The Boston Matrix

Gallup research shows employees who strongly agree they feel connected to their organisation’s culture are 4.3 times as likely to be engaged. The primary purpose of a mission statement is to declare the overriding purpose of a business, however it can also reflect the business’ goals and values.

Mission statements could describe the core activities that a business undertakes, it can include info about the market they operate in, their key commercial objectives, how the businesses values it’s stakeholders and how they operate in an ethical manner.

When making decisions, managers should be able refer to the mission statement of the business to help guide them in making the appropriate choice that will move the business towards where they hope to be in the future. Through the mission statement, a business should be able to convey their commitment to customers, explaining how their activity benefits the lives of their customers, the greater good of society and that they promise to continue to operate in such a manner. Furthermore, it has a more internal role of bringing the employees of a business together through a shared purpose. A good mission statement (in inherently a strong culture – see my post here about culture) will align the employees with the businesses goals, especially if the statement conveys characteristics that also engage employees as a stakeholder.

A business must to continuously critically appraise their mission statement to ensure they are of continuing relevance to the business and should be changed if current business activities and direction are not aligning with the direction of the mission statement. Some questions business may ask to assess whether the current mission statement is still a suitable fit could be:

• What is the purpose of the mission statement?
• Who is it’s intended audience?
• How does the strategy followed by the business fit with its stated missions?

Mission statements are a key part of a business as they help to align the organisation, inform management decision and demonstrate commitment to key stakeholders. It is not only integral to have a mission statement, but also to consistently evaluate whether the business is still aligned with what the statement contains, and if not the business can ask what needs to change – its operations or the statement itself?