La vision, mission and values of a company are its DNA or corporate identity, which gives it coherence, authenticity and originality as a brand.
Any company that wants to be successful and seeks benefits must submit to a formal strategic management system, that is, select and perfectly define its values within the company's value chain that will make it stand out from the competition.
Strategic management can be divided into three phases:
Definition of strategic objectives:
– Define the philosophy and mission of the company or business unit.
– Establish short- and long-term goals to achieve the company's mission, which defines the present and future business activities of an organization.
Strategic planning:
– Formulate various possible strategies and choose the one that will be most appropriate to achieve the objectives established in the company's mission.
– Develop an organizational structure to achieve the strategy
Strategic implementation:
– Ensure the necessary activities to ensure that the strategy is fulfilled effectively.
– Control the effectiveness of the strategy to achieve the objectives of the organization.
What is the mission of a company
Considered by Philip Kotler and Gary Armstrong (Marketing, 2004) as "an important element of strategic planning".
La Mission of a company describes the activity, said identity is key in the organization to achieve its vision, which are the goals or achievements that constitute the company's reason for being.
It is the fundamental reason of a business and the goal you have always seen in the long term.
The concept of mission is fundamental and must be in total harmony with the vision of the future that we want to achieve.
A simple way to explain what the mission is, would be to find the answer to why.
- What do you want to offer?
- Why do you want to create this business?
- What is the user profile you want to attract?
- What business image do you want to communicate?
- What factors determine the price and quality of your products and/or services?
- What relationship will you have with your employees?
- What is your differentiating aspect that makes you stand out from your competition?
- Can our business be really competitive?
Having found the answer to these and other questions, we will be able to get closer to the fundamental reasons why we have created this business and what are the objectives that we want to achieve. It is what the company does in the present and the way it serves different groups of interest, such as shareholders, employees, consumers, community and government, among others. The mission statement becomes the frame of reference to guide decisions on the use and application of available resources and acts as an amalgam so that the organization can function coherently.
What is the vision of a company
Defined by Fleitman Jack in his work "Successful Businesses" (McGraw Hill, 2000) as "the path to which the company is headed in the long term and serves as a direction and incentive to guide strategic growth decisions together with those of competitiveness".
La Vision of a company we could call it the DREAM, it is a statement of the company's aspirations in the medium or long term, it is the future image of how we want the company to be in the future. Its purpose is to be the engine and guide of the organization to achieve the desired state.
It is the path to which the company is headed in the medium term and serves as a guideline for strategic decisions regarding growth, diversification and competitiveness, attending to the different interest groups that gravitate around the organization. The vision is qualitative, it invites transformation, it is demanding since it constitutes a vital and powerful force for change, it is usually timeless since it does not define a specific date for the change (it could also establish an era projected in time), but its achievement implies a dynamic projection on the horizon and guides the way for the mission to transcend into the future.
Part of the idea of drawing on a piece of paper what is the current moment in which your business is and then try to draw the future mental image of it.
In short, it is about finding what we need to achieve to obtain greater support and growth of the business. Just like I did with Mission:
- What will your company be like in a few years?
- What are your goals in the short, medium and long term?
- What will be the company's key values and attitudes?
- What do you want the people of your company to think in the future?
- What aspects to grow would you like to achieve?
Whenever we work on a business plan, we must be able to draw how we would like to see our business in 2 and 4 years, but keep in mind that a plan is never a static and fixed element, rather it is an element that must grow and vary depending on of the evolution that the company is having.
How to define the values of a company
This intangible, which at the same time is so important, helps us to define the ethical principles of our company or business. They are the basic beliefs and concepts of an organization, they form the core of its culture. They are the shared conceptions of what is important and therefore desirable, which, when accepted by the members of an organization, influence their behavior and guide their decisions. A value system is a set of elements that serve as a guide and criteria for the individuals that make up an organization to analyze and judge their own behavior and that of other members, which must be sanctioned (behavior with negative values) or reinforced (behavior with negative values). positive values).
A company with values attracts and retains professional talent, which leads to more sales and better results.
Never betray your values because you will be harshly punished by users. Some questions you could ask yourself are;
- What is the value proposition of your business?
- What is the Organization's strategy, and how does it contribute to its achievement?
- What are the corporate values that distinguish your Organization from others?
- How do you fit into the organization?
- What are my ethical principles?
Sadly, the values are the great forgotten ones or the same importance is not assigned to the two factors, which is a tremendous mistake, and I firmly believe this because I believe that ethical values should be the compass of all companies and that they respect the ethics and moral values of all employees of the corporation.
The implementation of a value system in an organization goes through the following stages:
- Determination: in this stage the necessary values are established to form the organizational culture and its contents. They must be developed by the board together with a representative group of collaborators that encompass the different interest groups that act in the organization.
- Clarification: to avoid misunderstandings and conflicts caused by the interpretation and communication of values, an analysis of all the possible implications and effects of such concepts is necessary, to be sure that they express what is really desired.
- Definition: in order to achieve a better understanding of organizational values, it is necessary to specify the language and its semantic meanings to delimit the contents.
- Statement: the values of an organization must be stated explicitly and in writing, in order to guarantee that they exercise a living function and really serve to regulate the conduct of the organization.
- Dissemination: the values must be expressed in a clear and simple way so that they are easily understood and interpreted, and manage to shape the behavior of all members of the organization.
- Behavioral application/brand culture: the description of the values in terms of observable and measurable behaviors by all the participants in the process makes it possible to make the expression of their results tangible, and facilitates the evaluation of their application.
