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Chapter 11 The Return of the Mission Statement • 201

to directly are not always consumers. In many cases there are interme-
diaries, such as hospitals, pharmacies, or doctors (in the case of phar-
maceutical companies), supermarkets (in the case of fast-moving
consumer goods companies), and importers or car dealers (in the case
of car manufacturers), and so on. However, most mission statements
define the customer as the end consumer.

Organization
A company can be compared to a living organism, where the main
objective is to stay alive, to sustain. That is why organisms reproduce,
evolve, and display certain characteristics of resilience in the environ-
ment in which they live. Following this philosophy, it is no wonder that
56 percent of organizations mention themselves as a key stakeholder
in the mission statement, and 36 percent of organizations mention
themselves first in the mission statement. In the typical mission state-
ment, the company is typically referred to in terms like this, “We are
here to build and to sustain a great organization, in order to. . . .” In
mission statements that mention only one stakeholder, 28 percent men-
tion the organization. These are often statements that say, “We aim to
be the global leader in . . .” or something similar. Such statements are
not very effective.

Staff
Employees are a key asset of any organization. About 45 percent of mis-
sion statements mention staff. Traditional accounting has limited means
to reflect the value of staff; employees show up as a cost factor in the
profit and loss statement (often a sizable or even the largest cost factor)
instead of on the balance sheet. But like capital, raw materials, and facil-
ities, employees are a key production factor. Staff is often mentioned
last in the mission statement. Some mission statements mention job
security, but most mission statements refer to employees by offering “a
great place to work.”

Community
The community in which organizations work is mentioned in 45 per-
cent of mission statements as well. In two mission statements it was