Mission of the wholesale enterprise. Mission and goals of the organization
Mission of the organization
The mission of an industrial enterprise should be to overcome poverty, to eliminate the suffering of society as a whole, to make people rich.
Konosuke Matsushita
Usually the mission is formulated in two versions. Short version mission represents 1-2 short sentences- a brand slogan of the organization, aimed primarily at creating the image of the organization in society.
Most mission statements contain Right words things like “people are our most important asset,” “we will be the best at what we do,” “our goal is to exceed expectations,” “our goal is to provide above-average returns to shareholders.” The “lazy” way to state a mission statement is to just put it all together in any order.
Philip Kotler "Marketing from A to Z. 80 concepts every manager should know"
The second - extended version of the mission is most often formulated for internal use and must detail all necessary aspects of the mission, including:
- the purpose of the organization's functioning,
- area of activity of the organization,
- philosophy of the organization,
- methods for achieving goals,
- methods of interaction between an organization and society ( social politics organization).
A correctly defined mission, although it always has a general philosophical meaning, nevertheless necessarily contains something that makes it unique in its kind, characterizing precisely the organization in which it was developed.
Mission is a central, but not the only element of the hierarchy of organizational goals. The concept of “mission” is closely related to the concepts of “vision”, “values”, “goals”, “performance indicators”, “target indicators”, “key success factors”, “competencies”. All these concepts are formulated on the basis of the mission.
Story
The fundamental difference between a mission and a vision is that a mission reveals a course of action, shows how certain goals or visions are achieved. Vision, in turn, is a picture of the future, how ideal the state of affairs seems to be to which the company strives.
Vision is rather subject to change, as new ideals and new ideas emerge over time. The mission is a relatively constant element, although it can also be adjusted taking into account changes in various factors.
see also
Notes
Literature
- John Kotter Matsushita's leadership. Lessons from an outstanding entrepreneur of the 20th century. - M.: "Alpina Publisher", 2011. - 256 p. - ISBN 978-5-9614-1573-5
- Philip Kotler Marketing Insights from A to Z: 80 Concepts Every Manager Needs to Know. - M.: “Alpina Publisher”, 2012. - 216 p. - ISBN 978-5-9614-1943-6
Links
- Mission is the fundamental regulation of the company Article from the series “Business Engineering Methodology”
- Christopher K. Bart. Sex, Lies and Mission Statements. Business Horizons, pp. 9-18, November-December 1997 (English)
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
See what “Organization Mission” is in other dictionaries:
The philosophy and purpose of the organization, the meaning of its existence in the market, the difference between the organization and other organizations. An organization's philosophy defines its culture and social values. The purpose of the organization is characterized by goals and... ... Dictionary of business terms
MISSION OF THE ORGANIZATION- the global goal for which the organization is organized and exists, the meaning of existence; basic internal factor, which defines all the tasks that are set for the company’s management... Dictionary of career guidance and psychological support
This article should be Wikified. Please format it according to the article formatting rules. Mission (from Latin miss, mitto send ... Wikipedia
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UNESCO World Heritage Site No. 529 Rus. English fr ... Wikipedia
Bank mission- – the highest goal for which the credit organization was created and operates. We can say that this is the goal for which it is planned to achieve all other goals, both short-term and long-term. A mission in the broadest sense of the word can be... ... Banking Encyclopedia
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Books
- Mission "North Atlantic Alliance", A.V. Zobnin. This book will be produced in accordance with your order using Print-on-Demand technology. The book is devoted to studying the process of formation of the Atlantic component of foreign policy...
There are many interpretations of the concept corporate mission– the meaning of existence, the main goal of activity; some higher purpose; expression of the social significance of the activity; the role the company intends to play in the market; high-quality business content, a businessman’s attempt to find the meaning of his professional activity; justification of the organization's non-financial goals.
We dare to add our own definition of mission to this collection.
- Mission (organization, project, institution etc.) - an expression of one’s ability and intentions to satisfy or create socially significant and ethically acceptable needs (demands) of humanity, groups of people (territories, states, peoples, communities, enterprises) and individuals.
And if we get rid of unnecessary complexity, let's say it even simpler:
- COMPANY MISSION is the social benefit that the company intends to bring (or is already bringing) to others.
CORPORATE MISSION GOALS
The mission shows how the company’s products (goods, services, relationships) form and enhance qualitative changes in the everyday life of the consumer and in the worldview of society.That is, the mission should be directed outward, toward society, outside the company, and not toward the company and its stakeholders. This is precisely the main criterion when understanding whether the mission is before your eyes or an attempt to justify the purely material interests of the business. A striking negative example of this is the mission of today's Russian banks and insurance companies, most of which have simply forgotten about the interests of the client.
The objectives of the mission of modern Russian business acceptable to society may be:
- the formation of a new quality of life that summarizes the consumer properties of the company’s products;
- the desire to improve the already formed quality of life and expand its distribution;
- creating values of a higher level of significance for society than the resources expended;
- qualitative changes in the company itself, as a result of the emergence and mobilization of additional resources and a new attitude towards the world;
- increased adaptation of the company to market requirements and its integration into the global community.
There are many opinions about what the content of an organization's mission should be.
The so-called four-pronged approach involves taking into account the following aspects in the mission statement:
- market (products, strategies, competition, enterprise goals, markets),
- social (taking into account the interests of business participants, social groups, mentions of corporate philosophy, culture),
- private (business success from the point of view of the personal interests of the owners),
- qualitative (the desire of business to change the conditions, quality of life of society, properties of the social environment).
