Tip for 2013 Time to Review Vision and Mission Statements

Read more: http://steinvox.com/blog/tip-for-2013-time-to-review-vision-and-missionstatements/#ixzz2PqdSgyfo

When is the last time you reviewed your corporate vision and mission statements? Are they still relevant? Has something changed? If your company has been around a while, have you achieved your vision? Does everyone in the company know the vision and mission statement? Do Customers know what it is? Do you need to define a new mission? CMOs understand that an entire year of marketing must align with the vision and mission of the company. This blog post is a reminder that everything changes, and now might be a good time to revisit your vision and mission statement.

Vision: outlines what the organization wants to be, or how it wants the world in which it operates to be.

Mission: Defines the fundamental purpose of an organization or enterprise, succinctly describing why it exists and what it does to achieve its vision.
Much is dependent on your companys vision and mission statements. Your companys values and core strategy are going to be synchronized with its vision and mission. So too will the revenuegenerating activities of product development, marketing, and eventually sales.

Marketing Message Framework

The marketing message framework starts with a corporate vision and mission statement and is the seminal material that drives corporate positioning and brand. This in turn sets the supporting structure in place for the sales plan in terms of value your company creates and delivers to its customers. Successful companies never leave this to chance they build the foundation from the vision and mission statement up and maintain it if, and as, it needs to evolve.

Why Review Vision and Mission

Its always a good idea to review your vision and mission. Imagine if your industry were shaken by economic, social, or political pressure, change or event? It could be that your vision and mission statements need to be revised. If you are the CMO, or VP of Marketing, have this conversation with your CEO, if you have not done so already. Some examples of change that drives change in your vision and mission statements:

Your product or service line has become obsolete due to regulation, or replacement (cigarettes, or full service gas stations). Your current product version is being replaced by another (iPods, for example being subsumed into iPhones). Your company was acquired and the acquirer has a different agenda (Oracle buys PeopleSoft changes Peoplesofts goals).

For your company and industry, you likely have other pressures that may have had an influence on your companys vision and mission. And more often, its the case that you can articulate your vision and mission better, based on the experience of the past year.

Does Everyone Know the Vision and Mission?

When was the last time everyone in the company were asked if they knew the mission of the corporation? It may sound silly, but survey your customers. The answer may be in the last customer survey your research has available. The questions to ask are: 1. Do customers know your companys vision and mission in their context? 2. Do customers feel confident that the people they interact with in your company can and do convey your vision and mission? You may be surprised that few know it, and fewer still, live it when interacting with customers

Pervasive Vision and Mission

It sounds trivial and as many jump into doing their jobs in 2012, its critical that leaders and managers keep the vision and mission at the top of mind for the organization. Internally people need to know what the agenda is. Externally, customers, markets industries and stakeholders need to easily observe what your company stands for, sees as the future and intends to deliver. Now as we prepare to start a new year, reviewing and making Vision and Mission pervasive in your organization is a good idea which will increase potential for success. Leave a comment and share with others your story about vision and mission statement reviewing. Image Credit: Family of Binoculars jlcwalker via photopin cc, Hand on Ocular (featured image) sntgmdm via photopin cc

Read more: http://steinvox.com/blog/tip-for-2013-time-to-review-vision-and-missionstatements/#ixzz2PqdMufye

Mission and Vision: Assessing Where You Are Today

A Vision is a description of the business, as you want it to be. In dictionary terms it is, a mental image produced by the imagination. It involves seeing the optimal future for your business, and vividly describing this vision. The description might include HOW things will be WHERE, WHOM with, WHAT youll be doing and HOW youll feel.

When you see the How-to-Branding.com Toolbox, it designates that the following content is a tool, exercise, or technique you can use to help develop your affordable brand strategy.
A Mission is the special assignment being undertaken by your business.

A mission statement should say who your company is, what you do, what you stand for, and why you do it. An effective mission statement is best developed with input by all the members of your organization. Good mission statements tend to be 3 or 4 sentences long. Avoid saying how wonderful you are, rather focus on the benefit to the customer. Make sure you actually believe in your mission statement, if you don't, it's a lie, and your customers will soon realize it.

The Vision and Mission statements should be able to: 1. Bring focus and clarity to the desired future of the business (plus what makes it distinctive and relevant) 2. Inspire people to work towards that future 3. Guide people in their decision-making as they reach for this future Here are some things to avoid when writing your Vision and Mission statements:

Dont regurgitate a description of your business Dont make it boring Dont make it the length of a college term paper Dont fake emotion If you dont believe it, dont include it Dont lie or claim to be something you aren't Dont forget to get the input of everyone on your brand strategy team

Where Are You Now? Lets assess your brand as it exists today. Be honest and answer each question thoroughly. Focus on your target audience when answering each question.

