Mission - a managerial structure used in strategic management, which allows positioning the object of management in the outside world. The mission determines what the organization was created and exists for. The mission should reveal the general purpose of its creation, the reason for the appearance and existence, what its appearance can give to the outside world.

So, say, Henry Ford presented the mission of the Ford Motor Company as the desire to provide people with cheap transportation.

In the understanding of some managers, the main fundamental goal for which an organization is created and exists remains to make a profit. However, it is more correct to represent profit as an assessment of the result of the organization's activities, the equivalent of the social significance of what it has done, and not as the goal of its activities.

In this sense, the words of D. Packard, one of the founders of the company Hewlett Packard: “First of all, I would like to talk about why our company exists at all. In other words, what is all this for? Many will say that in order to simply make money, they will be wrong. Profit is, of course, an important result of any company, but we must look deeper and find the true meaning of our existence."

And further: "If you look around and look around at the world of modern business, it may seem that people are only interested in money and nothing but money. However, the main motives arise largely from the desire to achieve something more: to create a product, to provide a service - in generally do something of value."

The mission of the organization contains general characteristics) "of what it was created for, its purpose, positioning in the outside world, approaches to the formation of internal culture. Its development precedes the development of the concept and strategy for the development of the organization. It includes: defining the scope of activity; a common vision of development paths; vision of personnel competence, competitive advantages, main groups interested in its functioning, which may include consumers of its products, shareholders, management, personnel, creditors.

Let's define the concept of mission.

The mission of an organization is a management structure that determines what it was created for, its purpose, positioning in the outside world, internal culture.

Enlarged and detailed mission

In the practice of strategic management, there are mainly two mission models - enlarged and detailed. Enlarged the mission model contains, as a rule, a brief description of the purpose of the organization, the main idea of ​​its creation.

detailed the model more fully reveals the purpose of the organization, the fundamental goals of its creation, due to which it can achieve success, unlike other organizations.

The detailed mission of the organization may include the following sections.

  • 1. Philosophy and purpose. fundamental goals.
  • 2. Why and for what reason does the organization exist.
  • 3. different from other organizations.
  • 4. Why success can be achieved.
  • 5. Reflection of the interests of stakeholders.
  • 6. Formation of corporate spirit.

Basic principles of mission development

The degree of mission development varies from organization to organization. Greater importance is attached to the development of the mission in organizations operating in the field of business. Therefore, we will pay more attention to the development of a mission specifically for a business organization. Consider the main principles underlying the development of the mission.

1. The mission should contain a unifying and guiding idea for creating an organization. Mission development is carried out for both small business organizations and giant corporations. For a small company, a mission is an idea that defines the main direction of its activity. For the corporation, the mission becomes the few things that are common, beyond headquarters, to all of its largely decentralized, self-managed divisions.

The main thing, according to Jim Broadhead, FPL Group. - any company operating in business must have a clearly articulated mission.

Ralph Larsen, Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer Johnson&Johnson believes that the mission is the creed of the company, se code of honor. Even in decentralized organizational structures, mission refers to what brings together disparate, self-living units.

From point of view Michael Armstrong, Chairman of the Board of Directors and Executive Director AT&T, the mission should contain the guiding idea: "The main thing is that it be real and efficient, so that people can accept and believe in it." Such an idea could, for example, be a clearly articulated purpose of the company: "instead of a company that communicates between two points, become a company of communication "at all distances", from the point where the client is to any point he wants to contact.

John Popper, Chairman of the Board of Directors Procter & Gamble sees the mission of the company in serving people, providing them with the best goods. He believes that the main indicators of the success of the company's activities are the total return of shareholders on invested capital and market share.

Among the main indicators of the company's performance, in his opinion, is also the percentage of sales of goods that are superior to competitors' products: "We strive to ensure that such goods are more than 90%. We check on consumers and monitor the results like kites. If the percentage hits, we feel bad."

No matter how general ideas are formulated for a large or small organization, positioning it in the outside world, they must exist. They are formulated in the form of its mission.

2. The mission is the idea around which the activities of the organization are formed.

Not everyone understands the purpose of the mission as a managerial structure and how much it is needed for use in the practical activities of the organization. Therefore, when developing a mission, the main idea of ​​creating an organization that consolidates the activities of its structural divisions and employees and forms its internal culture should be clearly formulated and presented.

