Each organization plans its activities in the long term. Such activity allows you to develop an adequate strategy for the development of the company. Prospective thinking allows you to identify priority areas in which the organization should move.
This process rests entirely with senior management. It develops the mission of the organization. This allows you to direct the movement of the entire company in the desired direction. Why is it important? The fact is that the organization’s mission is its credo. It will be discussed further.
Basic concept
The mission of the organization is a concept that reflects the purpose of the company, its main goal. This is a management vision of the meaning of the enterprise. It is also a reflection of the company's promising position, its aspirations and the main direction of movement.
The mission allows you to demonstrate to the public, employees the concept of the organization. This helps to create the identity of the company, distinguishing it from the mass of competitors. Also, this concept includes the meaning of the activities of the enterprise, company, its plans and aspirations.
Formation of the vision is done by the management or the creators of the business. In this case, the perspective on which the mission is created may be different. It depends on the features of the functioning of the business unit, its position relative to competitors, its place in the market.
Features of the formation of vision
The organization’s mission is the company's long-term position, which is formed by management under the influence of various factors. The distance horizon can range from several months to several years. The larger the company, the more global its mission will be.
For example, a corporation that leads in the industry forms a vision of its position in combination with the economic, political, social situation. Indeed, it is precisely in these areas that its activity has a significant influence. Planning in this case can be carried out both within the framework of one country, and the global economy as a whole. Small companies consider their position because of the scale of their influence on the industry.
A vision is formed solely for perspective. When the enterprise reaches the desired state, the process of developing a new mission takes place. The previous goal is losing its relevance. The mission allows you to take into account the current state of the company, evaluate its capabilities to achieve specific goals. It details the status of the organization, making it understandable not only to management, but also to the general public.
Goals and objectives of the construction
The goals and objectives of the organization’s mission determine the need for this process. This allows you to select a specific company, enterprise from the mass of such companies. When building a mission, management seeks to solve the following problems:
- indicate the area in which the organization will conduct its core business;
- to avoid financing knowingly unprofitable, unnecessary areas of functioning;
- to develop the main activities in the process of competition in accordance with existing market conditions;
- create the fundamental basis for the subsequent development of the goals of the company;
- to develop a concept, a philosophy of activity that would inspire staff to achieve their tasks.
The objectives of the mission are qualitatively new conditions, market positions, for which the organization must fight. These actions relate to both the internal and external environment of the enterprise or company.This takes into account the interests of groups of people who, to one degree or another, affect the work and position of the company.
Formation factors
The definition of the organization’s mission is influenced by certain factors. There are only 5 groups of components that are taken into account during this process.
The first category includes the history of the creation and development of the organization. At the same time, both misses and achievements of the company in the past are taken into account. This is the image of the organization that developed at the time of the formation of the mission.
The second group includes features of the management style, the behavior of the owners of the company.
The third group is existing resources. It is them that the company can manage in achieving its goals and objectives. Resources include cash, product brands, technology, professionalism, and more.
The fourth group is the competitive environment. The fifth category of factors that are taken into account when developing a mission includes the distinctive advantages of the company. They are different from their competitors, which allows them to win in the fight against them.
Mission components
Developing an organization’s mission and goals is challenging. Therefore, the leadership of some enterprises cannot correctly develop them in the course of strategic planning.
In order to create the correct vision and express it for the masses, it is necessary to take into account the main components that make up the mission. These include:
- Features of the goods, services that the company creates, as well as the range of needs of consumers that such products can satisfy.
- Target audience of consumers. This allows you to create a mission that will be understood by target groups of customers.
- Technologies used by managers. This is the definition of the way in which customer satisfaction is met.
- Competitive advantages. It is precisely on them that the emphasis is placed in the struggle for the right to take advantageous positions in the market and increase the demand for their products.
- The philosophy of the organization. This concept includes core values, company ethics. This allows you to determine whose interests the company puts in the first place.
Based on these components, a general idea of the existence of the company is created. Without this, it would not be possible to formulate a mission adequate to the existing conditions.
