Examples of missions of automobile companies. Company's mission. Development of the Mission. Why profit cannot be a company's mission

Maxim Romadanov

In this article we will tell you what the company’s mission and values ​​are, when such a subsection on the website is needed, and when it makes no sense.

What is the company's mission

The mission of a company is the reason for its existence besides making money. Mission is the cause you serve. It shapes the values, beliefs and principles of business, reflects the purpose of the company, its positioning (difference from other market participants), determines the role that the company wants to play in society.

The subsection with the mission can be called differently: “Philosophy”, “Anatomy”, “Biology”, “Brand DNA”, “Company Values” and so on - as far as the marketing department’s imagination allows.

Variations on a theme:

In the book by Bangladeshi social entrepreneur Yunus Muhammad, “Creating a World Without Poverty. Social business and the future of capitalism" is the concept of "corporate social responsibility". It brings all philosophies, missions and the like under one roof - it is a commitment to do good to people and the world around us, or at least not to harm them.

Why does a company NOT need a mission statement?

Yunus Muhammad, to whom I have already referred and will continue to do so, says that modern consumers are rejecting the services of companies with a tarnished image. However, when preparing the article, I did not find any convincing evidence that “negative social positioning of a brand” has a bad effect on commercial performance. If you know of such studies, please send links in the comments.

But there is data confirming the opposite. In an article devoted to the results of Dieselgate, Bloomberg View analyst Leonid Bershidsky argues that the Volkswagen concern not only did not suffer from the environmental scandal of 2015, but also increased its efficiency. Moreover, it was in the “dieselgate” year of 2015 that the Volkswagen Group displaced the long-time leader Toyota from first place in terms of sales volumes in the world. And, according to the latest data, VAG is only increasing its advantage; PR has only played to its advantage.

Another example: let’s compare the rating of the largest cosmetics manufacturers from Brand Rankings with the lists of the international organization PETA, which fights for the ethical treatment of animals. For the entire TOP 10 we see the following picture:

Eliminating animal testing has commercial implications for cosmetics makers who appeal to a narrow audience of animal rights activists. For example, for the manufacturer of environmentally friendly cosmetics Bare Escentual.

But for a wide audience this factor is not of great importance. Cruel, but true.

Before you tell your clients about the mission, you need to understand one thing: the mission is not for clients, not for partners and not for profit, it is personal for the business owner. If he himself wants to live in a “green” world or so that sick children have the opportunity to recover, if he is willing to give part of the profits for these purposes, the company will have a mission.

But mission costs are not an advertising budget. You cannot expect to invest a certain amount and then calculate the effectiveness of the investment. This is equivalent to me giving a beggar at the entrance to Magnit 100 rubles, and then asking the store for a discount. I’m so kind, do you feel sorry for me?

Yunus Muhammad says the same thing: some corporations view social responsibility as a type of advertising. 1% of the profits are sent to help the poor, and the remaining 99% - to production, where the labor of the same poor is exploited in violation of basic labor laws. Don’t do this, be honest at least with yourself.

But this does not mean that social projects should be hidden away and shrugged in shame if someone finds out and asks. Social projects are “white” PR in its purest form and the right path to regional and federal media. You can and should talk about them, but honestly, without pathos and attempts to manipulate people. This is my personal conviction.

Why then is a mission needed?

To answer this question, you should first ask yourself another:

To whom do you owe obligations?

Social obligations can be held to society as a whole.

Social obligations can be kept to a specific group of people.

Social commitments can be made to your employees.

The press service of Sela confirmed that the personnel department uses methods for identifying the personality traits of applicants. If a candidate does not show the required qualities, he will not be hired.

Social responsibilities can be maintained to customers.

So, the mission:

1. Increases public interest in business. The logic of “Sportmaster” is clear: more people involved in sports means more buyers of sporting goods.
2. Attracts employees, clients and partners with similar views, tastes, and interests. A few years ago, the Xiaomi brand also advanced on this topic. The manufacturer has consistently created a fan environment: starting with its product line (the principle of “powerful and fast hardware for little money”) and ending with the official international MIUI fan site.

1. Stimulates actions that may ultimately lead to the purchase of a product or service.

1. Activates emotional factors in choosing a product and service.

Is there a need for a subsection with the company’s mission on the website?

