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Mission Statement Super Summary
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A one page super summary of mission statements and their advantages and disadvantages with general comments about the usefulness of one.
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Definition: A M.S. is aimed at 3 main stakeholders:A waste of Time:
Customers: Make a lasting impression on the mind of a
Defines the overall purpose of the Some argue they are too vague and
organisation. customer.
abstract.
It develops the overall aims if the They create cynicism amongst employees. Investors and Potential Investors: Provide picture of the
company and where it is going e.g. balance between
organisation and established the values by Could be seen as a PR exercise.
profitability and social responsibility.
which it operates. Managers may ignore them, thus other
Statement of intent but it is vague. Employees: A guide towards the values of the company and
employees lose faith.
can help a company create a uniform culture. How they do
May prove a waste of time and money.
things.
Mission
Statements
Who needs a MS? -
Large Organisations: Helps co-ordinate the actions of a wide
Advantages Disadvantages
no. of diverse individuals.
Sets out purpose of the business, managers know Management lack the ability + skills to relate the MS to actual
exactly where they are going. With a destination in decision making. Words don't match actions -> May not be Decentralised organisation: Due to the greater risk of
mind they can plan how to get there -> derive their interpreted correctly. inconsistency, the danger of different approaches developing
objectives from it (SMART). can be reduced.
Can help to motivate employees. They know May not even be motivated to read the MS - just focus on Multi-Nationals: The greater the geographical spread the
exactly what the company stands for. own individual roles e.g. part time staff. Maybe they feel greater the need for strong cultural values to be laid down.
It can also motivate if they have been involved too far away from the overall goals of the organisation. and Times of Change: Provide necessary sense of direction.
in the writing of it -> feel a sense of what the managers want to achieve -> views may be
inclusion/ownership - trusted + sense of ignored.
direction. Some employees don't want the extra responsibility. Even if
This can motivate them to work harder. they do want to be part of it, motivation of staff will depend
on extent to which managers take account of their views - Three key ingredients make a MS worthwhile:
views many be ignored.
Employees maybe motivated by financial incentives instead. The process by which the MS is created: To have a
Management can communicate to various stakeholders Inability of stakeholders to understand what the MS is about positive impact on culture it should ideally be drawn
to help them understand the businesses purpose. - either poorly worded or full of jargon. up in consultation with employees, as they will
Banks + investors more likely to look at financial data before identify with it.
a vague set of words.
Seen as a waste of time, money + resources. This could have The nature of the Statement: To contain a clear
been invested elsewhere. picture of what the organisation is, does and stands
for. Usually contains a set of clear values in which the
Positive publicity - looks professional, enhance image, If the business fails to achieve the goals, stakeholders become organisation expects its mission to be achieved.
attract various stakeholders. dubious of their ability - do more damage + negative publicity.
How the MS is used: Failure of management to match
A well written MS help change the culture of an If words don't equal actions, won't create cultural shift intended.
organisation - new direction. their actions will slow any cultural shift that MS
intends to promote. Employees will use the actual
behaviour patterns as their guide, not the MS.
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