case study mission vision statement

Case Studies

| Home | Case Studies | The Author | Press | E-zine Archive | Leadership | Resources | Contact Us |

These case studies are from people and businesses that have used the process, examples and exercises given in the ebook

Mission and vision statements: your path to a successful business future.

Case Study #1 — City Public Works Department

Objective:  to bring a team of managers, engineers, maintenance workers and administrative personnel together to increase awareness and cooperation

Result:  “The development and use of our mission and vision statements helped provide more credibility with the people we worked with and increased teamwork and cooperation among staff members and other departments”

Case Study #2 — Financial Firm

Objective:  to generate benefit for our company

Result:  “Our company has benefited greatly since the inception of the mission and vision statement. Every company, family, couple or individual should have one…I can’t stress that strongly enough.”

Case Study #3 — Hotel and Restaurant Operations

Objective:  to provide follow-up and closure to a vast array of plans and renovations

Result:  “There was always something to work towards. If we wanted to do new things, we will now check to see if it matches our mission statement and vision for the future. Our focus changed from going all over the place to getting things done from start to finish.”

Case Study #4 — Doctor

Objective:  to provide the motivation and incentive to build a successful practice

Result:  “We found it works on a personal level as well as a business level”

Case Study #5 — Non-Profit Organization Director

Objective:  to provide the leadership and direction to bring together a diverse group of personalities to achieve a united purpose and desired future

Result:  “Because of this mission and vision statement process, I formed the language and passion of the true meaning of what was deep within me.”

Case Study #6 — Pastor

Objective:  to discover the true passion, mission and desired future for my church and congregation; the church goals

Result:  “The things I learned in this “how to write mission and vision statements” process are just part of me now. That was a real growing experience for me. I’ll be forever grateful.”

Case Study #7 — Fire Behavior Analyst & Firefighter

Objective:  to be a better manager and gain better use of my time; to attend a leadership seminar

Result:  “I want to manage my time and project selection, and mission and vision statements help do that.  This e-book was great; I could prepare them at home, go at my speed, and a much better use of my time and dollars than attending a leadership seminar.”

Case Study #8 — New Business Owner

Objective :  to provide a focus and purpose for our efforts and define a clear direction for the future

Result:  “Now the checks are more consistent and larger. We are a successful business because we are more focused and have established success goals. Before, we were like a boat without oars, just floating around and going where the wind took us. Our mission and vision statements gave us the oars that let us go in the direction we wanted to go.”

Send this valuable resource to a friend.

Dr. Steve Boshoff, a chiropractor, says

“We found it works on a personal level as well as a business level.”

Our customers also enjoy: The Leadership and Mangement Training System

• SUGGESTED TOPICS
• The Magazine
• Newsletters
• Managing Yourself
• Managing Teams
• Work-life Balance
• The Big Idea
• Data & Visuals
• Reading Lists
• Case Selections
• HBR Learning
• Topic Feeds
• Account Settings
• Email Preferences

It’s Time to Take a Fresh Look at Your Company’s Values

• John Coleman

The world has changed — and so have your employees and customers.

As you think ahead to what may be the “new normal,” now is a perfect opportunity to refresh what your organization stands for. It’s almost certain that your old mission, vision, and values don’t fully match today’s context. But how can a company seek to refresh its mission, vision, and values?

First, start by asking a series of straightforward questions: What is the core purpose of our collective work together, or our mission? What are we hoping to achieve together, or our vision? And what core principles, or values, will guide the way we work together as colleagues and for our clients? Finally, what’s changed? What is outdated and needs to be left behind? What’s new that needs to be embraced?

With these questions in hand, leadership teams at companies should design a process for asking these questions in community and then embedding the answers in the culture. Engage your employees as you ask the questions and then communicate the answers out to everyone in the firm.

Every great culture needs a mission, a vision, and values. Its mission is the organization’s indelible purpose and reason for being. Its vision is its aspiration for itself. And its values (or virtues) are the way an organization commits to working — a statement of how a company does what it does and the principles it will consistently abide by. But these are never meant to be static. Just as the environment around a company changes, so must the company itself.

• JC John Coleman is the author of the HBR Guide to Crafting Your Purpose . Subscribe to his free newsletter, On Purpose , follow him on Twitter @johnwcoleman, or contact him at johnwilliamcoleman.com.

Partner Center

Transform teamwork with Confluence. See why Confluence is the content collaboration hub for all teams.  Get it free

• The Workstream
• Strategic planning
• Creating a vision & mission

Mission vs. vision statements: definitions & examples

The lowdown on mission and vision statements (with definitions and examples)

Browse topics

What are mission and vision statements? A mission statement defines the organization’s business, its objectives, and how it will reach these objectives. A vision statement details where the organization aspires to go. Why does your company exist? What do you hope to accomplish in the next several years?

On the surface, those questions seem pretty straightforward. But if you’ve ever had to respond with something concise and powerful, you know that it’s way more challenging than it seems.

This is where your mission and vision statements come in. To craft them, you need to put in the work to understand what your company is all about, as well as where you’re headed in the future.

And once you’ve invested the elbow grease to do so, you’ll be prepared to respond to questions about your reason for being with something impressive – rather than silence and a deadpan expression.

So, let’s dig into everything you need to know about mission and vision statements, shall we?

Mission statements vs. vision statements

Sometimes the terms “mission statement” and “vision statement” are used interchangeably or even combined into a single statement.

But they mean two very different things. Your mission statement is what your company is doing right now, while your vision statement is what you hope to achieve in the future – where you are in this moment versus where you’re going. 

Let’s bring this home: if someone asks you, “So, what do you do?” you might say, “I’m a software developer at a mid-size software company” or “I’m a circus clown.”

But, what if they asked you, “What do you want to be doing five or 10 years from now?” Your answer might be a bit different, right?

Maybe you’d say, “My goal is to move into a management position where I oversee all of the company’s developers” or “Ultimately, I’d like to be a world-famous clown and the choice entertainer at birthday parties for celebrities’ kids.”

Mission statement examples

We’ve put together a mini list of inspiration to help you get started. Below are some winning mission statements from a few well-known companies. We know it’s tempting, but no, you cannot copy them. 

sweetgreen : “Our mission is to inspire healthier communities by connecting people to real food.”

Nike : “Bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete* in the world. *If you have a body, you are an athlete.” 

Etsy : “Our mission is to Keep Commerce Human.” 

LinkedIn : “Connect the world’s professionals to make them more productive and successful.”

How to write a mission statement

Alright, now the real work begins: rolling up your sleeves and pulling together your own mission statement.

Let’s mention one more thing about what a mission is not – a slogan. A slogan (think “Just do it” or “Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there”) is a catchy marketing line that customers can immediately associate with a brand. Your mission statement is more than that. It captures the heart of your organization and explains why you do what you do and why you exist in the first place. 

A solid mission statement calls for you to dig deep, beyond just “Do a good job” or “Delight our customers”, which can make writing your mission statement tough. Fortunately, we’ve broken it down into three (kind of) easy steps.

1. Start with the basics

Mission statements run the gamut from one sentence to several paragraphs, and there’s a lot that they can include. Some mission statements even go into detail about how a company not only serves their customers, but also their employees and communities.

But, let’s just keep this simple for now. In its most basic form, your mission statement should capture: 

• What your company offers your customers (why do you exist?)
• Who your company serves (who are your target customers?)
• Why your company stands out (what makes you different from your competitors?)

Grab your favorite pen (we know you have one!) and a notepad and write a short (just a single sentence fragment will work) response to each of those prompts.

For example, imagine that you work for a software company that developed an app that uses highly tailored personality tests to match candidates with dream jobs. You might come up with something like this: 

• What your company offers your customers An easy solution to finding a dream job
• Who your company serves Young professionals who feel lost about their next career steps
• Why your company stands out Your personality assessments are patented and highly rated

Got your own answers scribbled down? Great! Let’s move to the next step.

2. Piece it together

You have the nuts and bolts of your mission statement figured out, but, let’s be honest, it’s still a hot mess. It’s time to tape them together into a more readable statement.

Begin rearranging the pieces, swapping in different words, and making other changes to come up with a few potential statements. 

Don’t feel like you’re married to the very first version you come up with. It’s all about trial and error here. Plus, the more options you come up with, the more flexibility you have to land on something that sings. 

Sticking with our personality test company example, you might develop these potential mission statements: 

• Helping young professionals find careers where they can thrive with patented and effective personality assessments.
• Growing tomorrow’s leaders through targeted personality assessments that match young professionals with careers.
• Forging career pathways for today’s professionals through effective personality assessments.
• Using patented and customized personality assessments to help young professionals find their perfect careers. 

They’re all pretty solid choices, right? Don’t worry. The next step will help us narrow these down.

3. Collect feedback and refine

Your mission statement captures your company as a whole, which means you can’t write it in a vacuum. Make sure it really does your organization justice by welcoming other viewpoints in the process. 

Collect feedback from your teammates, leaders, board of directors, and loyal customers. You can gather their thoughts through a formal survey, focus groups, or just casual one-on-one chats. 

Pull together all of the mission statements that you came up with (that you think are good options, of course), and ask questions like:

• Which of these statements do you like the most? Why?
• Which of these statements do you like the least? Why?
• Is there anything that you think these statements are missing?
• Do you have any other ideas for mission statements?

The trick here is that you can’t just collect that feedback – you should actually think about and work with it.  

Imagine that in response to the personality test mission statement options, most people agreed that they wanted to see something shorter and snappier. You take that in and end up with a final mission statement like this:

Building better careers through customized personality assessments.

Bam! You have your mission statement. It seems easy peasy laid out like this, right? But don’t fret if it’s not done in a snap for you. 

It might take some time and many rounds of revisions to nail it. That’s totally normal. Take it as a sign that you’re giving your mission statement the effort and consideration it deserves. 

Vision statement examples

Forecasting the future of your company – and with such bravado – makes creating a vision statement a strange (and somewhat braggy and therefore slightly uncomfortable) task. But, seriously, that’s what a vision is all about. See below for examples of companies who have taken this task and owned it.

Habitat for Humanity : “A world where everyone has a decent place to live.” 