What does your company specialize in? Describe what your business currently offers. Define the qualities of those offerings. Characterize the core values of those offerings. Are they aligned with the core values of your business? Who is your target audience? What types of people does your company attract? Where is your target audience? What do they think about your current brand? What would you like them to think about your brand? How will you attract them to your mission? Who else is competing for their loyalty and devotion? What type of relationship you would like to have with your customers?

...and Where Do You Want To Be?

It's time to redraft your mission statement. (Leadership).

Journal of Business Strategy
| January 01, 2003 | David, Forest R.; David, Fred B. | Copyright

Everybody's talking about mission statements, but even those few who are doing anything about them are missing important opportunities. Business Week reports that firms with well-crafted mission statements have a 30% higher return on certain financial measures than firms that lack such such documents. In addition, a number of academic studies suggest there is a positive relationship between mission statements and organizational performance. Mission statements can be defined as "enduring statements of purpose that distinguish one organization from other similar enterprises." A mission statement answers the question "What Business Are We In?" And it answers the question for everyone in the company. Christopher Bart and Mark Baetz suggest that a well-crafted mission statement can provide the following advantages or benefits to a company: * insure unanimity of purpose * arouse positive feelings about the firm * provide direction * provide a basis for objectives and strategies * serve as a focal point * resolve divergent views among managers. Despite these clear benefits, few companies are paying appropriate attention to their mission statements. In a recent study, we collected and studied 95 mission statements across three industries--computer, food, and banking--to determine the extent to which those statements include nine important components. Our analysis revealed that the mission statements from all three industries were incredibly deficient.

The results of this study are informative for businesses in every industry. Understanding where others went wrong can help companies prepare mission statements that advance their business strategies and, in so doing, enhance their organization's performance. What Should a Mission Statement Contain? In every organization, there are divergent views among managers regarding direction and strategies. Discussing issues in the course of developing a mission statement can help resolve these divergent views. This can be especially important to firms facing restructuring, downsizing, or faltering performance. The mission statement needs to be longer than a phrase or sentence, but not a two-page document. And it should not be overly specific. That is, it should not include dollar amounts, percentages, numbers, goals, or strategies. Nor should it include specific objectives, strategies, and policies, which are better left to the strategic plan. Too much detail in a mission statement can alienate managers and stifle creativity. A mission statement should be inspiring. The reader should want to be a part of an organization after reading its mission statement. It should be enduring, though not cast in stone. The statement should project a sense of worth, intent, and shared expectations and should state intrinsic value of the firm's products/services. Regarding intrinsic value, Avon, for example, sells beauty not just cosmetics, and Exxon sells energy, not just gas. In writing a mission statement, prior research by John Pearce and Fred David suggests that the document should include the following nine components: 1. Customers (the target market) 2. Products/Services (offerings and value provided to customers) 3. Geographic Markets (where the firm seeks customers) 4. Technology (the technology used to produce and market products) 5. Concern for Survival/Growth/Profits (the firm's concern for financial soundness) 6. Philosophy (the firm's values, ethics, beliefs)

7. Public Image (contributions the firm makes to communities) 8. Employees (the importance of managers and employees) 9. Distinctive Competence (how the firm is different or better than competitors). Where Do Companies Fall Short? At the outset of our study, we collected 95 mission statements from the Internet: 27 from firms in the computer industry, 36 from the food industry, and 32 from the banking industry. We asked three raters to independently examine each document and assign values to each statement, where 1 = statement does not include the component, 2 = statement includes the component in vague terms, and 3 = statement includes the component in specific terms. The sidebar illustrates the rating of PepsiCo and Ben & Jerry's mission statements. The raters determined that the Ben & Jerry's mission statement was "better" than the PepsiCo mission statement, giving it an average score of 2.3333, compared to PepsiCo's score of than 1.8888. The PepsiCo statement includes three components in specific terms, whereas the Ben & Jerry's statement includes five components in specific terms. (It is interesting to note that neither the PepsiCo nor the Ben & Jerry's mission statement includes the technology component.) Table 1 summarizes the results for all 95 companies. As indicated by the assigned "3" ratings, computer companies in this research score higher than food or banking firms on four of the nine recommended mission statement components. The computer firms have a higher overall average score on coverage of components than the other two industry types, and they are more likely than food and banking firms to include the four components: customer, technology, distinctive competence, and employees. However, note that the average score of the "best" industry is a mere 1.8477. While a 2.0 average would denote minimal (vague) inclusion of the respective components, computer firms score below 2.0 on six of the nine components. And they score below 1.52 on inclusion of three components: survival/growth, philosophy, and public image, which suggests that the mission statements of most of the sample computer firms do not include these components. Overall, even though their documents are "best" among the three industry groups, computer companies are not doing a good job in developing comprehensive mission statements.

