The common view is that the purpose of a business is to make money but attitudes are changing as we emerge from the customer revolution of the 70s and 80s into a stakeholder revolution of the new millennium. A view becoming more accepted is that stakeholders are the parties that contribute to an organization’s wealth-creation capacity and benefit from it. We can therefore conclude that the purpose of a business is to create wealth for its stakeholders. But this is the purpose of any business not a particular business. E.g If you are in the communications business you could say, " The purpose of our business is to create wealth for our stakeholders from innovative communications solutions." This is not a mission statement because for as long as you are in the communications business, this is your purpose and you may pursue different missions while in this business as there are many different ways of communicating.

The Mission is clarified by top management confirming the direction in which the organization is currently proceeding - it is the journey it is undertaking.  The mission may be determined by asking the question “What are we trying to do?” Relative to the communications business this might be to capture the market for 3G mobile phones.

Purpose is also static, it does not change because it reflects the basic concepts upon which a business has been built. It should provide a reason for the mission, and the vision a reason for the journey whether it be long or short. If an organization gets out of one business and moves into another it will have a new purpose and need a new mission.

It is of course true that some writers regard an organization's mission as its purpose and if this is the case in your organization it is not a problem simply because you label concepts differently to those used here. If your mission is a statement of purpose, you might have another statement for your short term goals

For more information see Quality Management Essentials