STRATEGIC

MANAGEMENT
ASSIGNMENT

SUBMITTED BY:

SHRUTI SAYANA

ROLL NO. 43

SEMESTER-4

M.H.R.O.D.
 CHARACTERISTIC OF A GOOD MISSION STATEMENT
Every organization has a unique purpose and reason for being. This uniqueness should
be reflected in vision and mission statements. The nature of a business vision and
mission can represent either a competitive advantage or disadvantage for the firm. An
organization achieves a heightened sense of purpose when strategists, managers, and
employees develop and communicate a clear business vision and mission. 

Characteristics of good Mission Statements 

Mission statements can and do vary in length, content, format, and specificity. Most
practitioners and academicians of strategic management consider an effective
statement to exhibit nine characteristics or components. Because a mission statement
is often the most visible and public part of the strategic 
management process, it is important that it includes all of these essential components. 
Effective mission statements should be:  The mission statement of a company tells
about the company’s purpose for its employees as well as for the customers.
For example, the mission statement of Coca Cola Company is given as:
Our Roadmap starts with our mission, which is enduring. It declares our purpose as a
company and serves as the standard against which we weigh our actions and
decisions.
To refresh the world
To inspire moments of optimism and happiness
To create value and make a difference
Hence as in above example, Mission statement defines the organization’s
activities, capabilities and customer focus.

Value of Mission Statement:

A mission statement has the following key values:

1. Visionary: Above all else a mission statement offers a vision of what a business
aspires to be. A visionary mission statement helps people understand what the
business is about and how they can contribute to the achievement of the vision.
So mission statements frequently contain wording such as "to be the best", "the
highest quality", and "in the world".

2. Broad: A company cannot be all things to all people, but a mission statement
should not limit a company's area of service or expertise too narrowly. Especially
in the fast-paced world of electronic commerce, customer needs, and customers,
can change rapidly. A mission statement should be broad enough to allow the
company to meet those needs without annual revisions of the statement.
  

3. Realistic: The broad vision needs to be tempered with realism, to be both

practical and workable. Mission statements that include everything or over
promise will not give a clear indication of what the business is about. A lofty,
unrealistic mission statement will not have great credibility. Instead the best
statements are direct and powerful.

4. Motivational: The statement should be written in such a way that it inspires

commitment among employees, customers, partners, and funding agencies
about what this company will do or produce. Some organizations emphasize the
inspirational value of their mission statement above all else, using it to express
the company's philosophy and values.

5. Short and concise: The mission statement should be no longer than 25 words.
Some consultants recommend that the mission statement be short enough that
an employee can easily remember it and readily repeat it.

6. Easily understood: The statement should use plain language that is convincing
and easy to understand.

7.  Distinctive: A mission statement, which is indiscriminate, is likely to have little

impact. If all scooter manufacturers defined their mission in a similar fashion,
there would not be much of a difference among them. But if one defines it as
providing scooters that would provide ‘value for money, for years’ it will create an
important distinction in the public mind.

8.  It should indicate major components of strategy. A mission statement along

with the organizational purpose should indicate the major components of the
strategy to be adopted. 

9. It should indicate how objectives are to be accomplished. Besides indicating

the broad strategies to be adopted a mission statement should also provide clues
regarding the manner in which the objectives are to be accomplished. 
 Analysis of Vision Statement of Five Reputed Companies

A Vision statement is about what a company wants to become. It is

to motivate employees and encourage them to be a part of what company is going to
become. A vision should broaden the image and capabilities of the company. Vision
helps in giving direction to organization’s growth. Shorter vision statements are
recommended as they are easy to remember.

For instance, Tesco’s vision is “’Every Little Helps”. They are working towards providing
every little help possible to their customers in both cost and services.

Value of Vision Statement:

1) Vision is the very first step for planning company’s strategies.
2) Vision helps employees to set their personal goals according to company’s vision,
providing growth to both personal and organizational level
3) Vision acts like a guiding principle to the strategies of the organization
4) Vision helps employees to decide what to do and what not to do. Their decision must
lead company toward its vision.
5) Vision is like a ideal picture of future organization
6) If a vision is effective and strong. Employees absorb the vision, and commit to the
future goals and the values of the company.