Another approach advises taking into account the main strategic goals facing any company in any market, and voicing business priorities regarding each of them:
- public (contribution to the local community, solving specific public problems),
- consumer (satisfying customer requests, taking into account the needs of suppliers and partners),
- administrative-territorial (satisfying the requests of a specific system within the structure of which the company operates),
- entrepreneurial (satisfying the needs of participants and co-owners).
And, for example, on the website of one domestic state university it is stated that “The content of the organization’s mission is:
1) philosophy (basic views, principles and values, system of motives);
2) description of the scope of activity, product of the organization;
3) goals of the organization (current and strategic);
4) characteristics of potential and technologies;
5) description of the internal concept, strengths organization, its competitive advantages, development prospects;
6) characteristics of the market where the organization operates;
7) description external image(image) of the organization."
So it’s not clear whether to believe this or smile.
It is up to you to decide which method your company will use to formulate its business mission. Let us add: contrary to some authors, we do not believe that the “Company Mission” is a document “the provisions of which must be followed.” You need to know the mission of the company, it is advisable to share it, be guided by it, follow it, but fulfill its provisions..? It is difficult to agree that a mission is “a corporate ideology, the values of which the company’s employees correspond to, and the philosophy of which is reflected in their work” (the quote is real). A mission is just a mission.
A well-formulated mission of the organization does not require additional explanations or additions, and does not contain any nested, expanding interpretations or provisions. It is a full-fledged, independent document, logically included in a set of documents under the general name “Company Ideology”.
MISSION DEVELOPMENT
Of course, it is hardly possible to “develop” a mission. Realize, formulate - yes. We agree that every legal entity has a purpose (mission, meaning of existence), regardless of its awareness. The process of realizing the mission can occur gradually, or maybe explosively - with insight.In the context of small and medium-sized businesses, the mission of the organization almost always contains the energy and philosophy of the owners and founders. Without their participation, a full-blooded mission rarely appears.
There are many approaches to developing a mission.
MISSION DESCRIPTION REQUIREMENTS
- The mission of the enterprise really answers many questions (why? who? what? how? why? by what means? in the name of what?), but does it as succinctly, simply and concisely as possible.
- The mission statement should exclude the possibility of discrepancies, but at the same time leave room for creative and flexible development of the company.
- Mission drafts can be of any size. The final text is 1-2-3 sentences. Such a brief mission of the enterprise is especially well understood, remembered and easily retold. However, if you like to see smiles on the faces of your customers, you can write your corporate mission on the page.
- The simplicity of the mission lies in the logic of presentation. Do not make a verbal mess out of the text of the enterprise’s mission, do not introduce into the mission statement elements of vision, strategic goals, a detailed description of services, philosophy, descriptions of areas of responsibility - all those provisions whose place is separate, independent text documents.
- The “Company Mission” document should not begin with the words “The company’s philosophy is to ensure consistency between its own goals and the long-term interests of society.” Why mix everything together? The mission text is not the place for the concepts of “vision”, “goals”, “objectives”, “values”, “policies”, “principles”, “philosophy”, “strategy”. For them - other documents.
- From the text of the mission it should be clear without prompting what the business is doing (industry, direction of development, type of services) and why it is doing it.
- Don't be afraid of beautiful text as long as it conveys the mission concepts correctly. Use rare, colorful words and phrases, but avoid random unpleasant associations.
- Shorten the distance, get closer to the consumer. Just call the company "We".
- Do not mention material gain in the mission (exception - financial market players, banks). The money you make is not what your business will be famous for for centuries.
- Avoid the dominance of obscure terms, such words and phrases worn out to the point of meaninglessness, such as “customer focus”, “social partnership”, “maximum benefits at the minimum price”, “mutually beneficial cooperation”, “business development and improvement”, “we value our clients”. Don't make your competitors laugh with such platitudes.
- Make the mission statement active rather than passively observant. The best verb for a business mission is in the present tense.
- It doesn’t matter that many corporate mission statements begin similarly: we do..., we teach..., we improve..., we care..., we help..., we solve..., we develop..., we provide..., we improve..., we we contribute.., we provide.., we feed.., we give.., we serve. The main difference is in the sense of the words that follow.
- The company's mission statement should not be fabulous, inflated, unrealistic, wretched, clumsy, forced, so as not to generate a smile and doubts about the sanity of its authors. Nothing is better than a funny mission.
- A competent mission text is like blank verse: full of meaning, elegant and laconic. Misprints, typos and missing punctuation marks in the organization’s replicated mission are an indicator of its careless attitude towards own business and a severe blow to the image. Editing the mission text is mandatory.
FORMULATE A MISSION company you can independently or with the help of bureau specialists PUNCTUATION MARKS.EXAMPLES OF MISSIONS OF RUSSIAN COMPANIES,
formulated, from our point of view, very briefly, weightily and meaningfully.Gazprom's mission– the most efficient and balanced gas supply to Russian consumers, implementation with high degree reliability of long-term gas export contracts.
Mission transport company Aeroflot is the most complete and safe provision of one of the fundamental human freedoms - freedom of movement.
Mission of the group of companies GAS. Produce commercial automotive equipment, guaranteeing the client benefits from the purchase thanks to uncompromising quality and reliable, impeccable service, ensured by the highest competence of personnel, partner suppliers, innovations in production and products.
