Strategic Mission and Vision of an Organization

Mission as a Tool for Vision Realization
Emmanuel Arthur, Accountant, Nigeria, Member
Mission actually becomes the norms of the organization which every employee has to observe. It is a powerful tool for vision realization.

Strategic Mission also influences Society at Large.
R.S. MATHUR, Teacher, India, Member
Apart from providing a direction to the employees, a mission statement that is attractively worded and well publicized, also influences the society at large by conveying what the organization does for it. The objective being to garner the support of the society which is also one of the stakeholders.

Strategic Mission is Vital
ohene
Mission is vital in any organization. If managers are able to inculcate this in their employees well, it helps to increase productivity.

Make the right Choices
MENSUR
I am absolutely agreeing that the strategic mission and vision for an organization are the cornerstone if you want to be successful for a long time. The point is what is the strategy that we are going to use.. Are they correct, how much it will cost in terms of money, time and understanding. What we are planing to do and is avoid that changes in the market and other changes can deviate our mission. Be close to the demand of the buyer and we will understand how correct and necessary our strategy is that we are using.

Cascading the strategy to the rest of the staff
Onkar
Strategy retreats are usually attended by top management. The lower level usually gets initiatives derived by management to implement. It's ideal to share with the lower team how the missions and vision came about for them to really appreciate the big picture and feel part of the whole development.

The very Fabric of Organization Mission
David H. de Jesus, Director, Saudi Arabia, Member
In simple language best understood, mission is the building blocks and the very foundation of an organization's existence. Mission is the very fabric of what individuals in the organization is set to strive to. It is a molding and a direction, a northern star and a compass... Mission is the steering and the fuel of passion....

Ashridge Mission Model
Dan
I like this model as it provides a clear focus for how organizational leaders can align employee actions consistent with strategy and goals. The critical issue is that leaders need to take the time to communicate to all levels of the organization. All too often that does not happen and the result is a lack of focus and waste of resources. My experience is that when leaders take the time to communicate strategy and goals based on the mission, productivity is higher and also employee satisfaction is higher, because there is a strong sense of purpose.

Vision, Mission and staff buy in
Wendy Gillespie
We all know that poor visioning is something that is vague, navel gazing, and meaningless. Missions should describe how the organisation intends on getting to a clearly depicted end state. Attending planning days is not going to get staff engaged on its own. The organisation needs to put in place a range of practices and processes that shows staff that it is genuinely moving toward the vision. The polices and practices (be it quality systems, continuous business improvement, and feedback systems, promotion and communication) supports staff and allows them to be part of the change process toward the new vision, and not be felt or seen to be pulled along. Only then does a vision and mission become reality and is the intervention logic in place.

Mission & Vision Issues
Vivek Joshi
I have facilitated the Mission/Vision exercise for small and medium scale organizations. Some of the common issues I came across are:
a) Articulating and explaining the difference between Mission & Vision. For an organization doing this explicitly for the first time, it is sometimes useful to define the two together and spend the time, energy and focus on the next steps and the buy-in.
b) Initiating an informal exercise in groups in middle and lower management 2-3 months in advance of a formal session with senior management. This helps in getting grassroots perspective and buy-in
c) The biggest challenge remains in translating the Mission/Vision into visible actions or change as seen in day to day activities, i.e. living the mission/mision.

Mission Statements and customer buy-in
Alawiyya Kuliya - Umar
A nicely worded mission statement can appeal to customers and enable their quick buy-in. But after taking command of their acceptance, living up to the statement is equally important to ensure retention of their loyalty. The role of the employee, the main driver of the mission, is crucial at this point.
This is where the ASHRIDGE MODEL is appealing, because the link between the employee and the manager's private values with the organization's shared values is appreciated.

MV&GP - Starting Point
Mark A Tocco
The whole concept of mission, values and guiding principles is as important for what they cannot do as it is for what they enable. The model is certainly well structured. I believe that a mission is a foundational element for communicating purpose, values and to some degree culture or character of a a company. I don't know if it should be the primary mechanism for aligning strategy and stakeholder behavior. These elements require a fair amount of effort. However I think you can elaborate the company mission to include some of these elements, but I'm not sure of the value.

Mission & Vision - Essential Ingredients But not the Cake
Leigh Cowan, Management Consultant, Australia, Member
Too many business executives think they can propagate their businesses without mission and vision statement… so congratulations to anyone that promotes their use.
However, fire and steel are useful only if people have the skills to utilise them
This comes from education and training, experience and talent… without these four key components a vision and mission is not the complete answer.