Ford : “To become the world’s most trusted company.”

Ben & Jerry’s : “We make the best possible ice cream in the best possible way.” 

Dow : “We want to become the most innovative, customer-centric, inclusive, and sustainable materials science company in the world. Our goal is to deliver value growth and best-in-class performance.”

You’ll notice that nonprofits tend to describe an ideal world while for-profit companies describe their place in an ideal world.

How to write a vision statement

You probably don’t have a crystal ball that will help you foresee the future of your company (although, if you do, are you willing to share?). 

So, coming up with your vision statement can be a challenge for someone without psychic abilities, since it makes you think super big. Zoom out and ask yourself, “What’s the ultimate purpose I’m serving?”

Have no fear, we’ve boiled this vital project into three approachable steps.

1. Define your end game

Start by understanding why your product or service matters. What does it help people do? How does it better their lives? 

Think about our career personality test example for a moment. What’s the end result there? Nope, it’s not the app itself. The ultimate result (and value!) is a match with a career that seems like a perfect fit.

Think of it this way: Your company is the road on which your customers are running a race. Once they cross the finish line, what do they get? This can help you see how what you’re doing makes a difference for your customers, your community, or even the world.

2. Pinpoint when you know you’ve made it

When you look five or 10 years down the road (let’s stop there for now), what fills out your win column? Jot down everything that comes to mind. 

Turning back to our personality test scenario, do you want to become the world’s most trusted resource for career exploration? Do you want to create a world where nobody hates their jobs? Do you want every person to have confidence in their next career step?

Remember, this is your chance to be ambitious and be bold, so don’t be timid. Find your swagger and go big!

3. Pull together your vision

Ok, you’re almost there. You have two elements locked down: 

• What you ultimately produce and why it matters
• How you’ll know when you’re successful

Now, similarly to what you did with your mission statement, it’s time to start piecing them together using different combinations and wording to see what you come up with. 

Sticking with our running career test example, your vision statement could be any one of the following (among many other gazillion options you come up with, of course).

• Position ourselves as the most trusted partner in career exploration.
• Build a world where absolutely nobody dreads heading to work.
• Create a career landscape where Monday is just as great as Friday.

Again, this is a game of trial and error until you’re happy with a near-final product that you can run by other people for feedback.

At the end of that, you’ll have a vision statement that sums up your goals for the future of your organization.

Purpose of vision and mission statements

We won’t be offended if you’re wondering, “What’s the point of all this?”

Trust us: creating these statements is worth the sweat. They’re far more than formalities and really can be useful for your organization.

Your mission statement highlights your company’s core values and helps everybody – from your customers to your employees – immediately understand what your business is about and how you’re different from your competitors.

Your vision statement serves as a roadmap of sorts. It’s an inspiring reminder of what you’re working toward, which is easy to lose sight of when you’re bombarded with the day to day.

But here’s the thing: you can’t stop at just creating them. In order for them to do their job, you need to actively promote and live them. 

That doesn’t just mean slapping them up on your website or printing them on a poster that hangs in your break room. You need to integrate them as core parts of your culture by always acting and making decisions with those statements in mind.

Plus, you need to educate your employees about what your mission and vision are, and what they really mean. One survey found that a whopping 61% of employees didn’t know their company’s mission statement. You can’t really expect your team to help you achieve your mission and vision if they don’t know what they are.

So, give new employees the message on day one. Make your company mission and vision part of the onboarding process for new hires, and return to these statements whenever you’re launching new projects, problem-solving, brainstorming, or making big decisions.

Do that, and your mission and vision statements won’t be a formality. They’ll be fundamental to the way you do business.

You may also like

Project poster template.

A collaborative one-pager that keeps your project team and stakeholders aligned

Confluence is a team workspace where organizations document and share their vision, plans, and goals to unify teamwork. 

Enable faster content collaboration for every team with Confluence

Copyright © 2024 Atlassian

• school Campus Bookshelves
• menu_book Bookshelves
• perm_media Learning Objects
• login Login
• how_to_reg Request Instructor Account
• hub Instructor Commons

Margin Size

• Download Page (PDF)
• Download Full Book (PDF)
• Periodic Table
• Physics Constants
• Scientific Calculator
• Reference & Cite
• Tools expand_more
• Readability

selected template will load here

This action is not available.

4.3: The Roles of Mission, Vision, and Values

• Last updated
• Save as PDF
• Page ID 24409

\( \newcommand{\vecs}[1]{\overset { \scriptstyle \rightharpoonup} {\mathbf{#1}} } \)

\( \newcommand{\vecd}[1]{\overset{-\!-\!\rightharpoonup}{\vphantom{a}\smash {#1}}} \)

\( \newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\)

( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\)

\( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\) \( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\)

\( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\) \( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\)

\( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\)

\( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\)

\( \newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\)

\( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\)

\( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\)

\( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\)

\( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\)

\( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\)

\( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\)

\( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \( \newcommand{\AA}{\unicode[.8,0]{x212B}}\)

\( \newcommand{\vectorA}[1]{\vec{#1}}      % arrow\)

\( \newcommand{\vectorAt}[1]{\vec{\text{#1}}}      % arrow\)

\( \newcommand{\vectorB}[1]{\overset { \scriptstyle \rightharpoonup} {\mathbf{#1}} } \)

\( \newcommand{\vectorC}[1]{\textbf{#1}} \)

\( \newcommand{\vectorD}[1]{\overrightarrow{#1}} \)

\( \newcommand{\vectorDt}[1]{\overrightarrow{\text{#1}}} \)

\( \newcommand{\vectE}[1]{\overset{-\!-\!\rightharpoonup}{\vphantom{a}\smash{\mathbf {#1}}}} \)

Learning Objectives

• Be able to define mission and vision.
• See how values are important for mission and vision.
• Understand the roles of vision, mission, and values in the P-O-L-C framework.

Mission, Vision, and Values

Mission and vision both relate to an organization’s purpose and are typically communicated in some written form. Mission and vision are statements from the organization that answer questions about who we are, what do we value, and where we’re going. A study by the consulting firm Bain and Company reports that 90% of the 500 firms surveyed issue some form of mission and vision statements (Bart & Baetz, 1998). Moreover, firms with clearly communicated, widely understood, and collectively shared mission and vision have been shown to perform better than those without them, with the caveat that they related to effectiveness only when strategy and goals and objectives were aligned with them as well (Bart, et. al., 2001).

A  mission statement  communicates the organization’s reason for being, and how it aims to serve its key stakeholders. Customers, employees, and investors are the stakeholders most often emphasized, but other stakeholders like government or communities (i.e., in the form of social or environmental impact) can also be discussed. Mission statements are often longer than vision statements. Sometimes mission statements also include a summation of the firm’s values.  Values  are the beliefs of an individual or group, and in this case the organization, in which they are emotionally invested. The Starbucks mission statement describes six guiding principles that, as you can see, also communicate the organization’s values:

• Provide a great work environment and treat each other with respect and dignity .
• Embrace diversity as an essential component in the way we do business .
• Apply the highest standards of excellence to the purchasing, roasting and fresh delivery of our coffee.
• Develop enthusiastically satisfied customers all of the time .
• Contribute positively to our communities and our environment .
• Recognize that profitability is essential to our future success  (Starbucks, 2008).

Similarly, Toyota declares its global corporate principles to be:

• Honor the language and spirit of the law of every nation and undertake open and fair corporate activities to be a good corporate citizen of the world .
• Respect the culture and customs of every nation and contribute to economic and social development through corporate activities in the communities .
• Dedicate ourselves to providing clean and safe products and to enhancing the quality of life everywhere through all our activities .
• Create and develop advanced technologies and provide outstanding products and services that fulfill the needs of customers worldwide .
• Foster a corporate culture that enhances individual creativity and teamwork value, while honoring mutual trust and respect between labor and management .
• Pursue growth in harmony with the global community through innovative management .
• Work with business partners in research and creation to achieve stable, long-term growth and mutual benefits, while keeping ourselves open to new partnerships  (Toyota, 2008).

A  vision statement , in contrast, is a future-oriented declaration of the organization’s purpose and aspirations. In many ways, you can say that the mission statement lays out the organization’s “purpose for being,” and the vision statement then says, “based on that purpose, this is what we want to become.” The strategy should flow directly from the vision, since the strategy is intended to achieve the vision and thus satisfy the organization’s mission. Typically, vision statements are relatively brief, as in the case of Starbuck’s vision statement, which reads: “Establish Starbucks as the premier purveyor of the finest coffee in the world while maintaining our uncompromising principles as we grow (Starbucks, 2008).” Or ad firm Ogilvy & Mather, which states their vision as “an agency defined by its devotion to brands (Ogilvy, 2008).” Sometimes the vision statement is also captured in a short tag line, such as Toyota’s “moving forward” statement that appears in most communications to customers, suppliers, and employees (Toyota, 2008). Similarly, Wal-Mart’s tag-line version of its vision statement is “Save money. Live better (Walmart, 2008).”

Any casual tour of business or organization Web sites will expose you to the range of forms that mission and vision statements can take. To reiterate, mission statements are longer than vision statements, often because they convey the organizations core values. Mission statements answer the questions of “Who are we?” and “What does our organization value?” Vision statements typically take the form of relatively brief, future-oriented statements—vision statements answer the question “Where is this organization going?” Increasingly, organizations also add a  values statement  which either reaffirms or states outright the organization’s values that might not be evident in the mission or vision statements.

Roles Played by Mission and Vision

Mission and vision statements play three critical roles: (1) communicate the purpose of the organization to stakeholders, (2) inform strategy development, and (3) develop the measurable goals and objectives by which to gauge the success of the organization’s strategy. These interdependent, cascading roles, and the relationships among them, are summarized in the figure.

First, mission and vision provide a vehicle for communicating an organization’s purpose and values to all key stakeholders. Stakeholders are those key parties who have some influence over the organization or stake in its future. You will learn more about stakeholders and stakeholder analysis later in this chapter; however, for now, suffice it to say that some key stakeholders are employees, customers, investors, suppliers, and institutions such as governments. Typically, these statements would be widely circulated and discussed often so that their meaning is widely understood, shared, and internalized. The better employees understand an organization’s purpose, through its mission and vision, the better able they will be to understand the strategy and its implementation.