M. Ibuka - founder of the company sony, Describing her work, he said: Sony- a pioneer who never follows others and does not lag behind. Our goal is to provide the whole world with high-tech products using the latest technology. Our company will always explore the unknown... Our principle is to appreciate and develop human ability... we are always trying to bring out the best in people. This is the life force .

In his understanding, the key principles of the company are as follows: "We are not afraid of difficulties and spare no effort to develop useful highly intelligent products that will bring great benefits to society. We rely on the talent, performance and personal qualities of employees, providing everyone with conditions for the maximum realization of abilities and skills" .

For the company Procter & Gamble the highest quality of products is, on the one hand, a key success factor, thanks to which high milestones in the economy have been achieved, and on the other hand, one of the most important corporate values ​​of the company. Key values ​​of the company, according to the CEO "Johnson&Johnson" R. Larsen are important not only because they provide a competitive advantage, but also because "they correspond to our beliefs ... we would remain faithful to them, even if in some situations it would turn out to be unjustified from the point of view of commerce."

3. The mission precedes the development of such management structures as the development concept of the organization, strategy, plan. In strategic management, there is a long distance from the mission of any company to specific production tasks or an action plan. Between them is a chain of management structures, such as a concept, a development strategy, a plan. Each component of this chain is a necessary stage on the way from understanding the general goals of the organization's development to an operational or tactical management decision. In order for them not only to be the property of the head, but to be able to become components of the management system, its managers and staff, they must be clearly formulated.

A useful link in this chain is the mission. A clearly formulated, detailed mission statement is used to develop the concept of the organization's development, its strategy and plans, focused on achieving the fundamental goals of the organization.

In the absence of an understanding of the fundamental goals of creating and developing an organization, a strategic vision of development paths, ways to achieve the goals set, managerial decisions become "myopic", activities acquire the features of fussiness, the interconnection of actions and their effectiveness are lost. Today, the presence of the above management structures, including the mission, characterizes the maturity of the management culture of the organization and its management system.

4. The mission is the most fundamental and least changing management construct. Mission is a management structure that plays a special role in the process of strategic management. Once defined, it, unlike such a management structure as a strategy, is practically not revised, remaining unchanged for the entire period of the organization's existence. Only fundamental changes in the activities of the organization can lead to its revision.

The mission is the most conservative component of the strategic management process. The conditions of the external environment, market conditions may change significantly, transformations and a radical restructuring of the organization may be carried out, which will lead to the adjustment of previously made decisions, including strategic ones. The mission, with all the changes that have taken place, if they are not of a cardinal nature that affects its positioning in the outside world, retains its main content, being one of the cornerstones of the internal culture of the organization.

Therefore, when developing a mission, it is necessary to highlight the fundamental points that characterize the purpose and activities of the organization.

Bill Marriott, Chairman of the Board of Directors and President Marriott International believes that the main idea of ​​​​creating a corporation can be formulated as follows: "become a global company in the hotel business. Provide first-class service."

For Paul O'Neill Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer Alcoa Incorporated The main ideas of the corporation's mission remain: "become a leader in sales, income, distribution of products in the world", "build work around the needs of customers", "become the safest organization in the field of production", "be responsible for the environment".

As an example of an enlarged formulation, let's cite the mission formulated by one of the construction companies in Moscow: "Being on the verge of millennia, having studied the experience of pioneers and applying the latest technologies, we strive to become the largest developer of the city, providing Muscovites with new and high-quality housing, recreating and preserving the historical appearance old Moscow.

And the detailed mission statement includes the following points.

  • 1. Comprehensive development of the Central Administrative District (CAO) with high-quality real estate, taking into account the urban planning policy of the city and the architectural features of the center of Moscow. Effective solution of housing and social problems of all segments of the population. The activity is based on the principles of corporate ethics and universal values.
  • 2. The main purpose of the company is investment construction in Moscow. Giving a new look to the center of the capital through the construction of residential and administrative buildings in demand by the population. Construction of residential and administrative facilities that satisfy the consumer as much as possible with an optimal planning and architectural solution.
  • 3. Difference from other companies - own know-how developed by the company in the field of realization of building projects.
  • 4. Strategic perspective - to become a construction monopolist in the Central Administrative District with the opening of subsidiaries in the regions of Russia and the CIS.
  • 5. Meeting the expectations of the founders who invested money in the development of the company and construction projects implemented by the company. Meeting the expectations of residents by improving the quality of development.

