Mission-Aligned Communications

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Competency

In this assignment, you will demonstrate mastery of the following competency:

· Produce various communications aligned to the mission and brand of an organization

Scenario

Pasta Amore logo with pasta, cherry tomatoes, olive oil, basil leaves, and garlic cloves on a table

You work as a training manager for a small restaurant, Pasta Amore. The restaurant is opening a new location in Suburbia, Somewhere; in addition, the company would like to draw attention to its expanding online presence. This location expansion may present an opportunity to do that as well. The restaurant owner, Laura Morelli, would like you to present a communication strategy with clearly defined communication goals for the next year. She emphasized the importance of ensuring that the presentation is aligned with the company style guide to ensure cohesiveness of various communications.

Company Overview

Pasta Amore serves authentic Italian cuisine in a warm, welcoming, family-friendly environment. The restaurant owners are from an Italian background, and they have a strong appreciation for Italian food and traditions that bring families together over a delicious homemade meal.

Pasta Amore Style Guide

Prior to beginning this project, Laura has asked you to review the company style guide, which includes the following information:

1. Mission statement

1. Vision

1. Logo and usage information

1. Color palette information

1. Primary typography information

1. Image use guidelines

Target Audience Information

New Restaurant Setting

The communications team has already created an audience segmentation table based on demographic information about the restaurant’s new location:

Audience Segment Description	Age Range	Income Range	Education Level	Family Life	Additional Information
Up and Coming	25–44	Upper-middle	College graduate	Mixed	· Includes recent college graduates · Healthy, active lifestyle · Homeowner/renter mix · Mid- to above-average technology use
Growing Neighborhoods	25–45	Low-middle	Mix	Couples with kids	· Ethnically diverse · Experience working in retail or service industries · Mix of renters and homeowners · Mid- to above-average technology use
Retired	55+	Upper-middle	Some college	Children moved out	· Traditional values · Appreciate practicality and simplicity · Typically homeowners · Mid- to low-level technology use · Ethnically diverse

Delivery Approaches to Consider

Here are some tools to consider, but feel free to propose new ideas and tools to get the word out about the restaurant's new location.

1. Social media

1. The company currently uses Facebook and has a business page where it regularly post specials and interact with the community.

1. The company does not currently use other social media, but it is open to expanding its reach.

. Free local newspaper (Suburbia Weekly Buzz)

2. Suburbia Weekly Buzz is a weekly local newspaper that covers news about city politics, entertainment, and community interests. The newspaper allows paid advertisements and features for businesses. It is available for free at local businesses, including restaurants and grocery stores. It is well-known and read by a diverse audience.

. Paid local newspaper (City Gazette)

3. The daily newspaper is available in stores and offers digital subscriptions to its online edition.

3. Readers are mostly middle-aged to older adults.

. Company website/blog

4. The company has a simple website with its mission in the “About Us” section, as well as hours and a menu. Stakeholders are open to expanding resources on the website to better connect to the community and build brand awareness, if the website would be an appropriate communication platform.

Economic Environment

1. Suburbia already has one Italian restaurant that markets itself as “fine Italian dining.” It is located on the outskirts of town and is very expensive. The restaurant appeals mostly to older, wealthy people in the community.

1. The area is in a phase of significant economic and middle-class growth. The city is located in an area with many old textile mills that are being bought and converted to office space by technology companies. This is creating jobs and stimulating the local economy.

Directions

Your task is to create a communications strategy presentation to internal stakeholders using the company style guide. The presentation should represent the company’s brand and mission, and will discuss ways that you apply those in the development of a communication strategy.

1. Adherence With Brand Mission and Style Guide: Pasta Amore considers its style guide a valuable company asset, and it is important to Laura that the style guide continues to inform communication on all levels of the company.

1. Develop presentation elements in alignment with the company style guide, including communicating information in a way that is appropriately aligned with the corporate voice and mission presented in the style guide.

1. Discuss the role of the mission statement and corporate voice for informing communication approaches. Provide specific details in speaker notes.

1. Communication Goals and Strategy: Laura has asked that you include communication goals that consider Pasta Amore’s mission, vision, and corporate voice. The communication goals should clearly reflect and align with those elements.

1. Introduce your communication strategy for executing communication goals and explaining alignment to the company mission and brand ideals. Provide specific details about the elements of the mission that will appeal most to specific target audiences.

1. Create communication goals that clearly connect to the company mission statement. In the speaker notes, explain the purpose of the communication goals for meeting the company’s strategic initiatives and alignment with company mission and vision.

1. Identify specific decision-making methods that will inform the company’s communication goals, considering how the company’s mission and vision appeal to the targeted audience.

. Delivery Methods: Laura has asked that you identify communication channels and provide examples of how the company will maintain mission and brand consistency across the channels that you identify. Specifically, consider logo usage and verbiage that supports the company mission and corporate voice.

2. Determine communication delivery approaches and appropriate platforms, such as suggested media channels and advertising locations. For each delivery approach and platform, consider both the target audience and the mission and vision.

2. Describe approaches to engage with the target audience in a way that is aligned with the brand mission. For each platform indicated, identify the target audience. Provide specific details and rationale in speaker notes.

2. Describe examples of communications across various media channels in alignment with the company’s mission and brand. Consider timing, text, and images that should be included for advertisements and social media posts.

2. Discuss tactics used to frame corporate voice and mission strategically to the targeted audience. Consider specific themes should be used in communications to provide a consistent experience. Provide supporting details in speaker notes.

What to Submit

Every project has a deliverable or deliverables, which are the files that must be submitted before your project can be assessed. For this project, you must submit the following:

Communications Strategy Presentation

Your presentation should use the logo, color palette, and typography indicated in the style guide. It should communicate strategic communication goals, including examples of style guide-aligned communications that reflect the mission and brand of the organization. The presentation should be 8 to 10 slides in length. Use speaker notes to describe your ideas in more detail. Within the presentation, provide examples of how you would communicate information.

Supporting Materials

The following resources will support your work on the project:

Citation Help Need help citing your sources? Use the CfA Citation Guide and Citation Maker.

