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Introduction
Mission and vision statements are very important in business. Mission and vision statements constitute the most important drivers towards a companys goals. Despite of the importance of mission and vision statement, some managers fail to take time when preparing them. This leads to mission and visions that have little relevance to a company. With these mistakes in writing mission and vision statements, it is important for companies management to be able to summarize their companies mission and vision in objective mission and vision statement. Writing good mission and vision statements is not easy; it requires ability to capture companys goals, values and inspirations in term to of brief statements. Some criteria are necessary for writing good vision and mission statements.
Overview
The difference between the mission and vision statement is not easy to separate. However, a mission statement is a brief statement that states the purpose a company or a firm. Vision statement, on the other hands, refers to a statement that summarizes a companys aspiration in the future. Mission statements define the goals of the company, day-to-day activities of the company and provide course of the company. Vision statement is conceived as the picture of a company in the future (Berry, 2007, par 2). It summarizes how a company would appear in the future and give aspirations towards the picture.
Criteria for a Mission Statement
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Mission statement should capture the objectives of the company
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Mission statement show the difference of a company from other companies
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Mission statement should define the business in which a company is in
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Mission statement should be applicable to all stakeholders in the company
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A mission statement should be interesting and motivation
Criteria for a Vision Statement
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A vision statement should convey how a company would look in the future
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It should invoke the long-term aspirations of shareholders as well as customers
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A mission statement should be practical a obtainable
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It should inspires the company toward it
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Should be provides guidance to major decisions by the company
Writing mission statement for a company is one of the most important steps when starting a company. The mission statement gives a brief summary of the actual business that the company is involved, the objectives of the company and the values that lead to those goals. Objectives of the company are the goals that a company aims at attaining. Defining the objectives of a company is very important in determining the direction of a company (Berry, 2007, par 3). Without well-formulated objective, a company may not be able to evaluate itself on whether it heading towards the goals. Since objectives may be many and not easy to remember, a mission statement summarizes them in terms that motivate toward them.
Each company is different from other companies in one way or the other. It is the role of a mission statement to define the company and differentiates it from other companies. Without mission statement, a company may be placed in a dilemma where it cannot differentiate itself from other companies (Berry, 2007, par 4). The clear difference brought out by the mission statement helps a company to focus its resources to its area of business, identify competitor and be able to make decision on business strategies.
The mission statement should unify all stakeholder of a company. The objectives and direction of a company brought out in the mission statement help to unify all department, investors and employees toward the mission (Berry, 2007, par 3). A part from defining a company, set out objectives and differentiate a company from other companies, a mission statement should be motivating. Attaining objectives of a company requires enthusiasm that can be developed in a mission statement.
Vision statement constitutes the vision of a company, the place where the company wants to be in the future. Writing a vision statement may seem to be easy but this is not the case (Fvbkcpa.com, 2004, par 1). A vision statement should grasp how a company would appear in the future. It captures a picture of the company after it has achieved its objectives. Thus, the vision statement should capture the long-term objectives of companys stakeholders and customers.
A vision statement should be able to inspire the company toward the vision captured. For this reason, the words used in a vision statement should be well chosen to capture and propagate the spirit of the company. Although there is need for inspiration, a vision statement should be realistic (Fvbkcpa.com, 2004, par 2).
Both mission and vision statement defines a company and inspire the stakeholders toward its goals. Both of them also set up the spirit of a company and are important for decision-making. The criteria for a vision statement differs from those for mission statement in that criteria for vision statement focus on the future while those for mission statement focus of day-to-day business of a company.
Conclusion
Mission and vision statement are essential for every company. However, mission and vision statements are not an end by themselves but should capture the spirit, value and give guidance towards a companys objectives and vision. Some companies mission and vision statement fail to offer the intended roles. In such a case, it is important for mission and vision statements to be re-stated.
Reference List
Berry, T. (2007). Writing a Mission Statement.
Fvbkcpa.com. (2004). A checklist for your vision statement. Web.
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