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Box 5.3 Example vision or mission statements from e-businesses

Here are some examples from well-known e-businesses featured in the case studies
in this book. Assess how well they meet the criteria we have discussed for an effective
vision statement.

Amazon.com Our vision is to be earth’s most customer-centric company, to build
a place where people can come to find and discover anything they might want to
buy online.

Dell Dell listens to customers and delivers innovative technology and services they
trust and value.
eBay eBay pioneers communities built on commerce, sustained by trust, and
inspired by opportunity. eBay brings together millions of people every day on a
local, national and international basis through an array of web sites that focus on
commerce, payments and communications.
Facebook Facebook is a social utility that helps people communicate more efficiently
with their friends, family and co-workers. The company develops technologies that
facilitate the sharing of information through the social graph, the digital mapping of
people’s real-world social connections. Anyone can sign up for Facebook and interact
with the people they know in a trusted environment.

Google Google’s mission is to organize the world’s information and make it univer-
sally accessible and useful.

Vision statements can also be used to define a longer-term, 2-to-5 year picture of how the
channel will support the organization through defining strategic priorities. The disadvan-
tage with brief vision statements such as those shown in Box 5.3 is that they can be generic,
so it is best to develop a more detailed vision or make them as specific as possible by:

Referencing key business strategy and industry issues and goals;
Referencing aspects of online customer acquisition, conversion or experience and retention;
Making memorable through acronyms or mnemonics, e.g. the 123 of our digital strategy,
the 8 Cs of our online value proposition;

Linking through to objectives and strategies to achieve them through high-level goals.
Dell expands on the simple vision outline in the box to explain:
Our core business strategy is built around our direct customer model, relevant technologies
and solutions, and highly efficient manufacturing and logistics; and we are expanding that
core strategy by adding new distribution channels to reach even more commercial customers
and individual consumers around the world. Using this strategy, we strive to provide the best
possible customer experience by offering superior value; high-quality, relevant technology;
customized systems and services; superior service and support; and differentiated products
and services that are easy to buy and use.
An example of a more detailed vision statement for a multi-channel retailer might read:

Our digital channels will make it easy for shoppers to find, compare and select products
using a structured approach to merchandising and improving conversion to produce an
experience rated as excellent by the majority of our customers.
Different aspects of the vision statement (underlined) can then be expanded upon when dis-
cussing with colleagues, e.g.