Importance of business vision, mission, and values in strategic direction

Hot Wings Restaurant

Vision and Mission

A vision statement can help to define an organization's purpose. A good vision statement should therefore not only be inspirational, but should serve as the framework for all strategic planning (Ward, 2011). The business that I am creating is a Hot Wings Restaurant / Sports Bar. The vision that I have for the restaurant is a complete entertainment package consisting of a sports bar and a restaurant that specializes in the best wings in town. The atmosphere will be one of total fun, from the staff to the menu to the televisions and other entertainment throughout the facility. I envision the wings being the centerpiece of the menu, topped with a proprietary hot sauce that comes in Hot, Fiery and Blistering. There will also be cooler sauce options for those who prefer. I envision the wings being what draws people through the doors and the fun, attractive staff and entertaining atmosphere keeping people longer and coming back more often. The rest of the menu will also be flawlessly executed pub food, and the wing sauce will be featured on the menu in other forms, including on the signature Hot Wing Pizza, which will have chicken meat marinated in the hot sauce as a signature topping.

Radke (1998) notes that a good mission statement should "accurately explain why your organization exists and what it hopes to achieve in the future." The mission statement that defines the business is as follows: Hot Wings Restaurant will offer the best wings this state has ever seen, and will deliver them in an environment where everybody has fun and leaves with a beaming smile on their face. This mission will be the focal point for the restaurant's menu development, for its entertainment options, its hiring policies and its marketing. The restaurant business is intensely competitive and there are already many restaurants and sports bars in the area that have hot wings on their menu. Where Hot Wings is going to differentiate itself is by having the best wings in the state. Wings are a very popular food in this area, but we feel that nobody has specialized in wings, and therefore nobody truly meets the needs of the true hot wings lover. In addition, the restaurant and sports bar will be differentiated by the high level of fun that we will deliver to the customer. Most bars and restaurants in the area seem to deliver food and drink only, so to differentiate Hot Wings we will not only do this, but deliver fun as well, creating an atmosphere that is unmatched by any of our competitors in the area.

Values

Corporate values guide an organization's behavior and its decision-making; therefore it is critical to have a strong sense of values and communicate those values throughout the organization (Serrat, 2010). Hot Wings is going to operate according to the highest standards of ethics and social responsibility. The restaurant is going to be an active member of the community, including sponsorship of both amateur sports and charitable events. Hot Wings believes in making the community better. We keep our profits in the community, unlike many of our competitors, and we are always willing to lend a hand during tough times. We believe that good ethics is a natural part of good business. Our social responsibility policies and more importantly our actions will reflect that. It is also important that we communicate these values to the community so that it knows what to expect from us, and that we communicate our values to our staff so that the staff members know how they are expected to behave.

As part of our program of social responsibility and high ethical standards, Hot Wings is going to adhere to high ethical standards in hiring, ensuring equal opportunity for all members of our community, not just for hiring but for promotions as well. Hot Wings is also going to endeavor to support local suppliers whenever possible, to help maintain jobs in the area rather than sending our money out of state or out of the country. We believe that this is an important component of being a good member of the community, supporting how others in the community earn their livings.

Links with Strategy

All of these elements -- values, mission and vision -- contribute to the overall corporate strategy. The mission and vision provide a sense of focus for the organization with respect to what it wants to achieve and how it sees itself. With a common vision shared throughout the organization, Hot Wings will be focused on making decisions that support the vision and mission. Values guide how the strategic decisions are implemented. Thus, it is critical that the values be communicated throughout the organization because they will be embedded in everyday decision making.

The values and mission outlined above are essential to building the foundation for the long-term objectives of Hot Wings. The long-term goal is to build a brand that can be franchised, hopefully creating opportunities to market the wings sauce at the retail level as well. In order for this to happen, the initial flagship restaurant needs to execute on the values, mission and vision to a high level. The flagship restaurant is essentially where the concept will be tested, and it needs to be successful in order to pursue the long-range objectives. It is critical, therefore, that the company fulfill the current mission and vision. These will eventually be translated into franchise format, so the mission and vision need to be clear and easily understood by all stakeholders today, as it will be even more challenging to communicate these things in the future when we are pursuing franchise partners.

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