Brewing company mission Baltika. We create quality product, which gives people the joy of communication, makes their lives brighter and more interesting.
MegaFon Mission. MegaFon will unite Russia by breaking down barriers and developing communications to become everyone's obvious choice.
Bank mission(Rosselkhozbank). Ensuring affordable, high-quality and effective satisfaction of the needs of agricultural producers and the rural population Russian Federation in banking products and services, full assistance in the formation and functioning of a modern national credit and financial system of the agro-industrial sector of Russia, support for the development of the agro-industrial complex and rural areas Russian Federation.
Russian Mission Insurance company– provide comprehensive protection, confidence and harmony in life for those who strive for the best!
Mission of beauty salons and stylish clothes ELITE: We decorate people's lives, make important events in their lives more vivid and memorable, providing beautiful outfits for any holidays, celebrations and ceremonies, quality services for creating an image and style. Feedback on creating a mission
Agency mission ROPECHAT – to be a link between publishers and readers.
Restaurant mission Indian cuisine Orissa: combine Indian cuisine - one of the most delicious and ancient - with European culture of service against the backdrop of interiors in the style of oriental palaces and baroque.
Insurance company mission MOSCOVIIA - to promote the growth of insurance coverage for every citizen of Russia, actively support the insurance coverage of domestic businesses, ensure the growth of the national economy, promote social economic development, ensure reliability, high quality of services, and contribute to strengthening the country’s financial system.
Hotel mission PUNCTION SIGNS (working version) – to provide high-quality, modern, comfortable accommodation that will help city guests better appreciate the beauty, cultural and business activity of St. Petersburg.
Mission construction company METALLINE: We are building modern residential and office buildings in Yekaterinburg - creating comfortable living and business conditions, thereby ensuring the economic development of the region, the company and the well-being of its employees.
Stores mission Castorama is to help buyers make their homes more perfect and comfortable, transform the labor-intensive and costly process of repair and arrangement into an interesting hobby that is accessible to everyone.
Stores mission TERVOLINA: High-quality, comfortable shoes and excellent service - for every customer!
Travel agency mission SOLAR SAIL – development of water tourism in the North-West region of Russia.
Mission automotive plant URAL – meeting the needs of society for vehicles with a gross weight of 12 to 44 tons and creating conditions for maintaining the performance of vehicles during operation.
Mission plant container products – provide industrial enterprises Russia and the CIS countries provide modern packaging solutions, thereby contributing to their economic growth, as well as the development of the industrial packaging industry as a whole.
Mission educational institutions (kindergarten KROKHA) - creating conditions that reveal the child’s individuality and contribute to the formation of competencies that will ensure his success today and in the future.
This article outlines the basic elements of a unique methodology described in detail by the author in A Practical Guide to Creating an Organizational Mission.
For now, many managers view the company’s mission as a kind of decoration of the corporate façade, although not necessary. But times are changing...
For what?
More and more people are asking the question: “Why?” Why do they go to work? Why do they earn money? Why do they live on this planet?
“Loss of meaning in life is the main problem modern society, everything else follows from it,” said the outstanding psychologist Viktor Frankl.
Humanity is growing up and realizing that modern man lives in conditions of civilized slavery. The value system of the consumer society imposed on him turns him into a slave of corporations promoting their goods. Spending most of their lives at work, people fall under the control of the corporate machine, which imposes its goals on them, strictly regulates their activities and stimulates activity with “carrots and sticks”. A huge number of people produce what they can do without and acquire what they do not need, depleting the planet's resources and aimlessly wasting their most valuable resource - the time allotted to them to live.
The era of mindless consumption and irresponsible capitalism is ending. We are living in a period of paradigm shift and will undoubtedly become participants in profound, global shifts in the life of society. The question “Why?” is becoming more acute and taking hold of the consciousness of more and more people.
It is from the need of people to understand the meaning of their life and work that the need arises to determine the meaning of the organization’s activities. After all, employees working together must have some common meaning as the basis for their coordinated actions. They all build one “temple”. But which one?
What is a mission?
The organization answers the question “Why?” a mission statement, communicating what purpose it serves and what it wants to change in the outside world.
Why does the organization exist? It is generally accepted that to make money for shareholders. But this point of view puts the cart before the horse. After all, in order to receive money, you need to do something useful for people. This is what you need to think about first. People knew about this back in the days of the Old Testament, where it is said: “Do what people need, and you will find your daily bread, clothing and a roof over your head.”
When thinking about the mission, you need to remember that the company is part of a global social system, and therefore the meaning of its activities must be sought in the values that it creates for humanity, for the country, for a sector of the economy or for the local community. Making a profit, although one of the most important goals of a business, cannot be the meaning of its existence. The meaning lies outside the company, in the changes it makes in the world around it.
In connection with the above considerations, the most meaningful and precise definition mission, in our opinion, is the following.
Mission is the purpose of the company, the meaning of its activities for society, the ideal to which it strives.
Can a company exist without a mission? Without a doubt. After all, most companies either have a formal mission statement or don’t have one at all.
But this means that the employees of such companies do not have a common goal that unites everyone and do not understand the meaning of their work. For them, the company is just a place to make money. Their dreams, hobbies, real life, are outside of their work. From the point of view of business interests, this means that the company uses the potential of human resources by no more than 10%, since each employee gives the company exactly as much energy and intellectual capital as is needed to formally perform job duties, and leaves most of his potential for what really matters to him. These losses of human energy are the main reason for the low efficiency of most companies and, at the same time, a colossal resource for increasing labor productivity and business profitability.
