Although it was difficult to get a true handle on how many companies now develop mission statements, googling brings up scores of sites that promote their importance. However, a large number of sites still discuss the number of companies who develop them incorrectly or do not follow them once they are written. For example, a 2000 survey found that U.S. workers want their work to make a difference, but 75% do not think their company's mission statement has become the way they do business (Workplace 2000 Employee Insight Survey). Unfortunately this often happens because the management team that developed the mission statement have since gone to other companies or the organization, itself, has been acquired and the direction is completely changed. A third reason this happens is because a mission statement is created and some of the managers do not feel part of the process and continue doing business in the same way, rather than the new direction.
Another article written in 2005 says that the way that mission (and...
They are too vague or combine the mission, or where the company sees itself going, with the vision, or how it will get there, into one difficult-to-read piece. The management makes copies of it and pastes it on the walls of the cafeteria and work areas, and it is completely ignored.
More companies, it appears, are creating their mission statements. However, it also appears that a number of companies need to go back to square one and redo their statements in a way that are more meaningful for the employees and the company's future.
Fred R. David, "How Companies Define Their Mission," Long-Range Planning, (February 1989), 90-97.
R. Duane Ireland and http://findarticles.com/p/search?tb=art&qt=%22Michael+a.+Hitt%22" Michael a. Hitt. "Mission statements: importance, challenge, and recommendations for development - includes related material." Business Horizons. (May-June, 1992) http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1038/is_n3_v35/ai_12282415/pg_1
