Steps in Creating an Effective Mission Statement - Research Paper Example

? Developing a Mission ment AFFILIATION: Contents Contents 2 Defining a Mission ment 3 What the Mission Statement Should Portray? 4 The Three Important Questions 4 Steps in Creating an Effective Mission Statement 6 Ways to Make a Better Mission Statement 7 Conclusion 8 References 8 Developing a Mission Statement Defining a Mission Statement A mission statement is a statement that expresses the reason of existence of a company to its stakeholders and the entire world. The aim of a business is profit maximization and creating value for its shareholders, but the mission statement is something for the beginning rather than the end (Bart, 2008). To make a business successful, it needs to have a mission that is comprehensive and clear, which connects with the public and conveys why they should conduct business with the company. The mission statement should portray the vision of the company of how the clients should be seeing it. Generally, mission statements include a business statement, a statement of purpose and signs of the values of the business. The statement of purpose clearly states what the purpose of the company is. For example, a generator company’s purpose is manufacturing of generators. The business statement defines how those generators will be manufactured. The portion of the statement related to values tells us of the common values that are shared all through the company and how these shared values contribute towards the manufactured product. A mission statement is said to be ideal when it is inspirational for the employees. The employees should build upon a good morale and commitment level with the firm after reading the mission statement of the organization. The statement provides a certain direction for the staff as the purpose of their work is highlighted and they can particularly see their own contribution in the value chain. The mission statement should be such from which each employee can personally look at what is his role in the success of the firm (Bart, 2008). A mission statement is a primary instrument that can be as significant as the business proposal. It summarizes, in a few brief sentences, the fundamental nature of the business objectives and the ideas lying beneath the business proposal (Ireland & Hitt, 2007). Likewise, the mission statement indicates what the business is all about to the buyers, employees, sellers and the society. What the Mission Statement Should Portray? The mission statement portrays every aspect of the business: the variety and quality of the products you sell, cost and price, service, its position in the market, capacity for growth, application and usage of technology, and the rapports you have with the buyers, workers, suppliers, rivals and the community. The mission statement should exhibit the special function of the business. Although, examining the mission statements of other companies can stimulate the imagination and creativity (Peyrefitte & David, 2006). The mission statement should be a brief account of the business plan, created from the viewpoint of the customer and should be compatible with the goal of the business (Williams, 2008). The Three Important Questions The mission statement should answer three questions: 1) What do we do? This query should not be responded to with respect to what is actually supplied to the users, but by the emotional desires that are satisfied when consumers purchase the products or services. Consumers’ decision-making process is backed by several reasons that include cost-effectiveness, logistics, and emotions. 2) How do we do it? This query deals with the technological aspects of the business. The response should include the physical product or service and how it is put up for sale, advertised and supplied to users, as well as the customer desires it satisfies when they purchase it. 3) For whom do we do it? The response to this question is also crucial, as it will facilitate in focusing the advertising efforts. Although many minor business dealers would like to believe otherwise, not every customer is the correct customer, as customers will always have both demographic and geographic restrictions. When initiating the business, it is usually a better idea to explain the demographic features (age, income, etc.) of the potential buyers then define a geographic location in which the business can achieve its presence. As you expand, you can include new groups of buyers and increase the geographic circle. A further consideration with mission statements is that several businesses will have numerous customer groups that buy the products and services for various reasons. In such situations, one mission statement can be written to respond to each of the three questions for every group of buyer or several mission statements can be created. Moreover, as a concluding thought, keep in mind that the vision and mission statements are developed to direct the business towards the right path, not to restrict one into a specific direction. As the firm expands and as the cut throat environment alters, the objective may alter as well in order to fulfill various additional requirements, supplying procedure, and buyer groups (Marzec, 2007). Keeping this in mind, the vision and mission should be revised from time to time to see whether any alterations are required. Steps in Creating an Effective Mission Statement Three steps are involved in creating an effective mission statement: create it, communicate it, and incorporate it into the business's environment. 1) Create It. A mission statement should be brief so that individuals outside of the organization are able to comprehend it. The first and foremost thing a business owner should do to develop a mission statement is to make a team of individuals. Coming up with a mission statement all by one self is risky, in its place, hire workers, supervisors, and even customers to assist in creating the statement. Afterwards, the team must set up the requirements and evaluate the potential that the business possesses. This way a goal for the business will be created, which becomes its major focus. The step after this will be to decide how the firm will fulfill these requirements. In this situation, explain the undertakings that the business takes part in each day. Subsequently, the firm’s attitude and characteristics also need to be considered. Eventually, all these primary elements need to be integrated in order to develop an effective mission statement. Once all these important elements are collected, the mission statement will be created. 2) Communicate It. In order to maintain the effectiveness of the mission statement, it must be communicated every day, all the way through the business. Hence, every member of the staff should carefully comprehend the mission statement, their respective positions and specific responsibilities that they possess in practically executing it. Provide strong reminders of the mission statement the entire day, to effectively communicate it to the business. This may include printing it on the employee accessories like cups, t-shirts or pens, covering it in the employee orientation and training programs, or even writing it on employee newsletter (Ireland & Hitt, 2007). 3) Incorporate it. Including the mission statement into the business environment goes side by side with communicating it to the workers. The mission statement requires practical incorporation into the business procedures that comprise of the company's customs (including setting of the objective, marketing schemes and recruiting). Emphasize the significance of the mission statement all day long until it becomes a routine habit for all employees to follow it. Ways to Make a Better Mission Statement Here are some tips to make the mission statement even better (Glasrud, 2001): Involve all those who are associated with the business: More the number of ideas the better as others can see the strengths and weaknesses, which you may not see. Brainstorm: jot down ideas and make individual mission statements. Once you are done with it, read all the statements, choose the best fits and put them together. Use words that are joyful and radiant: after getting the basic idea, improve on the language of the mission statement and in order to add zest to the statement, use radiant words. Once you are done with the mission statement, start spreading it in the organization and amongst the employees and stakeholder. It is necessary to spread it so that everyone knows what direction you are heading in and why. The mission statement should be explicitly mentioned in the annual reports and online business website so that whoever comes across the organization's information views the mission statement. By reading the mission statement, the concerned person would learn what the business is all about and what it hopes to accomplish via its business activities. Conclusion Developing an effective mission statement requires the management to put in a lot of time, thinking and planning. The mission statement is a well constructed statement keeping in view the factors discussed above. Nevertheless, that effort is worth it. The entrepreneurs who have just started a business find that crafting the mission statement is as important as the final statement. The mission statement reflects upon the crux of the business operations and the message it delivers to its stakeholders and valuable customer. Development of mission statements were not given its due importance in previous times, but now if we observe, all around the world, big or small types of organizations, everyone has a mission statement to work upon in the business. References Bart, C. (2008). A comparison of mission statements and their rationales in innovative and non-innovative firms. International Journal of Technology Management, 64-77. Glasrud, B. (2001). Your Mission Statement Has a Mission. Nonprofit World,19(5), 36-37. Society for Nonprofit Organization.  Ireland, R. D., & Hitt, M. A. (2007). Mission Statements: Importance, Challenge, and Recommendations for Development. Business Horizons, 34-42. Marzec, M. (2007). Telling the corporate story: vision into action. Journal of Business Strategy, 26-36. Peyrefitte, J., & David, F. R. (2006). A content analysis of the mission statements of United States firms in four industries. International Journal of Management, 296-301. Williams, L. S. (2008). The Mission Statement: A Corporate Reporting Tool With a Past, Present, and Future. Journal of Business Communication, 94-119. Read More