Effective mission and vision statement Essay

For any company, it is important to have a clear and effective mission and vision statement. Vision statement is destined to answer the question “What do we want to become” for the company, and the mission statement should answer the question “What is our business?” (David, 2011). Furthermore, according to Fred David (2011), there are several essential characteristics of a mission statement:
It should be reasonably broad in order to provide a space for generating and selecting managerial alternatives
It should have a reconciliatory nature in order to balance the interests of the organization’s diverse stakeholders
It should be 250 words or less
It should create positive associations with the organization
It should be enduring
It should generate a favorable impression about the organization
It should be useful for developing strategies and opportunities
The questions which should be answered by the mission statement can also be classified. There are 9 essential components (and related questions) which should be covered by the mission statement (David, 2011):
Customers (Who are the customers of the organization?)
Products/services (What are the major products/services of the organization?)
Markets (Where does the organization compete geographically?)
Technology (Is the organization aligned with modern technology?)
Survival, growth and profitability issues (For commercial organizations: Is the organization committed to growth and profitability? For non-commercial organizations: Is the organization financially sound?)
Philosophy (What are the basic beliefs, aspirations, values and priorities of the organization?)
Self-concept (What are the organization’s competitive advantages or distinctive competences?)
Public image concerns (Is the organization socially and environmentally responsible?)
Concern for employees (Are employees a valuable asset for the organization?)
The mission statement of a non-governmental organization, ACF International, where I would like to work is the following: “Our mission is to save lives by eliminating hunger through the prevention, detection and treatment of malnutrition, especially during and after emergency situations of conflict, war and natural disaster. From crisis to sustainability, we tackle the underlying causes of malnutrition and its effects. ACF international implements programs that help families, villages, and entire communities regain self-sufficiency. By integrating our programs with local and national systems we further ensure that short-term interventions become long-term solutions”. Let us perform the analysis of this mission statement using the criteria described by Fred David in “Strategic Management”.
From the perspective of mission statement characteristics, this mission statement is correct: it provides enough information for developing opportunities and choosing between managerial alternatives (this is specifically implemented in the phrase “By integrating our programs with local and national systems we further ensure that short-term interventions become long-term solutions”). However, the organization mentions a list of emergency situations (conflict, war and natural disaster) which narrow down the choices. It is recommended to use a more broad formulation in this case, e.g. simply “emergency situations”.
The statement mentions the interests of various stakeholders (“families, villages, and entire communities”, “local and national systems”) and maintain a certain reconciliation between the existing groups of stakeholders. The mission statement of ACF International does create favorable impression of the organization, but the statement lacks positive associations with the organization (a lot of negative terms are used together – malnutrition, conflict, war, natural disaster – without proper positive terms to balance them). The statement is 74 words long, and is enduring, so from the perspective of essential mission characteristics, only the lack of positive lexicon can be considered as a disadvantage of this mission statement.
Let us trace the presence of 9 components of a successful mission statement in this mission. The “customers” (in case of a non-profit organization, these are rather the participants or target group) are not explicitly mentioned in the statement. It should be included into the statement that worldwide elimination of hunger is meant (since the organization is International). The services are explained correctly (prevention, detection and treatment of malnutrition). Geographical scope is not mentioned, and adding a “worldwide” adjective in the statement can help to improve the situation. Technology is not mentioned, and a search over the website of ACF International shows that the company is using latest technological achievements to unite its efforts against hunger. This should be definitely mentioned in the statement. The survival (financial) issues are not mentioned; however, for nonprofit organizations this part can be omitted from the statement or mentioned only briefly, since the main purpose of NGOs is not related to financial success. The website of ACF International lists cost-effectiveness as one of the key characteristics of their programs, and it is worth mentioning in the statement. The values are also not explicitly stated I the mission statement; such values as life, health and independence of people across the world can be included into the statement. Priorities of the organization are explained quite successfully in the mission statement. The self-concept is also successfully revealed by the last phrase; however, the website shows that there are more specific characteristics of the ACF solutions, such as comprehensive, fully accountable, independent and transparent solutions. These features are worth to be included as part of the organization’s self-concept. Public image of the organization is perfectly shaped by the whole mission (and will also be strengthened by mentioning cost-effectiveness and sustainability of the ACF initiatives). The concern for employees is not present in the mission statement, and this is not good, because for nonprofit organizations the commitment and purposefulness of the employees is even ore important than for commercial organizations, so this component should necessarily be added.
Taking into account all the above-mentioned improvements, it is possible to recommend the following updated mission statement for ACF International:
ACF International pursues a life-saving mission of eliminating hunger and benefiting people in need worldwide through the prevention, detection and treatment of malnutrition, especially during and after emergency situations. From crisis to sustainability, we tackle the underlying causes of malnutrition and its effects using the latest technological achievements. ACF international implements programs that help families, villages, and entire communities worldwide regain self-sufficiency. Our 4600+ committed professionals from around the globe develop highly cost-effective, comprehensive, fully accountable, independent and transparent solutions. By integrating our programs with local and national systems we further ensure that short-term interventions become long-term solutions.