Page 214 - Performance Leadership

Chapter 11 The Return of the Mission Statement • 203

it aims at “managing all parts of our business in a manner that builds
value into the investment of all shareholders, confirming their confi-
dence in participating in the ownership of this company.” The earlier
mentioned Lehman Brothers mission statement is another good exam-
ple of a cause-and-effect relationship of stakeholders, mentioning the
shareholder last.
It is clear that shareholders play an important role, together with the
customer and the organization itself. However, it is also clear that share-
holders are not the only stakeholder that should be considered.

Partners/Suppliers
Partners and suppliers are ranked sixth in the number of times they are
mentioned as a stakeholder. They are mentioned in only 14 percent of
cases. Dell understands it is part of a value chain when it writes: “We
believe in being direct in all we do. We are committed to behaving
ethically; responding to customer needs in a timely and reasonable
manner; fostering open communications and building effective rela-
tionships with customers, partners, suppliers and each other; and oper-
ating without inefficient hierarchy and bureaucracy.” It seems as if
other technology companies also share this belief. Lexmark states that
employees, customers, and partners are reminded daily of Lexmark’s
operating philosophy. However, fast-moving consumer goods compa-
nies also rely on partners. Unilever’s mission is to add vitality to life.
On its Web site it writes about “our road to sustainable, profitable
growth, creating long-term value for our shareholders, our people, and
our business partners.” Personal care company Colgate states: “The
company cares about people: Colgate people, customers, sharehold-
ers, and business partners.” As no organization can stand alone, for
alignment of the value chain, the role of partners and suppliers is
becoming increasingly important, and it will be interesting to see if this
will be reflected in future mission statements.

Implementing Mission Statements

The stakeholder analysis revealed that many mission statements are
excellently formulated. The problem is that they are often not imple-
mented. Organizations that have done a good job of turning a mission