Understand correctly: charity is wonderful, but if you write a few pretentious phrases on your website that have nothing behind them, you will not convince others that you care about world peace.

Reading this, I just want to shout: “Guys, you’re just selling balls and bicycles!” Seriously, what if your client bought a treadmill from you, ran it for several days and realized that it was too hard and the sport was not for him at all? If the purchase does not make him cheerful, cheerful, or happy, what will you do? Will you take the exercise machine back and enroll the buyer in body positivity courses?

Less pathos and abstractions, more references to real affairs.

Publish certificates and gratitude from public organizations and foundations

The Taxovichkof taxi service from St. Petersburg transports employees of partner charitable foundations and public organizations free of charge. A representative of any social project who needs help with transport can leave a request on the official website. There are several dozen such certificates in the “Charity” subsection.

Tell us what charitable causes your products go to

Show how your business processes improve the environment

It would seem that there is nothing special here. Many trucking companies are buying gas-powered vehicles and optimizing routes - it's simply cheaper than gasoline and driving in circles. But Gruzovichkof translates its principles into an environmental dimension and receives a bonus to karma.

Publish reports on charitable events in the news section on the website

At the same time, you can get into the federal press.

After reading this article, you will find out

• Why is the company mission necessary?
• Mission of famous companies: examples

Why is it necessary? Company's mission is a common question to which managers of Russian companies do not have a clear answer. When creating your own company, when a business is struggling for survival and development, establishing its relationships with suppliers and clients, the mission is not the main thing that the CEO should focus on. Many managers begin to realize the need for a company mission during the rapid development of their business - when they need to not only attract and retain their clients, but also look for competent specialists, review or formalize management procedures. The company’s mission at this stage helps to overcome the problem of distrust in the company, the work of employees is directed in the appropriate direction, the company appears as a unique participant in the competitive market.

The company's mission performs important functions

1. Clarifying the ideas of the company’s management and employees about the goals of the company’s organization.

2. Understanding the main goals of the enterprise.

3. Facilitation of work with employees and applicants for available vacancies. Now they no longer have to tell them about all the nuances of the practical and philosophical background of business.

4. Explanation of the distribution of your company's resources (including human, monetary, equipment, raw materials). The mission of the organization provides general guidelines for obtaining and distributing the necessary resources.

The company's mission sets the main direction for its development. Therefore, defining a mission is a very important and most significant decision in the field of strategic management. The mission can become the basis for promoting the key values ​​of the business, as well as building the reputation and image of the company.

General Director speaks

Dmitry Persheev, General Director of the company "Garant", Moscow

The mission of the Garant company is as follows: “Providing comprehensive professional legal support using modern information technologies.” The development of the company and the products it produces have always corresponded to this position, but the understanding and formulation itself did not arise immediately. “Garant” arose back in 1990, when no one thought about such concepts as mission. When an organization consists of several people and they all sit in one room, the understanding of the mission is in their minds, there is no need to put thoughts on paper. This need arose during the growth of the company, when the number of employees increased and they began to work not only in different offices, but also in different cities, many of whom did not know each other. We have 200 regional partners, about 8 thousand people work in the regional network. And although our partners are independent organizations, we have a single service and uniform standards of customer service, so we must have the same understanding of our purpose.

The need for a precise mission statement arose around 1995–1996. I would like to emphasize that this was a clarification and formalization of the idea that we already had in our heads about the company’s goals. Nowadays, each new employee receives a personal copy of the Personnel Regulations, from which he learns about the mission and philosophy of the company.

How to formulate a company's mission

Stage No. 1. Recognize the need for a mission. To formulate the company’s mission, the general director should treat this task not as a fashionable trend, but as a working tool for strategic management that will help motivate employees and manage the company’s reputation and image in the market. Therefore, the General Director is required to:

1. Willingness to form strategic management. Otherwise, you shouldn’t even think about the mission statement.
2. Agreeing to invest time and energy, having the desire to shape the company’s mission personally.
3. Ability to cope with this task (situations are possible when the manager understands that creating a mission is necessary, but does not have the necessary professional knowledge. In such a case, the optimal solution is to invite a third-party consultant-practitioner whose experience includes already implemented and successful missions).

