Companies today are all subject to certain laws, regulations, articles of incorporation, and so on. These mandates concern a wide variety of company operations, including the assurance of fair competition and financial honesty. There are both formal and informal mandates. The formal mandates have been mentioned above, and concern formal rules and requirements by authorities. Informal mandates, in turn, are concerned with the norms and expectations of key stakeholders such as elected officials. There could be certain specific rules and regulations required or expected by these authorities, which a company must comply with.

Customers can also dictate mandates, such as that a product must be of a certain quality if a certain price is expected for it, and so on. Good customer service is an example of this, where company employees are expected to liaise with customers in a friendly and helpful manner. Another example of informal mandates is where citizens voted for a government official, who is now obliged to fulfill the promises he made during his election campaign.

Mandates also concern actions that are prohibited, such as financial dishonesty, sexual harassment, or other forms of immorality. Companies are generally expected to be honest about their financial dealings.

Enron is perhaps the most famous example of a company that did not fulfill its financial mandates. Both the public, stakeholders, and law making officials were horrified at the scale of the deception perpetrated by this company. The damage to such a company's reputation is often beyond repair once deception has come to light. It is therefore a good idea to regularly review and revise the company mandates and make all members aware of them.

Organizational Strategy

Organizational strategy...

Strategies can vary on the basis of several elements, including level, function and time frame. The main feature of an organizational strategy is the fact that rhetoric, choices, actions and consequences are linked into a coherent and consistent pattern.
It then follows that strategic planning refers to the production of fundamental decisions and actions towards the determination of the nature of a company, what it does, and the reasons for these actions. It is therefore a fairly complicated process designed to move the company forward towards fulfilling its mission according to its vision and values.

In terms of strategic thinking, the company strategy is perhaps the most important component of the business, as this dictates the way in which the company operates and also its likelihood of success. Strategic planning also includes all the elements mentioned above, with political decision making, organizational mission, and mandates offering a valuable platform for strategic management.

Part of a company's strategy can, for example, be its environmental responsibility. An oil company may, for example, strategically promote itself as an environmentally caring entity by providing oil in as clean and responsible way as possible.

A motor company might strategically plan its next vehicle design to appeal to a certain age group, such as people who are established in their employment and can afford luxury cars. Another strategy for such a company could be transparency in terms of its vehicle's emissions. This closely correlates with the mandate that vehicle companies are obliged to display such information on the vehicles they offer.