Mission Approach
The mission of the organization can be viewed from two points of view. There is a wide and narrow approach to understanding its meaning. Their differences should be understood for the correct formation of vision.
In a broad sense, mission is a mission, a special philosophy of the organization. In this case, it is formed without a clear reference to the range of goods, categories of consumers, available resources. This is a general definition. In a broad sense, the mission is revealed as values, principles, taken as the basis of activity. This determines the actions of the company.
In a narrow sense, mission is seen as a concrete statement about the meaning of activity. It shows the difference between the company and competitors. In this case, attention is concentrated on methods, production features, consumer groups and market segments.
Example
To better understand how this process is conducted, consider an example of an organization’s mission. For example, in the statement of the goal of the existence of the American credit company “Sun Banks” as its head, there is a statement about the promotion of economic development, the welfare of the whole society, as well as customers. This is achieved by providing high-quality credit services to individuals and legal entities. At the same time, high standards of ethics and economics are taken into account. The company sees as its mission to ensure a fair distribution of profits for its shareholders, attitude to employees.
The mission of the department of management of a higher educational institution is to train personnel of the appropriate level of qualification for work in industrial organizations and the service sector. Training is carried out for professional activities in a market economy, in a competitive environment through the application of modern theoretical and practical knowledge. This is necessary for the continuous, comprehensive development of the organization. The activities of the department guarantee that graduates receive decent work and high remuneration of their work.
Management Problem Solving
The mission and strategy of the organization allows you to solve many managerial problems. Therefore, every company that wants to take a leading position in the industry should work on this process.
The formation of the mission allows you to systematically evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the organization, as well as its competitors. Managers also investigate development threats to the business, as well as existing opportunities. This allows you to make adequate decisions.
The mission statement allows you to combine the departments of a large corporation, remote production, bring them to a single standard of activity. This increases the motivation of staff, the interaction of the leadership of different departments.
A well-developed mission enhances the image of the company, creating a recognizable brand. This attracts the attention of investors, shareholders. The value of the company in the market in this case increases.
Mission and goals
The mission and goals of the organization are closely related. Without the development of the main credo, it is impossible to choose adequate business goals. The goal is the end result that the company is striving for. The mission allows you to build directions to achieve the desired position of the enterprise within the industry.
Goals do not have a clear quantification. The company moves to the main one by building its mission. With the help of various levers, the management of all structural units is carried out to move towards the main goal.
It is the mission that reflects how this process takes place, which areas are priority. She establishes a certain framework, creating her own image, image. Goals cannot go beyond mission. They are part of it. The mission is formulated to answer the question, what is the main goal of the organization.
Long term goals
An organization’s strategic mission cannot be created without an adequate definition of long-term goals. They are developed in several main areas. Each of them contributes to the achievement of established milestones, gaining heights.
To formulate the main goal and mission of the organization, long-term strategic plans are developed in 7 directions. These include the company's position in the competitive space, innovation and technology that will create the best product.
The goals are also created in the field of marketing (sales, creating the image of a product), production (increasing labor productivity, product quality, reducing costs, etc.), finance (their rational use). One of the important areas is also personnel management, management.
Goal Features
Managing the organization’s mission is impossible without setting adequate goals. They must be characterized by certain qualities. Long-term goals should be specific, measurable. They should correlate in their properties with the planning horizon. The shorter term, the more specific the goals should be.
Achievable goals should also be set. Otherwise, it significantly reduces labor motivation. Also, all goals should be directed in a single direction. They relate to the mission. Goals should not interfere with each other's achievement.
The importance of the process of developing goals and mission
The main missions of organizations affect their future fate. If this process is carried out incorrectly, management will inevitably encounter difficulties of various sizes. For example, during the perestroika, domestic enterprises saw their mission as the preservation of the workforce. As a result, motivation and labor productivity decreased significantly. Therefore, the well-being, development of the company largely depends on the correctness of the development of the mission and goals.
Having considered the features of the strategic planning process, we can say that the organization’s mission is an important component of the company's market positioning. The efficiency of the enterprise depends on the correctness of this process.