General Director speaks

Vadim Kotelnikov, General Director of the company "Congress-Prom-Invest", Moscow

Without knowing the company's mission, employees will perceive their work only as a duty, it will not inspire them. The Japanese say: “It is no use rowing harder if you are rowing in the wrong direction” and “Vision without action is a dream, and action without vision is a nightmare.” People are inspired, attracted and energized by great things, not by small everyday goals.

Development in And visions and missions are the responsibility of the General Director of the company. That's why he is a leader, to create inspiring employees in And vision of the future. However, not all leaders in Russia understand this yet. I conducted online surveys of Russian and foreign citizens on the topic: “What task of a leader do people consider the most important?” Foreigners put the creation in And Deniya took first place, while the Russians only came in third (the first lines were taken by the ability to charge people with energy and the possession of charisma). It turns out to be a Japanese proverb: a leader, possessing charisma, charged people with energy, forcing them to row harder, but did not explain in which direction. However, today the situation is beginning to change.

Stage No. 2. Create a team. After deciding to develop a company mission, you should think about who you plan to involve in the process of creating it. It is recommended to involve managers of all levels for this work, forming them into a single team. They should be tasked with performing a comprehensive analysis of the company and market activity, reviewing the mission statements of well-known global companies. The results of the analysis should become the basis for formulating strategic business goals, which must be reflected in the company’s mission.

Stage No. 3. Your qualities and values. To create a competitive, successful company mission, a leader must go beyond the company, trying to take a more global look at his business, trying to predict the future. It is necessary to determine the distinctive features of the company, based not on the services or products offered, but on the needs of the market (see. table 1).

Stage No. 4. The mission must be clear to employees. A correct understanding of the company’s mission by employees is a necessary condition, since the success of its implementation and market perception will directly depend on this.

To ensure that the entire team correctly understands the company’s mission, you can resort to different tools. In particular, for a large company, seminars in which senior and middle managers participate are important. For a small company, a general meeting can be recommended. The company’s mission can be posted in the office reception area, confirming its significance and reflecting the developed corporate culture of the organization. The internal corporate manual for employees - fundamental materials - has also proven itself to be excellent. The set of these materials may include the following provisions:

• a message from management that explains the company's goals and values;
• explanation of the main principles of relations in the company, features of ethics, culture, etc.

This “Welcome to XXX Company” guide is used by some of our clients. This is a small brochure on high-quality paper with a beautiful design - it explains all these provisions in an accessible language.

Using such tools for conveying the company's mission, the manager can be sure that internal corporate values ​​will be reflected in the behavior of employees, which in turn will affect the perception of the company by clients and its image.

General Director speaks

Boris Polgeim,

The CEO, based on the company's mission, must constantly remind employees of it, then they will begin to act in accordance with it. If we must bring beauty and joy to people by creating aquariums, then we should not take money from them for each floor of the rise, bargain and make everyone wait - because this will not produce any beauty and joy. If we talk about efficiency, but at the same time we ourselves work ineffectively, then we are violating our mission, so this state of affairs should cause discomfort to managers and employees of departments. To create a mission and use it in your work, it is not necessary to conduct trainings or call consultants; the most important thing is that all your actions - bonuses, promotions, instructions, orders - correspond to it, regardless of whether it hangs on the wall under glass or exists behind the scenes.

Stage No. 5. Consider your surroundings. The mission is often considered as an internal tool of the company, which is why the potential of its influence on external factors - consumers, partners, government, trade unions, etc. is not sufficiently assessed. When creating a company mission, it is necessary to take into account 4 main strategic audiences, defining the mission for each of them:

1. Social – what contribution the company makes to the local community, what problems of society it solves.
2. Client – ​​compliance with the requests and needs of certain segments of the target audience,
3. Organizational (for employees) – meeting the needs of the organizational system within which the business operates.
4. Entrepreneurial (for business partners) – fulfillment of conditions conducive to the stable development of the business by meeting the needs of its participants and co-owners.

The approach of 4 strategic goals is especially widely used in the work of banks and industrial companies. After all, the financial activity of the regions in which they are located depends on their work. Also, the activities of the enterprise often lead to environmental pollution.

Stage No. 6. Check the reality of your company's mission. What needs to be taken into account so that the mission does not become a simple dream about a bright future, having nothing to do with reality? To maintain an appropriate balance between the company's aspirations, the reality and the demands of the CEO, it is optimal to test your mission against 3 requirements:

• Does the mission reflect the company's principles, expectations and values?
• Is the mission determined by the company's competitive advantages?
• Is the company's mission based on market needs?

