Mission Statements

last updated 2009 Jan 22
see also GOPST - Goals, Objectives, Plans, Strategies and Tactics
www.witiger.com/ecommerce/GOPSTSWOT.htm
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For the students of Prof. W. Tim G. Richardson, Toronto, Canada

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MISSION  STATEMENTS according to Wong et al in the MRK 106 text

Mission Statements - "an organizations basic purpose of being" It orients the company - it supplies guidelines for senior managers when they are facing difficult problems or tackling new marketing situations Mission Statements can change  - they may have to be adapted as new marketing situation arise, eg. Honda's switch from motorcycles to cars to SUVs, Mark's Workwearhouse, changed from focusing on Men's work clothes, to women's leisure clothes see  www.stfrancis.edu/ba/ghkickul/stuwebs/btopics/works/mission.htm  by Leann Cardani of St. Francis University "Creating a mission is one of the first actions an organization should take. ...By defining a mission an organization is making a statement of organizational purpose.

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GOALS vs MISSION  STATEMENTS

Sometimes companies also have Mission Statements in addition to a Goal. One of the big differences between a Mission Statement and a Goal is that a Mission Statement is often worded in such a way that it can be used in advertising and P.R. For example - the corporate Goal might be  "To be the largest forest products company in Canada"  the Mission Statement might be  "Contributing to our Environment, through Responsible Harvesting".  They don't like to convey the image of "cutting down trees", so they use a euphemistic phrase "harvesting". WTGR

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GOPST explained GOALS

Goals-- Goals are the ultimate thing you want to achieve. Usually a Goal is a single thing, but in some cases it can be two things. If there are more than three Goals - then maybe they aren't Goals, but rather Objectives. Goal are the statements that a company uses to motivate employees and statements used to judge and measure challenges that you face.  Goals are supposed to be what you end up with , if you have achieved your objectives. Excellently worded goals should include statements indicating something that can be accomplished from Objectives that are met. Examples:  To be the largest on-line cosmetics retail site on the planet.

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Vision vs Mission  statements

Some people get a vision statement confused with a mission statement. "A vision statement pushes the association toward some future goal or achievement, while a mission statement guides current, critical, strategic decision making," (Drohan, 1999). Witiger - I personally believe people are constantly trying to "re-invent" the "power" and prestige associated with such terms and may be trying to sound "more important" by saying  "it's not a simple 'ol Mission Statement, it's a Vision Statement"

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Mantras vs Mission  statements

Student Varsha P. at UTM in MGD415 in Jan 2009 emailed to say "Dear Prof. Richardson,   I was doing my normal time wasting activity of looking at YouTube videos when I came across a video of Guy Kawasaki and his discussion of mission statements vs. mantras." Varsha added "I thought that what Guy said was very important and useful to understanding PDOC (planning, directing, organizing and controlling).   Guy said that Mission Statements can be, in some situations, useless. Companies pay consultants thousands of dollars to determine an appropriate Mission Statement but the end result is not as effective as a Mantra.   Guy explains that a Mantra is a short phrase or sentence that truly captures the essence of the company in a way that long, impersonal Mission Statements can't. He gave the suggestion that Wendy's should change their Mission Statement into the Mantra - "Healthy Fast Food". This Mantra can be driven home to each employee from high level management to lower level staff.   After listening to Guy Kawasaki, I have to agree that a Mantra would be more effective and entrepreneurs should focus on them instead of Mission Statements. " Click this link to view the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jT7xlFTinIw Jasbindar Singh is a business psychologist - she writes in her blog about what she thinks of Kawasaki's concept of a Mantra  http://flokka.com/you/whats-your-powerful-mantra-for-2009/

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Mantras vs Mission  statements

Witiger, I think Mission Statements do not need to be replaced, but rather it might be understood that a Mission Statement is a "publicity oriented" statement of what the corporation wants to accomplish whereas a Mantra is a motivationally oriented "expression" that can serve as an identifying slogan/phrase to assist in accomplishing "branding" objectives. I also think it depends on what type of company you are talking about - if it is a branded comsumer products company in an intensely competitive environment (such as cosmetics or beverages) it may help to have a Mantra, if you are an autoparts company that primarily deals in B2B situations, a Mantra may be meaningless cause the general public has no opportunity to ever know about you.

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