Second, mission and vision create a target for strategy development. That is, one criterion of a good strategy is how well it helps the firm achieve its mission and vision. To better understand the relationship among mission, vision, and strategy, it is sometimes helpful to visualize them collectively as a funnel. At the broadest part of the funnel, you find the inputs into the mission statement. Toward the narrower part of the funnel, you find the vision statement, which has distilled down the mission in a way that it can guide the development of the strategy. In the narrowest part of the funnel you find the strategy —it is clear and explicit about what the firm will do, and not do, to achieve the vision. Vision statements also provide a bridge between the mission and the strategy. In that sense the best vision statements create a tension and restlessness with regard to the status quo—that is, they should foster a spirit of continuous innovation and improvement. For instance, in the case of Toyota, its “moving forward” vision urges managers to find newer and more environmentally friendly ways of delighting the purchaser of their cars. London Business School professors Gary Hamel and C. K. Prahalad describe this tense relationship between vision and strategy as stretch and ambition. Indeed, in a study of such able competitors as CNN, British Airways, and Sony, they found that these firms displaced competitors with stronger reputations and deeper pockets through their ambition to stretch their organizations in more innovative ways (Hamel & Prahalad, 1993).

Third, mission and vision provide a high-level guide, and the strategy provides a specific guide, to the goals and objectives showing success or failure of the strategy and satisfaction of the larger set of objectives stated in the mission. In the cases of both Starbucks and Toyota, you would expect to see profitability goals, in addition to metrics on customer and employee satisfaction, and social and environmental responsibility.

Key Takeaway

Mission and vision both relate to an organization’s purpose and aspirations, and are typically communicated in some form of brief written statements. A mission statement communicates the organization’s reason for being and how it aspires to serve its key stakeholders. The vision statement is a narrower, future-oriented declaration of the organization’s purpose and aspirations. Together, mission and vision guide strategy development, help communicate the organization’s purpose to stakeholders, and inform the goals and objectives set to determine whether the strategy is on track.

• What is a mission statement?
• What is a vision statement?
• How are values important to the content of mission and vision statements?
• Where does the purpose of mission and vision overlap?
• How do mission and vision relate to a firm’s strategy?
• Why are mission and vision important for organizational goals and objectives?

Bart, C. K., & Baetz, M. C. (1998). The relationship between mission statements and firm performance: An exploratory study.  Journal of Management Studies, 35 , 823–853.

Bart, C. K., Bontis, N., & Taggar, S. (2001). A model of the impact of mission statements on firm performance.  Management Decision, 39 (1), 19–35.

Hamel, G., & Prahalad, C. K. (1993, March–April). Strategy as stretch and leverage . Harvard Business Review , 75–84.

Ogilvy, Retrieved October 27, 2008, from  http://www.ogilvy.com/o_mather .

Starbucks, retrieved October 27, 2008, from  http://www.starbucks.com/aboutus

Toyota, retrieved October 27, 2008, from  http://www.toyota.co.jp/en/vision/philosophy .

Toyota, retrieved October 27, 2008, from  http://www.toyota.com/about/our_values/index.html .

Walmart, retrieved October 27, 2008, from  http://www.walmart.com .

Difference Between Mission and Vision Statements: 25 Examples

• Written By Britt Skrabanek
• Updated: April 18, 2024

Mission. Vision. Values. 

You’ve probably heard that phrase (or something similar) a thousand times. But they’re actually three distinct concepts.

The lines especially blur between mission and vision. It’s essential to know their distinction from one another when it comes to the drive and direction of your company. So what’s the real difference between mission and vision statements?

In this in-depth guide, we’ll compare and contrast mission and vision statements. We’ll break down each one’s definition and then discuss the best 25 brand examples that demonstrate their differences. Through that, you’ll be able to better understand and define your company’s essence and direction with confidence and clarity.

The Difference Between a Mission and Vision Statement

This is the easiest way to break it down:

• The mission statement focuses on today and what the organization does to achieve it.
• The vision statement focuses on tomorrow and what the organization wants to become.

While companies commonly use mission and vision statements interchangeably, it’s important to have both. Because having purpose and meaning is critical for any business, one doesn’t work without the other.

What is a Mission Statement?

Your mission statement drives the company. It is the core of the business. From it stems your company’s objectives and what it takes to reach those objectives. Ultimately, it shapes your company’s entire culture.

Mission statement questions look like:

• What do we do?
• Whom do we serve?
• How do we serve them?

This trickle-down effect of a mission statement confirms its value at any company. A solid mission sets up your content operations for success by starting your team all at the same place and motivating them to work together to reach the same end goal.

On the other hand, a weak mission — or no mission at all — can have the opposite effect. Picture this: silos, miscommunications, flailing, feeling unmotivated. And, imagine what that does to a company. Scary, right?

For content marketers

Your content strategy supports your company’s mission statement — think of it as the HOW of what you do.  It helps keep you on track. Through it, you stay true to your brand and your goals. Every piece of content you create should be rooted in your mission statement, from the tone of voice to the call to action .

What is a Vision Statement?

Your vision statement gives the company direction. It is the future of the business, which then provides the purpose.

The vision statement is aspirational- it’s about what you want to become.

Vision statement questions look like:

• What are our hopes and dreams?
• What problem are we solving for the greater good?
• Who and what are we inspiring to change?

The vision statement promotes growth, both internally and externally. A strong vision helps teams focus on what matters the most for their company. It also invites innovation. A purpose-driven company envisions success as a whole because they know what success means for their company.

On the flip side, a lack of vision is a road to nowhere for a business. Imagine this: stagnation, outdated processes, moving without purpose, feeling uninspired. Can a company even survive without a clear vision? You know the answer to that one.

The content vision supports the company’s vision statement — it’s the WHY of what you do. This helps you stay forward-thinking, true to your beliefs, and true to your purpose. Every piece of content you dream up should fly high with your vision statement, from the inception of an ebook to the lofty blog traffic milestone.

Brands That Get It: 25 Mission and Vision Statement Examples

So, what do great mission and vision statements actually look like? Here are 25 companies that get them right, with the customer loyalty to prove it.

Mission: To accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy.

Vision: To create the most compelling car company of the 21st century by driving the world’s transition to electric vehicles.

Why it works:  What better word than “accelerate” in a mission to serve as the driving force behind what Tesla does. While boldly stating “best in the century” reflects loftier dreams in the vision.

Mission:  We strive to offer our customers the lowest possible prices, the best available selection, and the utmost convenience.

Vision:  To be Earth’s most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online.

Why it works:  Amazon’s mission is cut-and-dry about what it offers to customers. The vision takes the offerings further, saying their company will offer “anything” customers want.

Mission:   We’re in business to save our home planet.

Vision: A love of wild and beautiful places demands participation in the fight to save them and to help reverse the steep decline in the overall environmental health of our planet.

Why it works: Patagonia’s mission and vision statements show a deep commitment to improving lives and saving the planet through its products.

Mission:  Spread ideas.

Vision: We believe passionately in the power of ideas to change attitudes, lives, and, ultimately, the world.

Why it works:  The TED mission to “spread ideas” is a simple demonstration of how they serve. The vision is all about impact, and how spreading ideas invokes change in the world.

Mission:  To connect the world’s professionals to make them more productive and successful.

Vision:  To create economic opportunity for every member of the global workforce.

Why it works:  LinkedIn succinctly captures what they do (connect) and who they serve (the world’s professionals) in their mission. While the vision encompasses every working person in the world.

Mission:   To organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.

Vision:  To provide access to the world’s information in one click.

Why it works:  Google may seem complex, but its mission clarifies that organization and accessibility are what they offer. Their vision statement is about improving accessibility in the future “in one click.”

Mission:  We reimagine the way the world moves for the better.

Vision:  Smarter transportation with fewer cars and greater access. Transportation that’s safer, cheaper, and more reliable; transportation that creates more job opportunities and higher incomes for drivers.

Why it works:  Uber “transports,” so it is the perfect actionable verb for their mission. The vision dives deeper into how their transportation services exist for the greater good of everyone.

Mission: To create a world where anyone can belong anywhere, and we are focused on creating an end-to-end travel platform that will handle every part of your trip.

Vision: Belong everywhere.

Why it works: The Airbnb mission says, “We help you feel at home,” while encapsulating the company’s goals for the future. They explore a deeper sense of belonging in the vision, tapping into the universal human desire their company aims for.

Mission: Delight our customers, employees, and shareholders by relentlessly delivering the platform and technology advancements that become essential to the way we work and live.

Vision:  If it is smart and connected, it is best with Intel.

Why it works: Intel promises to deliver the most technologically advanced products in its mission. Their vision uses more boastful language, illustrating great confidence in the future of their solutions.

Mission:  We build cars, symbols of Italian excellence the world over, and we do so to win on both road and track. Unique creations that fuel the Prancing Horse legend and generate a “World of Dreams and Emotions.”

Vision:  Ferrari, Italian Excellence that makes the world dream.

Why it works:  “We build to win” in Ferrari’s mission focuses on the strength and quality of their product. In this ambitious vision, their cars will reach the pinnacle of “Italian Excellence.”

Mission: Our mission is to empower entrepreneurs everywhere, making opportunities more inclusive for all.

Vision: Our vision is to radically shift the global economy toward independent entrepreneurial ventures.

Why it works: GoDaddy positions itself as the entrepreneur’s champion, making opportunity and success attainable for all.

Caterpillar

Mission: To provide the best value to customers, grow a profitable business, develop and reward people, and encourage social responsibility.

Vision: Be the global leader in customer value.

Why it works: Caterpillar explains both their “how” and their “why” in their mission statement: By providing affordable and high-quality products to customers, they will continue to grow their business, recognize and reward employees, and make a positive impact on the environment. Their vision reaffirms their commitment to providing value.

Mission:  To attract and attain customers with high-valued products and services and the most satisfying ownership experience in America.

Vision:  To be the most successful and respected car company in America.

Why it works:  Toyota’s mission and vision statements demonstrate what they are known for: products and services. Even in a highly competitive industry, their vision states that they will become the best car company in the country.

