"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). It is, therefore, a written declaration that normally remains unchanged over time.

• 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.

Examples of mission and vision statements

“The most pathetic person in the world is someone who has sight but no vision.”
- Helen Keller (1880 - 1968), American author, the first deafblind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree

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 the following reasons:

• Being too vague, so therefore are rather meaningless and / or difficult to measure.

• Being based on public relations (i.e., to make the organization "look good" - what the business aspires to and what it actually does on a regular basis may not align.

• Being unquantifiable - mission and vision statements are not concerned with quantifiable goals but simply outline the aspirational purpose of an organization’s existence.

• 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.

 Exam Practice Question

Distinguish between a vision statement and a mission statement.  [4 marks]

 Teacher only box

Answer

A vision statement is an inspiring statement that provides all stakeholders with information about the organization’s purpose, its values, and what it strives to achieve in the distant future. It focuses on tomorrow (the very long-term) and what the organization wants to ultimately become.

By contrast, a mission statement is a more quantifiable and tangible statement of what the business wants to do or achieve every day. The mission statement portrays what the business is about, whereas the vision statement is about where the business is heading towards. It focuses on today and now, and what the organization does to achieve this.

Award [1 – 2 marks] for an answer that shows some understanding of the demands of the question, showing basic knowledge of the difference between vision and mission statements.

Award [3 – 4 marks] for an answer that shows good understanding of the demands of the question, showing good knowledge of the difference between vision and mission statements, similar to the example answer above.