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54 PART 2 • STRATEGY FORMULATION

Key Terms and Concepts

Concern for Employees (p. 51) Philosophy (p. 51)
Concern for Public Image (p. 51) Products or Services (p. 51)
Concern for Survival, Growth, and Profitability (p. 51) Reconciliatory (p. 52)
Creed Statement (p. 44) Self-Concept (p. 51)
Customers (p. 51) Stakeholders (p. 49)
Markets (p. 51) Technology (p. 51)
Mission Statement (p. 44) Vision Statement (p. 46)
Mission Statement Components (p. 51)

Issues for Review and Discussion

1. What are some different names for “mission statement,” and where will you likely find a
firm’s mission statement?
2. If your company does not have a vision or mission statement, describe a good process for
developing these documents.
3. Explain how developing a mission statement can help resolve divergent views among
managers in a firm.
4. Drucker says the most important time to seriously reexamine the firm’s vision/mission is
when the firm is very successful. Why is this?
5. Explain why a mission statement should not include monetary amounts, numbers,
percentages, ratios, goals, or objectives.
6. Discuss the meaning of the following statement: “Good mission statements identify the
utility of a firm’s products to its customers.”
7. Distinguish between the “self-concept” and the “philosophy” components in a mission
statement. Give an example of each for your university.
8. When someone or some company is “on a mission” to achieve something, many times they
cannot be stopped. List three things in prioritized order that you are “on a mission” to
achieve in life.
9. Compare and contrast vision statements with mission statements in terms of composition and
importance.
10. Do local service stations need to have written vision and mission statements? Why or why not?
11. Why do you think organizations that have a comprehensive mission tend to be high perform-
ers? Does having a comprehensive mission cause high performance?
12. Explain why a mission statement should not include strategies and objectives.
13. What is your college or university’s self-concept? How would you state that in a mission
statement?
14. Explain the principal value of a vision and a mission statement.
15. Why is it important for a mission statement to be reconciliatory?
16. In your opinion, what are the three most important components that should be included when
writing a mission statement? Why?
17. How would the mission statements of a for-profit and a nonprofit organization differ?
18. Write a vision and mission statement for an organization of your choice.
19. Conduct a search on the Internet with the keywords vision statement and mission statement.
Find various company vision and mission statements, and evaluate the documents. Write a
one-page single-spaced report on your findings.
20. Who are the major stakeholders of the bank that you do business with locally? What are the
major claims of those stakeholders?
21. List seven characteristics of a mission statement.
22. List eight benefits of having a clear mission statement.
23. How often do you think a firm’s vision and mission statements should be changed?

Notes

1. Barbara Bartkus, Myron Glassman, and Bruce McAfee, 2. Peter Drucker, Management: Tasks, Responsibi-
“Mission Statements: Are They Smoke and Mirrors?” lities, and Practices (New York: Harper & Row,
Business Horizons (November–December 2000): 23. 1974): 61.