Mission and a Vision? The answer is a resounding â€Å"absolutely†! The Mission and Vision Difference Brian J. Lewis explains that many firms are confused regarding the different types of statements, and as he indicates some firms even have a â€Å"smorgasbord of vision, mission and objective† (Lewis, 1995 p. 25) all bundled in one. The following is what the research says about the two elements, how they are differentiated and what goes into each one. Mission The mission statement talks about the present state and purpose of an organization. Its primary target is internal (Bain Company, 2013). It should be written in one or two clearly defined sentences to help engage and give employees a perspective on how their job contributes to achieving the mission. When organizational changes arise, a clearly defined mission statement will help employees understand the reason for the changes and lessen resistance and conflicts in the organization (Mission and Vision Statements). Another important aspect of the mission statement is that organizations can modify it from time to time depending on their economic certainties or customer response. Although the mission statement may change, it is still possible to adhere to the vision (Kariyawasam, 2013). Take for example the mission statement of Advanced Auto parts: â€Å"It is the Mission of Advance Auto Parts to provide personal vehicle owners and enthusiasts with the vehicle related products and knowledge that fulfill their wants and needs at the right price. Our friendly, knowledgeable and professional staff will help inspire, educate and problem-solve for our customers† (Fortune 500 Mission Statements, n. d. ). This Fortune 500 company states who they are â€Å"Advanced Auto Parts†, who their customer base is â€Å"vehicle owners and enthusiasts†, what they provide â€Å"vehicle related products and knowledge at the right price†. The use of the words â€Å"fulfill their wants† is captivating because every car enthusiast wants their needs fulfilled when searching for products for their prized possession. Finally, they indicate that they will accomplish the above with a â€Å"staff that is knowledgeable, professional that will inspire and solve problems†. Commendably, Advanced Auto Parts successfully accomplished a clear mission statement in two paragraphs. Vision According to Helen Keller, â€Å"The most pathetic person in the world is someone who has sight but no vision† (Helen Keller, n. d. ). The vision statement talks about the desired position of an organization in the future. Its primary target is external potential customers and investors, but internally  it communicates direction, inspiration and expected behavior to the organizations employees (Bain Company, 2013). It should be written clearly, lack vagueness and express realistic and achievable aspirations. If written in line with the organizations purpose, values and principles; living up to its words should be a relatively easy task. Many mission statements refer to the environmental or social responsibility role of an organization (Mission and Vision Statements), therefore highlighting their concern for the community. Because it communicates what an organization represents and not just what it does, the vision statement should try to remain intact. If an organization experiences dramatic economic or market changes, then the vision must change as well. It should consist of â€Å"a 10-to-30-year audacious goal plus vivid descriptions of what it will be like to achieve the goal† (Collins and Porras, 1996 p. 73). A well rounded vision statement example is that of PepsiCo: â€Å"Our vision is put into action through programs and a focus on environmental stewardship, activities to benefit society, and a commitment to build shareholder value by making PepsiCo a truly sustainable company† (Our Mission and Values –Pepsi, n. d. para. 2). In their vision statement, Pepsi indicates to their investors that they will lead them to financial success while positively impacting society and the environment. Interestingly, the use of the word â€Å"sustainable† could have an important internal and external impact meaning that PepsiCo provides a secure future. Employee Involvement Typically the creation of a mission and vision statement has a â€Å"top-down† approach, meaning that it is created by the senior managers of an organization. However, because mission and vision statements are worthless unless they are fully supported by the employees, some organizations may desire a â€Å"bottom-up† approach. By fostering employee involvement in the creation of the mission and vision statements, an organization can achieve greater commitment and understanding from the workforce (Mission and Vision Statements). It is important to remember that if an organization chooses the â€Å"bottom-up† approach, the length of time that it takes to create the statements will increase relative to the size of the organization. Also, if management does not agree to adopt the inputs from the employees, it could limit the shared views and ideas aspects that mission and vision statements are intended to have. Ultimately a consensus is the desired output for an effective product (Mission and Vision Statements). Communicating the Mission and Vision As stated previously, a mission and vision statement is worthless unless it is learned, adopted and lived. How the mission and vision is communicated throughout and organization and externally to potential customers and investors is vital to its existence. If not disseminated properly and adhered to a mission and vision statement may become what Kotzee cynically refers to as â€Å"Bullshit†. Kotzee indicates that if the communications of the statements are inept, they become â€Å"vacuous phrases over walls and websites in order to appear effective and smart, but definitely not because they really care about values† As Argenti