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Corporate Vision, Mission, Goals and Strategies Traditional and New Approaches |
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by Vadim Kotelnikov, Founder, Ten3 Business e-Coach for Innovative Leaders, 1000ventures.com
"If you don't know where you're going, then sure as anything you won't get there"
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Instead of Introduction For the vast majority of companies, having well-defined visions and mission statements changes nothing. The exercise of crafting them is a complete waste of time and talent if visions and mission statements are used for nothing but being published in the annual report and displayed in a reception area. "One of the chief reasons for the failure of missions and visions to achieve the desired objective is the naiveté of most company managers and executives. Nothing happens by magic".5 To be able to energize employees to work towards corporate objectives, visions and missions should be more than a sign on the wall. Executives and managers should live them, be seen living them, and constantly communicate them to their employees. Vision is a short, succinct statement of what the organization intends to become and to achieve at some point in the future, often stated in competitive terms. Vision refers to the category of intentions that are broad, all-intrusive and forward-thinking. It is the image that a business must have of its goals before it sets out to reach them. It describes aspirations for the future, without specifying the means that will be used to achieve those desired ends. The corporate success depends on the vision articulated by the chief executive or the top management. For a vision to have any impact of the employees of an organization it has to be conveyed in a dramatic and enduring way. The most effective visions are those that inspire, usually asking employees for the best, the most or the greatest. Make sure you keep stretch in your vision, communicate it constantly, and keep linking the events of today to your vision, underscoring the relationship between the two. Warren Bennis, a noted writer on leadership, says: "To choose a direction, an executive must have developed a mental image of the possible and desirable future state of the organization. This image, which we call a vision, may be as vague as a dream or as precise as a goal or a mission statement." Brand Vision In the conventional view, a corporate strategy usually consists of developing an all-encompassing vision. The modern view is that brands now drive business strategy. In fact, brand visions are now replacing corporate visions, so powerful is their impact on profits.6 Mission Statement A mission statement is an organization's vision translated into written form. It makes concrete the leader's view of the direction and purpose of the organization. For many corporate leaders it is a vital element in any attempt to motivate employees and to give them a sense of priorities. A mission statement should be a short and concise statement of goals and priorities. In turn, goals are specific objectives that relate to specific time periods and are stated in terms of facts. The primary goal of any business is to increase stakeholder value. The most important stakeholders are shareholders who own the business, employees who work for the business, and clients or customers who purchase products and/or services from the business. For instance, Chrysler's goal, as written in their mission statement, is clear - it is focused on consumer satisfaction: "Chrysler's primary goal is to achieve consumer satisfaction. We do it through engineering excellence, innovative products, high quality and superior service. And we do it as a team." (1988) Setting Goals The major outcome of strategic road-mapping and strategic planning, after gathering all necessary information, is the setting of goals for the organization based on its vision and mission statement. A goal is a long-range aim for a specific period. It must be specific and realistic. Long-range goals set through strategic planning are translated into activities that will ensure reaching the goal through operational planning. Setting Objectives (more) Setting objectives involves a continuous process of research and decision-making. Knowledge of yourself and your unit is a vital starting point in setting objectives. Strategic planning takes place at the highest levels; other managers are involved with operational planning. The first step in operational planning is defining objectives - the result expected by the end of the budget (or other designated) cycle. The objectives must be:
Corporate Strategy Strategy is a very broad term which commonly describes any thinking that looks at the bigger picture. Successful companies are those that focus their efforts strategically. To meet and exceed customer satisfaction, the business team needs to follow an overall organizational strategy. A successful strategy adds value for the targeted customers over the long run by consistently meeting their needs better than the competition does. Strategy is the way in which a company orients itself towards the market in which it operates and towards the other companies in the marketplace against which it competes. It is a plan an organization formulates to gain a sustainable advantage over the competition. Strategy answers the following questions:
Strategic Intent A strategic intent is a company's vision of what it wants to achieve in the long term. It must convey a significant stretch for your company, a sense of direction, discovery and opportunity that can conveyed a worthwhile to all employees. It should not focus so much on today's problems, which are normally dealt with by company visions and missions, but rather on tomorrow's opportunities. "To achieve great things, you need ambitious visions. And it does not matter that vision cannot be laid out in details. It is the direction that counts."3...More Lessons Taught by Fastest Companies The fastest companies that get with new products or services to market ahead of their competitors abandon often traditional visions and mission statements - they share something bigger and stronger. Each has a cause that they use to launch a crusade5. They also set, live, and enforce guiding principles enabling them to make fast decisions and get fast to market...More
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"Guide to Management Ideas", Tim Hindle, 2001
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"Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies", Collins, J. and Porras, J., 1994
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"The 10-day MBA", Steven Silbiger, 1999
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"Extreme Management", Mark Stevens, 2001
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"It's Not the Big that Eat the Small... It's the Fast that Eat the Slow", Jason Jennings and Laurence Haughton, 2000
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"The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing in Asia", Al Ries, Jack Trout and Paul Temporal, 2003
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"Changing Strategic Direction", Peter Skat-Rørdam, 2003