When planning a company's mission, examples of how they have been successfully used in other organizations will also be quite useful.

General Director speaks

Boris Polgeim, Founder, main shareholder and strategic director of the Aqua Logo and Business Class companies, Moscow

When writing a company mission, you need to ask the relevant questions - “Will the market regret if your company does not exist tomorrow?”, “What does the company provide for the world?”, “What contribution does it make to the business?”, “What are the company’s competitive advantages, for that people liked her?”, “Is this company needed at all, maybe we are not carrying what is required?”

If the formulated mission is suitable for several companies, then there is nothing special in your company. You should try to bring the mission closer to your company, but you shouldn’t make it too down-to-earth. For example, the Aqua Logo company adheres to the unspoken mission of “Bringing beauty to people by creating aquariums.” If you remove the word “aquariums”, you get a rather vague mission, although it allows you to easily move on to another direction that brings beauty. In particular, we now specialize not only in aquariums, but also in ponds. If a leader plans to achieve company growth, the mission must be formulated in such a way that it is both precise and other areas are analyzed.

The company "Business Class" specializes in business training, we could choose: "We teach well." But we decided to stick to the mission “Effective Performance Training.” This formulation takes us to a completely new level - it includes both what we teach and how we do it. If the effectiveness of “Aqua Logo” is less important than beauty and joy, then the most important thing for “Business Class” is efficiency in everything. When forming a mission consciously, it will achieve practical benefits for the business, and will not just be a beautiful set of words.

4 options for the company’s mission depending on the audience

CJSC Ridan is one of the leading manufacturers of plate heat exchangers in Russia. The company adheres to the mission “We create new standards. We take responsibility for changing standard ways of doing business and rules of interaction, for replacing them with new, more effective ones for our clients, partners, employees, and society as a whole.”

The company decided to formulate a mission for 4 external audiences in this way:

For society: “By doing business according to new standards, we improve the quality of life, give peace and confidence in the future, bring warmth, comfort and coziness to people. It’s safe with us!”

For clients:“We are introducing new ways of interacting with customers in our market, combining the reliability of our equipment with a new quality of service. We value human relationships with our clients, develop and support them. It’s comfortable to cooperate with us!”

For staff:“We build honest and open relationships with employees based on mutual respect, professionalism and responsibility. We value a positive approach to life and active involvement in the life of the company. We contribute to the development and training of employees, understanding that this is an investment in the future of the company. We are creating a new quality of life and work!”

For partners:“We contribute to increasing the efficiency and quality of our partners’ businesses. We respect our partners, that’s why they trust us!”

Examples of missions of famous companies

Wallmart Mission:“We help our customers save money to make their lives better.”

Target Mission:“Becoming the preferred shopping destination through innovative solutions, exceptional offers, exceeding customer expectations”

IKEA Mission:"Improving everyone's daily life"

Amazon Mission:“Create a space where everyone can buy anything they want online”

CVS Mission:"Helping people improve their health"

Google's mission:“It’s convenient to organize all the information in the world and make it accessible and useful to everyone”

Microsoft Mission:“To give everyone the opportunity to realize their full potential”

Skype Mission:“Become a platform for people to communicate in real time”

YouTube Mission:“Provide quick and easy access to video content and provide the ability to share videos with each other”

Twitter Mission:"Instantly connect people everywhere"

Apple's mission:“To provide students, educators, and creative professionals around the world with the best personal computers through innovative solutions.”

Adidas Mission:“To become the best sports brand in the world. Never compare quantity with quality. The athlete always comes first.”

Nike's Mission:"To provide inspiration and innovative solutions to every athlete in the world"

Umbro's Mission:“To excite and inspire. Let everyone fall in love with the wonderful world of football"

Coca-Cola Mission:“Refresh the world, body, mind and spirit; Promote optimism through our drinks and our deeds; Bringing meaning to everything we do"

Pepsi Mission:“To be the world's best food company focused on prepared foods and beverages. In everything we do, we are guided by three principles - honesty, consistency and fairness."

Nestlé Mission:“We believe that research and development will help make food better, thereby improving people's lives.”

Danone Mission:“Provide as many people as possible with healthy food”

Cisco Mission:“The company's software, hardware and services are used to create secure networks that provide easy access to information anywhere, anytime.”