Mission: We will devote our human resources and technology to creating superior products and services, thereby contributing to a better global society.

Vision: To inspire the world with our innovative technologies, products, and designs that enrich people’s lives and contribute to social prosperity by creating a new future.

Why it works: Samsung wants to improve people’s lives by creating exceptional and innovative products, which they make clear in both their mission and vision statements.

Mission:  To empower and engage people around the world to collect and develop educational content under a free license or in the public domain, and to disseminate it effectively and globally.

Vision:  Imagine a world in which every single human being can freely share in the sum of all knowledge. That’s our commitment.

Why it works:  Wikimedia’s mission motivates its team to move toward a common goal of empowerment and engagement. Their vision paints a future world where their company’s commitment makes a lasting impact.

Mission:  To be the world’s favorite destination for discovering great value and unique selection.

Vision:  Our vision for commerce is one that is enabled by people, powered by technology, and open to everyone.

Why it works: When you break eBay’s mission and vision statements down, you see that eBay’s mission uses “destination” to show their virtual company as a real place people come to. An ongoing focus on people and technology gets into the “why” of their vision.

Mission:  Offer a wide range of well-designed, functional home furnishing products at prices so low that as many people as possible will be able to afford them.

Vision: To create a better everyday life for many people.

Why it Works:  The mission here focuses on the functionality of IKEA’s products and the affordability of their customers. In the vision, the IKEA team has a true sense of purpose in “creating a better everyday life.”

Mission: Shape the future of the internet by creating unprecedented value and opportunity for our customers, employees, investors, and ecosystem partners.

Vision:  Changing the way we work, live, play, and learn.

Why it works:  Cisco decided to blend their mission and vision statements. Language like “shape the future” is more vision-oriented, but the mission talks about the people they serve.

Mission:  A company that inspires and fulfills your curiosity.

Vision: Using our unlimited passion for technology, content, and services to deliver groundbreaking new excitement and entertainment, as only Sony can.

Why it works:  Sony gives a customer-focused touch to its mission by using “your.” The “unlimited passion” and “groundbreaking entertainment” messaging in their vision demonstrate innovation.

Southwest Airlines

Mission: The mission of Southwest Airlines is a dedication to the highest quality of customer service delivered with a sense of warmth, friendliness, individual pride, and company spirit.

Vision: To be the world’s most loved, most efficient, and most profitable airline.

Why it works:  Southwest Airlines tells us right up front that quality customer service is their mission. Their vision is highly aspirational across the board in saying they want to be “the most” of everything.

Mission: Our mission is to provide insightful solutions that drive value and success for our clients by allowing them to focus on their business.

Vision:  Be the world’s authority on helping organizations focus on what matters.

Why it works: ADP puts its clients at the forefront of its mission and vision statements. After all, their clients’ success is what makes them successful.

Kaiser Permanente

Mission: Kaiser Permanente exists to provide high-quality, affordable healthcare services and to improve the health of our members and the communities we serve.

Vision:  We are trusted partners in total health, collaborating with people to help them thrive and creating communities that are among the healthiest in the nation.

Why it works:  Saying “exist” sounds more like a vision statement, but the rest of the mission says what Kaiser Permanente does. In the vision, “thrive” and “healthiest” are big words that show their impact.

Mission:  The mission of Coinbase is to create an open financial system for the world.

Vision:  Digital currency will bring about more innovation, efficiency, and equality of opportunity in the world by creating an open financial system.

Why it works:  Coinbase didn’t sugarcoat what they do in their mission statement, did they? And, in the vision, their message speaks well to the change their company will bring one day.

Mission:  To give people the power to build community and bring the world closer together.

Vision:  People use Facebook to stay connected with friends and family, to discover what’s going on in the world, and to share and express what matters to them.

Why it works:  Facebook’s mission is focused on the community their platform promises. Their vision talks about why community matters, interweaving how they will “bring the world closer together” from the mission.

Whole Foods

Mission: Our purpose is to nourish people and the planet. We’re a purpose-driven company that aims to set the standards of excellence for food retailers. Quality is a state of mind at Whole Foods Market.

Vision: Whole Foods, Whole People, Whole Planet.

Why it works:  This mission uses repetition throughout to reinforce the quality that Whole Foods is known for. Making everything “whole” in their vision binds their company to a set of beliefs that they complete people’s lives.

More Mission Statements From Top Brands:

• Adidas — To be the best sports company in the world.
• CalArts — CalArts is a multidisciplinary community of artists. Our ongoing educational endeavor is grounded in openness, experimentation, critical engagement, and creative freedom. Through artistic practice, we transform ourselves, each other, and the world.
• Coca-Cola — To refresh the world in mind, body, and spirit; to inspire moments of optimism and happiness through our brands and actions; to create value and make a difference.
• Dunkin’ Donuts — Everything we do is about you. From chefs who create exciting new flavors to crew members who know exactly how you want your drink—we prioritize what you need to get you on your way. We strive to keep you at your best, and we remain loyal to you, your tastes, and your time. That’s what America runs on.
• Goodwill — Goodwill works to enhance people’s dignity and quality of life by strengthening their communities, eliminating their barriers to opportunity, and helping them reach their full potential through learning and the power of work.
• L’Oréal — L’Oréal has set itself the mission of offering all women and men worldwide the best of cosmetics innovation in terms of quality, efficacy, and safety. By meeting the infinite diversity of beauty needs and desires all over the world.
• McDonald’s — Our mission is to make delicious feel-good moments easy for everyone.
• The Met — The mission of The Metropolitan Museum of Art is to collect, preserve, study, exhibit, and stimulate appreciation for and advance knowledge of works of art that collectively represent the broadest spectrum of human achievement at the highest level of quality, all in the service of the public and in accordance with the highest professional standards.
• Microsoft — Our mission is to empower every person and organization on the planet to achieve more.
• MIT — The mission of MIT is to advance knowledge and educate students in science, technology, and other areas of scholarship that will best serve the nation and the world in the 21st century.
• NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) — NASA explores the unknown in air and space, innovates for the benefit of humanity, and inspires the world through discovery.
• Nike — Bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete* in the world. *If you have a body, you are an athlete.
• Northwestern University  — Northwestern is committed to excellent teaching, innovative research, and the personal and intellectual growth of its students in a diverse academic community.
• Oprah Winfrey Network — OWN’s mission is to create multiple platforms for women, men, and their families with a purpose and a passion: to celebrate life, inspire and entertain, empower viewers around the world to live their best lives, and by doing so, lift the lives of those around them in ever-widening circles.
• Pepsi — Create more smiles with every sip and every bite.
• Shopify — Making commerce better for everyone.
• Starbucks — To inspire and nurture the human spirit – one person, one cup, and one neighborhood at a time.
• Target — To help all families discover the joy of everyday life.
• Walt Disney Company — The mission of The Walt Disney Company is to entertain, inform and inspire people around the globe through the power of unparalleled storytelling, reflecting the iconic brands, creative minds, and innovative technologies that make ours the world’s premier entertainment company.

Know Who You Are and Where You’re Going

The mission statement focuses on today and what we do, and the vision statement focuses on tomorrow and what we want to become. Both are important to a company’s survival.

Call it the essence, beating heart, or the defining characteristic — whatever you call it, make sure your mission and vision statements are clearly defined and understood for the sake of your content and your company.

Get a content mission and a content vision statement down on paper. Share it with your team members. Then you can measure your future content efforts against the two. Although they are not slogans or taglines themselves , they should definitely help inform them and all your content.

Knowing who you are and where you’re going is the foundation of an organization’s success. So, who are you? And, where are you going?

  Mission and Vision Series

Stay in the know.

We will keep you up-to-date with all the content marketing news and resources. You will be a content expert in no time. Sign up for our free newsletter.

Elevate Your Content Game

Transform your marketing with a consistent stream of high-quality content for your brand.

You May Also Like...

The Strategic Ensemble Behind Effective Content

Everything to Know About the Power of SEO Personalization

Personalized Content Strategies: Gaining the Competitive Edge

• Content Production
• Build Your SEO
• Amplify Your Content
• For Agencies

Why ClearVoice

• Talent Network
• How It Works
• Freelance For Us
• Statement on AI
• Talk to a Specialist

Get Insights In Your Inbox

• Privacy Policy
• Terms of Service
• Intellectual Property Claims
• Data Collection Preferences

17 Seriously Inspiring Mission and Vision Statement Examples (2024)

Money is a by-product of value .

So, to thrive in the long run, businesses must remain focused on producing value.

However, it’s easy to lose sight of value creation and get sidetracked by other things like profit margins, expanding your product catalogs , or competitors.

To become a runaway success, businesses must have a purpose that unites and inspires people – “make more money” won’t do the trick. As the author Simon Sinek said , “People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.”

This is why organizations create mission and vision statements.

These statements unify the organization and keep everyone focused on what really matters – because if you get these things right, the profits will follow.

This post will give you an introduction to the two statements. Plus, we’ll share some great mission and vision statement examples to help inspire your own. 

Now, let’s dive in.

Start selling online now with Shopify

What is a Mission Statement?

A mission statement is a short summary of an organization’s core purpose, focus, and aims. This usually includes a brief description of what the organization does and its key objectives.

What is a Vision Statement?

A vision statement is a short description of an organization’s aspirations and the wider impact it aims to create. It should be a guiding beacon to everyone within the organization and something which underpins internal decision-making and determines the intended direction of the organization.

Mission Statement vs Vision Statement: What’s The Difference?

In short: The mission is the “ what ” and the “ how ,” and the vision is the “ why .”

The mission statement defines what an organization does and includes tangible goals which the organization strives to accomplish. The vision statement, meanwhile, should clarify the aspirations of the organization and define the direction it’s heading in.

Many organizations combine the two statements to form one clearly defined reason for existing that unites the efforts of everyone involved.

Does Your Business Need Mission and Vision Statements?

Mission and vision statements are signposts.

Effective mission and vision statements will unify the focus of an organization – for the organization and their target audience .

Okay, but what if you’re only just starting a business ?