Leaders and company executives who have managed to captivate people with their dreams, show them the meaning of their work and life, achieve high employee engagement and discover previously inaccessible reserves of human energy. The cauldron of business, once fueled by coal, is switching to nuclear fuel. This result is achieved by answering a simple and at the same time very difficult question: “Why?” The answer to this should be given by the company's mission.
A practical guide to creating an organization's mission contains texts from more than a hundred missions of Russian and foreign companies.
What should the mission contain?
The “science of happiness” - positive psychology - states that a person feels happy when he reaches new heights of excellence in his work and has a high, alluring goal in front of him. At the same time, a person’s life is filled with meaning, and work is perceived as a reward, since it contributes to the achievement of the goal and at the same time develops his skill, pushing the boundaries of the possible, increasing his power over the world of ideas and things.
If there is skill and passion in a company's mission, then from this alloy the keys to the happiness of the organization's employees can be forged. Let's see what this alloy is formed from.
- Determine the value that the company creates for society, indicate where its excellence is demonstrated;
- Identify the company by defining its distinctive features; The mission statement should clearly communicate who “we” are, how we are different from others, and what makes us proud to belong to the organization.
- Set a high level of goals, determine the changes that the company seeks to make in the world around them; A passionate desire to make the world a better place provides an inexhaustible source of energy to move an organization towards an inspiring goal.
- The mission should be short and expressive so that every employee of the company can remember and pronounce it.
A short mission statement is absolutely necessary, but it has its drawbacks, since it is extremely difficult to express in a few words the ideas that the organization seeks to convey to the outside world. Therefore, we recommend writing a detailed mission statement in addition to a short statement. This allows you to combine contradictory requirements - brevity and meaningfulness of the message.
What should not be in a mission?
The mission must not contain any of the following:
- Strive for high profitability;
- Provide shareholders with large dividends;
- Increase the value of the company;
- Become a market leader.
Talking about profit as the highest purpose of a company's existence is like saying that the purpose of human life is to breathe. Profit is a necessary condition for the prosperous existence of a company (like breathing for a person), but the meaning of its activities is not this at all, but rather the satisfaction of some significant social needs, the service of which, in essence, brings profit to the company.
Profitability and the other desires listed here can be, and most often are, strategic goals for many companies. But they don't define purpose company, the value it creates for society as part of the global system.
How to evaluate the mission text?
The mission must meet certain requirements, and therefore evaluation based on the principle of “like or dislike” is completely insufficient.
Our assessment method includes four criteria:
- Brevity and expressiveness of the mission text;
- Clarity in defining the value of what the company does for society;
- Uniqueness – the presence of distinct features that identify the company;
- Ambition - having an inspiring goal of the highest level.
The mission is assessed on each of these criteria on a 10-point scale.
The weights of the criteria are different:
- Brevity -1;
- Value – 2;
- Uniqueness – 3;
- Ambitiousness – 4.
The greatest weight is assigned to the criterion of ambition, since the main purpose of the mission, in our opinion, is to indicate the highest goal of the company, its ideal.
Uniqueness is also a high priority, since the mission must clearly identify the company, showing who “we” are and what makes us special.
If you add up the mission scores for all criteria, taking into account their weights, then the maximum possible number of points is 100.
Here are examples of assessing the missions of some well-known companies.
Example brevity and expressiveness can be achieved by the mission of IKEA, which received the highest rating from our experts according to this criterion - 10 points:
We strive to improve the everyday lives of ordinary people
Good example description values gives Disneyland mission (10 points):
We work to ensure that adults and children spend more time together.
The complete lack of value is demonstrated by the mission statement of Dean Foods, a company that produces dairy and soy products (0 points):
Increase capitalization in the long term in accordance with the laws of the jurisdiction in which the company operates and high ethical standards.
Of course, a company's capitalization is important for its shareholders. But the company exists not only for them. Once again, this puts the cart before the horse – for a company’s value to grow, it must do something what people need. This is what should be mentioned in the mission statement, because the main objective is outside the company.
Let's see how the property is expressed in the mission uniqueness. The following mission statement clearly identifies the Otis Elevator Company, a leader in the elevator industry (10 points):
Provide all customers with the means to move people and goods up, down and sideways over limited distances with a reliability that no other company can provide
And here is an example of a completely inexpressive mission statement belonging to the American bank Sunbanks (1 point):
To promote economic development and improve the welfare of society and enterprises that are clients of the company, by providing enterprises and citizens with banking services that comply with professional standards, achieving and receiving the desired profit for the shareholders of the enterprise, good attitude to the employees of the enterprise.
Instead of an inspiring goal given short description what any of the hundreds of thousands of banks in the world do. How unique this is!
Example ambitious mission can serve as goal setting Microsoft(10 points):
A computer in every home, on every desktop, plus top-notch software
At the end of the 70s of the last century, when the company was just starting its activities, this was an audacious goal. The company subsequently changed its mission statement as the original goal became a dream come true.
The final mission score is obtained by adding the scores for each of the four criteria: brevity, value, uniqueness, ambitiousness, multiplied by weighting factors.
