Editorials

We encourage our readers to submit relevant articles of interest to be published on this web site. Students, members, and companies are invited to take advantage of this opportunity! Please send your editorial to: Dick Forrest, CPIM dforrest@charter.net

Ira Smolowitz, Ph.D. Professor of Finance and Dean, Bureau of Business Research and Program Development at the American International College, Springfield, MA.

Some of Ira's past articles of interest:

• A View of Education From Both Sides: An Assessment of the American Education System
• Ramifications of the 24/7 Economy
• Work-place Gossip: A Reassessment
• The Disappearance of Courtesy in America: Implications for Business
• The Outlook for American Competitiveness
• Consumer Marketing: A Flawed Strategy
• A Healthy Workforce: The Driver of Corporate Financial Performance
• The Use and Misuse of Forecasts
• Decline in Ethics: Decline in National Competitiveness
• Promoting Prudent Corporate Growth
• The Dynamic of Successful Marketing
• The Monty Hall Paradox: Lessons for Management
• Improving American Competitiveness
• Get to the Root Cause of Factory Failure: Ask the Five Ways
• The Halo Effect: Proceed with Caution
• Improving American Competitiveness
• The Conflict Between Symbolism and Substance
• Virtual Teams: Identifying The Benefits and Problems
• Assessing Potential Management Talent
• Identifying and Avoiding a Common Decision Trap
• Pricing Decisions: Valuable Lessons
• Circuit City: A Flawed Cost-Saving Idea
• Sound Strategic Planning: Avoid Exclusionary Thinking
• The Conflict Between Symbolism and Substance

Creating a Meaningful Mission Statement - Mission Impossible?

By Ira Smolowitz, Ph.D.

My concern with mission statements is well stated by Ulrika O’Brien (English + Comparative Literature, University of California, Irvine):

A mission statement doesn’t have to be bad, but most are. They’re poorly written, vague, abstract, airy things that fart around not doing their job.

A good mission statement tells you one thing: what are we trying to do? Knowing your goal is basic to getting to it. Long lists of the kind of values we would embrace if we were better people are nice, but they don’t do the job that a mission statement is supposed to do.

An analogy: Did you ever see Candid Camera ask a bunch of second-graders to recite that Pledge of Allegiance? The joke comes from the kids various mistakes with the words. That’s not because the kids; are dumb, but because the Pledge is so abstract that it’s just a series of sounds to them, without anchor in their lives. So they say things like “one nation, invisible.” A bad mission statement is like that; it’s empty noises, disconnected from the work people do. 1]

I fully agree with O’Brien’s analysis. In my opinion, a mission statement should not be a list of ambiguous, feel-good platitudes. For example, to be a socially responsible corporation-having the highest regard for employee morale, and to give the stock holder a competitive return. Ten people reading this mission statement will probably generate ten different interpretations of this mission statement.

Consider NASA’s mission statement of 1960 - we will put a man on the moon by the end of this decade. This is a statement that is clear, and serves to galvanize all employees.

Perhaps corporations should abandon their ambiguous mission statements. These should be replaced by internal goals. In other words, recognize that success is linked to results. Goals coincide better with results than mission statements.

References

1. Downloaded from http://www.cluetrain.com/clues.html

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Articles printed with the permission of Dr. Ira Smolowitz, Professor of Finance and Dean, Bureau of Business Research and Program Development at American International College, Springfield, MA.