Pasta Amore Style Guide Review this document to begin learning about the company and to inform your project.

Project Rubric
Communications Strategy Presentation	Which Resources Can Help?
Develops presentation elements in alignment with the company style guide, including corporate voice and mission style guide elements	☐ Mastered ☐ Not Yet	· Unit Resources: Mission Statement and Brand · Unit Resources: Crafting Goals and Creating Messaging
Discusses the role of the mission statement and corporate voice for informing communication approaches, and provides specific details in speaker notes	☐ Mastered ☐ Not Yet	· Unit Resources: Methods to Inform Communication Strategies · Unit Resources: Crafting Goals and Creating Messaging
Communication Goals and Strategy	Which Resources Can Help?
Introduces communication strategy and explains alignment to the company mission and brand ideals; provides specific details about the elements of the mission that will appeal most to specific target audiences	☐ Mastered ☐ Not Yet	· Unit Resources: Methods to Inform Communication Strategies
Creates communication goals that clearly connect to the company mission statement, and uses speaker notes to explain the purpose of the communication goals for meeting the company’s strategic initiatives and alignment with company mission and vision	☐ Mastered ☐ Not Yet	· Unit Resources: Mission Statement and Brand
Delivery Methods	Which Resources Can Help?
Determines communication delivery approaches and appropriate platforms based on targeted audience information, includes suggested media channels and describes approaches to engage with the audience in a way that is aligned with the brand mission, and provides specific details and rationale in speaker notes	☐ Mastered ☐ Not Yet	· Unit Resources: Crafting Goals and Creating Messaging
Describes approaches to engage with the target audience in a way that is aligned with the brand mission, identifies the target audience for each platform indicated, and provides specific details and rationale in speaker notes	☐ Mastered ☐ Not Yet	· Unit Resources: Crafting Goals and Creating Messaging
Describes examples of communications across various media channels in alignment with the company’s mission and brand, and considers timing, text, and images that should be included for advertisements and social media posts	☐ Mastered ☐ Not Yet	· Unit Resources: Methods to Inform Communication Strategies
Discusses tactics used to frame corporate voice and mission strategically to the targeted audience, and considers specific themes that should be used in communications to provide a consistent experience	☐ Mastered ☐ Not Yet	· Unit Resources: Mission Statement and Brand
General	Which Resources Can Help?
Clearly conveys meaning with correct grammar, sentence structure, and spelling; shows understanding of audience and purpose	☐ Mastered ☐ Not Yet	· Academic Support
Lists sources where needed using citation methods with no major errors	☐ Mastered ☐ Not Yet	· Citation Help

Unit Resources: Mission Statement and Brand

Web Page

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Mission statement should find customers and improve profits: [Final Edition]

Norman, Jan. Calgary Herald; Calgary, Alta. [Calgary, Alta]. 02 Jan 1996: C.3.

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A mission statement should help find customers and increase profits, say local entrepreneurs who have taken the time to write mission statements for their own companies.

``Your mission statement should put a framework around your business and give you direction,'' says marketing consultant Gerry Foster of Laguna Beach, Calif.

``A mission statement clarifies your purpose and reason for being in business,'' says Michelle Bergquist, an Irvine, Calif., business-plan expert.

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It is crucial for small firms, expert says

SANTA ANA, Calif.

A lot of businesses wander aimlessly.

They have talented owners, good products or services and large potential markets. What they lack is a clear idea why they're in business.

They need a telephoto lens to focus their skills and limited resources on one object in the huge economic universe.

They need a mission statement.

A mission statement should help find customers and increase profits, say local entrepreneurs who have taken the time to write mission statements for their own companies.

Most business owners are reluctant to write a mission statement because they're not quite sure what one looks like. Gee, that's for Fortune 500 types, isn't it?

``Your mission statement should put a framework around your business and give you direction,'' says marketing consultant Gerry Foster of Laguna Beach, Calif.

``A mission statement clarifies your purpose and reason for being in business,'' says Michelle Bergquist, an Irvine, Calif., business-plan expert.

``A mission statement . . . declares what business you're in, who your customer is and the fundamental reason the customer buys from your organization,'' says Bill Birnbaum, a Costa Mesa, Calif., business-strategy consultant.

These three pros help people write mission statements for their companies. Note their specialties: marketing, business plans, business strategy.

While mission statements are becoming popular with major corporations, they are critical for small entities, Bergquist says.

``I can only tell you how my company has benefited by having our mission statement,'' she says. ``It keeps us from heading down the wrong path, like getting into other ventures before we're ready.''

Bergquist recently helped Newport Beach, Calif., travel agents Rosemary and Dudley Hall write a business plan for their three related companies, Travel Services through Andante, Enchanting Honeymoons and Dive With Dudley.

Their mission statement, which is part of their business plan, focuses on a desire to help people plan special trips, such as a honeymoon, rather than just any old trip, Dudley Hall says.

``As a result of becoming focused, we have increased our business 100 percent in the past year,'' he says.

Gaining focus was also the reason Diane Chapman wrote a mission statement for her writing and speaking company, Words To Your Advantage in Aliso Viejo, Calif.

``When you have a small business, everyone is constantly asking you to pursue additional entrepreneurial opportunities because `you seem like such a motivated self-starter,' '' she says.

``It's important to communicate just how you built your business: by focusing on the one or two things that your talents guide you to do.''

A mission statement can set a company apart from its competitors, says Mark Delp of Mechanical Mann in Laguna Hills, Calif.

``The mission statement has had a very positive impact on the way customers perceive us, because it shows we understand what our customers are looking for in a mechanic, and (few) other automotive repair shops have mission statements,'' he says.

Clients are put at ease by the mission statement of J&R Marketing in Laguna Niguel, Calif., says owner Ralph Woolbright.

The statement specifies that the company helps small businesses with management and marketing without high costs. ``Once people know they can get help without the high fees, they are willing to let someone help them . . . and these clients pass the word,'' he says.

*** Infomart-Online ***

Word count: 572

(Copyright The Calgary Herald)

Put your purpose in writing; a mission statement can give your company the focus it needs for survival and growth.