IBM Mission:“To lead in the invention, development and production of information technologies, including software, computers, information storage systems and microelectronics. And help improve the business of our clients around the world with the help of advanced technologies."

Intel Mission:“Create and improve computer technology to connect and improve the lives of every person on earth”

GeneralElectric Mission:“We exist to solve the problems of everyone on earth, be it a company or an individual.”

British Petroleum's mission:“Promoting human progress through the following qualities: honesty, openness of dealings”

Why profit cannot be a company's mission

Many people believe that the main goal of any business is profit. However, it is important to consider that the mission is a strategic goal and is the main reason for the very existence of the company.

• Commercial director: job responsibilities and functions

If the company’s mission is based on the principle of “generating income,” then serious difficulties will await it - in the form of poor performance in the market, where the return on invested funds can only be counted on after a certain period, going through non-price competition. If you choose the wording “Our goal is to obtain maximum income,” the company is unlikely to turn out to be an interesting partner for customers and an employer for the team.

Therefore, the company's goals cannot be limited to just making money. Income is only one of the results; it becomes a consequence of competent management and strategy. It is also necessary to take into account that a company in a competitive environment must remember the intangible benefits for its partners and clients. More advantageous positions are occupied by companies with greater stability due to other values. This condition is of particular importance when working in unstable, developing markets.

A lot of materials have been written about such a concept as “company mission” - from books on marketing and branding to articles and posts on social networks.

Quite often, these publications look more like a scientific dissertation than clear and easy-to-follow step-by-step instructions.

Questions still remain open:

• Does every company, business, expert necessarily need a formulated mission?
• What should be understood by the “mission of the organization”?
• How to formulate the working mission of a brand, and what examples to focus on?

Let's first understand the terminology.

What is meant by “organizational mission”?

In classical management, the definition of the term “mission” is as follows - this is a statement that reveals the philosophy of the organization’s existence and the difference between a given company and similar ones.

This is a very broad understanding of the mission, in which it is quite easy to get confused. Let's try to bring specificity to its essence and content.

The company's mission should answer a simple question - why was the organization created? Usually the first answer that comes up is to make a profit.

This is logical, but let's look at the question from a different angle: what is wrong in the world around you, and how does your company (or you personally, as an expert) intend to fix it?

Much clearer and gives more room to the imagination, right?

Another important concept that is often confused with a company’s mission is brand vision. It answers the question: what kind of company do you see in the future? Or, if we start from the paraphrased mission question, what will the world around us be like when you finish changing it.

Does every company need a mission?

Certainly not. It all depends on your scale, goals and ambitions - this is your personal choice.

For the owner of a single stand selling hot dogs, the mission is unlikely to significantly help in business. But if you are an Internet entrepreneur and are striving to create a successful and systematic digital business, you should think about developing a brand platform and start with the company’s mission.

This, at first glance, philosophical concept is a powerful tool for promotion, ensuring loyalty of the target audience, a platform for setting strategic goals and prioritizing, and an indicator of the strengths of the brand.

It is important to note that there is simply no single rule on how to formulate the mission of an organization. But this process is quite simple, and below we will try to outline its basic principles step by step.

6 Essential Elements of an Organization's Mission

When starting to formulate the mission text, be sure to take into account the presence of at least 5 out of 6 attributes in it. You can sacrifice memorability, but keep it in moderation and respect the people who will read your mission. For example, Avon's full mission statement consists of 307 words.

Stages of developing an organization's mission

Despite all the apparent complexity of the process of writing a mission, fundamentally only 3 stages can be distinguished.

Stage 1. Creating a Mission Skeleton

For clarity, we present all 5 key questions in a table with answers using the example of a nanny agency for children.

Do not hesitate to answer in detail - this way you will definitely be able to cover all the important points.

Stage 2. Reduction and generalization

The goal of the second stage is to cut off all unnecessary things, leaving only key words, and then summarize them into one sentence.

Stage 3. Verification

We return to the table above and check whether all 6 elements of a successful mission are taken into account. You can also discuss the final version of the brand mission with company employees, show it to your friends and listen to their opinion. If there are any shortcomings, we correct them.

The final version of the agency’s mission for nannies after all the transformations is as follows:

“Surround children with care, provide them with professional care and reliable supervision, so that the kids feel comfortable and the parents feel calm.”