To conduct the assessment, it is necessary to form a group of experts, which should preferably include not only employees, but also shareholders, suppliers and clients with whom there are close relationships. The more experts there are, the more stable the assessment results. But even evaluating a small group of about 10 people can be helpful in thinking about what could be improved in the mission statement.
A practical guide to creating an organization's mission includes detailed description mission assessment methods, as well as a rating table of missions of more than a hundred Russian and foreign companies, assessed by experts of the consulting company iTeam.
In the second part of the article, we will provide a “road map” that will help you find the purpose of the company and introduce you to the methodology for developing a mission text.
Literature
- Frankl V. Man in Search of Meaning: Collection / Trans. from English and German D. A. Leontyev, M. P. Papusha, E. V. Eidman. - M.: Progress, 1990. - 368 p.: ill. - ISBN 5-01-001606-0.
- Csikeszentmihalyi Mihalyi. Flow: The psychology of optimal experience. Moscow. Alpina non-fiction. 2011.
- Jeff Sutherland. SCRUM A revolutionary method of project management. Moscow, Mann, Ivanov and Ferber, 2015.
Introduction
An organization is a consciously coordinated social entity with defined boundaries that functions on an ongoing basis to achieve common goals. Management of an organization is based on the basic elements of management theory, which are the goals of creating an organization, strategic plans, etc. Among these elements, managers especially highlight the mission of the organization, because, being an integral part of the goals, the mission influences all areas of management and determines its methods and techniques and priorities. The mission is an expression of its philosophy and meaning of existence. The mission usually declares the status of the enterprise, the principles of its work, and the intentions of management. It is aimed at the future and should not depend on current state organizations. A clear mission statement is the first step towards planning and defines the entire further work for the systematic development of organizational plans.
Thus, the relevance of the chosen topic is beyond doubt.
One of the first (in 1933) to formulate and use the mission of the corporation was the founder of Matsushita Electric, Konosuke Matsushita. The mission of the organization, its essence and content are described by such researchers in the field of management as Meskon M.Kh., Albert M., Khedouri F.P. Drucker et al.
The purpose of this work is to study and characterize the mission of the organization.
Job objectives:
Give the concept of mission.
Determine the features of mission formation.
Give examples of the mission of the most famous foreign and Russian campaigns.
Used in this work: educational literature on the course of management, articles by Russian and foreign authors, Internet resources.
. Mission of the organization
Mission (from the Latin missio - parcel, order) is a succinct, brief and clear definition of the reasons for the existence and main directions of the organization’s activities, which characterizes the company’s position in society and motivates its employees.
In the most general and at the same time in the most in-depth understanding, the role of the organization’s mission is that it establishes a connection, orients in a single direction the interests and expectations of those people who perceive the organization from the inside, and those who perceive the organization from the outside. Moreover, the mission allows you to orient or even subordinate the interests of people “internal” in relation to the organization to the interests of “external” people. By defining what the organization was created and exists for, the mission gives people's actions meaning and purposefulness, allowing them to better see and understand not only what they should do, but also why they carry out their actions. There is a broad and narrow understanding of mission.
In a broad sense, mission is the philosophy and purpose, the meaning of existence of an organization.
An organization's philosophy defines the values, beliefs and principles by which the organization intends to conduct its activities. Purpose defines the activities that an organization intends to carry out and what type of organization it intends to be. The philosophy of an organization rarely changes. As for the second part of the mission, it may vary depending on the depth of possible changes in the organization and in the environment of its functioning.
In a narrow sense, a mission is a formulated statement regarding what or for what reason an organization exists, i.e. mission is understood as a statement that reveals the meaning of the organization’s existence, in which the difference between this organization and similar ones is manifested.
Let us give a number of definitions given by foreign and Russian scientists in the field of strategic management of an organization.
P. Drucker said that there is only one reasonable definition of the goal of entrepreneurship - creating a client, and in this he saw the mission of any organization, since if an organization takes on the mission of creating a client, it will also receive the profit necessary for its survival, if we exclude the bad management in carrying out this mission.
In Meskon’s textbook “Fundamentals of Management,” the authors give the following definition of an organization’s mission: “A mission is the main overall goal of an organization - a clearly expressed reason for its existence,” without defining a mission, all decisions in an organization would be made only on the basis of the individual values of leaders. The mission defines the status of the firm and provides direction and guidance for defining goals and strategies at various organizational levels.
In the textbook by D. Husby " Strategic management“Mission is defined as “the overall purpose of an organization, characterizing what the organization is, why it exists and what its unique place is. Choosing such a goal means answering the basic question: “What are we doing?”
L. Gitelman “Transformative Management”: “mission is a strategic (general) goal that expresses the meaning of existence, the generally recognized purpose of the organization. This is the role the business wants to play in society.”
I. Mazur, A. Shapiro “Restructuring of enterprises and companies”: “the mission (purpose) of the organization is the answer to the question of what the company’s activities are and what it intends to do.”
Analyzing various interpretations missions, you can see that the meaning of all of them is similar. Based on these definitions, the following generalization can be made. An organization's mission statement is a short paragraph, usually one sentence, that states the organization's raison d'être and main long-term goal. At the same time, on the one hand, the mission statement is quite specific, on the other hand, it does not imply the completion of the task within a certain time interval. The organization's mission statement should imply continuous development in the short and long term.
A correctly defined mission, although it always has a general philosophical meaning, nevertheless necessarily contains something that makes it unique in its kind, characterizing precisely the organization in which it was developed. Next we will talk about the mission in a narrow sense.
