IB Docs (2) Team
Vision and mission statements
"If you are working on something exciting that you really care about, you don't have to be pushed. The vision pulls you."
- Steve Jobs (1955 - 2011), Co-founder and former CEO of Apple
Vision statement and mission statement (AO2)
A vision statement is inspiring or aspirational declaration of what an organization ultimately strives to be, or wants to achieve, in the distant future. This usually includes, or at least indicates, the organization’s core values. The vision statement is intended to act as a clear guide for key stakeholders when planning and implementing current and future corporate strategies.
A mission statement is a succinct and motivating declaration of an organization’s core purpose (why it exists), identity (who they are) and focus (what they do).
Whilst a vision statement tends to be a broad and abstract statement, a mission statement tends to be narrow and more specific.
Vision and mission statements give stakeholders of an organization a sense of purpose and direction.
Positive and inspirational mission and vision statements can help to motivate employees, especially if the values of the organization are aligned with those of the workers.
A firm’s mission and vision statements serve to guide the organization’s strategies and strategic objectives.
Top tip!
The difference between vision and mission statements can be rather confusing and the interpretations rather blurred. One useful way to remember the key difference is:
Vision statement = Some day
Mission statement = Every day
In other words, a vision sets out the ultimate dream of an organization; where is strives to be some day / one day in the distant future (if it ever gets there).
A mission statement declares the purpose of the organization, and what it stands for. These do no change on a day to day basis, so the mission statement is what the business is in existence for, every day.
 | “The most pathetic person in the world is someone who has sight but no vision.” |
Vision statements
A vision statement describes where the company aspires to be in the future. Without a clear vision statement, a business will not know what it is ultimately aiming for and so may lack motivation to keep going. Hence, vision statements provide organizations with clear long-term direction, and gives the business inspiration.
Examples of vision statements include:
To be earth’s most customer centric company; to build a place where people can come to find and discover anything they might want to buy online - Amazon
To stay connected with friends and family, to discover what's going on in the world, and to share and express what matters to them - Facebook
To create a better everyday life for the many people - IKEA
To be our customers’ favourite place and way to eat and drink - McDonald’s
A computer on every desk and in every home - Microsoft (original vision when it was founded in 1975)
To empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more - Microsoft
A just world without poverty - Oxfam
Inspire the world, create the future - Samsung
To be a world class corporation constantly furthering the interest of all its stakeholders -Tata Motors
To accelerate the world's transition to sustainable energy - Tesla
Mission statements
A mission statement is a declaration of the purpose an organization. It often includes a statement or description of the organization, its function, and its overarching objectives.
Examples of mission statements include:
We work hard every day to make American Express the world's most respected service brand - American Express
To refresh the world in mind, body and spirit - Coca-Cola
To give people the power to build community and bring the world closer together. - Facebook
To organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful - Google
Capture and share the world’s moments - Instagram
Create economic opportunity for every member of the global workforce - LinkedIn
To inspire and nurture the human spirit - one person, one cup and one neighbourhood at a time - Starbucks
To unlock the potential of human creativity - by giving a million creative artists the opportunity to live off their art and billions of fans the opportunity to enjoy and be inspired by it - Spotify
Spread ideas - TED
Make transportation as reliable as running water, everywhere, for everyone - Uber
To make people happy - Walt Disney Company
Criticisms of vision and mission statements
Mission and vision statements are often criticized for being:
Too vague, so therefore are rather meaningless and / or difficult to measure.
Based on public relations (i.e. tp make the organization "look good" - what the business aspires to and what it actually does on a regular basis may not align.
Vision statements (and many mission statements) are very long term, so may not ever materialise.
Virtually impossible to really analyse or disagree with, so may be ignored or not taken seriously by stakeholders such as employees.
ATL Activity 1 (Communication skills) - Inspirational mission statements
"You will attract the best employees who have a real passion for your business if you give them a noble cause that you are all committed to.”
- David Snow, CEO Medco Health Solution (b.1954)
Click here for a useful infographic titled “The 24 Most Inspirational Company Mission Statements”. Take a thorough look and then answer the following questions:
What similarities are there between these mission statements?
Explain to someone else in the class three reasons why these mission statement may be considered to be 'inspirational'?
ATL Activity 2 (Thinking skills) - School vision and mission statements
Define the meaning of a mission statement.
What is your school's vision and / or mission statement?
How well do you think it aligns with the mission statement of the International Baccalaureate (see below)?
"The International Baccalaureate® aims to develop inquiring, knowledgeable and caring young people who help to create a better and more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect. To this end the organization works with schools, governments and international organizations to develop challenging programmes of international education and rigorous assessment. These programmes encourage students across the world to become active, compassionate and lifelong learners who understand that other people, with their differences, can also be right."
A mission statement sets out the purpose, values, and beliefs of an IB World School (or any organization), thereby establishing the philosophy of the school in a simple and clear way to all stakeholders of the school, including teachers, parents, students, non-teaching staff, governors and the local community.
The school's mission and/or vision statement is likely to be available on the school's website - if it isn't, you could discuss why this might be the case.
In principle, all IB World Schools should align with the IB's mission statement stated above. Encourage students to discuss the extent to which their school's practices align with the IB's mission statement.
ATL Activity 3 (Research skills) - CUEGIS, Missions & Visions
"Vision without execution is daydreaming"
- Bill Gates (b.1955), Co-founder of Microsoft
For an organization of your choice, find the mission statement and/or vision statement.
Comment on the usefulness of the statement from the perspective of various stakeholders, such as employees, customers, managers, shareholders, suppliers, the government, and the local community.
Investigate the extent to which the organization is achieving its aims and/or organizational objectives.
How do the CUEGIS concepts fit into the organization's mission statements and/or vision statement.
Report your findings to the class.
It is extremely useful for students to consider the organization's vision, mission, aims and/or objectives when answering the CUEGIS essay (Paper 2, Section). After all, everything a business does in terms of its strategies, should align with the organization's vision and/or mission.
Students are not expected to recite their chosen organization's vision and/or mission statement, but outlining this in a clear and succinct way can be very useful in helping students to write their responses in the context of their chosen business organization. Choosing relatively straightforward examples could simply things for students. For instance, McDonald's vision statement is simply "to be our customers’ favourite place and way to eat and drink.”
Top tip!
For the CUEGIS essay, it is useful for students to know the vision or mission statement of the business organization being discussed. Students do not necessarily need to memorise the statement word for word, should be able to communicate the vision or mission of the organization. This is important because whichever of the 6 concepts are being discussed, students must write their answers in the context of what the business stands for and what its ultimate goal is, i.e. its vision and mission.
Return to the Unit 1.3 Organizational objectives homepage
Return to the Unit 1 Business organization and environment homepage
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