The Mission is the most important value of an organization, its primary objective or reason for being. This article aims to be a brief and entertaining approach to the two fundamental forms of Mission statement: in the form of a slogan (brief) or in the form of a concentrated expression of the strategy (deployed). Examples of each are presented, as well as their advantages and disadvantages.
Development
In today's business management, an organization is not conceived that has not declared its mission. From SMEs (Small and Medium Enterprises) to MNEs (Multinational Companies), including churches, local governments, environmental groups and many more. Hundreds of thousands of organizations around the world focus (or claim to focus) their efforts on the fulfillment of a mission.
The emergence of strategic management or administration as a management philosophy, brought with it the requirement of the declaration of this in order to channel the efforts of organizations to achieve sustainable transformations in the medium and long term, hence the importance of its study and successful preparation, since the strategic alignment of the organization will depend on it.
But in the end, what is the mission? How important is this organizational statement of intent? Opinions in this regard are mixed. Although the vast majority of authors agree that it is the objective of objectives, the raison d'être of the organization, even using the phrase "supramaximal objective", it is evident that the conflict arises at the time of its declaration. The what of the mission is clear, the how represents the essence of the problem.
The experience of several years of advising on strategic management, mainly the facilitation of strategic exercises to a wide universe of organizations, which includes local governments, hotels, convention centers, construction companies, projects, business groups dedicated to clothing and light industry, higher education institutions, transport companies, chemicals, etc. he has systematically confronted us with this dilemma. The results of the work of these years and the solutions found in each case allow us to offer our considerations in this regard and translate them into the body of this reflection.
Two approaches to declaring the mission.
Although between one extreme and the other one can find infinite variations, there are two fundamental currents for the mission statement:
• Mission statement in the form of a slogan.
• Mission statement in the form of a concentrated expression of the organizational strategy.
These two approaches or perspectives are conditioned by the organizational culture and are the reflection of the strategic intention and projection of the top management, which is ultimately the one who defines the strategic approach. One approach or another may be found differently in the subjectivity of the organizations, which is related to the previous perceptions and experiences of the members with respect to this issue and hence the facilitator should be tempered with the organization in question in order to that the declared mission does not conflict with the organizational culture and is therefore doomed to failure.
For this reason, it is necessary for managers and consultants to know the advantages and disadvantages of each approach, in order to implement the one that best suits the interests of their organization.
The mission "slogan".
This approach is based on the opinion of some authors that the mission should be elaborated taking into account only the need that the organization satisfies in society, the original essence of its emergence and reason for being. An example of this type of mission could be:
“Brindar smiles” (humorous company), “Satisfy your financing needs” (Banco de Crédito), “Guarantee your health” (Hospital), “Be your family in the Caribbean” (Family Hotel) to name a few potential examples.
This type of mission in the form of a slogan has a group of positive characteristics:
• It is extremely brief, which facilitates its socialization, helping it to be first known and then assumed by the members of the organization.
• Focuses on the social need that the organization meets, giving it a customer focus.
• It facilitates the mission statement for large companies with too wide a range of products that it prevents you from defining specific elements that the other approach requires.
• By not declaring competitive advantages, value propositions, policies, or market segments that the organization focuses on, information that could be useful to the competition is not made public to frustrate the success of the strategy.
Of course, it also has limitations or negative characteristics, among which we can mention:
• In the same sector, many organizations satisfy the same basic needs (in fact they compete for it), which can cause several organizations to declare the same mission, which is not recommended since two organizations should not have the same reason for being.
• It does not offer information other than the basic need to be satisfied by the organization, which limits the socialization of the strategy since the mission does not explain how the defined need will be satisfied.
• By not defining other variables related to the fulfillment of the social commission, it is difficult to focus the rest of the objectives and strategies to fulfill it.
The mission defined in the form of a slogan is therefore common in large organizations with extensive product portfolios. Its use in small and medium-sized companies generally makes it difficult for the members of the organization to align with its compliance and turns it into a simple organizational slogan without content that contributes to reaching the desired state.
Mission in the form of concentrated expression of organizational strategy
This approach is the most widespread, and is based on the opinion of some authors that the mission should constitute the concentrated expression of the organizational strategy, showing what, for whom, how and with what, and therefore including elements such as:
• Social commission (social need that the organization satisfies).
• Competitive advantages (differentiating elements that allow the organization to be distinguished from the rest of the sector).
• Customers (group of people for whom the organization's product or service is designed).
• Social responsibility (commitment of the organization to social and environmental sustainability)
• Organizational values (values on which the organization relies for the fulfillment of the social order)
• Technology (technology on which the organization is based to fulfill the social order)
An example of this type of mission could be:
"To provide specialized hotel services in golf and vacation tourism for adults, offering comfort, security and personalized attention, with the support of a motivated, trained human capital aligned with sustainability and strategy." (Hotel)
“To provide hotel services for adults in the first all-inclusive supermarket in Cuba, always with new attributes thanks to the professionalism and human values of our staff, guaranteeing a friendly and familiar treatment in an environment of safety, comfort and intimacy with nature. "(Hotel)
" Multiply the connections of our partners and clients, through a wide range of integrated telecommunication services, with updated technology and based on the highest levels of quality and competitiveness. "(Telecommunications company).
This type of mission in the form of a concentrated expression of organizational strategy presents a group of positive characteristics:
• By including the differentiating elements of the organization, it is easier to distinguish between organizations that operate in the same sector.
• Offers information that enables members to align themselves with their mission, as it explains how the social mandate assigned to the organization will be fulfilled.
• By defining other variables related to the fulfillment of the social commission, the focus of the rest of the objectives and strategies to fulfill it is facilitated.
Of course, like the mission in the form of a slogan, the mission in the form of strategy also has limitations or negative characteristics, among which we can mention:
• If it is too extensive, its socialization is difficult, stopping the fact that it is first known and then assumed by the members of the organization.
• It makes the mission statement difficult for large companies with too wide a range of products that prevents you from defining specific elements not required by the mission in the form of a slogan.
• It makes public the essential elements of the organization's strategy, which puts sensitive information in the hands of the competition.
• In most cases the mission, when declared at the beginning of the development of the strategy, is the concentrated expression of a strategy that does not yet exist, so contradictions can be generated from the data produced by the strategic diagnosis.
Mission defined in the form of concentrated expression of strategy is common in small and medium-sized businesses or those that do not have extensive product portfolios.
Final comment
The importance of the mission is paramount for the synergistic operation of organizations, without it they get lost in occasional phenomena and get away from their main path. Whether it is prepared according to one or another approach, it must respond to the great options of the organization, as well as the transformations it seeks in the medium and long term. Its articulation with the organizational culture is vital, so the use of the different models and methodologies for its elaboration must be selected with precision in each case and not following standardizing prescriptions. Alignment, a key value for organizational success, depends in the first instance on an effective mission statement.
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