The mission of the same organization can be formed in different ways. So, for a video equipment company, it can be defined both as the desire to provide video equipment to the widest possible range of customers, and as the desire to create complex systems that provide maximum opportunities for a select number of consumers. The mission should formulate the tasks that the organization seeks to solve, thereby determining its place and purpose in society.

Before formulating the organization's mission, it is necessary to form a vision of the organization's position in the external environment, the fundamental goals of its creation, to imagine what its uniqueness is, what tasks it is designed to solve, what it is responsible for, what it is created for.

The acceptance of the organization's mission as an official document depends on the management style adopted in the organization. With a democratic management style, a preliminary version of the mission is submitted for discussion by all members of the organization, and after taking into account the expressed opinions, comments and wishes, it becomes an official document recognized in the organization. If the management style in the organization is authoritarian, then with various possible forms of document development, the opinion of the leader is decisive. Discussion of the draft mission in this case is rather formal.

If the activity of the organization is positively perceived by the external environment, which is reflected, in particular, in the profit received, this means that the fundamental goals of the organization were set correctly and it was possible to ensure the fulfillment of the tasks set during its creation. Only in this case, we can say that the organization took place, the idea of ​​its creation turned out to be productive, and the efforts of the organization's staff were not in vain.

A clearly formulated mission of the organization contributes to the strategically targeted activity of the organization, defining its internal core and fundamental goals of activity.

Mission is a system of views on the position and role of the company in the market and on the prospects for its development. The mission is a compromise between the interests of the market and the goals of the company.

Mission in a company, a fundamental document that describes the scope of the company, its guiding principles, and its value system. Mission organizations - the most general goal of the organization as a competitive structure, presented in the most general form and clearly expressing the main reason for the existence of the organization. Options for defining the mission of the organization are characterized by a wide variety of content.

Mission objectives. Mission statement is designed to solve the following tasks:

  • to explicitly present what the company exists for - to reveal the purpose and purpose of the company;
  • avoid losing direction or clear principles of leadership;
  • determine how the company is fundamentally different from all other companies;
  • create a criterion for assessing the performance of all activities carried out in the company
  • harmonization of interests of everyone associated with the company (owners, management, staff, customers, etc.).
  • contribute to the creation of a corporate spirit for employees and stimulate their work

Company mission- a statement of philosophy and purpose, the meaning of the existence of the organization. The philosophy of an organization defines the values, beliefs and principles in accordance with which the organization intends to conduct its activities. A mission defines the activities an organization intends to do and what type of organization it intends to be. An organization's philosophy usually rarely changes. As for the second part of the mission, it may vary depending on the depth of changes that may take place in the organization and in the environment of its functioning.

Company's mission according to F. Kotler should be formulated taking into account the following factors:

  • the history of the company, during which the philosophy of the company, its profile, place in the market, etc. were developed;
  • the existing style of behavior and the way of action of the owners and management personnel;
  • the state of the organization's environment;
  • the resources it can bring to bear to achieve its goals;
  • distinctive features of the organization.
Well articulated mission clarifies what the organization is and what it aspires to be, and also distinguishes the organization from others like it. To do this, the transcript accompanying the mission should reflect the following characteristics of the organization:
  • targets of the organization, reflecting what tasks the organization's activities are aimed at, and what the organization is striving for in its activities in the long term;
  • the scope of the organization, reflecting what product the organization offers to customers, and in which market the organization sells its product;
  • the philosophy of the organization, which is manifested in the values ​​and beliefs that are accepted in the organization;
  • opportunities and ways of carrying out the activities of the organization, reflecting what is the strength of the organization, what are its distinctive opportunities for survival in the long term, in what way and with what technology the organization performs its work, what know-how and advanced technology are available for this.

This article sets out the main elements of a unique methodology, described in detail by the author in the Practical Guide to Creating an Organizational Mission.

So far, many leaders view the company's mission as a kind of decoration of the corporate facade, however, optional. But times are changing...

What for?

More and more people are asking the question: “Why?”. Why do they go to work? Why are they making money? Why do they live on this planet?

“The loss of the meaning of life is the main problem of modern society, all the rest follow from it,” said the eminent psychologist Viktor Frankl.

Mankind is growing up, and understands that modern man lives in conditions of civilized slavery. The value system of the consumer society imposed on him turns him into a slave to corporations promoting their goods. Spending most of their lives at work, people fall under the control of the corporate machine, which imposes its goals on them, strictly regulates their activities and stimulates activity with a “carrot and stick”. A huge number of people produce what they can do without and acquire what they do not need, depleting the resources of the planet and wasting their most valuable resource - the time allotted for them to live.