Food companies, with an average score of 1.7747, are doing slightly worse than computer firms. The sample food companies had the highest average values for three components--product/service, market, and survival/growth. However, they almost never include the technology and philosophy components in their statements, as indicated by the low 1.1667 and 1.3889 average values. Note that food firms received component average value scores below 2.0 on all but three components, which is not good. Banks, scoring just 1.7638 overall, have the least comprehensive mission statements among the three industry groups sampled in this study. They score higher than the other two industries on just two components: philosophy and public image. The bank average value scores of 1.2813 and 1.4375 for the technology and market components respectively are exceptionally low. Note that the average value scores among banks are all below 2.0 in all but three components, which indicates that bank mission statements are exceptionally weak overall. The one element the sample firms in this study most often included was the component, distinctive competence. This finding is encouraging as it suggests that companies use their mission statements to help differentiate their products and services from competing firms. However, the scores also revealed that the sample companies basically are not including six of the nine recommended components in their mission statements: market, technology, survival/growth, philosophy, public image, and employees. This is a disturbing finding since constituencies or stakeholders gain little or no insight into the firm from reading their mission statements. Note that the technology component receives the lowest average rating of all components, as indicated by the 1.4703 average rating. Given our rapidly changing technological world, this finding is surprising and perhaps indicative of the overall need for firms to embrace technology more in their strategic planning. By including the technology component, well-crafted mission statements reassure constituencies that the firm is technologically current. How Can We Fix the Problem? Leaders of companies that have no mission statement or an incomplete document need to bring senior management together in a meeting. They should make an effort to involve as many managers as possible in the process, because through involvement, people become committed to an organization. As

background information for the meeting, they should provide copies of this article and other related writings (see the sidebar). After a thorough discussion of the company's mission, each participant should draft a mission statement that includes the nine components listed above. If a statement already exists, participants should modify that statement so that it includes the necessary components. Participants should submit their proposed mission statement to a facilitator or special committee, which will merge these statements into a single document and resubmit it to all participants for any modifications, additions, or deletions. With all emendations in hand, the facilitator or committee can prepare a new draft mission statement and, at a second meeting, establish final wording to create a document that all managers support. The final mission statement should include the nine recommended components, and it should be inspiring, brief, and not too specific. When the document is approved, senior managers should decide how best to communicate the new mission statement to all managers, employees, and external constituencies. As a minimum, it should appear on the firm's Internet home page and in its annual report. Room for Improvement Results of our preliminary study suggest that, when it comes to company mission statements, there is a great deal of room for improvement. The sample firms in our study generally did not include needed components in their mission statements. Although computer firms have more comprehensive mission statements than food or banking firms, the content analysis reveals severe shortcomings even among computer company statements. The overall lack of completeness in mission statements reported among sample firms in this research may serve to alert and caution business leaders to strive to create better mission documents. And that effort will certainly be rewarded. The expected payoff from improving a company's mission statement is enhanced communication, understanding, and commitment among managers and employees. All of this can translate into enhanced individual and organizational performance.

Table 1 Mission Statement Content Analysis Across Three Industries

Component Customer Product/Service Market Technology Survival/Growth Philosophy Self-Concept Public Image Employees AVERAGE

Computer Firms (n = 27) 2.1481 2.0741 1.7037 1.9630 1.4074 1.5185 2.4815 1.4444 1.8889 1.8477

Food Firms (n = 35) 2.1111 2.3056 1.8056 1.1667 1.7222 1.3889 2.1667 1.5278 1.7778 1.7747

Bank Firms (n = 32) 2.1250 2.1875 1.4375 1.2813 1.6562 1.6875 2.1563 1.6875 1.6562 1.7638

AVERAGE (n = 95) 2.1280 2.1890 1.6489 1.4703 1.5952 1.5316 2.2681 1.5532 1.7743

Note: Scale is 1 = statement does not include the component 2 = statement includes the component in vague terms 3 = statement includes component in specific terms Table gives average values for each component within each industry Values in bold are the highest for each component and firm type FOR FURTHER REFERENCE Christopher Bart and Mark Baetz, "The Relationship Between Mission Statements and Firm Performance: An Exploratory Study," Journal of Management Studies, 35, 1998. Fred David, Strategic Management: Concepts and Cases, Prentice Hall Publishing Company, 8th Ed., 2001. Fred David, "How Companies Define Their Mission," Long Range Planning, 22, no. 1, February 1989, 9092. John Pearce and Fred David, "Corporate Mission Statements: The Bottom Line," Academy of Management Executive, 1, no. 2, May 1987. Joseph Quigley, 'Vision: How Leaders Develop It, Share It and Sustain It." Business Horizons, September-October, 1994. Charles Rarick and John Vitton, "Mission Statements Make Cents," Journal of Bush ess Strategy, 16, 1995

