Unit 2. Corporate vision, mission, and image

Text 1. Company’s vision

Every company cannot avoid the answering the vital question: what is our company vision, what do we intend to achieve? While answering this question, top management must understand what character of business their company has and should have. By developing of strategic vision they should identify who they are; what they do and where they go, in order to direct the organizational course, to form the corporate unique vision and mission. In order not to mix up corporate vision and mission, they must know that vision speaks about what a company will be in five or ten years as a result of staff’s efforts and energy. Undoubtedly, any company corrects its activity in the course of time. The corporate vision includes:

- form of its business;

- basic direction of a strategy, in short;

- firm’s performance guiding lines, etc.

Vision Statement is sometimes called a picture of your company in the future but it’s so much more than that. Your vision statement is your inspiration, the framework for all your strategic planning. A vision statement may apply to an entire company or to a single division of that company. Whether for all or part of an organization, the vision statement answers the question, “Where do we want to go?”

What you are doing when creating a vision statement is articulating your dreams and hopes for your business. It reminds you of what you are trying to build.

While a vision statement doesn’t tell you how you’re going to get there, it does set the direction for your business planning. That’s why it’s important when crafting a vision statement to let your imagination go and dare to dream – and why it’s important that a vision statement captures your passion.

Unlike the mission statement, a vision statement is for you and the other members of your company, not for your customers or clients.

When writing a vision statement, your mission statement and your core competencies can be a valuable starting point for articulating your values. Be sure when you’re creating one not to fall into the trap of only thinking ahead a year or two. Once you have one, your vision statement will have a huge influence on decision making and the way you allocate resources.

. Examples: A vision statement for a company offering whale watching tours: Within the next five years, ZZZ Tours will become the premier eco-tour company in ________, increasing revenues to 1 million dollars in 2010 by becoming internationally known for the comfort and excitement of the whale-watching tours it offers.

Text 2. Company’s Mission

It is evidently that that mission formulation is desirable for any company because it determines what a company operates for.

Therefore, a company should realize its destination, in other words, formulate its mission. A firm of any kind runs its business executing the specific mission. In fact, mission is the destiny of a company, the main aim of its activity.

There are many kinds of mission, which are common to all the companies, but nevertheless, any company should work out its own mission and acquaint the staff and its consumers with it.

As it was mentioned above, company mission shows its role in the society and environment. In the extensive interpretation, mission is the philosophy and destiny of any organization; in the narrow interpretation – it is spirit of its existing.

Its components are as follows:

- product/service (What are they?)

- target customers (Who are they?)

- technology (Does a firm use the traditional or new technology?)

- competitive advantage (What is it in comparison to other competitors?)

- philosophy (What are the firm’s important values, strivings and principles of ethics?)

Company mission helps formulate a slogan, a company lives and operates with. “McDonald’s is a big family! It cares of its staff in and out the work!” (McDonald’s); “Quality is our life style!” (Philips Electronics); “We’re providing people with cheap vehicles!” (Ford).

It is known that slogan represents words that sell.

Mission is a useful tool, which realizes a system approach of company management to goals and objective. For example, mission can involve the aim-providing the individual clients with service of the highest quality.

As a rule, mission reflects two or three factors:

- unsatisfied market needs;

- potential customers;

- competitive advantage (e.g.: in product)

It is worth stating that corporate mission isn’t dogmatic; it can be reviewed if market changes require that.

Company can formulate its mission for three main purposes:

- to understand the business spheres a company works in;

- to explain its strategic vision;

- to determine the moment a company should change its strategic course.

Text  3. Objectives

Care is also needed to note that different firms have different objectives. The diversity of objectives depends upon a company mission. In the first place we have to name:

- survival for as long as possible;

- maintenance and increase in profits;

- increase in the market share and sales;

- long-term growth.

This is most likely that the increase in the market share and in sales volume is the basic objective to ensure the survival, growth and profitability. The firm with a large market share is competitive enough and has better long-term prospects. As it was said above, a company must elaborate its objectives, like the following:

- to improve the standard of living;

- to maintain a balance of payment positions;

- to achieve the reasonable price stability;

- to maintain reasonable full employment.

To gain the important place among the competitors, a firm must set the long-range and short-range goals.

There are seven key places where a firm usually puts its long-term goals: market position, innovations, marketing, production, finance, HR, management.

Any company has to meet changes and take into account a forecast on its future business. The most firms have a variety of objectives. While planning their activities, they should note the compatibility between the objectives and circumstances at a given point of time. The flexibility in decision-making is a preference. The objectives permit to have maximum productive capacity, change the demand and expenditure with regard to an individual consumer.

They must be concrete, measurable, planned, compatible and accessible.