illustrated, Starbucks Coffee Company developed a mission statement with visionary guiding principles that sounded good â€Å"people first and profits last† (Argenti, 2013 p. 142). However prior to the meeting with Global Exchange, Starbucks was either turning a blind eye or unaware of their operations overseas. Farmers in developing countries were being exploited because Starbucks was paying too little for beans and in some cases farmers were involved with child labor on their farms. This is a clear example of an organization not living up to their words and failing to uphold what was being advertised. When exposed, organizations can be perceived as being dishonest and damage their reputation causing great financial losses; as would have been the case for Starbucks if Global exchange proceeded with the national boycott threat. Unless everyone in an organization adopts, commits and lives the mission and vision it is only an empty dream. The mission and vision is transmitted internally and externally by three different means; Communication, Networking and Personification (Nanus, 1992). For the purpose of this essay we will focus only on communication. Whether its dialogue, memorandums, public speeches, radio, television, etc. there are several mediums that leaders can utilize to communicate the organizations mission and vision. Since communication is fundamental and based on a process of information and meaning, the message always starts and ends with the originator. Through feedback, this allows the originator of the message to determine if the message was received as intended and to clarify any misunderstandings (Argenti, 2013). For leaders who have good emotional intelligence traits, it may be more effective to use the dialogue option. Since emotionally intelligent people have the ability to effectively identify, understand and manage relationships with others, dialogue permits these types of leaders to observe and evaluate the persons reactions and emotions to what is being communicated (Kramer, 2006). Emotionally intelligent people have the ability to persuade and convince people to see things as they do. This was pleasantly illustrated by the meeting Burt Nanus had with Mr. Helmut Kohl, the vice-president of Univac Corp. Nanus walked into Kohl’s office looking for help with many problems and walked out of the meeting with no answers but new direction, a new agenda and feeling good about it (Nanus, 1992 p. 136). Mr. Kohl used his emotional intelligence to sympathetically listen to Nanus, sensed he had a desire to help the company, and was not just complaining. He then incorporated Nanus’ concerns to the overall vision of the organization and gave him direction to solve his own problems. In contrast, use of impersonal mediums of communication like memorandums or e-mail are not necessarily wrong but can send the wrong message as was portrayed in the Westwood Publishing case (Argent, 2013). Although Linda Bosworth was loyal to her employees, she lacked the emotional intelligence to face them during difficult times. Because vision statements provide internal branding for the workforce, it should also be clear that visions must change as the times change and as previously discussed a vision statement should encompass a10 to 30 year range. For Westwood Publishing, technology was advancing rapidly and their vision did not adjust appropriately after 16 years in business. In order to effectively communicate the mission and vision, leaders must be the example; they should live the mission and vision by ensuring that their actions and behaviors are consistent with them and create a sense of passion and determination in its attainment (Nanus, 1992). Identifying the Zombies After the mission and vision is communicated, the workforce should feel inspired and be engaged in accomplishing a common goal. It is of utmost importance to identify those in the workforce that are resistant and not aligned to the organizational mission and vision. Those individuals can be like a cancer to an organization and destroy it from within. (Hacker, 2010) says that these workplace zombies are not connected to the overall mission of the organization; they lack devotion, loyalty and are simply there to collect a paycheck. â€Å"When life’s purpose and meaning aren’t clear, people are at risk of zombie-ism† (Hacker, 2010 p. 27). Left unchecked with low expectations from an organization and without poor performance criticism, these workplace zombies are left to their own contagion and will infect others. Since they threaten the overall success of an organization, workplace zombies should be dealt with immediately and dismissed if they do not change. By changing the interview process, hiring for attitude as well as skills can stop a problem at the door. Additionally, mangers should be the bus drivers getting the right people in the right seats on the bus and getting the wrong people off the bus as soon as possible (Collins, 2001). Conclusion Experts and researchers have a common belief that there is value in having an organizational mission and vision statement. An effective mission and vision can correlate to the overall performance and success of an organization. Organizations can ensure mission and vision will be shared by the workforce by taking the time and careful steps to develop clear and understandable statements. Communicating the mission and vision is another key aspect to make sure that it is known by all the internal and external constituents. As the use of social media increases, the adherence or disregard of an organization’s own mission and vision statements can be quickly disseminated, causing profits or damage to its reputation and image. Therefore it is recommended that organizations create mission and vision statements that not only the workforce can assimilate but also ones that upper leadership can live up to.