Authors:

Nelton, Sharon

Source:

Nation's Business. 1994, Vol. v82, Issue n2, pages. 4

Publisher Information:

U.S. Chamber of Commerce, 1994.

Publication Year:

1994

Subject Terms:

Haworth Inc. -- Management Mission statements -- Management Furniture industry -- Management

Description:

Corporate mission statements can help a company form an identity. Mission statements define what a company does and reflects its operating philosophy and future goals. Haworth Inc, a furniture manufacturer, has a mission statement that has evolved as the company has expanded into world markets.

ISSN:

0028-047X

Rights:

Accession Number:

edsbig.A14994457

Database:

Business Insights Global

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PUT YOUR PURPOSE IN WRITING

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Section:

MANAGING

A mission statement can give your company the focus it needs for survival and growth.

When Richard G. Haworth succeeded , his father as president of Haworth, Inc., in 1976, one of the first things he did was see to the creation of a mission statement, called "The Haworth Creed," summarizing the company's standards and goals.

At the time, the Holland, Mich., manufacturer of office furniture had 250 employees and $14 million in annual sales. Today, the company has 7,000 employees worldwide and annual sales of more than $800 million.

While having a mission statement isn't the only reason for Haworth's impressive growth from a small company to a global one, its leaders believe a mission statement provides a focus for a company--whether its size.

"We feel a mission statement lays it right out there as to the kind of company we are and what our principles are and what our objectives are and how we want to work," says Gerald B. Johanneson, who succeeded Richard Haworth as president in January, when Haworth became chairman.

Early last year, Haworth introduced a revised mission statement called "Our Principles," modernizing and simplifying the language so that it is more readily understood around the globe. Haworth now has facilities in more than 20 countries and has 800 dealers worldwide.

Many business owners agree that a mission statement is the tool that can get everyone in the company going in the same direction. Just as important, developing a new or revised mission statement forces managers to think strategically

"It's a very helpful process in that it makes you sit back and focus on things outside the day-to-day, filling-the-order kind of mentality," says Alan Blazar, president of Blazing Graphics, a graphics production company in Cranston, R.I. The process makes you look at what's happening in your industry, he explains, and "gives an opportunity to look at the long-term situation."

According to Burt Nanus, author of Visionary Leadership (Jossey-Bass, 1992), a mission statement defines what an organization has been established to accomplish, delineating products and markets and, in some instances, going further to state a company's creed or values, its operating philosophy, or its mayor goals.

While some business leaders, like Johanneson, use "vision" and "mission statement" interchangeably, others do not. Blazar says Blazing Graphics' mission statement, conceived in 1992, expands on the 10-year-old company's original vision of bringing various graphics trades--design, engraving, photography, and printing--under one roof to service the high end of the advertising market and of being "the best graphic-arts producer in the industry bar none." The new mission statement is broader, calling, for example, for creating "an environment that will be both personally and professionally fulfilling."

Blazing Graphics, which employs 75 people and brings in $8 million in annual revenues, was a 1993 state honoree of the Blue Chip Enterprise Initiative. The initiative is a program sponsored annually by the Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance Co., the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and Nation's Business to recognize small companies that have overcome challenges and emerged stronger.

Developing a mission statement helped I turn around Healthtex, an ailing children's-clothing company that was purchased by VF Corp. in 1990. A year after the purchase, says Healthtex's president, Gary F. Simmons, the company's managers felt they needed to put in writing what Healthtex wanted to do and who its target customers were. The statement in part reads: "Healthtex will be the most responsive kidswear company in understanding and meeting the needs of targeted consumers and retailers with basic and basic fashion everyday playwear that lasts."

The company, based in Greensboro, N.C., identified its primary customer as a mother of children, newborn to 6 years old, who shops for everyday playwear in middle-market department stores and national children's specialty chains. Healthtex also determined specifically what kinds of clothing the company would make.

"The goal here is that everybody--be it a machine operator, a designer, or the head of human resources--is thinking in a similar vein," Simmons says. "It doesn't mean they all think alike, but at least they all have a central core belief of what this company's trying to achieve."

Healthtex has experienced 40 percent growth in each of the past ; two years, and its annual sales range from $100 million to $150 million. "We now are a profitable company and are now moving forward very nicely," Simmons says. The mission statement has helped, he says, by getting different groups of people within the company to focus on a strategic direction.

Gerald Johanneson says Haworth, Inc., has been able to win new business as a result of its mission statement. When potential corporate clients visit Haworth headquarters, Haworth's presentations to them include a discussion of the company's mission by company officers. As a result, some visitors decide to place an order because they think Haworth is the kind of company they want to do business with. Johanneson says.

He sees the mission statement as a key communications tool. When a business is small, he says, it tends to attract entrepreneurial employees--"people who have their own mission, so to speak, or their own agenda." And the owner or manager, believing everyone knows what he or she thinks, may be under the impression that communication is better than it actually is. In such a situation, Johanneson says, a mission statement can make the company's purpose and objectives clear and give everyone in it something to relate to.

Healthtex's Gary Simmons also points out that a mission statement enables different groups within a company--marketing, finance, merchandising, human resources, and the like--to have not only a similar vision but also similar expectations. In his company, for example, the finance people know that because of the kind of product the company makes and the kind of customer it has targeted, margins will be reasonable and markdowns will be few.

Because it speaks to helping clients achieve their goals, Alan Blazar says, his company's mission statement has helped create a "partnering attitude" instead of an adversarial relationship between Blazing Graphics and its customers.

The experiences of these businesses show that a company can benefit when its focus is sharpened by a mission statement. If you think a mission statement might be helpful to your business, here are some suggestions to consider in creating one:

Invite ideas from others. Alan Blazar wrote his original draft himself before passing it around to his supervisors for comments and then rewriting it. But if he had it to do over again, he says, he would first ask his supervisors for their ideas as well as suggestions from all their employees.

Taking the second approach, he says, would more accurately reflect the entire company rather than just what "the boss" thinks. Once the boss has written a mission statement, he points out, employees hesitate to contradict or change it.