Company 1 TOYOTA INDUS MOTOR COMPANY LTD.                   

VISION STATEMENT

To be the most respected and successful enterprise, delighting customers with a wide
range of products and solutions in the automobile industry with the best people and the
best technology.
  * The most respected. 
  * The most successful. 
  * Delighting customers. 
  * Wide range of products. 
  * The best people. 
  * The best technology. 

ANALYSIS
The vision statement of Toyota Indus Motors Company Ltd is clear and powerfully
communicates its intentions and motivates the team and organization to realize an
attractive and inspiring common vision of the future. It defines the organizational
purpose in terms of the organization’s values rather than bottom line measures. It seeks
to create value for its customers by “delighting” them. Furthermore it envisions being the
most respected, successful, having a wide range of products, and the best people and
technology.

Company 2 COCA COLA

Vision of Coca-Cola
To achieve sustainable growth, the company has established a vision of clear goals.
1) Profit: Maximizing return to shareholders while being mindful of our overall
responsibilities.
2) People: Being a great place to work where people are inspired to be the best
they can be.
3) Portfolio: Bringing to the world a portfolio of beverage brands that anticipate and
satisfy peoples; desires and needs.
4) Partners: Nurturing a winning network of partners and building mutual loyalty.
5) Planet: Being a responsible global citizen that makes a difference.

ANALYSIS
The vision statement simply tell us that the company wants to achieve something new in
future which will consist sustainability, quality and growth. This is not an easy task to
achieve but apart from this, one can see that the statement is clear and having brief
meanings which explains a lot, about what coca-cola wants accordingly. Moreover this
statement tells us that, they are going to achieve these three things which are
sustainability, quality and growth by the help of six variables which are people, portfolio
partners, planet, profit and productivity. Their people, partners, productivity and portfolio
will give them to achieve better quality and growth in future where as their responsibility
towards planet and partners will help them to achieve sustainability. So we can say the
vision of Coca-Cola is clear and good for future.

Company 3 TATA STEEL

Vision Statement of Tata Steel

“We aspire to be the global steel industry benchmark for Value Creation and Corporate
Citizenship”
We make the difference through:
 1) Our people, by fostering team work, nurturing talent, enhancing leadership
capability and acting with pace, pride and passion.
2) Our offer, by becoming the supplier of choice, delivering premium products and
services, and creating value with our customers.
3) Our innovative approach, by developing leading edge solutions in technology,
processes and products.
4) Our conduct, by providing a safe working place, respecting the environment,
caring for our communities and demonstrating high ethical standards.

ANALYSIS
A Vision of an organization should reflect the concerns of other stakeholders such as
shareholders, customers, the local community and society in order to be effective. The
vision statement of Tata Steel also stresses on people concerns. The vision statement
of Tata Steel is describing that “We aspires to become the global steel industry
benchmark” which gives the view of Tata Steel`s future direction and course of business
activity.
TATA Steel lays stress on their core ideology in vision statement by taking People,
Suppliers and Ethics into account. It also emphasizes on their innovative approach for
cost leadership and differentiation in their products and process. The vision statement of
Tata Steel provides managers with unity of direction that transcends individuals,
parochial and transitory needs.

Company 4 ITC Limited

Vision is to “Sustain ITC's position as one of India's most valuable corporations through
world class performance, creating growing value for the Indian economy and the
Company’s stakeholders”

ANALYSIS

The vision statement of ITC Limited we see that though it is not so concise but it offers a
very challenging position for itself to be gained in future. Also, it is not very much
consistent with the mission statement since the mission statement focuses more on the
wealth generating capabilities while the vision focuses on sustaining ITC’s position. We
can say it is not much of a forward looking vision since it mentions about sustaining the
current position rather than gaining a new position in the future.
Company 5 Mahindra & Mahindra

Mahindra & Mahindra has a clear strategic vision: to create a fully collaborative
environment in which suppliers can deliver exactly what the company needs, when it
needs it, and at a competitive cost.

ANALYSIS

Like all automotive companies, Mahindra & Mahindra finds that nurturing collaborative
relationships with suppliers is crucial to success in a fiercely contested industry. It is a
simple equation: close, long-term relationships help to increase productivity, efficiency,
and reliability – not to mention lower costs and higher quality.