The era of mindless consumption and irresponsible capitalism is coming to an end. We live in a period of paradigm shift and, undoubtedly, we will become participants in deep, global shifts in the life of society. The question "Why?" becomes more and more acute and takes possession of the consciousness of an increasing number of people.

It is from the need of people to understand the meaning of their life and work that the need arises to determine the meaning of the organization's activities. After all, employees working together must have some common sense as the basis for their coordinated actions. They all build one "temple". But what?

What is a mission?

The organization answers the question "Why?" a mission statement, telling what purpose it serves and what it wants to change in the outside world.

Why does the organization exist? It is generally accepted that to make money for shareholders. But this view puts the cart before the horse. After all, in order to receive money, you need to do something useful for people. This is what you need to think about first. People knew about this even in the times of the Old Testament, where it is said: “Do what people need, and you will find daily bread, clothes and a roof over your head.”

When thinking about the mission, you need to remember that the company is part of a global social system, and therefore the meaning of its activities must be sought in the values ​​that it creates for humanity, for the country, for the economy or the local community. Making a profit, although one of the most important goals of a business, cannot be the raison d'être of its existence. The meaning is outside the company, in the changes that it makes in the world around.

In connection with the above considerations, the most meaningful and accurate definition of the mission, in our opinion, is the following.

The mission is the purpose of the company, the meaning of its activities for society, the ideal to which it aspires.

Can a company exist without a mission? Undoubtedly. After all, most companies either have a formal mission statement or none at all.

But this means that the employees of such companies do not have a common goal that unites everyone, they do not understand the meaning of their work. For them, the company is just a place to make money. Their dreams, hobbies, real life, are outside of their work. From the point of view of business interests, this means that the company uses the potential of human resources by no more than 10%, since each employee gives the company exactly as much energy and intellectual capital as is necessary for the formal performance of job duties, and leaves most of its potential for which is really important to him. These losses of human energy are the main reason for the low efficiency of most companies and, at the same time, a huge resource for increasing labor productivity and business profitability.

Leaders, managers of companies who have managed to captivate people with their dreams, show them the meaning of their work and life, achieve high employee engagement and discover previously inaccessible reserves of human energy. The boiler of business, once fueled by coal, is switching to nuclear fuel. This result is achieved by answering a simple and at the same time very difficult question: “Why?”. The answer to it should be given by the mission of the company.

A practical guide to creating an organization's mission contains the texts of more than a hundred missions of Russian and foreign companies.

What should the mission contain?

The "science of happiness" - positive psychology - states that a person feels happy when he reaches new heights of mastery in his field and has a lofty, alluring goal in front of him. At the same time, a person’s life is filled with meaning, and work is perceived as a reward, since it contributes to the achievement of the goal and at the same time develops his skill, pushing the boundaries of the possible, increasing his power over the world of ideas and things.

If there is skill and passion in the company's mission, then the keys to the happiness of the organization's employees can be forged from this alloy. Let's see what this alloy is formed from.

  • Determine the value that the company creates for society, indicate what its excellence is manifested in;
  • Identify the company by defining its distinctive features; the mission should be clear about who “we” are, how we differ from others, which gives us pride in belonging to the organization.
  • Set a high level of goals, determine the changes that the company seeks to make in the world around it; a passionate desire to make the world a better place serves as an inexhaustible source of energy for the movement of the organization towards an inspiring goal.
  • The mission should be short and expressive so that every employee of the company can remember and pronounce it.

A short mission statement is absolutely necessary, but it has its drawbacks, since it is extremely difficult to express in a few words the ideas that the organization seeks to convey to the outside world. Therefore, we recommend that, in addition to a short statement, write a detailed description of the mission. This allows you to combine conflicting requirements - brevity and meaningfulness of the message.

What should not be in a mission?

The mission must not contain any of the following:

  • Strive for high profitability;
  • Provide shareholders with large dividends;
  • Increase the value of the company;
  • Become a market leader.

To talk about profit as the ultimate goal of a company's existence is like saying that the purpose of human life is to breathe. Profit is a necessary condition for the successful existence of a company (like breathing for a person), but the meaning of its activity is not at all in this, but in the satisfaction of some significant social needs, the service of which, in essence, brings the company profit.

Profitability and the other aspirations listed here can be, and most often are, strategic goals for many companies. But they don't define destination company, the values ​​it creates for society as part of a global system.

How to evaluate the text of the mission?

