Identification of Vision Statement and Its Analysis, Research Paper Example

Nowadays, for any type of organisation to establish its identity and path of development, a visionary statement is a must. The examples of visionary statements of governmental organisations include NASA, United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and CIA. The official NASA website outlines that organisation’s vision is “to reach for new heights and reveal the unknown so that what we do and learn will benefit all humankind” (NASA). USDA’s vision orients towards spreading innovations in the support of the rural America, promoting sustainability for better nourishing of the American population and feed people around the world; it also looks into preservation of the Nation’s natural resources (USDA).  CIA’s vision is “to provide tactical and strategic advantage for the United States” (CIA).

Non-profits, nongovernmental organisations are presented by Amnesty International (AI), Mentor International (MI)and Age UK. The vision of the AI is the world where every person favours the benefits of the Human Rights (Amnesty International). Mentor International’s vision is of the world where children have a power to decide between a healthy life and drug use (Mentor International). Age UK’s vision is in providing good quality of everyone in later life (Age UK).The other four examples are from the sector of private corporations. For instance, Wal-Mart’s 1990 vision was “becoming a $125 billion company by 2000” (“Harvard Business Review”138). In the 1950s, Sony’s vision was to “become the company most known for changing the worldwide poor-quality image of Japanese products” (“Harvard Business Review”138).  In the 1960s, Nike’s vision was “Crush Adidas!”, while, in the 1970s, Honda’s vision was “We will destroy Yamaha!” (“Harvard Business Review”138).

Analysing demonstrated visions, it should be stated that although all visions aim at future targets they differ in terms of the target audience and clarity and precision of the stated visions. Regarding the audience USDA, CIA and Age UK target the local population, while NASA, AI and MI appeal to the people from around the world. Although the choice of audience is conditioned by the nature of the company and its field of expertise, it also demonstrates that vision statementsare more case-sensitive in order to convince its employees, business partners and the general public. However, the most crucial purpose of vision statements is to address employees, since “failure to adequately address the concerns of employees about the impact of a new business idea on their livelihoods can be expensive”(Kim and Mauborgne 138). On the other hand, the larger and more international the organisation is, the wider and more universal the target audience for its vision statement will be.Consequently, unlike governmental and non-profit organisations, vision statements of the private corporations are targeted not even on customers or a certain group of stakeholders. The chosen examples of private companies’ vision statements demonstrate the orientation towards inspiring employees and threatening competitors. Thus, the companies act according to the rules of the red oceans: “where boundaries are defined and accepted, and the competitive rules of the game are known; here companies try to outperform their rivals to grab a greater share of existing demand”(Kim and Mauborgne 18). In other words, these vision statements reflect the reality of the red oceans strategy.

In terms of precision of vision statements, to seems that the offered examples of governmental and non-profit organisations show vaguer and less tangible future objectives. Traditionally, vision statements need to be realistic and practically achievable, “they typically require 10 to 30 years’ work to complete”(“Harvard Business Review”117). Thus, the traditional timeframe of 10-30 years seems to be unrealistic in the achievement of such goals as provision of human rights to all people around the world or reaching new unspecified heights in space exploration.On the other hand, vision statements of the private sector demonstrate precision and straightforwardness of one’s direction of development. Although crushing another company can be quite vague, but in terms of competition it shows that achievements of a competing company are the borderlines for the development of this company.These examples demonstrate qualitative, quantitative, common-enemy models of vision statements, none of the examples shows role-model or international transformation models (“Harvard Business Review” 139-140).Overall, it can be concluded that in terms of different sectors of economy and their nature, organisations’ vision statements can differ in terms of the target audience, precision in description of the future objectives and the size of the vision statement.

Identification of Mission Statement and Its Analysis

In the non-profit sector, Mentor International’s mission is to prevent drugs use among children and youth through the promotion of health and well-being (Mentor International). The mission of Amnesty International is to prevent abuse of Human Rights around the world through the conduct of research actions (Amnesty International). The mission of the Age UK is to provide services and activities in order to promote a better quality of later life (Age UK). In terms of governmental organisations, the Federal National Mortgage Association’s mission was in strengthening the social fabric through democratisation of home ownership (“Harvard Business Review”127). The mission of USDA is to provide leadership in the spheres of food, nutrition, agriculture and natural resources through effective policies, research and managerial capacities (USDA). The mission of CIA is in pre-emption of potential threats for the USA through the collection of intelligence, information analysis and conduct of the covert actions (CIA). In terms of private corporations, the mission of Disney is “make people happy”(“Harvard Business Review”127). 3M’s mission is in “solving unsolved problems innovatively.”(“Harvard Business Review”112). From1960s, the mission of HP was notto make money but “to make a product, to give a service – generally to do something which is of value” (“Harvard Business Review”126). The mission statement of management consulting firm McKinsley& Company is in assisting governments and businesses performing more successfully (“Harvard Business Review”127).