Well, whether you’re a massive corporation or a solopreneur , you can use mission and vision statements to gain clarity and ensure that you consistently make decisions in line with your ultimate goals.

These statements also help you develop a stronger brand that differentiates you from the competition.

Now, let’s look at some examples.

Mission and Vision Statement Examples

For quick reference, here are 17 examples of mission and vision statements from highly successful businesses:

• Tesla : To accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy.
• Nike : Bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete* in the world. *If you have a body, you are an athlete.
• MVMT : Style shouldn’t break the bank.
• Warby Parker : To offer designer eyewear at a revolutionary price, while leading the way for socially conscious businesses.
• Shopify : Make commerce better for everyone, so businesses can focus on what they do best: building and selling their products.
• Patagonia : Build the best product, cause no unnecessary harm, use business to inspire and implement solutions to the environmental crisis.
• IKEA : To create a better everyday life for the many people.
• TED : Spread ideas.
• Amazon : To be Earth’s most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online.
• Southwest Airlines : To become the world’s most loved, most flown, and most profitable airline.
• Google : To organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.
• Asos : Become the world’s number-one destination for fashion-loving 20-somethings.
• Loreal : To provide the best in cosmetics innovation to women and men around the world with respect for their diversity.
• Bulletproof : Help people perform better, think faster, and live better.
• Honest Tea : Create and promote great-tasting, healthy, organic beverages.
• Starbucks: To inspire and nurture the human spirit – one person, one cup and one neighborhood at a time.
• Passionfruit: Create inclusive clothing and accessories that enable you to show your pride all year round while giving back to our community.

17 Inspiring Mission and Vision Statements Explained

Now you know what they are and how they serve organizations, let’s take a closer look at these mission and vision statement examples and draw out the key components.

Mission statement: To create the most compelling car company of the 21st century by driving the world’s transition to electric vehicles.

Vision statement: To accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy.

Tesla’s mission and vision statements are a class act.

Their mission statement clearly defines their core goal: “To create the most compelling car company of the 21st century.” Then it tells you how they intend to accomplish that goal: “By driving the world’s transition to electric vehicles.”

It’s simple and it works.

However, it’s Tesla’s vision statement that stands out.

The car company’s clever use of the world “accelerate” helps to enliven their lofty aspiration. This vision statement also showcases their drive (pun intended) for sustainable energy and how it steers (pun intended) the business.

It also allows them room to explore and develop their other set of energy solutions, Powerwall, Powerpack and Solar Roof.

All in all, Tesla’s vision for sustainable energy is one that resonates with countless people around the world.

Mission statement: Create groundbreaking sports innovations, make our products sustainably, build a creative and diverse global team, and make a positive impact in communities where we live and work.

Vision statement: Bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete* in the world.

*If you have a body, you are an athlete.

Nike’s mission statement might sound run-of-the-mill, but it effectively sums up what they aim to do and how they aim to do it.

Take note of the words that declare Nike’s underlying company values: Innovation, sustainability, diversity, and community.

However, it’s Nike’s vision statement that has captured the hearts of millions.

“To bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world” sounds a little vague at first. It’s Nike co-founder Bill Bowerman’s addition that hits you right in the feels: “If you have a body, you are an athlete.”

Bowerman’s statement staunchly stands up against body-shaming and is a powerful call for inclusion. And it’s not hard to see this shape Nike’s philosophy and marketing:

As a result, Nike’s vision statement is transformed into a moving sentiment that impacts every person who reads it. It’s also one of the best vision statement examples for business owners to use for inspiration.

Mission and vision statement: We were founded on the belief that style shouldn’t break the bank. Our goal is to change the way you think about fashion by delivering premium designs at radically fair prices.

MVMT have combined their company mission statement and vision statement and addressed it directly to customers.

It begins with the vision: “Style shouldn’t break the bank.”

This business vision statement cuts straight to the point and perfectly sums up MVMT’s key selling proposition of high-quality fashion watches at low prices.

The statement then goes on to explain the mission.

First, they tell you what they aim to achieve: “Change the way you think about fashion.” Then, they tell you how they intend to do it: “By delivering premium designs at radically fair prices.”

It’s short, punchy, and music to customers’ ears.

4.  Warby Parker

Mission statement: Warby Parker was founded with a rebellious spirit and a lofty objective: To offer designer eyewear at a revolutionary price, while leading the way for socially conscious businesses.

Vision statement: We believe that buying glasses should be easy and fun. It should leave you happy and good-looking, with money in your pocket. We also believe that everyone has the right to see.

Warby Parker’s mission statement reminds us of why it was founded and then reveals its aims for a better future.

Note their core business aim: “Offer designer eyewear at a revolutionary price.”

In the vision statement, they address the core problems consumers face when purchasing glasses: It can be annoying, boring, costly, and still leave you anxious about whether or not they look good.

Instead, they aim to solve these problems and make buying glasses easy, fun, pleasing, and inexpensive.

Both statements also mention Warby Parker's dedication to providing glasses to people in need around the world.

Vision statement: Make commerce better for everyone, so businesses can focus on what they do best: building and selling their products.

Shopify’s vision statement begins with their overarching vision: to make commerce better for everyone.

Then they promote the reason why they’re driven to remove the hassle and complications of managing an ecommerce website: so businesses can focus on what’s most important to them.

Shopify’s business mission statement and vision are clear: empower businesses.

6. Patagonia

Mission and vision statement: Build the best product, cause no unnecessary harm, use business to inspire and implement solutions to the environmental crisis.

Patagonia starts with the basis of their success in business: high-quality products .

Then they explain their environmental stance in three points which explain their aim to make their business as environmentally friendly as possible and actively combat the environmental crisis.

Patagonia goes on to say, “a love of wild and beautiful places demands participation in the fight to save them.”

And the business isn’t afraid to put their money where their mouth is. The company donates at least 1% of its sales to hundreds of grassroots environmental groups around the world.

If you’re looking for vision and statement examples that clearly articulate a company’s values and goals, this is one right here.

Mission statement: Offer a wide range of well-designed, functional home furnishing products at prices so low that as many people as possible will be able to afford them.

Vision statement: To create a better everyday life for the many people.

IKEA’s mission statement is clear and to the point.

Note the use of the words, “wide range,” “well-designed,” “functional,” and “prices so low.” If you’ve ever been to IKEA you’ll know how well they’ve managed to embody these attributes.

IKEA’s vision statement focuses their mission statement into one singular purpose: “To create a better everyday life for the many people.”

Both statements use inclusive phrasing that solidifies IKEA’s commitment to being accessible to “as many people as possible.”

Mission statement: Spread ideas.

Vision statement: We believe passionately in the power of ideas to change attitudes, lives and, ultimately, the world.

TED , which stands for “technology, education, and design,” managed to boil down their entire mission into two simple, yet powerful words: “Spread ideas.”

With such a simple, highly focused mission, it’s easy to see how the TED brand has become a global phenomenon in recent years.

It’s a truly great mission statement that focuses all of their efforts.

“Everything we do – from our Conferences to our TED Talks to the projects sparked by The Audacious Project, from the global TEDx community to the TED-Ed lesson series – is driven by this goal: How can we best spread great ideas?”

In what could be considered their vision statement, TED goes on to explain that they “believe passionately in the power of ideas to change attitudes, lives and, ultimately, the world.”

Mission statement: We strive to offer our customers the lowest possible prices, the best available selection, and the utmost convenience.

Vision statement: To be Earth’s most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online.

Amazon ’s mission statement sums up the three things that have made them loved by millions: low prices, a huge selection, and incredible convenience.

Like all great mission statements, it shines a light on the values that bring success.

Amazon’s vision statement brings these elements together into one unified goal: “To be Earth’s most customer-centric company.”

10. Southwest Airlines

Mission statement: The mission of Southwest Airlines is dedication to the highest quality of customer service delivered with a sense of warmth, friendliness, individual pride, and company spirit.

Vision statement: To become the world’s most loved, most flown, and most profitable airline.

Southwest Airlines is all about customer service .

Their mission statement summarizes this dedication to customers and highlights the importance of one-to-one interactions between staff and customers.

So it’s no surprise that Southwest’s vision statement is “to become the world’s most loved, most flown airline.”

However, although they heavily emphasize customer service , they don’t forget to mention the thing which allows the company to exist in the first place: profit.

Google’s mission statement perfectly summarizes what they aim to do.

Take note of the last word: “useful.”

Google understands that it doesn’t matter how well organized or accessible information is if it can’t be readily applied in life.

Their mission statement is brilliant.

But unfortunately, Google doesn’t seem to have a vision statement that clarifies the reasons why they want to organize the world’s information for everyone to use.

Mission statement: Become the world’s number-one destination for fashion-loving 20-somethings.

Asos’ mission statement solidifies their purpose by voicing exactly what they want to achieve.

In what could be considered their vision statement, they go on to say, “We focus on fashion as a force for good, inspiring young people to express their best selves and achieve amazing things. We believe fashion thrives on individuality and should be fun for everyone.”

The addition gets a little vague in places, such as wanting young people to “achieve amazing things” – I mean, don’t we all?

However, it successfully showcases their brand image and their passion for individuality and expression .

Mission statement: To provide the best in cosmetics innovation to women and men around the world with respect for their diversity.

Loreal’s mission statement comprises two key parts.

The first lays out their dedication to providing the best in cosmetics innovation. The second is all about inclusivity.

This is key.

They aim to include people from all over the world, “with respect for their diversity.”

And despite most companies marketing cosmetics solely to women, Loreal is looking to the future as gender stereotypes break down.

This type of sensitivity and awareness will position Loreal for long-term success.

14. Bulletproof

Mission and vision statement: “Help people perform better, think faster, and live better using a proven blend of ancient knowledge and brand new technologies, tempered by research, science, and measured results from our customers, top athletes, and medical professionals.”

Bulletproof has combined their vision and mission in one short paragraph.

It starts with their purpose: “Help people perform better, think faster, and live better.” Then it goes on to explain exactly how they plan to do it: Using ancient knowledge, brand new technologies, and science.

Sure, it’s a little wordy.

But it gets to the heart of why Bulletproof exists and how they plan to make an impact on the world as a business.