The mission must meet certain requirements, and therefore the assessment of the principle "like - dislike" is not enough.

Our evaluation method includes four criteria:

  • Brevity and expressiveness of the text of the mission;
  • Clarity in determining the value of what the company does for society;
  • Uniqueness - the presence of distinct signs that identify the company;
  • Ambitious – having an inspiring goal of the highest level.

The mission is evaluated against each of these criteria on a 10-point scale.

The criteria weights are different:

  • brevity -1;
  • Value - 2;
  • Uniqueness - 3;
  • Ambition - 4.

The greatest weight is assigned to the criterion of ambition, since the main purpose of the mission, in our opinion, is to indicate the highest goal of the company, its ideal.

Uniqueness is also a high priority, as the mission should clearly identify the company, showing who "we" are, what makes us different.

If we sum up the mission scores for all criteria, taking into account their weights, then the maximum possible number of points is 100.

Here are examples of mission evaluations of some well-known companies.

An example brevity and expressiveness can be the mission of IKEA, which received the highest rating of our experts according to this criterion - 10 points:

We strive to improve everyday life of ordinary people

Good description example values gives the mission of Disneyland (10 points):

We work to ensure that adults and children spend more time together.

The complete lack of value is demonstrated by the mission of Dean Foods, a dairy and soy products company (0 points):

Increase capitalization in the long term in accordance with the laws of the jurisdiction in which the company operates and high ethical standards.

Of course, the capitalization of a company is important for its shareholders. But the company exists not only for them. And again, the cart is put before the horse here - in order for the company's value to grow, it must do something that people need. This is what should be stated in the mission statement, since the main goal is outside the company.

Let's see how the property is expressed in the mission uniqueness. The following mission statement uniquely identifies Otis Elevator as a leader in the elevator industry (10 points):

Provide all customers with the means to move people and goods up, down and sideways over a limited distance with reliability that no other company can provide

And here is an example of a completely inexpressive mission owned by the American bank Sunbanks (1 point):

Contribute to the economic development and improvement of the welfare of society and enterprises that are the company's clients, by providing enterprises and citizens with banking services that meet professional standards, achieving and obtaining the desired profit by the shareholders of the enterprise, and a good attitude towards the employees of the enterprise.

Instead of an inspiring goal, a brief description of what any of the hundreds of thousands of banks in the world is doing. What a uniqueness!

An example ambitious goal-setting can serve as the mission of Microsoft (10 points):

A computer in every home, on every desktop, plus first-class software

In the late 70s of the last century, when the company was just starting out, it was an audacious goal. The company subsequently revised the mission statement as the original goal became a dream come true.

The final mission score is obtained by adding together the scores for each of the four criteria: brevity, value, uniqueness, ambitiousness, multiplied by weighting factors.

To carry out the assessment, it is necessary to form a group of experts, in which it is desirable to include not only employees, but also shareholders, suppliers and customers with whom there are close relationships. The more experts, the more stable the evaluation results. But even the assessment of a small group of about 10 people can be useful for thinking about what can be improved in the mission text.

A practical guide to creating an organization's mission contains a detailed description of the mission assessment methodology, as well as a rating table of missions for more than a hundred Russian and foreign companies, evaluated by experts from the consulting company iTeam.

In the second part of the article, we will give a "road map" that will help you find the purpose of the company and introduce you to the methodology for developing a mission text.

Literature

  1. Frankl V. Man in search of meaning: Collection / Per. from English. and German. D. A. Leontiev, M. P. Papusha, E. V. Eidman. - M.: Progress, 1990. - 368 p.: ill. - ISBN 5-01-001606-0.
  2. Chikesentmihalyi Mihai. Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience. Moscow. Alpina non-fiction. 2011.
  3. Jeff Sutherland. SCRUM Revolutionary project management method. Moscow, Mann, Ivanov & Ferber, 2015.

Mission of the organization

The mission of the industrial enterprise should be to overcome poverty, to get rid of the suffering of society as a whole, to make people rich.

Konosuke Matsushita

Usually the mission is formulated in two versions. The short version of the mission is 1-2 short sentences - the brand slogan of the organization, aimed primarily at forming the image of the organization in society.

Most mission statements contain the right words like “people are our most important asset,” “we will be the best at what we do,” “our goal is to exceed expectations,” “our goal is to provide shareholders with above-average returns.” The "lazy" way to formulate a mission is to simply put it all together in any order.