The mission reflects the business strategy. Business strategy is a coordinated set of decisions that have a decisive impact on the activities of a company (enterprise) and have long-term and difficult-to-reversible consequences. These include, for example, decisions to change the profile of the enterprise, measures of its specialization and diversification of production (in particular, in order to prevent possible risks), to change the ownership structure (primarily the structure of share capital), the choice of permanent suppliers of resources and sales areas products, as well as other strategic aspects of the functioning of a business (firm, enterprise) - in contrast to tactical current decisions such as hiring workers, one-time purchases of raw materials, responding to changes in prices on the market, etc.
Accordingly, the following main derivative concepts are distinguished:
strategic zone management - a set of segments of the market for goods or services, selected by an enterprise (business);
strategic resource zone - a set of segments of the resource market or services provided to an enterprise, selected by an enterprise (business) as a zone of business interest for the implementation of the strategy;
strategic planning is the process of forming, adjusting and implementing an enterprise strategy;
strategic management is an enterprise management system based on strategic planning, supplemented by a mechanism for coordinating current decisions (tactical and operational) with strategic ones, as well as a mechanism for adjusting and monitoring the implementation of the strategy.
When strategically planning the activities of an enterprise (firm), economic and mathematical models are used, as well as methods of statistical analysis and forecasting. Among the latter, the largest place belongs to regression analysis, time series analysis, and the mechanism for the formation and statistical analysis of expert assessments.
Establishing the organization's mission and its strategic goals is the prerogative of the organization's top management (Fig. 1).
Figure 1 - Levels of company management
Such a presentation of the organization's goal structure also shows the extent to which goals at a higher level influence goals at a higher level. low level.
The differences between the mission of an enterprise and its goals can be defined in the following aspects:
Temporal aspect. A mission has no time criteria, but goals have deadlines by which they must be achieved.
Focusing. The mission is aimed at the environment external to the enterprise, such as achieving recognition or becoming a leader in the industry, etc. Goals, on the contrary, most often relate to internal aspects of the enterprise and are expressed in terms of the use of available resources to achieve specific internal indicators.
Specificity. The mission is expressed in terms that have a general, relative nature, relating to the image of the enterprise, its corporate identity, etc. Goals are typically expressed in terms of specific outcomes.
Measurability. The measurability of the mission is expressed in qualitative scales, while goals, as a rule, are quantitative in nature. The goals of an enterprise are usually very specific.
Basic requirements that must be taken into account when developing enterprise goals. The goals should be:
clear, precise and without the possibility of double interpretation;
formulated in terms of future states of the enterprise;
comply with enterprise strategy, policies, plans and procedures;
correspond to the competence of the personnel or also assume an increase in the competence of the enterprise’s employees;
Target start in the activities of an organization arises as a reflection of the goals and interests of various groups of people, one way or another connected with the activities of the organization and involved in the process of its functioning.
The main groups of subjects whose interests influence the activities of the organization and, therefore, must be taken into account when determining its mission are the following:
) shareholders (owners) of the organization who create, operate and develop the organization;
) personnel - employees of the organization who, with their labor, directly support the activities of the organization, the creation and sale of products and services, attracting resources from outside, who receive compensation from the organization for their work and solve their problems with the help of compensation;
) buyers (clients) of an organization who give it their resources (usually money) in exchange for products or services offered to them by the organization, and satisfy their needs with the help of these products (services);
) business partners organizations that provide commercial and non-commercial services to organizations and receive similar services from the organization;
) local community, which is in interaction with the organization, having a multifaceted content, associated primarily with the formation of the social and environmental environment of the organization, as well as society as a whole, represented by state (municipal) institutions, interacting with the organization in political, legal, economic and other areas, receiving from the organization part of the wealth it creates to ensure social well-being and development, the fruits of which, along with other members of society, are also enjoyed by the organization.
The mission of the organization, to one degree or another, should reflect the interests of all the above-mentioned subjects. The most powerful, even decisive, influence on the mission of any organization is exerted by the interests of owners, employees and customers (buyers). Therefore, the mission of the organization must be formulated in such a way that it necessarily contains a combination of the interests of these three groups of people. The mission can serve as a criterion by which members of the organization and outside observers can evaluate how successfully the organization is performing, i.e. determine its effectiveness.
According to F. Kotler, the mission should be developed taking into account the following factors:
the history of the organization, during which a philosophy was developed, a profile and style of activity, a place in the market, etc. were formed;
the existing style of behavior and method of action of owners and management personnel;
state of the organization's environment;
the resources it can bring to bear to achieve its goals;
distinctive features that the organization has;
A well-stated mission statement clarifies what the organization is and what it strives to be, and sets the organization apart from others like it. To do this, the transcript accompanying the mission must reflect:
target guidelines of the organization, reflecting what problems the organization’s activities are aimed at solving, and what the organization strives for in its activities in the long term;
the sphere of activity of the organization, reflecting what product the organization offers to customers, and in what market the organization sells its product;
the philosophy of the organization, which is manifested in the values and beliefs that are accepted in the organization;
capabilities and methods of carrying out the activities of the organization, reflecting what the strength of the organization is, what its capabilities are for survival in the long term, in what way and with the help of what technology the organization carries out its work, what know-how and advanced technology are available for this.
