Mission statement
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A mission statement outlines a company’s underlying motivation for being in business. It spells out the contribution to society that the organization aspires to make. However, the mission statement is not a strategic objective, but rather the basis on which the strategic objectives are developed. This ensures that the company’s goals derive from the basis on which the company was founded.
Not everyone agrees with the value of a mission statement. And many companies do well enough without one. However, we believe that creating a mission statement is an important task for start-ups. A well-formulated mission statement can form the nucleus of the start-up by identifying what unites the stakeholders (i.e., customers, shareholders and employees).
Where the mission statement fits with other company statements
The mission statement appears at the first level in the hierarchy of company statements:
- Mission: why we exist
- Values: what we believe in and how we will behave
- Vision: what we want to be
- Strategy: what our competitive game plan will be
- Balanced scorecard: how we will monitor and implement that plan
A mission statement serves as a guiding light for the company when creating the various company statements, although it is the least specific directive. It describes a company’s objective, which is the first element in the company’s strategy statement. The objective is a definition of the ends that the mission (or strategy) is designed to achieve.
Building the mission statement
The mission statement may include corporate values (e.g., environmental policies, employee policies) to create a positive sense of identity. It can be based upon strategic elements (e.g., product definition, market definition). The mission statement may provide employees, customers and corporate stakeholders with a business definition to establish a sense of purpose, identity and commitment.
Do not create a mission statement that says nothing unique about your company or products. A generic mission statement serves no purpose. According to Guy Kawasaki, avoiding overused expressions that contain words such as“best,”“communities,”“customers,”“excellence,”“leader” and“quality” will make it easier to create a unique mission statement.
A mission statement may be as brief as one sentence or several pages long. Use the following questions to help you frame a mission statement:
- What business are we in? What (generic) needs are we serving?
- What type of organization is this?
- Why do we exist?
- How do we serve customers?
- What is the scope of our business? What markets do we (and don’t we) occupy?
- What assets and skills do we bring to the market?
- How do we believe that market will grow and develop in the future?
References
Kawasaki, G. (2004).The Art of the Start. London: Penguin Group.
Collis, D.J., and Rukstad, M.G. (2008, April). Can You Say What Your Strategy Is?Harvard Business Review, 1-10.
Aaker, D.A. (2001).Developing Business Strategies. New York: John Wiley& Sons.
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