Philip Kotler "Marketing from A to Z. 80 concepts every manager should know"

The second - an extended version of the mission is most often formulated for internal use and should disclose in detail all the necessary aspects of the mission, among them:

  1. purpose of the organization,
  2. area of ​​activity of the organization,
  3. organization philosophy,
  4. methods for achieving goals,
  5. methods of interaction of the organization with society (social policy of the organization).

A correctly defined mission, although it always has a general philosophical meaning, nevertheless necessarily carries something in itself that makes it unique in its kind, characterizing exactly the organization in which it was developed.

The mission is central, but not the only element in the organization's hierarchy of goals. The concept of "mission" is closely related to the concepts of "vision", "values", "goals", "performance indicators", "target indicators", "key success factors", "competencies". All these concepts are formulated on the basis of the mission.

History

The fundamental difference between a mission and a vision is that the mission reveals the course of action, shows how certain goals or visions are achieved. Vision, in turn, is a picture of the future, how ideal the state of affairs to which the company is striving seems to be.

The vision is rather subject to change, as new ideals and new ideas appear over time. The mission, however, is a relatively constant element, although it can also be adjusted to reflect changes in various factors.

see also

Notes

Literature

  • John Kotter Matsushita Leadership. Lessons from an Outstanding Entrepreneur of the 20th Century. - M .: "Alpina Publisher", 2011. - 256 p. - ISBN 978-5-9614-1573-5
  • Philip Kotler Marketing Insights from A to Z: 80 Concepts Every Manager Needs to Know. - M .: "Alpina Publisher", 2012. - 216 p. - ISBN 978-5-9614-1943-6

Links

  • Mission - the fundamental regulation of the company Article from the series "Methodology of business engineering"
  • Christopher K. Bart. Sex, Lies and Mission Statements. Business Horizons, pp. 9-18 November-December 1997

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What is a mission

Typically, the management of a company is faced with the problem of choosing among several goals and objectives, such as ensuring the profitability of the company, growth, the cost of capital of shareholders, meeting the needs of consumers, etc. As a rule, the choice of one of the goals leads to the fact that the management concentrates on one direction and the fulfillment of obligations to only one group interested in the company's activities. Thus, there is a “depreciation” of other interested groups.

Typically, the following main interest groups are distinguished:

table 2

In addition, the main interest groups may also include public authorities, suppliers, society, expressing expectations in relation to the company that are different from the expectations of other groups.

Thus, one of the main tasks of the company's management is the coordination of various and partly conflicting interests. There are several approaches to accomplishing this task, one of which is to write a company mission statement that describes the objectives of the organization and its main characteristics.

Mission:

Mission Value

The development of the mission is the starting point of any improvement in the management system, since the definition of the mission is necessary in order to identify what the main task of the enterprise is and to subordinate any activity of the enterprise to its decision.

The mission is intended to solve the following main tasks:

  • Explicitly state what the company exists for and establish a framework for defining and ensuring consistency with its goals.
  • Determine how the company differs from all other companies operating in the same market.
  • Create a criterion for assessing the need to perform all the actions carried out in the company.
  • Coordinate the interests of all persons associated with the organization (owners, management, staff, customers, etc.).
  • Contribute to the creation of a corporate spirit, including expanding the meaning and content of their activities for employees.

The formation of the mission allows you to determine why a particular organization exists, and this definition usually does not change throughout the entire life cycle of the organization. The development of a new mission usually leads to the creation of a new enterprise.

“…The answer to the question “Who are we, what do we do and where are we going?” determine the course the firm should take and help develop a strong identity. What the company is going to do, and what it wants to become, in a general sense is the purpose (mission) of the company.

Mission Definition

Definition

A mission definition can consist of the following main elements:

    Definition of the area of ​​competition

    The industry direction includes a list of areas of economic activity in which the company is going to work. The consumer direction determines the range of customers that the company will serve. The geographical direction characterizes the countries and regions in which the company could operate, whether it will be multinational or will it work in a geographical “niche”.

    Strategic intent or vision

    The strategic vision of the company involves the definition of those key indicators that the company seeks to achieve in the future. Usually it is formulated as follows: "We strive to ...". The strategic vision can describe both quantitative and qualitative indicators that determine the main directions of the company's development. As a rule, the strategic vision serves to motivate the employees of the company. In addition, the strategic vision allows the subjects of the external environment (customers, partners, contractors) to assess the company's intentions regarding further actions in the market and the prospects for the development of relationships.