Along with the above characteristics of the organization, when forming a mission, it is important to reflect the image that the organization has in the content and form of the mission statement. Many companies develop formal company mission statements that provide ready-made answers to these questions.
The mission may include the following:
Proclamation of beliefs and values.
The types of products or services that the business will sell (or the customer needs that the business will satisfy).
Markets in which the company will operate:
ways to enter the market;
technologies that the enterprise will use;
growth policy and financing.
A clearly formulated mission inspires and encourages action, enables the company’s employees to take initiative, and forms the main prerequisites for the success of the company’s activities under various influences on it from the external and internal environment.
The mission gives a general idea of what the organization is, what it strives for, what means it is ready to use in its activities - for the information of those who deal with it in external environment.
The mission contributes to the formation of the internal environment of the organization, its “single spirit”, which is manifested in the following:
makes the mission clear to employees common goal, the purpose of the organization's existence. As a result, employees have the opportunity to focus their actions in a single direction;
the mission helps employees to recognize themselves as members of the organization not only formally, but also in spirit;
mission contributes to establishing a certain psychological climate in the organization, since through it the philosophy of the organization, as well as the values and principles underlying the existence of the organization, are communicated to people.
So, why is the mission formulated, what does it provide for the organization’s activities?
Firstly, the mission gives a general idea of what the organization is, what it strives for, what means it is ready to use in its activities - for the information of those who deal with it in the external environment.
Secondly, the mission contributes to the formation of the internal environment of the organization, its “single spirit”. This manifests itself in the following:
) The mission makes clear to employees the overall goal, the purpose of the organization's existence. As a result, employees have the opportunity to focus their actions in a single direction;
) The mission helps employees to recognize themselves as members of the organization not only formally, but also in spirit.
) The mission helps to establish a certain psychological climate in the organization, since through it the philosophy of the organization, as well as the values and principles underlying the existence of the organization, are communicated to people.
Third, the mission creates the opportunity for more effective management organization due to the fact that it is the basis for establishing the goals of the organization and helps to develop a strategy for its activities, establishing the direction and acceptable boundaries of its existence. In addition, the mission provides performance standards and expands the meaning and content of his work for the employee, allowing him to apply a wider range of motivational techniques.
At the same time, certain problems may arise with the formulation of the mission. Goal shifts most often occur at the mission level. An organization replaces its legalized or officially recognized purpose with another for which it was not created and should not work for this purpose. The easiest and most common form of bias occurs when an organization changes the priority of ends and means so that the means become the end and vice versa. Often the target becomes the organization itself. However, an organization is a tool; it is created to serve goals. But in the process of functioning of an organization, groups of people are formed who are more interested in preserving the organization as such than in realizing its goals.
Thus, the mission creates the opportunity for more effective management of the organization due to the fact that it is the basis for establishing the goals of the organization and helps to develop a strategy for its activities, establishing the direction and acceptable boundaries of its existence. In addition, the mission provides performance standards and expands the meaning and content of his work for the employee, allowing him to apply a wider range of motivational techniques.
2. Examples of company missions
mission strategic management
Let us give examples of the missions of large global companies that have long proven themselves to be successful, growing organizations in the world market. Nike's mission statement: "Nike has the truth, and it's not just about sneakers; the truth is where these products will take you."
Xerox's mission: "From the copier to the office of the future."
Ford's Mission Statement: "Delight our customers by producing quality cars and trucks, developing new products, reducing time to market for new models, improving the productivity of all our plants and manufacturing processes, and building relationships with our employees and unions." , dealers and suppliers."
Epson's mission: “To provide our shareholders with the safety of their investments and growing returns.”
Reyter's mission statement is: "Providing services to those who seek to improve the management of their company is our sole business; customer satisfaction is our primary goal."
Apple Computer's mission is to "bring the best personal computing technology to as many people as possible."
McDonald's mission: "Fast, quality customer service with a standard set of products."
Despite the fact that Russian companies are just beginning to realize the importance of the mission for the functioning of organizations, many companies still have a mission statement. Thus, the mission of Alfa-Bank is as follows: “Alfa-Bank carries out all types of banking operations, helping you better navigate the world of finance, manage money effectively and provide the convenience of banking services.”
The mission of the Radian company: “providing the region with modern engineering and technical means of security from leading companies in the world, comprehensive solutions that combine: security and fire alarms, video surveillance systems and restrictions on access to premises, as well as air conditioning and lighting.”
The mission of "Systems and Technologies" is the development, production and provision of consumers with high-tech equipment produced on the latest, modernized installations, taking into account the diverse requirements of customers, providing highly qualified services for installation, testing and commissioning of equipment in the field of the energy complex.”
Gazprom's mission: “maximum efficient and balanced gas supply to Russian consumers, fulfillment of long-term gas export contracts with a high degree of reliability.”
Aeroflot mission: “the most complete and safe provision of one of the fundamental human freedoms - freedom of movement.”