Offer a purpose around which employees and others can rally. So advises Charles Garfield, an expert on "peak performance," in his book Second To None (Business One Irwin, 1992). "Mission statements are never about bottomline goals (though they directly affect the bottom line)," he writes. "Profit is not a value around which employees are likely to rally." Instead, he says, your statement should incorporate values that are worthy of your employees' best efforts.

A mission statement, Blazar says, "sends a message to employees, suppliers, and customers as to what the purpose of the company is aside from just making profits."

Consider the ripple effect that your statement will have on company policy and behavior. Simmons has found that having a mission statement assists in decision making at Healthtex. For example, if a proposed product doesn't fit the corporate strategy or cannot meet the quality standards embodied in the mission statement, Healthtex won't produce it.

Outgrowths of Haworth's new mission statement have included the issuance of policy statements affirming the company's commitment to a diverse work force and to the environment.

Let your statement reflect current direction as well as lay the groundwork for the years to come. In many respects, writing a mission statement is committing to paper what you already know about your business and its purpose. At the same time, it serves as a guideline for the future.

As Simmons explains, if you are starting a company, you don't develop the mission statement first. You have to determine who your customers are, why you are selling to them, what channels you will use, and other matters before you devise your mission statement, he says.

Encompass your company's culture. In addition to being a statement about strategic direction, a mission statement sets down the values that a company's managers hold dear. "Honor God in all we do" is the first point in the mission statement of another state Blue Chip enterprise, Lunar Productions, Inc., a Memphis, Tenn., corporate-video production company with seven employees and $800,000 in annual sales. Because he's a Christian, says Geordy Wells, Lunar's president, he wanted to include that point to reflect that the company abides by honest, ethical business practices.

Companies express their values in their mission statements in a variety of ways. A Southern car-rental company includes ending world hunger as part of its mission, for example, and a Midwest hospitality firm states that it wants customers to "experience a quiet spot in the country" because of the owners' conviction "that God desires all His creation to live in harmony."

Keep your audiences in mind. They may include employees, shareholders, family members, suppliers, customers, your community, and others. Your statement has to communicate to each group.

You may find, as Haworth did, that as the marketplace becomes increasingly global, you will face the challenges of communicating effectively in different cultures and languages. Haworth's principles are now available in Spanish, French, German, and Italian as well as English, including a special English version for the British market.

Be brief. Lunar Productions' mission statement is a mere 41 words. At about 440 words, the revised Haworth mission statement is about 120 words shorter than its predecessor. Haworth's officers had found that when they made presentations on the old mission statement to employees and customers, they would lose their audience because the statement was just too long and had too many sections--11 in the old version, compared with four in the new. By shortening and simplifying the statement, Johanneson says, "it more clearly states exactly what our focus is."

Review your statement periodically, and revise it as necessary. "If you change your strategy, you must change your mission statement," Simmons says. "They tie together." Healthtex's mission statement is reviewed once a year as part of the company's annual strategic-planning process, but Simmons says that it's probably better to review the mission statement informally even more often.

"The mission statement is not something that's set in stone," Alan Blazar says. "The mission keeps changing and growing as we grow."

Once you have created your mission statement, put it to use. Blazing Graphics displays its mission in every department as well as in its lobby and has published it as an advertisement in a trade magazine.

Some companies make a discussion of their mission statements part of the orientation for new hires. Others use theirs as a means to educate such constituents as customers, dealers, suppliers, stockholders, and their communities.

