Vision
In the context of management, a vision
is an expression of what the organization wants to become, what it wants to
be, to be known as or to be known for. It is the long-term objective of the
organization.
The vision comes from the leaders – it
is how they express the future for the organization. However, it must be
practical and feasible while representing a challenge for the organization.
The vision must also be shared by the members of the organization so that
everyone clearly understands what the organization is striving to become. To
create a vision for the organization top management should identify the key
potential influences on the organization over the next ten years in terms of
the economic, political, social and technological influences and armed with
this information create a picture of the future and what they want the
organization to look like or what they want it to become.
The vision and mission statements are
often merged into one statement. The vision and mission are types of
objectives. Some refer to these are strategic objectives or goals but just
because they are given specific names does not change the fact that
generically they are objectives.
Mission
In the context of management, a
mission is a quest, a journey to a destination in which the whole
organization is engaged. The mission statement tells us what our goal is –
where are we going. It provides the compass setting for the organization. It
is the foundation of effective leadership. It is how the organization is
going to achieve its vision.
Without customers there is no business
therefore the basic purpose of a business is to satisfy a particular want in
society and so create a customer. Its mission is related to these wants and
is expressed in specific terms.
The mission statement should:
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Give clear and unambiguous direction to all who serve the
organization
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Relate to the organizations current and future
customers/markets
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Express the benefits the organization’s products or
services are to bring to the targeted customer/markets
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Always look outside the business not inside. For example a
mission that is focused on increasing market share is an inwardly seeking
mission whereas a mission that is focused on bringing cheap digital
communication to the community is an outwardly seeking mission statement
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Express a shared belief. There is no point in publishing a
mission statement in which people have not been involved in its
development.
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Remain constant despite changes in top management. Too many
changes to the mission causes people to pull in different directions
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Take into account all stakeholders
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Take the medium term view (business objectives take the short term
view and vision the long term view)
Only a clear definition of the
business purpose and mission makes possible clear and realistic business
objectives. It is the starting point for strategies, structures and
processes. Processes will not cause the right results unless the process
objectives have been derived from the vision or mission. Find out how to do this
here
Values
In the context of management, values
are the principles or beliefs that will guide the organization in fulfilling
its purpose (achieving its objectives, accomplishing its mission and
realizing its vision). Values are the things that are important to the
organization.
An organization adopts certain values
and not others depending on its vision. Values are the key to effective
management. They are at the core of every decision, every action and channel
the thought processes in making decisions and taking actions – they
condition the behaviour of the people in the organization and the way
internal and external relationships are handled.
Values are discovered not imposed. Values characterize the
culture of an organization. Values may be expressed as shared principles, beliefs
or policies, but not all principles and policies are value statements. For
an organization to be successful it needs a common set of shared values.
Values should not be sacrificed to achieve an objective or accomplish a
mission. Such action sends out the signal that it is OK to bend the rules,
to sacrifice your principles for expediency.
In the long term, such action becomes endemic and acts like a disease
throughout the organization and leads ultimately to its downfall.
Values might include:
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Customer focus
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Leadership
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Involvement of people
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Process approach
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System approach to management
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Continual improvement
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Factual approach to decision making
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Mutually beneficial supplier
relationships
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Honesty, integrity, and trust
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Responsibility, respect, and loyalty
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Relationships, privacy, openness,
individual contribution
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Freedom, confidentiality and
financial security, life, environment and equality
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Diversity, innovation, growth and
competitiveness
These are all positive values but
there are equally negative values depending on ones point of view. Fear,
tension, pressure, duplicity, uniformity, exploitation, secrecy and
discrimination may be appropriate values for some organizations to fulfil
their vision! |