RELATED ARTICLE: HOW PEPSICO AND BEN & JERRY'S MISSION STATEMENTS RATE PepsiCo's Mission Statement PepsiCo's mission is to increase the value of our shareholder's investment. We do this through sales growth, cost controls, and wise investment of resources. We believe our commercial success depends upon offering quality and, value to our consumers and customers; providing products that are safe, wholesome, economically efficient, and environmentally sound and providing a fair return to our investors while adhering to the highest standards of integrity. Ben & Jerry's Mission Statement Ben & Jerry's mission is to make, distribute and sell the finest quality all natural ice cream and related products in a wide variety of innovative flavors made from Vermont dairy products. To operate the Company on a sound financial basis of profitable growth, increasing value for our share-holders, and creating career opportunities and financial rewards for our employees. To operate the Company in a way that actively recognizes the central role that business plays in the structure of society by initiating innovative ways to improve the quality of life of a broad community--local, national, and international.

Component 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Customers Products/Services Geographic Markets Technology Survival/Growth Philosophy Public Image Employees Distinctive Competence

PEPSICO'S STATEMENT 2 2 1 1 3 3 3 1 1 1.8888

BEN & JERRY'S STATEMENT 1 3 2 1 3 2 3 3 3 2.3333

AVERAGE

Note: Scale is 1 = statement does not include the component 2 = statement includes the component in vague terms 3 = statement includes the component in specific terms

Forest B. David is studying for a Ph.D. in strategic management at Mississippi State University, where he teaches business policy. He owns and operates the Strategic Management Club online at www.strategyclub.com and has written books, cases, and articles on strategic management. Fred B. David, Ph.D., is the TranSouth Professor of Strategic Management at Francis Marion University where he teaches strategic management at both the undergraduate and graduate levels and author of the best-selling textbook, Strategic Management (Prentice-Hall).Through the www.checkmateplan.com Web site, Dr. David assists businesses globally in their strategic planning. He has published more than 100 strategic management cases, articles and books.

EVALUATION
Evaluation of the mission statement is necessary to ensure the organization is meeting its goals. If needed, new goals may have to be created in order to accommodate changes in the organization. It may be time to reevaluate what the organization is doing or where it is headed. This is a good time to think about entering into new areas or to begin doing things differently by rewriting part or all of the mission and vision statements. In evaluating an organization's performance, management must look at several different aspects of the organization. First, managers need to determine if the organization's plans are clearly linked to its mission statement and related goals. Plans should be developed for both the short run and long run. Secondly, assigning jobs that are directly related to the achievement of organizational goals will help ensure they are attained. The goals should be communicated clearly so employees understand what tasks need to be carried out and what the rewards will be. Finally, when evaluating individual performance, the information gathered should be recent and compared to established standards. Mission statements are often difficult to evaluate because they are written in a somewhat abstract form. They are, many times, not directly measurable and vaguely worded. Figure 1 presents an example of how mission statements can be measured from the top of the organization to the bottom. Strategic goals are directly tied to the organization's mission statement and apply to the organization as a whole. Tactical goals are departmental goals that support the strategic goals. Finally, operational goals are written at the individual level. Each one of these makes it possible to measure the organization's mission statements. An organization's likelihood of accomplishing its mission is increased as it creates strong and measurable goals at each level. It is not necessary that the mission statement be measured in quantifiable terms. It may also be measured qualitatively. For example, "We will answer all of our customers' questions and if we don't know the answer, we will find out." While this is not a quantitative statement it can be measured by monitoring customer service calls and setting operational goals for employees that revolve around follow up and thoroughness. Mission and vision statements give organizations a focus and a strategy for the future. According to Bart and Tabone, they have become the cornerstones of organizations. They contribute to organizations' success and can lead to increases in productivity and performance. They do not have to be reserved for the entire organizationach department or division can benefit from developing a mission statement, as long as they are not in contradiction to the company's overall mission. Preferably, an individual department's mission links it to the fulfillment of the overall company mission. Mission statements for functional

Figure 1 departments provide the same benefits as they do for the entire organization.

In conclusion, mission statements provide a sense of direction and purpose. In times of change and growth they can be an anchor and a guide in decision making. The benefits far outweigh the disadvantages and challenges when looking at the potential for increases in profitability and returns. Defining an organization by what it produces and who it satisfies are major steps towards creating a sound and stable mission statement. Setting a company apart from the competition is probably one of the biggest advantages.