If people just talk about a mission statement and don't use it, creating it is a waste of time, Gary Simmons says. "If you really use it, then it's something that I think is wonderful."

~~~~~~~~

By Sharon Nelton

THE MISSION STATEMENT

Blazing Graphics, Cranston, R.I.

Blazing Graphics will provide you with the most effective visual communication attainable. We will help you achieve all of your goals while providing you with the greatest value both seen and unseen.

Here at Blazing Graphics we will take the time to do things right. We do this by controlling the entire graphic arts process. This enables us to better coordinate each job while providing a higher level of service.

Our mission is to ensure exceptional quality by opening up communication between crafts normally separated and at times adverse to one another.

Here at Blazing Graphics we have committed ourselves and our resources to being on the forefront of technology.

Creative technical know-how is the single most critical determinant of economic competitiveness.

It's our real belief that together we can create an environment that will be both personally and professionally fulfilling for all the people who make up the Blazing Community.

PHOTO (COLOR): Solicit ideas from employees when devising a mission statement, urges Blazing Graphics' president, Alan Blazar; center, here with the company's general manager, Mark Worall, left, and color supervisor Ray Gagne.

OUR PRINCIPLES

Haworth, Inc., Holland, Mich.

Haworth, a family company, is a world leader in the contract furniture industry. Our vision is to be world class in the eyes of our customers at creating well-designed, effective, and exciting work environments. The principles upon which Haworth was founded and continues to operate are presented in this statement. The success of our company testifies to their enduring value.

Haworth competes enthusiastically in a free enterprise system. Our style is aggressive and our practices honest; our conduct is legal and ethical. We are motivated by a fair return on investment and are committed to strengthening the company through reinvestment. We believe that customers will be attracted by what we offer and this will ensure our continued success.

Customer Satisfaction

To completely satisfy our customers is our primary mission. We listen to our customers and understand their changing needs. We achieve their satisfaction by quickly translating their needs into products and services that are world class and that emphasize quality, design, innovation, and value. We are convinced that the success of our business depends on satisfied customers. We believe that our customers are best served through a strong dealer network. Haworth dealers aggressively represent us and offer a range of complementary professional services to our customers. Our dealers collaborate with us to forge customer-satisfying teams. Our dealers are also our customers, and we are committed to their satisfaction.

The People Of Haworth

Haworth members are the most important resource of our company. The diversity of their races, genders, talents, and personalities enables us to be more innovative, dynamic, and flexible. Our members endorse the practice of continuous improvement, believing it offers the best path to pride in their work, greater job security, customer satisfaction, and success for our company. Our corporate culture offers a participative environment that supports teams and individuals. Haworth encourages member development and achievement through recognition, rewards, and opportunities for career growth.

Dedication To Quality

In order to achieve total customer satisfaction, Haworth methods of operation are shaped by our dedication to quality. Corporate-wide quality initiatives result in superior products and services for our customers. At Haworth we combine smart thinking with hard work to eliminate wasted time, effort, and materials. Our philosophy of continuous quality improvement is embraced by suppliers and dealers. They share our commitment to total customer satisfaction and quality. With them, we create a seamless flow of quality products and services to the end user. Our philosophy of quality includes the preservation of our environment and the protection of resources. Our pursuit of quality extends to our communities, where we build for the future by investing in the quality of life.

PHOTO (COLOR): Haworth's updated statement reflects the furniture maker's emergence as a global company, says its president, Gerald Johanneson.

MISSION STATEMENT

Lunar Productions, Inc.. Memphis, Tenn.

Honor God in all we do. Provide excellent and affordable corporate video audio/visual and broadcast production services to our valued clients.

Communicate with our clients and fellow employees as effectively as we communicate with our audiences.

Make a fair profit.

PHOTO (COLOR): Getting people focused on the same goal is one function of a mission statement, says Geordy Wells, right, president of Lunar Productions.

THE MEDIA FOR YOUR MESSAGE

Say your mission statement is completed. Now what?

Before you can actually make use of it, it needs to be put into some medium to carry the message. And businesses are very creative about this.

You can be, too.

The statement devised by Healthtex, a Greensboro, N.C., children's apparel company is so short that it has been put on a plastic card that can be easily carried in a wallet.

Blazing Graphics, a Cranston, R.I., graphic-arts production company, has turned its mission statement into a colorful, eye-grabbing poster--fitting for a company that depends so much on the appeal of visual images.

Haworth, Inc., has printed its mission statement in an elegant, 8 1/2-by-11-inch, trifold, quality-paper brochure--a step up from the two-color, one-sided sheet that the Holland, Mich., office-furniture manufacturer used to use.

ATS Telephone & Data Systems, Inc., of Memphis, Tenn., chose videotape as a means to communicate its mission statement Just under six minutes in length, the video features corporate managers discussing the four short elements of the mission statement:

· "Honor God" (follow the golden rule);

· "Deliver innovative business communications with more than expected value" (go the extra mile for the customers, providing quality and not waiting for the competition, explains one executive);

· "Inspire our employees to grow to their potential"; and

· "Make a fair profit."

One ATS executive notes that honoring God is at the top of the list while making a profit is at the bottom. But the tape acknowledges that, just as a human being has to breathe, a company has to make a profit in order to exist.

You need not limit yourself to just one medium for your mission statement. You can use posters, cards, fliers, slides, and just about anything you can name. CDROM, anyone?

Copyright of Nation's Business is the property of US Chamber of Commerce and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.

CEOs and development of the meaningful mission statement

Analoui, Farhad; Karami, Azhdar. Corporate Governance; Bradford Vol. 2, Iss. 3, (2002): 13-20. DOI:10.1108/14720700210440044

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Developing a mission statement has been considered a crucial factor in the formulation of business strategy in organisations. Mission statements have become a management tool most commonly used by chief executive officers (CEOs) over the last decade. An exercise that both academics and practitioners have deemed strategically critical to the success of an enterprise is the development of a meaningful mission statement. This article explores the perceptions of CEOs of their mission statement in SMEs. It is based on the findings of recent research in 508 firms in the electrical and electronic industry in the UK. The study, amongst other things, investigated the existence and content of the mission statements and, accordingly, it determines the relationships between a SME's development of a meaningful mission statement and selected performance outcomes of the firm.

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Keywords Top management, Strategic planning, Company performance, Small- to medium-sized enterprises, United Kingdom

Abstract Developing a mission statement has been considered

Headnote

a crucial factor in the formulation of business strategy in organisations. The mission statement promotes a sense of shared expectations in employees and, not surprisingly, it has recently been regarded as increasingly important in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the electronic industry. One major reasons for this is the growing complexity and dynamic competitive environments in which these enterprises have operated and managed to find themselves. Mission statements have become a management tool most commonly used by chief executive officers (CEOs) over the last decade. One exercise that both academics and practitioners have deemed strategically critical to the success of an enterprise is the development of a meaningful mission statement. This article explores the perceptions of CEOs of their mission statement in SMEs. It is based on the findings of recent research in 508 firms in the electrical and electronic industry in the UK. The study, amongst other things, investigated the existence and content of the mission statements and, accordingly, it determines the relationships (if any) between a SME's development of a meaningful mission statement and selected performance outcomes of the firm.