Agree, creating a brand mission is quite simple. And so that you can be convinced of this and always have a sample for inspiration at hand, we will present several options for the mission of organizations.

Examples of missions of famous companies

Why did we decide to focus on those companies that are on everyone's lips? We could take several internet business niches and develop examples specifically for this article. But the mission of a company whose product features are unknown to you will be just a beautiful phrase, nothing more.

Therefore, let’s look at examples of several of the most successful missions formulated by marketers of famous brands and startups.

Apple's mission is an example of a respectful attitude towards the brand's customers and is aimed at understanding them:

“We offer high quality products that free people's lives and work from hard and tedious work, make the world a more comfortable place to live, and ensure the respect and loyalty of consumers.”

Dropbox is a startup that few people believed in in its early days. Today the company is worth more than a billion dollars, and their mission is:

“We create easy-to-use products based on trust. When people store their files in Dropbox, they can be sure that they are safe. User privacy has always been and will remain our top priority."

Marketers of the oil concern Lukoil have created a fairly brief and succinct mission, which, nevertheless, reflects the purpose of the company’s existence in the market:

“We were created to use the energy of natural resources for the benefit of people.”

The mission of the famous Japanese car manufacturer Toyota is more focused on the customer than on the achievements of the company itself:

“Our mission is to maximize customer satisfaction by providing reliable and safe TOYOTA products and providing a network of high-quality service and qualified service.”

Mission of the Svyaznoy company:

“We work with people and for people. We create an exciting world of mobile communications and new offers that are understandable and accessible to everyone. We provide simplicity, convenience and attractive choice.”

And finally, 3 more important tips on how to write a successful brand mission:

1. Don't talk about the company;
2. Don't talk about "process" - how responsibly you approach your business;
3. Focus solely on the result and benefits that your target audience will receive from working with you.

And now that we have step-by-step figured out the pitfalls that may await you when working on an organization’s mission, write in the comments how you would formulate a mission for your business? And like it if the content was useful to you.

In the most general and at the same time in the most in-depth understanding, the role of the organization’s mission is that it establishes a connection, orients in a single direction the interests and expectations of those people who perceive the organization from the inside, and those who perceive the organization from the outside.

Moreover, the mission allows you to orient or even subordinate the interests of people “internal” in relation to the organization to the interests of “external” people. By defining what the organization was created and exists for, the mission gives people's actions meaning and purposefulness, allowing them to better see and understand not only what they should do, but also why they carry out their actions.

So what is it mission?

Mission is writingpersonal message about the appointment of your businessness. With its help, you can explain to all interested parties why your company exists and how it differs from many others.

Mission– a policy statement reflecting the meaning of the organization’s existence, its distinctive features, guidelines, and stakeholders.

Mission of the organization is a brief description of an economic entity, its main goals, purpose, scope of activity, norms of behavior and role in solving social problems of the region and society as a whole. The literal translation of this term means “responsible task, role.”

The purpose of the mission is:

Determining the overall course of development of the organization

Ensuring uniformity regarding development directions and key tasks

Demonstrating reliability to business partners, customers and society.

At its core A mission statement is a concise, clear expression of a strategic vision. For its consideration between employees and stakeholders.

Mission– a brief, clear, precise definition of the main directions of development, motivating employees to highly productive work.

The literature does not have clear rules for formulating a mission or requirements for its content; it is a creative, individual product.

There is a broad and narrow understanding of mission.

In a broad sense, mission is the philosophy and purpose, the meaning of existence of an organization.

An organization's philosophy defines the values, beliefs and principles by which the organization intends to conduct its activities. Purpose defines the activities that an organization intends to carry out and what type of organization it intends to be. The philosophy of an organization rarely changes.

As for the second part of the mission, it may vary depending on the depth of possible changes in the organization and in the environment of its functioning.

In a narrow sense, a mission is a formulated statement regarding what or for what reason an organization exists, i.e. mission is understood as a statement that reveals the meaning of the organization’s existence, in which the difference between this organization and similar ones is manifested.

A correctly defined mission, although it always has a general philosophical meaning, nevertheless necessarily contains something that makes it unique in its kind, characterizing precisely the organization in which it was developed. Next we will talk about the mission in a narrow sense.