    Competence of personnel and competitive advantages

    The mission defines the essence of corporate values. These include the specific knowledge and skills a firm possesses that enable it to offer its customers the best products and services. For example, an emphasis on technological innovation, high quality products and services, pricing, engineering solutions.

    Key Interest Groups

    The mission identifies groups of individuals and organizations, cooperation with which contributes to the prosperity of the company, establishes their requirements and formulates the priorities of the work of managers.

In addition, an expanded mission statement may include:

  • list of main activities;
  • the main competitive advantages that are planned to be achieved;

    and also (for internal use):

  • the main competitive shortcomings that are planned to be eliminated in the first place.

The mission can be formulated both in the form of a single phrase, and in the form of a multi-page policy statement of the company's management, which reflects all aspects of coordinating the interests of various groups and the main characteristics of the company. Different versions (short and extended) can be used for various purposes - as a representative document for inclusion in the company's annual report to shareholders, as an intra-company founding document, etc. (See the section “Mission Statement Examples”).

Mission Creation Process

An important condition for formulating the mission is its understanding and acceptance by the majority of the company's employees. This will ensure that the goals and interests of individuals involved in the activities of the company will be subordinated to the goals of the company as a whole.

Therefore, it is highly desirable to involve all key employees of the company in the process of developing the mission. These are senior management, heads of structural subdivisions (divisions, departments) and leading specialists.

Below is one of the options for organizing work to develop a mission for an existing enterprise:

  1. Conducting an introductory meeting to explain the goals and objectives of the work.
  2. Questioning of key employees of the company.
  3. Processing questionnaires and presenting analysis results (multiple mission statements).
  4. Clarification of the main provisions.
  5. Choice of final mission statement.
  6. Holding a meeting to present the results of the work.

If for some reason it is impractical to involve all key employees in these works, you can limit yourself to involving only top managers (general director and his deputies). In this case, the procedure remains the same, but is carried out faster and with less work.

Possible difficulties

Often in the literature it is indicated that the development of the mission should be carried out on the basis of an analysis of the external and internal environment:

“Factors to consider when developing a mission:

This is absolutely true, but it seems that in order to analyze the external environment, it is necessary to have a tool for filtering out unnecessary information (the so-called “irrelevant” information, that is, not related to the task at hand). Since the external and internal environment supply an almost unlimited amount of information, it is possible to extract the necessary information from it only using the so-called “filters”. The most useful of these is precisely the mission of the organization. Therefore, even before starting a purposeful analysis of the environment, it is necessary to formulate a preliminary mission statement and then refine it in accordance with the results of the mission development process. Preliminary wording can be obtained very simply - it is necessary to say in one sentence what the enterprise does or wants to do, for example, “sells apartments” or “produces building materials”.

Sometimes it turns out to be difficult, and sometimes impossible to formulate a mission organizations. This may indicate that company is unbalanced, that is, there are no common goals within the organization, the interests of various groups are in conflict, the company is “torn” between directions of development and the decisions made are not aimed at achieving corporate goals. Such a situation can also arise if there are several divisions of the company moving in different directions, like the heroes of I. Krylov's fable “Swan, Cancer and Pike”.

Determination of goals

The next step in the strategic management process is to define the organization's strategic goals. Setting goals is a very important stage of planning, since all subsequent activities of the organization will be subordinated to the achievement of these goals.

Target - the specific state of the individual characteristics of the organization, the achievement of which is desirable for it and the achievement of which its activities are aimed at.

The goals of the organization are determined after receiving the mission statement, that is, the mission, on the one hand, makes it possible to establish what goals need to be set so that the activities of the enterprise correspond to its mission, and on the other hand, “cuts off” some of the possible goals.

Goal setting translates the company's strategic vision and direction into specific objectives related to the firm's production and performance. Goals are the commitment of the management apparatus to achieve certain results in a set time.

Target classification

Different authors have different classifications. Approximately the same classification by time for which the targets are set. Usually distinguish long-term and short-term goals. The division of goals into short-term and long-term is of fundamental importance, since these goals differ significantly in content. Short-term goals are more specific and detailed than long-term ones. Sometimes intermediate goals are set between long-term and short-term goals, they are called medium-term.

Depending on the specifics of the industry, the characteristics of the state of the environment, the nature and content of the mission, each organization sets its own goals. For example, the film shows the classification of goals by functional areas:

Market targets(or external program goals): in the field of marketing and public relations, for example:

  • Sales volume in physical and value terms.
  • Number of clients.
  • Market share.