More examples of missions of a number of Russian companies in the following areas:
OrganizationMission Jewelry and art companyProduction and sale of products from precious metals and stones available to a wide range of consumers with varying incomes. Company that produces equipment for offices. Our goal is to solve problems. We help solve administrative, scientific and human problems, creating comfort and taking care of your working conditions. Investment company We are ready to invest capital in any area that operates profitably and has the potential for further growth. State-owned enterprise with a scientific and technical orientation. Our activities are aimed at preserving and developing scientific and technical potential. industries, maintaining a high level of development, creating new jobs and a production culture that preserves and protects the environment. Example of the mission of an online store We want to make online shopping the fastest, easiest and most enjoyable way to acquire what you need - that is, to become the place where you can find everything you want to buy in real time
Summary. The mission of the organization determines the most complete meanings and objectives of the organization's existence. It finds a place for the combination of interests of all people associated with the organization. The mission is being developed for a long time
Conclusion
Thus, the mission is the meaning of the organization’s existence, which expresses the difference of this organization from others, its social role. The key elements that make up the organization's mission.
Determination of all areas of activity in which she plans to work.
Strategic goals that the organization sets, defining key indicators that the organization seeks to achieve in the future.
Personnel competence and competitive advantages. The mission establishes the essence of corporate values. Such values include special knowledge and skills.
Circle of influence. The mission establishes groups of individuals and organizations, cooperation with which contributes to the development of the organization.
Main activities of the organization.
The main competitive advantages that the organization plans to achieve in the future.
Tasks that the organization’s mission contributes to solving.
Express what the organization exists for.
Determine how the organization differs from other organizations operating in the same market.
Determine the criterion for evaluating actions.
Coordinate the interests of all persons associated with the organization.
Contribute to the creation of a favorable corporate atmosphere.
Creating a mission statement establishes why a particular organization exists. The main condition for formulating a mission is understanding and acceptance by the company’s personnel. In this regard, it is advisable to involve company employees in the mission development process.
Factors taken into account when creating a mission: the state of the external and internal environment of the organization; history of the organization; the resources that the organization uses to achieve its goals; existing style of activity; distinctive features of the organization.
List of sources used
1.Vikhansky O.S. Strategic management. Textbook / O.S. Vikhansky. - M.: Gardariki, 2005. - 296 p.
2.Goldstein G.Ya. Fundamentals of Management: Tutorial/ G.Ya. Goldstein. - Taganrog: TRTU Publishing House, 2003. - 230 p.
.Drucker P. Management / P. Drucker, J.A. Maciarello. - M.: LLC “I.D. Williams", 2010. - 704 p.
.Zamedlina E.A. Fundamentals of management / E.A. Slow down. - M.: Allel, 2011. - 54 p.
.Kotler F. Marketing from A to Z. 80 concepts that every manager should know / F. Kotler - M.: Alpina Publisher, 2012. - 216 p.
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In this article we offer you a selection of missions of large well-known companies in the world's leading markets. The given examples of organization missions and manufacturing enterprises will help you fully understand the meaning and meaning of this concept and help you create the right vision for your business.
All examples of missions are divided into key product groups and markets.
Retail brand missions
Wallmart Mission:“We help our customers save money to make their lives better.”
Target Mission:“Become the preferred shopping destination through innovative solutions, exceptional offers, and exceeding customer expectations.”
The Home Depot Mission:“To provide each customer with a high level of service, a wide range and competitive prices”
IKEA Mission:"Improving everyone's daily life"
Amazon's Mission: “Create a space where everyone can buy anything they want online”
CVS Mission:"Helping people improve their health"
Best Buy Mission:“We solve our customers' unmet needs through the ingenuity of our employees.”
Missions of IT and Social brands
Google's mission:“It’s convenient to organize all the information in the world and make it accessible and useful to everyone”
Microsoft Mission:“To give everyone the opportunity to realize their full potential”
Skype Mission:“Become a platform for people to communicate in real time”
YouTube Mission:“Provide quick and easy access to video content and provide the ability to share videos with each other”
Twitter Mission:"Instantly connect people everywhere"
Apple's mission:"To provide students, educators, creative professionals around the world with the best personal computers thanks to the use of innovative solutions"
Missions of sportswear brands
Adidas Mission:“To become the best sports brand in the world. Never compare quantity with quality. The athlete always comes first.”
Nike's Mission:"To provide inspiration and innovative solutions to every athlete in the world"
Umbro's Mission:“To excite and inspire. Let everyone fall in love with the wonderful world of football"
Asics Mission:“Becoming number one for sports enthusiasts. To achieve this, we promise to produce the best product, backed by our technological advancements, and to push the boundaries of what the body can do."
Missions of food and beverage brands
Coca-Cola Mission:“Refresh the world, body, mind and spirit; Promote optimism through our drinks and our deeds; Bringing meaning to everything we do."
Pepsi Mission:“To be the world's best food company focused on prepared foods and beverages. In everything we do, we are guided by three principles - honesty, consistency and fairness."
Nestlé Mission:“We believe that research and development will help make food better, thereby improving people's lives.”
Danone Mission:"Provide as much as possible large quantity people with healthy food"
Missions of B2B brands
Cisco Mission:“The company's software, hardware and services are used to create secure networks that provide easy access to information anywhere, anytime.”
IBM Mission:"Leading in invention, development and production information technologies, including software, computers, information storage systems and microelectronics. And help improve the business of our clients around the world with the help of advanced technologies."
Intel Mission:"Create and improve Computer techologies to connect and improve the lives of every person on earth"
General Electric's mission:“We exist to solve the problems of everyone on earth, be it a company or an individual.”
British Petroleum's mission:“Promoting human progress through the following qualities: honesty, openness of dealings”
Ready solutions
We have a ready-made template with which you can easily apply theoretical knowledge this article in practice. You can download a sample for developing the mission of your organization or product in the section.