Introduction

Paying attention to "mission statement" is becoming a growing concern for the CEOs of small- and medium sized enterprises, especially in the electronic industry in the UK. One major reason for this is the increasingly complex and dynamic competitive environments in which SMEs nowadays find themselves. One strategic exercise that both academics and practitioners have deemed critical to the success of a SME is the development of a meaningful mission statement. Mission statements, as a result, have become the management tool most commonly used by senior executives over the last decade. Yet, the empirical study of the strategic aspects of SMEs' operation and CEOs have remained relatively neglected. Present research is a response to this need. It focuses on the SMEs in the British electronic industry and seeks to determine the relationships (if any) between a SME's development of a mission statement and selected performance outcomes. More specifically, the research attempts to examine:

* the existence of mission statements and their purposes within the targeted firms;

* their content; and

* the relationship between firms' mission statements and their performance in the British electronic industry.

Literature: a brief review

Strategy formulation is often referred to as strategic or long range planning and is said to be concerned with the development of a SME's mission, objectives and strategies (Foster, 1993). It has been contended that the first step in the process of strategy formulation is defining the corporate mission (Lyles et al., 1993; McKiernan and Morris, 1995; Wheelen and Hunger, 1998). The mission statements therefore stand to promote a sense of shared expectations amongst employees and communicate a public image of the firm to important stakeholders and groups in the company's task environment (Germain and Cooper, 1990). The literature on mission statements in large firms and SMEs is both of a descriptive (Ackoff, 1987; Falsey, 1989; Campbell et al., 1990; Pearce and Robinson, 1994; Kakabadse and Kakabadse, 2000) and prescriptive nature (Pearce, 1982; Want, 1986; Pearce and David, 1987). There seems to be an overwhelming consensus, however, that the development of business missions are fundamental to the survival and growth of any business (Levitt, 1960; Churchill and Lewis, 1983; Smith and Fleck, 1987; Falsey, 1989; Kakabadse and Kakabadse, 2001 a; Analoui and Karami, 2002). For instance, Falsey (1989) illustrated that companies with mission statements expressing a sense of responsibility to the community have performed well over a sustained period of time. He concludes that those companies that had endured for at least one generation and had prepared a written set of principles stating their philosophy had higher levels of performance. It is further argued in the literature that the benefits organisations derive from mission statements address many of the organisational and leadership (Kakabadse and Kakabadse, 2001 b) problems that characterise growing and developing SMEs (Simpson, 1994). A mission statement, therefore, allows the firm to articulate a strong vision for the organisation and to communicate that to its growing number of employees and professional managers (Analoui, 2000). The mission statement can also increase the firm's legitimacy with old and new stakeholders such as financial institutions.

A fear of decreasing levels of customer service often prevents the entrepreneur from delegating day-to-day customer support activities. A mission statement focused on customer values can lead to creation of a customer service culture and increased levels of customer satisfaction as a result (Karami, 2001). More recently, the debate has been extended to questioning the benefits and usefulness of mission statements (Piercy and Morgan, 1994; Simpson, 1994). Those who oppose mission statements do so on the grounds that they are empty public relations initiatives; that mission statement formulation and implementation are a lot more difficult than the literature makes them out to be; and that companies with a good business mission do not need to compress their aims into a statement (Germain and Cooper, 1990; Ireland and Hitt, 1992; Rarick and Vitton, 1995; Analoui, 2002). Ackoff (1987, p. 30) has observed that most mission statements "... consist largely of pious platitudes". Calf ree (1993) also argues that messages about growth and profitability (Churchill and Lewis, 1983) are better communicated to Wall Street than to those within the organisation upon whom the organisation's decision-making depends. Simpson (1994) also observes that mission statements are often vapid, such as "we love our customers, we love our shareholders, we love our employees" and are often disconnected from the true capabilities and strengths of the firm. It should not therefore come as a surprise to suggest that the results of two recent studies carried out in the field of SMEs (Pearce and David, 1987; O'Gorman and Doran, 1999) are of some significance. The study by Pearce and David (1987) is regarded as the first empirical attempt to investigate the relationship, if any, between the mission statement and organisational performance in 500 SMEs. It was discovered that higher performance firms seem to have a comparatively more comprehensive mission statement. Finally, in contrast to the above findings, elsewhere O'Gorman and Doran (1999) have concluded that high growth SMEs do not necessarily benefit from having a more comprehensive mission statement than low growth ones.

Methodology and scope of the study Sample

In this study, the sample of 508 firms has been drawn randomly from the small- and medium-size manufacturing enterprises in the electronic industry in the UK. The companies were identified using the UK Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) based on satisfying two main criteria:

(1) having up to 250 employees; and

(2) having less than 50 million turnover in the last financial year.

These two criteria have been used widely in literature in defining and distinguishing SMEs from other firms (Hertz, 1982; Preston et at., 1986; Smith and Fleck, 1987; Smith, 1998).

Data collection and analysis

The main research instrument employed was a survey questionnaire. Data were collected via mail surveys from 132 (for a 27 percent response rate out of 508 firms) CEOs of the SMEs of the electronic manufacturing industry in the UK. A personalised cover letter which explained the aims and objectives of the research and provided assurances regarding the confidentiality of data accompanied the questionnaire. Managing directors were urged to personally participate in the survey. To minimise response bias, the participants were also provided with pre-addressed envelopes to enable them to return the completed questionnaires directly to the researchers. Both qualitative

Figure 1

and quantitative research methodologies were applied and consequently a comprehensive range of data was collected. Attention was paid to the purpose, the existence and contents of the mission statements. CEOs of the firms were asked to indicate whether or not their firms have developed a mission statement and, if so, what the purpose of having a mission statement was and accordingly what the content of it was. Moreover, CEOs were further asked to indicate how effectively they believed that the formal mission statement impacts on their firms' performance.

In this research the company performance, a variable, was measured by self-reported ratings of the respondents concerning the indicators of the achievements of the intended outcomes, including financial performance and implementation of plans within the expected time and predicted cost. A five-point Likert-type scale ranging from 1 (low extent of success) to 5 (high extent of success) was applied. The self-reporting nature of the performance utilised in this study has been widely employed in similar empirical enquires (Smith, 1998; Rangone, 1999).

Findings and discussion

In order to analyse the data and consequently discuss the results, the collected data were summarised using descriptive statistics. Of the 508 CEOs who were canvassed 132 personally completed and returned the questionnaires: a response rate of 27 percent. Descriptive data analysis shows that the majority of respondents (n = 116, 88 percent) were male, while only 12 percent of respondents (n = 16) were female. The respondents' minimum number of total years of work experience was eight years and the maximum was 42 years (see Figure 1). Also, 73 percent of respondents reported that they have had formal management training. The number of employees of the firms varied from a minimum of 16 to maximum of 250).