Production goals(internal program goals) are a consequence of market ones. Includes everything that is necessary to achieve market goals (with the exception of organizational resources):

  • Ensure a certain volume of production (production volume = sales volume - existing stocks + planned stocks);
  • Build a workshop (volume of capital construction);
  • Develop a new technology (conducting research and development work);

Organizational Goals- everything related to the management, structure and personnel of the organization:

  • Hire three marketers;
  • Bring the average salary of employees to the level of the market leader;
  • Implement a project management system.

Financial Goals- link all goals in value terms:

  • Net Sales (from “Market Targets”);
  • The amount of costs (from “production” and “organizational” goals);
  • Gross and net profit;
  • Profitability of sales, etc.

You can set goals in a different order: from financial to market and production.

In our opinion, this classification is distinguished by the simplicity of the conceptual apparatus. In addition, it ensures the coherence of goals, since the latter logically follow from each other (from market - production, then organizational and financial).

Hierarchy of goals

In any large organization that has several different structural units and several levels of management, a hierarchy of goals is formed, which is a decomposition of higher-level goals into lower-level goals.

Higher level goals are always broader in nature and have a longer timeframe to achieve. Lower-level goals act as a kind of means to achieve higher-level goals.

For example, short-term goals are derived from long-term ones, are their concretization and detailing, are subordinate to them. Short-term goals, as it were, set milestones on the way to achieving long-term goals.

The hierarchy of goals plays a very important role, as it establishes the "connectivity" of the organization and ensures the orientation of the activities of all departments towards achieving the goals of the upper level.

Goal Requirements

To determine whether strategic goals are formulated correctly, you can use a simple rule - the SMART principle. According to him, the goals should be:

  • Specific (Specific);
  • Measurable;
  • Agreed (Agreeable, Accordant);
    1. with the mission of the company;
    2. between themselves;
    3. with those who have to carry them out.
  • Achievable (Realistic);
  • Defined in time (Timebounded);

Goal setting

The goal setting process involves four phases:

    Identification and analysis of those trends that are observed in the external environment of the company.

    Management should strive to anticipate the state of the external environment and set goals in accordance with this prediction. Goals should be formulated in such a way that, without absolutizing tendencies, they reflect them.

    Setting goals for the organization as a whole.

    It is important to determine which of the wide range of possible characteristics of the organization's activities should be taken as goals. The system of criteria used in determining the goals of the organization is also important. The decision on goals also always depends on the resources available to the organization.

    Building a hierarchy of goals.

    Determination of such goals for all levels of the organization, the achievement of which will lead to the achievement of individual units of corporate goals. It involves the construction of a “tree of goals”, in which a clear “goal-means” relationship is fixed.

    Setting individual goals.

    In order for the hierarchy of goals within the organization to become a real tool for achieving goals and objectives, it must be brought to the level of an individual employee. In this case, one of the most important conditions for the successful operation of the organization is achieved: each employee, as it were, is included in the process of joint achievement of the ultimate goals of the organization.

The goals set must have the status of law for the organization, for all its divisions and for all members. However, the immutability of goals does not follow from the requirement of compulsion. There are several approaches to the problem of changing goals:

  • Goals are adjusted whenever circumstances warrant.
  • Proactive change of goals. With this approach, long-term and short-term goals are set, after reaching short-term goals, new long-term and short-term goals are developed, etc.

One of the most important points that determine the process of setting goals in the organization is the degree of delegation of the right to make decisions on the goals of the lower levels of the organization. In practice, the process of setting goals in different organizations occurs in different ways. However, it is common that the decisive role in all cases should belong to the top management.

Examples of mission statements.

Here are examples of mission statements from various operating organizations. In each formulation, only its essence (mission essence) is indicated, i.e. the wording is not expanded, but abbreviated.

For Russian enterprises, information is given about their location and the time the mission was developed.

Lucent Technologies.

We are dedicated to being the world’s best at bringing people together – giving them easy access to each other and to the information and services they want and need – anytime, anywhere.

We strive to be the best firm in the world that connects people by giving them easy access to each other, the information and the services they need anytime, anywhere.

Sharing Knowledge Through Documents

Sharing knowledge through documents.

We create and implement ideas in the field of development and promotion of goods and services to satisfy our customers' customers.

Center for Management Consulting "SOLUTION".

The mission of our company is assisting managers and employees of Russian enterprises in making and implementing decisions aimed at improving enterprise management systems and creating conditions for their long-term successful development.

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