Example: Procter & Gamble
Mission: Provide superior quality brands and products that create value for today's and tomorrow's consumers. As a result, they are the ones who reward us with leadership in sales, profits and value generation, leading our people, consumers and communities to prosper.
Vision (by 2020): Power plants with XNUMX percent renewable energy, use XNUMX percent renewable or recycled materials in all products and packaging, send zero consumer and manufacturing waste to landfill, and create products that delight consumers while maximizing resource conservation.
Values: Leadership, Ownership, Integrity, Trust and Passion for winning.
Example:CocaCola
Mission: It lies in the objective that the company has Coca-Cola in the long term, and it is also constituted as the weighty criterion when making important decisions and actions for the brand to achieve 3 fundamental goals:
- Refresh the world.
- Inspire moments of optimism and happiness.
- Create value and make a difference.
Vision: It is the framework of the work plan and describes what needs to be achieved to achieve maximum sustainability, quality and growth. With it, the aim is to achieve objectives adapted to different areas:
- People: Being a good place to work, that people feel inspired to give the best of themselves every day.
- Beverages: Offer a varied portfolio of quality products that anticipate and satisfy the wishes and needs of consumers.
- Partners: Develop a network to create common and lasting value.
- Planet: Being a responsible citizen who makes a difference by helping to build and support sustainable communities.
- Benefit: Maximize return for shareholders while keeping in mind the general responsibilities of the Company.
- Productivity: Being an efficient and dynamic organization.
Values: Guide the actions and behavior of the Coca Cola company in the world, and they are:
- Leadership: strive to shape a better future.
- Collaboration: promote collective talent.
- Integrity: be transparent.
- Accountability: be responsible.
- Passion: be committed with the heart and with the mind.
- Diversity: have a wide range of brands and be as inclusive as them.
- Quality: pursuit of excellence.
Example:Greenpeace
Mission and Vision: Greenpeace is a politically and economically independent organization that uses non-violent direct action to draw public attention to global environmental problems and promote the solutions necessary for a green and peaceful future.
At Greenpeace we work to:
- Protect biodiversity in all its forms.
- Prevent pollution and abuse of oceans, land, air and fresh water.
- End all nuclear threats.
- Promote peace, global disarmament and non-violence.
Values
Personal responsibility and non-violence. We take personal responsibility for our actions and call for non-violence. These principles are inspired by the Quaker concept of 'bearing witness', which advocates that personal action must be based on personal responsibility. Therefore, we are responsible for our actions, and every Greenpeace activist knows that he will always act with non-violent direct action.
Independence . We are politically and economically independent. We do not accept money from companies or governments. Individual donations, along with dues from our members, are the sole source of our funds. Our independence gives us the authority we need to campaign for real change.
Greenpeace has no permanent friends or enemies. In the exposure of threats to the environment and in the search for solutions we have no permanent allies or adversaries. If a company or government is willing to change, we will work with them to achieve their goals, but if they change their proposals, we will also change. What matters are not the words, but the facts, and our priority is one: the benefit of the environment.
Promoting solutions.At Greenpeace we seek solutions and promote open and informed debate on society's environmental options. We do not work to treat environmental problems, we work to eliminate them. That is why we developed our roadmap to save the oceans through the establishment of maritime reserves and that is why we want to promote an energy revolution that points the way forward to switch to clean energy sources, to name two campaigns. But we are not satisfied with pointing out the problems, we develop, seek and promote concrete actions to achieve a green and peaceful future for all.
Example:Nike
Vision: Bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete on the planet.
Mission: To be the largest seller of shoes and clothing for athletes in the world.
The representation and reliability of shoes, clothing and equipment, new product development, pricing, product identity through the marketplace and promotion, as well as customer service and support. customer are important aspects of competition in the industry of the use tennis, clothing and sports equipment… we believe we are competitive in all these areas.”
The company's purpose is to: » give corporate employee advantage through proactive programs that reflect care for the global Nike family; from our teammates, our customers, and those who provide services to Nike.”
What are these definitions for?
As you can see, the big companies that have the best brand always have clearly defined strategic backbones to function and make all the different organs and elements of the company work in relation to it. I hope this article encourages you to shape these three key aspects: the mission, vision and values of your company, and thus define this important corporate identity, which will help you make the best decisions in the future.
This analysis will be useful to prepare your SWOT analysis of the company, as well as the personal SWOT of all employees.
Other benefits of achieving consensus around the mission, vision and values statements in an organization can be summarized in the following points:
- The portfolio of strategies, objectives, goals and plans (subsequent steps) is limited by the broad guidelines defined in these powerful concepts.
- Clear guidance is produced for strategic planning and which areas to exclude, as defined in the vision. When P&G mentions that one hundred percent of its plants will use renewable energy and materials by 2020, it is known that it is absolutely committed to conservation; therefore, polluting and non-recyclable waste-generating options are excluded from your radar.
- The alignment of talent has a powerful guide that allows identifying the competencies and personal values that collaborators must have, to fulfill the mission and the defined organizational values.
- The code of ethics and conduct, which is the forger of the organizational culture, arises naturally from the defined vision and values. At the end of this step, the behaviors expected by a good organizational citizen are perfectly defined.
It makes sense to spend time defining the fundamental strategic guidelines before talking about financial return.
Do you have comments, examples and your assessment of the mission, vision and values of a company? How important are the mission, vision and values of a company to you? Why are values so important for a company and the people who work for it?