As noted earlier, the criteria employed for measuring the firm size were the number of employees and annual turnover of the firms. Accordingly, the amount of turnover of the firms in the last financial year was between 1.25 million and 50 million.

Existence of a mission statement and its purpose

In order to explore why SMEs have a mission statement, it would be useful to compare the results of this study with the results of a similar study which has been carried out in large firms. Baetz and Bart (1996) worked on the issue of developing mission statements in 135 large Canadian organisations. The results demonstrated that mission statements have been, by and large, used by 86 percent of the firms involved in the study. They reported that the main reasons for having mission statements in large firms were to:

(1) guide the strategic planning system;

(2) define the organisation's scope of business operations/ activities;

(3) provide a common purpose/direction transcending individual and department needs;

(4) promote a sense of shared expectations among all levels of employees, thereby building a strong corporate culture (i.e. shared value); and finally,

(5) guide leadership style (Baetz and Bart, 1996, p. 528).

In the case of SMEs the role of entrepreneurs in developing mission statements cannot be ignored (Germain and Cooper, 1990; Ireland and Hitt, 1992; Analoui, 2000; Karami and Analoui, 2001). CEOs were asked to indicate whether or not their firms have developed mission statements, and if so what was the main reasons) for that. The results showed that the majority of the firms (n = 104, 78 percent) do have formal developed mission statements, while only 25 respondents (19 percent) reported that they have not had formal mission statements in their organisations. Only 2 percent of the respondents (n = 3) left the above question unanswered (see Figure 2).

Our findings support the results of the previous studies. For instance, in Byars and Neil's (1987) survey of 208 firms, 68 percent indicated that they had a mission statement. Also, in David's (1989) survey of the Business Week 1,000, 41 percent indicated that they had a mission statement.

Accordingly the respondents were asked to indicate the reasons for having a mission statement. The results showed that the mission statements were being used in SMEs for different reasons. The main purposes of having mission statements, based on the respondent's priority, are as follows:

* developing and planning business strategies;

* increasing profit and growth rate;

* promoting a sense of shared expectations between the entrepreneur and all employees; and to

* provide clarity of direction for the employees and managers/entrepreneurs.

These results are also in accordance with the findings of O'Gorman and Doran's (1999) study of mission statements in small- and medium-sized businesses. We found that, in small businesses, like large firms, a formal mission statement generally is regarded and used as an important tool for strategic planning. In SMEs mission statements were more related to strategy formulation rather than implementation of business strategies. Also, SMEs use mission statements for increasing their profit and growth within the industry.

While based on the results of the Baetz and Bart's (1996) research in large firms, the second reason for having a mission statement is to define the organisation's scope of business operations/activities. Promoting a shared thinking and expectation among owner managers/entrepreneurs and employees is another reason for having a mission statement in SMEs. Finally, providing clarity of direction for the firm is seen as being of the last of the four top reasons for having mission statements in SMEs.

The content of mission statements

It has been argued that a good mission statement tends to capture an organisation's unique and enduring reason for energising stakeholders to pursue common goals (Rarick and Vitton, 1995; Bart, 1998; Karami, 2001). It is also envisaged that it will enable a more focused allocation of organisational resources. Bart (1988) based on his findings, provided the content of what he thinks a good mission statements ought to be (1998). Other empirical studies have attempted to define and analyse the content of mission statements in either large firms or small- and medium-sized enterprises (Preston et al., 1986; Campbell, 1993; Bart, 1998) using different approaches. Table I illustrates a sample of major studies involved in identifying and analysing the components of mission statements. Pearce and David's (1987) research, for example, is probably the very first attempt to empirically identify the content of mission statements. They identified the specification of target customers and the markets as the highest in terms of frequency, and the identification of the firm's desired public image as the lowest frequency in turn.

Figure 2

Baetz and Bart (1996), in their study of mission statements in 135 Canadian firms, developed a number of categories for analysing the statements using grounded theory approach. Concerning the content of the mission statements, they contended that:

... the typical mission statement contained: essentially only one financial objective (e.g. to enhance profitability and long-term value), or none at all; one or two non-financial objectives (e.g. to provide challenging work environment); one value/belief/philosophy statement (e.g. to be a responsible company); the organisation's definition of success (e.g. meet or exceed customer's expectations); the organisation's number one priority; a definition of the organisation's strategy (i.e. a definition of specific products, specific markets and two bases for competing) and reference to one stakeholder (typically the customer) (Baetz and Bart, 1996, p. 528).

Accordingly, O'Gorman and Doran (1999), in their recent study, found that the mission statement in SMEs tends to place more emphasis on concern for survival, product or services, and the concern for the customers. Their findings is similar to that of Pearce and David (1987). It was also discovered by O'Gorman and Doran (1999) that the least important components of mission statements in SMEs are those which relate to customer/market, concern for suppliers and the core technology.

In comparison to the previous studies, we decided to identify the components of the firms' mission statement based on the the CEOs' perception and priority. This method is very similar to the methodology employed by previous researchers (Rarick and Vitton, 1995; O'Gorman and Doran, 1999; Bart, 2000; Karami and Analoui, 2001). Thus, the respondents were asked to list the components of the mission statements of their firms. An analysis of the data shows that the CEOs of the firms involved in the survey emphasised on "long term profit, survival and growth" as the first priority in their mission statements (74 percent). In this respect, a similar result has been reported by Baetz and Bart (1996) for "financial objectives" (46 percent); and O'Gorman and Doran (1999) for "concern for survival" (72 percent). These findings contrast with the results of our research which shows that the CEOs placed emphasis on 11 concern for supplier" (9 percent) as the least important to them (see Table II). Based on the analysis of the data collected, generally, a mission statement in a SME typically contained: long term profit, survival and growth; customer satisfaction; core technology; market; company philosophy and values; product and services quality; public image; geographic domain; self-concept; and concern for suppliers as main concerns for the CEOs involved.

Table I

Table II

The "customer satisfaction" component of the statement, which was the third most frequent (64 percent) in O'Gorman and Doran's (1999) study, was the second most frequent component (67 percent) in our study. More especially, the "core technology" component which was regarded as the fourth most frequent in Pearce and David's (1987) study in the USA, and ranked as non in O'Gorman and Doran's (1999) study in Ireland, was the third most frequent in our survey. Perhaps the technology intensive nature of the electronic industry could be considered as an important factor in our case. On the other hand, the data analysis shows that the three least important components of the mission statements were; geographic domain, self-concept, and finally the concern for suppliers.

Mission statements and firms' performance