As a result, Bulletproof’s mission and vision statement is well-suited to unify everyone in the company and guide their decisions.

15. Honest Tea

Mission statement: Honest Tea seeks to create and promote great-tasting, healthy, organic beverages. We strive to grow our business with the same honesty and integrity we use to craft our recipes, with sustainability and great taste for all.

Honest Tea’s mission statement aims to live up to their brand name.

It starts by explaining what it is they do, and by doing so, they also tell you what they don’t do: chemical-laden, artificially produced beverages.

They’re talking directly to their target market and conferring their key selling proposition: beverages that are great-tasting and healthy.

They go on to showcase their values by using words like honesty, integrity, and sustainability.

And this brand doesn’t just talk the talk – they walk the walk.

Each year, the company publishes a Mission Report in an effort to be transparent about their business practices.

16. Starbucks

Mission statement: To inspire and nurture the human spirit—one person, one cup, and one neighborhood at a time.

Another short and sweet mission statement that tells a lot about the company.

Starbucks doesn’t use big sentences or fancy words to communicate its goals. It uses clear, simple, and direct language to express what the company wants to be and for whom.  

They aspire to be known for more than just coffee by creating a culture of warmth and exclusivity.

In other words, Starbucks wants to ensure that anyone who comes through its doors feels welcomed and at home.

17. Passionfruit

Mission statement : We strive to create inclusive clothing and accessories that enable you to show your pride all year round while giving back to our community.

The folks at Passionfruit strive to promote the idea that pride is not just a one-day event.

Rather than making their mission statement about trendy clothes for the LBGTQ+ community, they promote the idea that pride is an everyday expression of oneself.

And by doing so, they remind people that the brand is aligned with LBGTQ+ values and supports the community by giving back.

All in all, it’s clear that Passionfruit wants everyone to recognize the truth for the queer community and spread inspiration – we’ll take it.

Done right, mission and vision statements are powerful things.

They can unify an entire organization’s efforts and be the signpost that continually focuses everyone’s efforts on the things that truly matter.

The key to great mission and vision statements is clarity.

Remember, a mission statement is the “ what ” and the “ how ,” and the vision statement is the “ why .”

Plus, it doesn’t matter how large or small your business is, every business can benefit from strong mission and vision statements.

If you’re considering writing a mission or vision statement for your business, start with your core values. Then, consider the wider impact you hope to have on the world through your customers.

What’s your business’s mission or vision statement? Let us know in the comments below!

Want to Learn More?

• 9 Best Free Online Courses You Can Start Today
• 7 Examples of Awesome Social Responsibility Marketing
• How to Harness the Awesome Power of Customer Relations
• Brand Awareness: 5 Tips for Creating a Powerful Brand Identity

Amazon Dropshipping Guide: How to Dropship on Amazon

Ever thought about selling on Amazon? It’s a solid idea. Amazon is one of the world’s most recognizable brands, after a…

10 Smart Goal Examples (and How to Use Them)

SMART goals are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound. See 10 examples and learn to write your own.

Stock Keeping Unit: What Is It and Why It Matters For Your Business

Unsure what a stock keeping unit is? This post covers everything about SKUs and their role in business success.

Oberlo uses cookies to provide necessary site functionality and improve your experience. By using our website, you agree to our privacy policy.

Module 3: Planning and Mission

Mission, vision, and values, learning outcomes.

• Distinguish between mission and vision in business.
• Explain how a values statement can support the goals of an organization.

In September 2007, Countrywide Financial sent a message to all of its employees. The message contained the following statement of its mission:

Countrywide remains steadfastly committed to our mission of delivering and preserving homeownership. ~Angelo R. Mozilo, chairman and CEO ~Dave Sambol, president and COO

However, it seemed that Countrywide was mostly interested in delivering commissions and profits to the company by financing high-risk mortgages to unqualified borrowers. When the housing market collapsed, borrowers defaulted on their high-interest loans and the company fell apart. Countrywide faced a flood of lawsuits charging it had used deceptive practices to entice people into loans they could not afford. Mozilo, the CEO, was charged with insider trading and is now banned from serving as an officer or director of a public company. The company was sold to Bank of America in 2008.

The vision, mission, and values statements guide the behaviors of people in the organization. But when the statements are not supported, people have no guidance. Do you think Mozilo and Sambol supported the stated mission of Countrywide? Do you think people in Countrywide were guided by the mission? If people in the firm were guided by the mission, they could have corrected even the CEO. Then Countrywide might have avoided disaster. Let’s explore the roles of the mission, vision, and values statements in an organization.

The Vision Statement

Disney’s vision statement is “To make people happy.”

A vision statement is a statement of an organization’s overarching aspirations of what it hopes to achieve or to become. Here are some examples of vision statements:

• Disney: To make people happy
• IKEA: To create a better everyday life for the many people
• Microsoft: Empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more
• Avon: To be the company that best understands and satisfies the product, service and self-fulfillment needs of women—globally
• Sony Corporation: To be a company that inspires and fulfills your curiosity [1]

The vision statement does not provide specific targets. Notice that each of the above examples could apply to many different organizations. Instead, the vision is a broad description of the value an organization provides. It is a visual image of what the organization is trying to produce or become. It should inspire people and motivate them to want to be part of and contribute to the organization. Vision statements should be clear and concise, usually not longer than a short paragraph.

The Mission Statement

The vision statement and mission statement are often confused, and many companies use the terms interchangeably. However, they each have a different purpose. The vision statement describes where the organization wants to be in the future; the mission statement describes what the organization needs to do now to achieve the vision. The vision and mission statements must support each other, but the mission statement is more specific. It defines how the organization will be different from other organizations in its industry. Here are examples of mission statements from successful businesses:

• Life is Good:  To spread the power of optimism
• Patagonia: Build the best product, cause no unnecessary harm, use business to inspire and implement solutions to the environmental crisis
• Invisible Children: To end violence and exploitation facing our world’s most isolated and vulnerable communities
• Honest Tea: To create and promote great-tasting, healthy, organic beverages
• JetBlue Airways: To inspire humanity–both in the air and on the ground
• Tesla: To accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy [2]

Notice that each of these examples indicates where the organization will compete (what industry it is in) and how it will compete (what it will do to be different from other organizations). The mission statement conveys to stakeholders why the organization exists. It explains how it creates value for the market or the larger community.

Because it is more specific, the mission statement is more actionable than the vision statement. The mission statement leads to strategic goals. Strategic goals are the broad goals the organization will try to achieve. By describing why the organization exists, and where and how it will compete, the mission statement allows leaders to define a coherent set of goals that fit together to support the mission.

The Values Statement

The values statement , also called the code of ethics , differs from both the vision and mission statements. The vision and mission state where the organization is going (vision) and what it will do to get there (mission). They direct the efforts of people in the organization toward common goals. The values statement defines what the organization believes in and how people in the organization are expected to behave—with each other, with customers and suppliers, and with other stakeholders. It provides a moral direction for the organization that guides decision making and establishes a standard for assessing actions. It also provides a standard for employees to judge violations.

However, managers cannot just create a values statement and expect it to be followed. For a values statement to be effective, it must be reinforced at all levels of the organization and must be used to guide attitudes and actions. Organizations with strong values follow their values even when it may be easier not to. Levi Strauss & Co is an excellent example of a company that is driven by its values.

When Levis Strauss began to source its manufacturing overseas, the company developed a set of principles called the Global Sourcing and Operating Guidelines for overseas operations and suppliers. One of the principles covered the use of child labor:

Use of child labor is not permissible. Workers can be no less than 15 years of age and not younger than the compulsory age to be in school. We will not utilize partners who use child labor in any of their facilities. We support the development of legitimate workplace apprenticeship programs for the educational benefit of younger people.

Levi Strauss found that one of its contractors was employing children under 15 in a factory in Bangladesh. The easy solution would be to replace those workers, but in Bangladesh, the children’s wages may have supported an entire family. And if they lost their jobs, they may have had to resort to begging on the streets. Levi Strauss came up with a different solution, one that supported its values of empathy, originality, integrity, and courage: it paid the children to go to school. Levi Strauss continued to pay salaries and benefits to the children and paid for tuition, books, and supplies. [3] Even though it would have been easier to just fire the child laborers and consider the problem settled, Levi Strauss was driven by its values to find a better solution.

Together, the vision, mission, and values statements provide direction for everything that happens in an organization. They keep everyone focused on where the organization is going and what it is trying to achieve. And they define the core values of the organization and how people are expected to behave. They are not intended to be a straitjacket that restricts or inhibits initiative and innovation, but they are intended to guide decisions and behaviors to achieve common ends.

Practice Questions

The vision, mission, and values statements form the foundation for all activities in an organization. The vision statement describes what the organization will become in the future. It is a broad and inspirational statement intended to engender support from stakeholders. The mission statement defines how the organization differentiates itself from other organizations in its industry. It is more specific than the vision statement and is intended to show how stakeholders’ needs will be satisfied. The values statement defines how people in the organization should behave. It provides a guideline for decision making.

• O'Donovan, K. (2020, January 2). 20 Inspiring Vision Statement Examples (2020 Updated). Retrieved November 03, 2020, from http://www.lifehack.org/articles/work/20-sample-vision-statement-for-the-new-startup.html ↵
• 17 Truly Inspiring Company Vision and Mission Statement Examples. (2020, July 14). Retrieved November 03, 2020, from https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/inspiring-company-mission-statements ↵
• Case Study: Child Labor in Bangladesh. (n.d.). Retrieved August 1, 2017, from http://www.levistrauss.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Case-Study_Child-Labor-in-Bangladesh.pdf ↵
• Mission, Vision, and Values. Authored by : John/Lynn Bruton and Lumen Learning. License : CC BY: Attribution
• Image: Mickey Mouse. Authored by : pyromaster. Located at : https://pixabay.com/en/mickey-mouse-walt-disney-parade-1988522/ . License : CC0: No Rights Reserved

Want to create or adapt books like this? Learn more about how Pressbooks supports open publishing practices.

4.3 The Roles of Mission, Vision, and Values

Learning objectives.

• Be able to define mission and vision.
• See how values are important for mission and vision.
• Understand the roles of vision, mission, and values in the P-O-L-C framework.

