Customer Satisfaction

Vision, Purpose, Values - Mission Statements

There appears to be a lot of confusion about what is a vision statement and a mission statement.  Some writers make no differentiation between the two, while some go into great lengths to describe the difference, while still not coming up with anything of real value to someone who wants to create a meaningful mission statement for their business.  In reality, it is fairly obvious and straightforward, if you base your proposition of proven success models, rather than academic theory.

In their classic book, Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies, Jim Collins and Jerry Porras identified a pattern in 18 extremely successful organisations that they believed created the difference in the level of success between these companyies and other similar companies that were not able to achieve the excellence and high achievements of the 18 visionary companies.  The main factor in their success, according to Collins and Porras, was that these companies all exhibited an almost cult-like  commitment to a "core ideology.  The study showed that, even more important that having a strategic plan, it was critical to build plans and strategies around a set of core values and the purpose the company stood for. 

In essence, the vision is future looking; what will the company become?  The values represents the ideals and principles the company believes in and operates by; what does the company stand for?  The mission describes the present aspirations of the company; what do we do, who do we do it for, how well do we want to do it?

An interesting aside from Built to Last is that none of the mission statements for the highly successful, visionary company's mentioned anything about shareholder value or aspirations for increasing profits.  These mission statements were all about creating value for their customers and were inspirational messages to management and employees that gave focus to their day to day actions.  Mission statements should incorporate an aspirational goal that is a stretch to achieve, but not impossible.  This identifies a way to outshine your competition and provide exceptional value to your customers at the same time, while also providing wholesome motivation to employees who feel that achieving such as mission is a worthwhile endeavour and participating in achieving that goal adds value to their own lives.

A mission statement, if created out of the purpose and values of the organisation, can be a valuable contribution to the success of the organisation. Here are some examples of inspiring, successful mission statements.

Microsoft
At Microsoft, we work to help people and businesses throughout the world realize their full potential. This is our mission. Everything we do reflects this mission and the values that make it possible.

Levi-Strauss
People love our clothes and trust our company. We will market the most appealing and widely worn casual clothing in the world. We will clothe the world.

Harley Davidson
We fulfill dreams through the experience of motorcycling, by providing to motorcyclists and to the general public an expanding line of motorcycles and branded products and services in selected market segments.

The Chubb Corporation
We are dedicated to providing excellent underwriting and loss control advice up front, and to ensuring superior customer service through the life of the policy. Our knowledgeable loss prevention experts can help commercial customers reduce losses in the workplace. Our personal appraisers are invaluable in determining accurate replacement value, which is more likely to provide you with the right amount of coverage for your valuable property.

Citigroup
Our goal for Citigroup is to be the most respected global financial services company. Like any other public company, we're obligated to deliver profits and growth to our shareholders. Of equal importance is to deliver those profits and generate growth responsibly.

Manpower
To be the best worldwide provider of higher-value staffing services and the center for quality employment opportunities.

Nike
To Bring Inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world.

Walt Disney Company
The mission of The Walt Disney Company is to be one of the world's leading producers and providers of entertainment and information. Using our portfolio of brands to differentiate our content, services and consumer products, we seek to develop the most creative, innovative and profitable entertainment experiences and related products in the world.

Having an inspiring Vision and Mission statement is critical to the process of putting your business on autopilot.