It has been argued that one of the reasons for the lack of consistent guidelines concerning the development of mission statements is that researchers have not attempted - or have not been able - to empirically link their recommendations to the firm's performance (Ireland and Hitt, 1992; Analoui, 1999; Bart, 2000). As noted earlier, the study by Pearce and David (1987) was probably the first attempt to empirically investigate any potential relationship between mission statement and firm performance. They demonstrate that a relationship does exist between selected mission statement components and one measure of performance, that is to say, "high versus low" performing Fortune 500 companies. The end results are that:

* higher performing firms have comparatively more comprehensive mission statements; and

* corporate philosophy, self-concept, and public image are especially important components to be included in mission statements.

In addition they contend that their findings provide a realistic portrayal of the components used in corporate mission statements. Two years later, David (1989) performed a content analysis of the mission statements of 75 Business Week 1,000 firms and tried to investigate the possibility of a link between mission statements and the firm's performance. He measured the firm's performance in terms of gross earnings, return on investment (ROI), and earnings per share (EPS). The results of the study showed that there was no significant relationship between mission statement and firm performance. Similarly, Klemm et al. (1991), in their study of mission statements of 59 top companies from the Times 1,000, found no significant differences in performance (measured in terms of employee turnover and profits) between them. In contrast, there have been several other successful attempts at linking mission statements to firm performance. For instance, Bart and Baetz (1998) found significant correlation between selected mission content items (i.e. financial objectives, values, purpose business strategy and length) and such performance measures as return on sales, return on assets, percentage change in sales and percentage change in profits. More recently, O'Gorman and Doran (1999) investigated the relationship between mission statement and firm performance in Irish SMEs. They reported that:

... high-growth SMEs do not have more comprehensive mission statements (ones that exhibit more of the eight components) than low-growth SMEs ... this study suggests that including "company philosophy", "self-concept", or "public image" in a mission statement does not improve a firm's performance. Neither "more comprehensive" or "high content" mission statements are more likely to be correlated with high performance (O'Gorman and Doran, 1999, p. 64).

In our study, we examined CEOs' perceptions of the importance of having formal mission statements on the firm performance. The majority of respondents (n = 89, 67 percent) considered a written and formal mission statement as an essential factor in increasing firm performance. Only 3 percent of respondents (n = 4) believed that having a mission statement does not play a significant role in developing firm strategies and achieving its objectives. In order to analyse the impact of the mission statement on firm performance, the firms responding to our survey were ranked into three categories based on their performance, namely high performance, moderate performance, and low performance. This method already has been used largely in similar research (e.g. Campbell, 1993; Smith, 1998; O'Gorman and Doran, 1999; Analoui, 2000). From all 132 firms involved in the survey, 52 were ranked in the top performing quartile (high performance), 41 in moderate performance, and 39 were ranked in the lowest performing quartile (low performance). We excluded the firms with moderate performance and consequently compared the percentage of the high-performer with that of the low-- performer firms. As illustrated (see Table III), the high and low performance SMEs are compared for each of the ten components used in their mission statements.

It is therefore concluded that high performance firms seem to place more stress on long term profit, survival and growth (91 percent), customer satisfaction (82 percent), core technology (76 percent) and geographic domain (69 percent). Interestingly, in comparison low performance firms tend to place more emphasis on long term profit, survival and growth (83 percent), core technology (73 percent), and product and service quality (64 percent). Both low and high performance firms place less emphasis on "concern for suppliers" (high 17 percent, and low 12 percent).

The results of this study are in line with the findings of O'Gorman and Doran's (1999) work, indicating that high performance firms do not necessarily have a more comprehensive mission statements than the low performing firms. In comparison with the previous studies, we found that, respondents emphasised on one additional component included in the firm's mission statements, namely "core technology". Perhaps it is because of the dynamic nature of the electronic industry and that the firms seems to have concentrated on developing relevant technology.

Managerial implications

Briefly, in this article we have explored the perceptions of CEOs of mission statements and their components in small and medium sized enterprises within the electronic industry. Attempts have been made to shed light on the existence, purposes, and differing contents of mission statements on the one hand and their relationships with the firm's performance on the other. The major implications of this study are as follows:

* Since CEOs are the prime candidates for the development of the mission statements and the formulation of related polices within their firms, it is prudent that their perceptions and views, no matter how subjective, are taken into consideration. Only the senior managers involved can best explain their own thoughts, interests and rationale for adopting a particular stand in relation to mission, content and adopted strategies for their realisation.

* The mission statements seem to have been used for varying and different reasons. Different benefits have been reported to be accrued from having mission statement for SMEs. For instance, the mission statement is perceived as being necessary for developing and planning business strategies, increasing profit and growth rate of the firm, and promoting a sense of shared expectations among entrepreneurs and employees alike. Therefore, it can be confidently recommended to the practitioners in the industry that they ought to develop a mission statement if they have not done so yet.

* Based on data analysis, generally, a typical mission statement in an SME may contain: long term profit, survival and growth; customer satisfaction; core technology; market; company philosophy and values; product and services quality; public image; geographic domain; self-concept; and concern for suppliers. However, particularly in the electronic industry, the "core technology" component which has not been included in the literature, has been considered as being amongst one of the top three components of mission statements. Accordingly it is proposed that the practitioners in the electronic industry are encouraged to consider these findings when developing and/or reviewing their mission statements.

* By and large, increasingly the firm's performance is being positively related to developing mission statements. The blind adoption of strategic management models used in large firms, including the development of a mission statement, is perhaps inappropriate for SMEs. Even with a mission statement specifically developed for SMEs, it may or may not have an impact on firm performance. In this respect, a more considered view would be to suggest that a firm must have a clear sense of direction, that is simply

Table III

possessing a clear mission since in SMEs, in general, the technical aspects of the entrepreneur's strategic awareness can play a significant role in determining the nature of the mission statement used within the SMEs. Thus, it can be suggested that not only it is necessary to develop mission statements equally, it is important to provide clarity of direction for the human resources of the firms involved.

* Finally, it is crucial to widely disseminate and clarify its intended purposes to the human resource of the firm in order to secure their psychological acceptance and their commitment to the realisation of its component aims. Without such an attempt, mission statements stand as an isolated cosmetic effort which is largely developed for its own elegance rather than its workability.

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AuthorAffiliation

Farhad Analoui and Azhdar Karami

AuthorAffiliation

Farhad Analoui is Reader in Human Resource and Management at the Bradford Centre for International Development, University of Bradford, Bradford, UK. Azhdar Karami is a Senior Lecturer in Management at the Tabriz University, Iran.