All above mentioned mission statements demonstrate unique purposefulness of each organisation developing it. In this regard, organisations realise who they are and what they exist for. In other words, all of the examples demonstrate that organisations did not make a common mistake of using “generic visions that could apply to any business; they make a poor substitute for rigorous thinking; mission statements, strategic plans, and action steps must be grounded in the uniqueness of a business” (Pine and Gilmore 214-215). All these mission statements also demonstrate the purpose for existence of each organisation and in some cases the means of its functioning. On the other hand, the main difference between governmental, non-profit organisations and the private sector is that the first two categories had to be more specific about the purpose of their existence, while the private sector vaguer. Another feature of mission statements that was demonstrated in the aforementioned examples was the ability to conduct self-examination, “this self-examination, like that conducted by any individual actor, supplies an organisation with a source of renewal (just as examining the uniqueness of customers is the means to uncovering their unarticulated needs)” (Pine and Gilmore 215). In terms of studied mission statements, all organisations emphasised enduring purposes, which corresponds to the correct establishment of mission statement. Consequently, mission statement needs to be enduring since it is the purpose of organisation’s existence. If it was fulfilled, then organisation would need to stop its existence or evolve according to the changes in the surrounding environment. Then a new mission statement would be developed.

Cirque Du Soleil Strategic Success

The success of Cirque Du Soleil is due to its innovative blue ocean strategy. Instead of entering into high competition of dying circus industry the company decided to create a new market space of a unique entertainment that combined both features of circus and theatre performance. In this regard, the core of company’s strategy was to create an unforgettable experience of a unique entertainment targeted at a new group of customers – “adults and corporate clients prepared to a price several times as great as traditional circuses for an unprecedented entertainment experience” (Kim and Mauborgne 5). The mission of the company is to “invoke the imagination, to provoke the senses and to evoke the emotions of people around the world” (Cirque Du Soleil). Thus, further elements of the business strategy include constant innovations and improvement of performance both including the use of new technologies and finding the new talents around the world. Another feature of the company’s strategy is that it was global-born and was oriented to the international market from the very start. In this regard, company invests into culture-specific shows; this increases the diversity of the offered entertainment service.

The success of this strategy was conditioned by the following aspects. First of all, the merging of circus and theatre eliminated the necessity of using wild animals; thus, “the lasting allure of the traditional circus came down to only three key factors: the tent, the clowns, and the classic acrobatic” (Kim and Mauborgne15). This resulted in the reduction of costs of operations and created an opportunity to invest in training programmes and advanced technologies. Secondly, the uniqueness of the service provided and its target audience created a market space with almost non-existent competition. Although Cirque Du Soleil has to compete with other types of entertainment, it remains unique in the service it provides. Thirdly, the initially international direction of the strategy contributed to the diversity of its performances and flexibility in entering different local markets (Cirque Du Soleil). Overall, it can be concluded that Cirque Du Soleil is an example of a very inventive strategic planning and its successful implementation.

Organisation 826 National and Its Strategic Success

This non-profit organisations’ strategy is famous for its introduction of the term of edutainment. In this regard, just as Cirque Du Soleil created a new market space, 826 National combined the realms of education and entertainment for the purpose of promoting literacy and creative writing skills (Pine and Gilmore 49). In this regard, organisation’s aim is to work with teachers in order to encourage students aged 6-18 to try their strengths in creative writing. Their mission is “based on the  understanding  that great leaps in learning can happen with one-on-one attention, and that strong writing skills are fundamental to future success” (826 National). This mission is implemented through the creation of tutoring centres where diverse workshops, inventive programs for stimulating children’s’ writing and creative skills, publishing student’s works and establishing creative readings. Each centre of the organisation has “a uniquely themed storefront that acts as a portal of fun through which children must pass on their way to one-on-one tutoring, writing work-shops, or other educational events; each portal operates as a fully functioning retail store, exclusively selling merchandise in keeping with the local-specific motif” (Pine and Gilmore 49). The revenues from the sales are used for publishing works of the students and arranging field trips.

The success of this organisation’s strategic plan is in combining relatively opposite realms and keeping them unique in each area. For instance, each centre located in a different city does not follow the same programme as another centre. Each facility is unique in respect to its themed storefront and educational programmes which correspond to the requirements of the local community. Thus, the company follows its strategic component of uniqueness and creativity. In terms of supporting young talents through publications and fieldtrips, the company was successful in using sales from gift shops and donations. Furthermore, through the cooperation with the local schools and universities and local writers, the organisation managed to involve good specialists in creative writing and child’s development. In order to promote its activity, organisation works with the local authorities in order to spread the network in new cities. It has also begun working on providing university scholarship for the most talented students. Thus, it can be concluded that this organisation is successful in implementation of its vision of edutainment in life. Overall, the success of the company is in restructuring of the very meaning of education and learning experience: “by absorbing fun with each visit, students find that tutoring, formerly a dreaded experience, becomes much-desired learning” (Pine and Gilmore 49).

Works Cited

Age UK. Our Vision, Mission and Values. Web. 15 January 2015. Amnesty International. Amnesty International’s Statute. Web. 16 January 2015.

CIA. CIA Vision, Mission, Ethos & Challenges. Web. 15 January 2015. Cirque Du Soleil. Creative Approach. Web. 17 January 2015.

Harvard Business Reviews, 10 Must Reads on Strategy. Boston: Harvard Business Press Books, 2011. Print.

Pine, Joseph and James Gilmore. The Experience Economy. Boston: Harvard Business Review Press, 2011. Print.

Kim, W. Chan and Mauborgne, Renee.  Blue Ocean Strategy. Boston:Harvard Business Review Press, 2005. Print.

Mentor International. Mentor’s Mission, Commitment and Values. 2013. Web. 16 January 2015.

NASA. What does NASA do? November 2014. Web. 16 January 2015.

United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Mission Statement. Web. 16 January 2015.  826 National. About 826 National. Web. 16 January 2015.