Mission, Vision, and Values

Mission and vision both relate to an organization’s purpose and are typically communicated in some written form. Mission and vision are statements from the organization that answer questions about who we are, what do we value, and where we’re going. A study by the consulting firm Bain and Company reports that 90% of the 500 firms surveyed issue some form of mission and vision statements (Bart & Baetz, 1998). Moreover, firms with clearly communicated, widely understood, and collectively shared mission and vision have been shown to perform better than those without them, with the caveat that they related to effectiveness only when strategy and goals and objectives were aligned with them as well (Bart, et. al., 2001).

A mission statement communicates the organization’s reason for being, and how it aims to serve its key stakeholders. Customers, employees, and investors are the stakeholders most often emphasized, but other stakeholders like government or communities (i.e., in the form of social or environmental impact) can also be discussed. Mission statements are often longer than vision statements. Sometimes mission statements also include a summation of the firm’s values. Values are the beliefs of an individual or group, and in this case the organization, in which they are emotionally invested. The Starbucks mission statement describes six guiding principles that, as you can see, also communicate the organization’s values:

• Provide a great work environment and treat each other with respect and dignity .
• Embrace diversity as an essential component in the way we do business .
• Apply the highest standards of excellence to the purchasing, roasting and fresh delivery of our coffee.
• Develop enthusiastically satisfied customers all of the time .
• Contribute positively to our communities and our environment .
• Recognize that profitability is essential to our future success (Starbucks, 2008).

Similarly, Toyota declares its global corporate principles to be:

• Honor the language and spirit of the law of every nation and undertake open and fair corporate activities to be a good corporate citizen of the world .
• Respect the culture and customs of every nation and contribute to economic and social development through corporate activities in the communities .
• Dedicate ourselves to providing clean and safe products and to enhancing the quality of life everywhere through all our activities .
• Create and develop advanced technologies and provide outstanding products and services that fulfill the needs of customers worldwide .
• Foster a corporate culture that enhances individual creativity and teamwork value, while honoring mutual trust and respect between labor and management .
• Pursue growth in harmony with the global community through innovative management .
• Work with business partners in research and creation to achieve stable, long-term growth and mutual benefits, while keeping ourselves open to new partnerships (Toyota, 2008).

A vision statement , in contrast, is a future-oriented declaration of the organization’s purpose and aspirations. In many ways, you can say that the mission statement lays out the organization’s “purpose for being,” and the vision statement then says, “based on that purpose, this is what we want to become.” The strategy should flow directly from the vision, since the strategy is intended to achieve the vision and thus satisfy the organization’s mission. Typically, vision statements are relatively brief, as in the case of Starbuck’s vision statement, which reads: “Establish Starbucks as the premier purveyor of the finest coffee in the world while maintaining our uncompromising principles as we grow (Starbucks, 2008).” Or ad firm Ogilvy & Mather, which states their vision as “an agency defined by its devotion to brands (Ogilvy, 2008).” Sometimes the vision statement is also captured in a short tag line, such as Toyota’s “moving forward” statement that appears in most communications to customers, suppliers, and employees (Toyota, 2008). Similarly, Wal-Mart’s tag-line version of its vision statement is “Save money. Live better (Walmart, 2008).”

Any casual tour of business or organization Web sites will expose you to the range of forms that mission and vision statements can take. To reiterate, mission statements are longer than vision statements, often because they convey the organizations core values. Mission statements answer the questions of “Who are we?” and “What does our organization value?” Vision statements typically take the form of relatively brief, future-oriented statements—vision statements answer the question “Where is this organization going?” Increasingly, organizations also add a values statement which either reaffirms or states outright the organization’s values that might not be evident in the mission or vision statements.

Roles Played by Mission and Vision

Mission and vision statements play three critical roles: (1) communicate the purpose of the organization to stakeholders, (2) inform strategy development, and (3) develop the measurable goals and objectives by which to gauge the success of the organization’s strategy. These interdependent, cascading roles, and the relationships among them, are summarized in the figure.

Figure 4.5 Key Roles of Mission and Vision

First, mission and vision provide a vehicle for communicating an organization’s purpose and values to all key stakeholders. Stakeholders are those key parties who have some influence over the organization or stake in its future. You will learn more about stakeholders and stakeholder analysis later in this chapter; however, for now, suffice it to say that some key stakeholders are employees, customers, investors, suppliers, and institutions such as governments. Typically, these statements would be widely circulated and discussed often so that their meaning is widely understood, shared, and internalized. The better employees understand an organization’s purpose, through its mission and vision, the better able they will be to understand the strategy and its implementation.

Second, mission and vision create a target for strategy development. That is, one criterion of a good strategy is how well it helps the firm achieve its mission and vision. To better understand the relationship among mission, vision, and strategy, it is sometimes helpful to visualize them collectively as a funnel. At the broadest part of the funnel, you find the inputs into the mission statement. Toward the narrower part of the funnel, you find the vision statement, which has distilled down the mission in a way that it can guide the development of the strategy. In the narrowest part of the funnel you find the strategy —it is clear and explicit about what the firm will do, and not do, to achieve the vision. Vision statements also provide a bridge between the mission and the strategy. In that sense the best vision statements create a tension and restlessness with regard to the status quo—that is, they should foster a spirit of continuous innovation and improvement. For instance, in the case of Toyota, its “moving forward” vision urges managers to find newer and more environmentally friendly ways of delighting the purchaser of their cars. London Business School professors Gary Hamel and C. K. Prahalad describe this tense relationship between vision and strategy as stretch and ambition. Indeed, in a study of such able competitors as CNN, British Airways, and Sony, they found that these firms displaced competitors with stronger reputations and deeper pockets through their ambition to stretch their organizations in more innovative ways (Hamel & Prahalad, 1993).

Third, mission and vision provide a high-level guide, and the strategy provides a specific guide, to the goals and objectives showing success or failure of the strategy and satisfaction of the larger set of objectives stated in the mission. In the cases of both Starbucks and Toyota, you would expect to see profitability goals, in addition to metrics on customer and employee satisfaction, and social and environmental responsibility.

Key Takeaway

Mission and vision both relate to an organization’s purpose and aspirations, and are typically communicated in some form of brief written statements. A mission statement communicates the organization’s reason for being and how it aspires to serve its key stakeholders. The vision statement is a narrower, future-oriented declaration of the organization’s purpose and aspirations. Together, mission and vision guide strategy development, help communicate the organization’s purpose to stakeholders, and inform the goals and objectives set to determine whether the strategy is on track.

• What is a mission statement?
• What is a vision statement?
• How are values important to the content of mission and vision statements?
• Where does the purpose of mission and vision overlap?
• How do mission and vision relate to a firm’s strategy?
• Why are mission and vision important for organizational goals and objectives?

Bart, C. K., & Baetz, M. C. (1998). The relationship between mission statements and firm performance: An exploratory study. Journal of Management Studies, 35 , 823–853.

Bart, C. K., Bontis, N., & Taggar, S. (2001). A model of the impact of mission statements on firm performance. Management Decision, 39 (1), 19–35.

Hamel, G., & Prahalad, C. K. (1993, March–April). Strategy as stretch and leverage . Harvard Business Review , 75–84.

Ogilvy, Retrieved October 27, 2008, from http://www.ogilvy.com/o_mather .

Starbucks, retrieved October 27, 2008, from http://www.starbucks.com/aboutus

Toyota, retrieved October 27, 2008, from http://www.toyota.co.jp/en/vision/philosophy .

Toyota, retrieved October 27, 2008, from http://www.toyota.com/about/our_values/index.html .

Walmart, retrieved October 27, 2008, from http://www.walmart.com .

Principles of Management Copyright © 2015 by University of Minnesota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

Procter & Gamble: Vision, Mission, Competition Case Study

Company description and its businesses, vision statement, mission statement analysis, competition profile matrix, works cited.

P&G is a multinational firm that offers a wide variety of products globally. The firm products can be categorized into three major categories, which include: health and wellbeing products, beauty and grooming products, and household items. The products are sold in different merchandises across the world. The firm had previously produced Crisco Shortening, peanut butter, Folgers coffee, and orange drink products, however, the firm stopped producing them due to low stock turnover. The firm was founded in 1837 in Ohio by James Gamble and William Procter to produce quality products in the market (Badal 546).

P&G Company is rated as one of the best performing firms due to its high profit and a high growth rate. Also, its products such as soaps have been rated highly due to their quality. The firm success has been attributed to its innovation strategy, which ensures that the firm produces new brands in the market to address the need of the consumers (Badal 546).

The firm has twenty-four main products that contribute to high returns due to its huge sales in the market. Besides, the company has a 17% market share in the U.S., which shows that the company if performing well in the market. The main product that has the highest sales in the market is pampers, which has an annual sale of over $9 billion in the market (Badal 546).

P&G does not have any set vision statement, however, the firm has a mission statement, which states,

We will provide branded products and services of superior quality and value that improve the lives of the world’s consumers, now and for generations to come. As a result, consumers will reward us with leadership sales, profit and value creation, allowing our people, our shareholders, and the community in which we live and work to prosper (Badal 546).

The mission statement provides information about the company, its products, the goals to be achieved, and ways of achieving the goals set. The firm objective is to ensure that the consumers are satisfied with the products they offer. Also, the objective states what the stakeholders in the firm will achieve after the realization of the goals.

Proposed Vision Statement

The firm can adapt the following vision statement; we intend to be the leading provider of: Always, Wella, Tide, Pampers, Olay, Crest, Charmin, Bounty, Whisper, Braun, Downy, Gillette, Pantene, Lenor, Iams, Fusion, Febreze, water filters, Glade, Air Wick, soap opera, Glade, Aerial, and baby care products on the market, by providing products that match our values and the consumers’ needs in the market. The reward created will be shared among the company stakeholders.

The new vision statement shows the products that the company provides in the market. Besides, it shows ways the customers will benefit from the goods and services provided in the market. The vision statement also shows ways the company stakeholders will benefit from the business involvement in the industry.

P&G has yet to develop a vision statement, however, the mission statement is effective since it shows the intentions of the company and acts as a public relation tool since the public understand the purpose of the firm.

