Strategic Management Defining the Criteria

Strategic Management

Defining the Criteria of Mission and Vision Statements

Vision and mission statements can be a foundation for putting transformational leadership into motion within a company, changing the culture and making it more focused on innovation and staying relevant to customers. The intent of this analysis is to list the five criteria that the best mission and vision statements have, justifying these choices and analyzing their commonalities and differences. An excellent mission and vision statement can galvanize a company toward a common purpose and remove many of the internal roadblocks that stand in the way of long-term, strategic accomplishment (Green, Medlin, 2003).

Mission Statement Five Criteria

Sets compelling goals that are measurable, attainable, and relevant.

Consistent with and strengthens the company's core values

Defines the competitive advantage of the business succinctly

Underscores quality of product, process, execution and commitment to continual improvement

5. Takes a long-term view.

Vision Statement Five Criteria

1. Defines unique value proposition and potential to be the global leader in their markets served.

2. Is positive, affirmational and sets the tone for transformational leadership

3. Communicates via strong, positive mental imagery the company vision

4. Succinct, hard-hitting with words and brief to inspire action

5. Written in layman's terms with no acronyms or industry language

Justification and Analysis

In choosing the five attributes of the mission statement the primary goal is to define the most compelling goals for the company and inspire action on the part of every employee to attain them (Long, Vickers-Koch, 1994). Effective mission statements combine the core values of the company, their unique strengths, integrating them into a solid platform of achievement (David, David, 2003). Ultimately a mission statement must get the company galvanized around a compelling goal with every person seeing what their contribution will be to it (Analoui, Karami, 2002).

The vision statement five criteria of defining a unique value proposition, setting an affirmational tone while also communicating strong, positive imagery of the company vision. The vision statement needs to be the equivalent of a compass that guides employees, in addition to internal and external stakeholders to a common purpose, communicated in layman's terms (Lucas, 1998). For a vision statement to be relevant it must also strike at the center of complacency in a business and root it out, making continual positive striving for accomplishment part of the norms and values of the enterprise (Long, Vickers-Koch, 1994).