Mission Statement Overview

Major purposes of a mission statement:

• Define the organization. Who are we? What do we do? What are our values?
• Provide direction. Where are we going?
• Serve as the basis for resource allocation. Where do we want to put our efforts?
• Differentiate. How are we different from competitors?

Components:

    Products/services. What do we produce? Includes all customers.
        e.g., automotive repairs, computer network maintenance,

    Customers. To whom do we provide our services?
        e.g., owners of cars,insurance companies, companies with NT networks

    Markets. Where do we compete?
        e.g., in the southern half of Dade County, within 10 miles of our store, in Columbia and Argentina

    Philosophy. What do we stand for?
        e.g., quality repairs, minimum downtime, reliable service

 Balance:

The mission must be appropriately balanced between two goals:

• Specific enough to differentiate clearly and provide direction for objectives and resource allocation.

• Broad enough to be permanent, inclusive, and unifying.

Related Information:
        Consulting Services
        Mission versus Market
        Overview of the Strategic Planning Process
        Plan To Succeed, And You Probably Will
        Small Business Services
        Sources of Business Financing

© Copyright 1999 Raymond S. Kulzick. All rights reserved. 991205.