The firm can improve its mission statement by adopting the following mission statement, quality and precision are in our heart as we ensure that we provide products that create value for the consumers all over the world. We strive to produce quality products using current technology that meets our set historical values. Also, we intend to achieve our objective by taking care of the firm employees since they are the foundation of the firm.

Opportunities

The firm has various opportunities, which if utilized can lead to increased profit level and growth. The opportunities include improved international trade laws, improved consumer purchasing power, technological development, a relatively stable political environment across the world, the competitive position of the firm, and cultural factors (David 127). Trade laws have improved due to the formation of the trading bloc that enhances business. Besides, the company can invest in Japan and China, which are open to international businesses. The firm can also invest more in Africa and other Asian countries due to political stability.

The firm faces the following external threats, changing internal laws, changing consumer behavior, political instability in some countries, rapid technological changes, cultural barriers, and competition. The threats affect the firm’s ability to reach its objectives (David 122). For instance, the firm faces high competition from Unilever. Technological change has affected the company brand products since they have to manufactured using new technology. This means that the management has to keep on changing its technology.

Critical success factors are issues that are important to the firm for it to be successful. The factors include technology adaptability, competition strategy, financial management, legal requirements, marketing strategy, and the firm’s brand name. The firm needs to adopt innovative competitive strategies to reduce the level of competition from other businesses. The level of competition is high in the market, hence the firm has to ensure that its marketing strategy wins more market share than its competitors do in the industry. P&G also has to ensure that it can adapt to the changing technology to ensure that they use it to their advantage (David 182).

The technological change is essential to the firm since failure to adapt to the change can lead to failure. The firm has to ensure that it complies with the legal requirements in each country to avoid legal suits. This is crucial in ensuring that the firm’s brand name is protected. P&G has to ensure that its available capital is effectively managed to fund its project, hence ensuring the growth of the firm. The firm is rated highly by consumers due to its quality products and its ability to provide products that create utility for the consumers (David 95).

The firm main competitors include Unilever, Colgate-Palmolive, Johnson & Johnson, Clorox, and Kimberly. P&G is one of the market leaders in the industry due to its high market share in the global business. Also, the firm has a positive brand name due to its quality products, which creates customer loyalty. The firm innovation strategy has ensured that it remains one of the market leaders since it produces new products for the market. From the above case analysis, it is possible to conclude that the firm is a market leader in the industry since it has a high market share (David 113).

External Factor Evaluation matrix enables a firm to determine the risks faced by the firm and develop measures to deal with the threats. Besides, it allows the management to determine the organization’s opportunities in the market and determine, which opportunity to fund (David 78). P&G has various opportunities in the market, however, the main challenge is to determine which to fund first. The firm needs to weigh the opportunities and risks based on a weight of 0-1. The next step is to rate the threats and opportunities based on current strategies. The final approach is calculating the sum of the scores. The following table is an evaluation of the firm threats and opportunities based on the EFE matrix.

Badal, Alen. “Procter & Gamble Company”. The Union Institute (2011): 546-555. Print.

David, Fred. Strategic Management Concepts: A Competitive Advantage Approach . Boston: Pearson, 2013. Print.

• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2020, July 15). Procter & Gamble: Vision, Mission, Competition. https://ivypanda.com/essays/procter-amp-gamble-vision-mission-competition/

"Procter & Gamble: Vision, Mission, Competition." IvyPanda , 15 July 2020, ivypanda.com/essays/procter-amp-gamble-vision-mission-competition/.

IvyPanda . (2020) 'Procter & Gamble: Vision, Mission, Competition'. 15 July.

IvyPanda . 2020. "Procter & Gamble: Vision, Mission, Competition." July 15, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/procter-amp-gamble-vision-mission-competition/.

1. IvyPanda . "Procter & Gamble: Vision, Mission, Competition." July 15, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/procter-amp-gamble-vision-mission-competition/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Procter & Gamble: Vision, Mission, Competition." July 15, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/procter-amp-gamble-vision-mission-competition/.

• Directors of The Procter & Gamble Company
• Procter and Gamble Company's Analysis
• Procter & Gamble Under Alan G. Lafley
• Walmart Company's Vision and Mission Statement
• Samsung Corporation in the UAE
• Abu Dhabi National Oil Company: Mission and Strategies
• Home Depot and Nike Companies Mission Statements
• Google Company Future Sustainability

• About / Contact
• Privacy Policy
• Alphabetical List of Companies
• Business Analysis Topics

Walt Disney’s Mission Statement & Vision Statement (An Analysis)

The Walt Disney Company’s mission and vision, along with its business purpose, form the basis for the company’s operations and strategic goals. The corporate mission statement determines what the business organization does, while the corporate vision statement sets the direction of growth and development toward a desired future business condition. This business analysis case involves Walt Disney’s mission statement that focuses on industry leadership, which is also specified in the company’s vision statement. Both the mission and vision address the current business needs and the trends in the entertainment industry. However, improving these statements can contribute to better strategic management at Disney. This improvement can make the mission statement and vision statement direct the company toward new opportunities for its entertainment, media, Disneyland parks and resorts, travel and tourism, and beyond.

With its corporate mission and vision statements, Disney pushes for high performance and leadership in its industries. In direct-to-consumer media streaming, for example, adopting the corporate vision and mission statements requires strategies that make business operations highly competitive against other streaming service companies. As Walt Disney develops new products, its competitive landscape becomes increasingly complex and creates new challenges to fulfilling the corporate mission and vision statements. Disney competes with Comcast (parent company of Universal Studios) and Sony in the entertainment market, and with Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Google ’s YouTube, and Apple TV Plus in the video streaming market. The strategic factors related to Disney’s business diversification necessitate that the corporate vision and mission statements align to support diversification.

Disney’s Mission Statement

Walt Disney’s mission is “ to entertain, inform and inspire people around the globe through the power of unparalleled storytelling, reflecting the iconic brands, creative minds and innovative technologies that make ours the world’s premier entertainment company. ” This mission statement describes the main aspects of Disney’s business, as follows:

• Entertainment, information, inspiration
• Global market reach
• Unparalleled and premier status
• Storytelling, branding, creativity, and innovative technologies

The first aspect of the corporate mission statement defines the kinds of activities in Disney’s business operations. The company provides entertainment (e.g., Disney amusement/theme parks and resorts, Pixar movies), information (e.g., National Geographic documentaries), and inspiration (e.g., inspiring individuals and events through ESPN and other programs). This aspect influences Walt Disney’s marketing mix or 4Ps , particularly its product mix. The mission statement also specifies that the company targets the global market for entertainment and information products. In addition, the unparalleled and premier status stated in the corporate mission refers to world leadership, which affects the formulation of Walt Disney’s generic competitive strategy and intensive growth strategies . On the other hand, the fourth aspect pertains to the processes used to create and deliver value to customers, such as storytelling to deliver a rewarding entertainment experience. This aspect of the corporate mission statement helps define Walt Disney’s organizational structure (company structure) in terms of business functional grouping. These factors of the corporate mission statement are also reflected in the company’s vision statement’s specification on entertainment and information.

Disney’s Vision Statement

Walt Disney’s vision is “ to be one of the world’s leading producers and providers of entertainment and information. ” This vision statement shows industry leadership as a target for strategic management and provides an overview of the nature of the business. Disney’s corporate vision statement has the following main factors:

• World market
• Leadership as a producer and provider
• Entertainment and information

This corporate vision statement’s first factor is a specification of the entertainment company’s global market scope. On the other hand, similar to the corporate mission statement, the second factor of the vision statement shows that Walt Disney focuses on being a top player in the global market for amusement parks, entertainment, and mass media products. Attainment of this goal requires effective competitive advantages and management to address the level of competition determined in the Five Forces analysis of Walt Disney . The company needs to strategically develop competitive products that suit new trends in the media industry. In addition, the third factor of the corporate vision focuses on the types of business outputs, such as entertainment products, like movies and TV series. Therefore, Disney’s corporate vision statement is a reflection of the corporate mission statement.

Summary & Recommendations – Walt Disney’s Mission & Vision

Corporate Mission Statement . This company analysis case of Disney shows that the business is focused on achieving a leading position in its international industries. The corporate mission contains sufficient information to guide the media and entertainment company’s management and strategies in the aspects of product development, organizational structure, and marketing. The specificity of this corporate mission statement helps in boosting the business advantages and strengths shown in the SWOT analysis of Walt Disney , to address competition in the global market. With its alignment with the corporate vision statement, the corporate mission can be used as an effective tool to guide strategic decision-making processes among the managers of the media and entertainment business. Nonetheless, a relevant recommendation is to improve the mission statement by adding portions pertaining to such business aspects as Disney’s human resources and its connection to storytelling, branding, and innovative technologies.

Corporate Vision Statement . The Walt Disney Company’s vision statement complements the mission statement. The corporate vision is future-oriented and clear in terms of the media company’s strategic aspirations. For example, Disney aims for leadership in the global market for entertainment products. The characteristics of the vision satisfy some of the conventions in writing corporate vision statements and help focus Disney’s managerial endeavors. However, this vision statement does not specify the kind of “information” that the company provides. Thus, to improve this corporate vision statement, it is recommended that Walt Disney include a more specific description of the “information” that it aims to provide as one of the leading businesses in the global industry.

• About The Walt Disney Company .
• Disney CEO Bob Iger Addresses Future Plans on Q3 2023 Earnings Call .
• Jaworski, B., & Cheung, V. (2023). Getting Started on the Journey: Mission, Vision, and Purpose. In Creating the Organization of the Future (pp. 55-64). Emerald Publishing Limited.
• Kunze, P. C. (2023). Staging a Comeback: Broadway, Hollywood, and the Disney Renaissance . Rutgers University Press.
• The Walt Disney Company – Form 10-K .
• Copyright by Panmore Institute - All rights reserved.
• This article may not be reproduced, distributed, or mirrored without written permission from Panmore Institute and its author/s.
• Educators, Researchers, and Students: You are permitted to quote or paraphrase parts of this article (not the entire article) for educational or research purposes, as long as the article is properly cited and referenced together with its URL/link.