The meaning of the corresponding mission, which is formally expressed and effectively presented to the employees of the organization, cannot be exaggerated. The goals developed on its basis serve as criteria for the entire subsequent process of strategic planning and management. If leaders don't know what the core purpose of their organization is, then they won't have a logical point of reference for choosing the best alternative. Without a mission statement as a guide, leaders would have only their individual values ​​as a basis for decision making. The result could be a huge dispersion of effort rather than the unity of purpose that is essential to the success of the organization.

Thus, the mission details the status of the organization and provides direction and guidance for defining goals and strategies at various levels of management. Therefore, at present there are two approaches to understanding the mission of the organization. Firstly, the mission is of great importance for communication within the organization: it allows employees to better understand the specifics of its activities. Secondly, the mission helps to communicate basic information about the organization’s activities to shareholders, consumers, and suppliers. This is the dual purpose (dualism) of the mission.

The organization's mission statement should contain the following:

1. The firm's mission in terms of its core services or products, core markets, and core technologies (company's products (needs served), target market).

2. The operating principles of the company, which are determined by the external environment (key technologies, method of market coverage, strategic principles for the development of financing).

3. Determination of organizational culture, type of working climate within the company (proclaimed values ​​and beliefs).

Principles for formulating a mission:

1. Clear, specific formulation of the business area.

2. Expressing the mission in a clear, inspiring and stimulating manner.

3. Compliance of the mission with the current situation (when the environment changes, the mission must be adequately measured).

The mission statement should be, on the one hand, as general as possible so that competitors cannot decipher the business plans of the enterprise in detail, and on the other hand, clear enough so that clients and all recipients can navigate them. It should be expressed in relatively simple definitions and in a form that is easy to understand, often this is a slogan.

Making a profit cannot be considered as an overall mission of the organization. Profit is an entirely internal problem within the organization. Since an organization is an open system, it can ultimately survive only if it satisfies some need outside itself. To earn the profits it needs to survive, an organization must monitor the environment in which it operates. Therefore, it is in the environment that management looks for a common goal (mission). The choice by the management of the organization of such a narrow mission as profit limits the ability to explore acceptable alternatives when making a decision.

Before starting to formulate a mission, the organization's management must find answers to the following questions:

Who are our main clients?

What needs of our customers do we satisfy now and will we be able to satisfy in the future?

Many nonprofits have so many different “customers” that it is difficult for them to come up with an appropriate mission statement. Despite these difficulties, they must formulate a suitable mission primarily for themselves.

Small organizations also need an appropriately formulated mission statement. The danger for a small organization is choosing a mission that is too complex.

While the mission is undoubtedly of utmost importance to an organization, the imprint placed on the firm by the values ​​and goals of senior management cannot be underestimated. Values ​​are shaped by personal experience, education and socio-economic background. Values, or the relative importance that people attach to things, guide and orient leaders when they are faced with making critical decisions. At the same time, senior management preserves and adheres to certain values, which are manifested in the choice of management type, as well as in the goals of the organization.

Goals of Mission Statement

1. the mission gives the subjects of the external environment a general idea of ​​what the organization is, what it strives for, what means it is ready to use in its activities, what its philosophy is, etc. In addition, it contributes to the formation or consolidation of a certain image of the organization in the representation of subjects of the external environment.

2. the mission promotes unity within the organization and the creation of a corporate spirit. This manifests itself in the following:

The mission makes clear to employees the overall purpose and purpose of the organization. As a result, employees focus their actions in a single direction;

The mission helps employees identify more easily with the organization. For those employees who identify themselves with the organization, the mission serves as the starting point in their activities;

The mission helps to establish a certain climate in the organization, since, in particular, through it, the organization’s philosophy, values ​​and principles that underlie the construction and implementation of the organization’s activities are communicated to people.

3. the mission creates the opportunity for more effective management of the organization due to the fact that it;

It is the basis for establishing the organization’s goals, ensures the consistency of the set of goals, and also helps develop the organization’s strategy, establishing the direction and acceptable boundaries of the organization’s functioning;

Provides a general approach to the allocation of organizational resources and creates a basis for assessing their use;

Expands the meaning and content of his activities for the employee and thereby allows the use of a wider range of motivation techniques.

The mission is developed by the senior leader (collegially). When approved, it is informally discussed and tested.

The mission should not contain specific instructions as to what, how and in what time frame the organization should do. It sets the main directions of movement of the organization and the organization’s attitude to the processes and phenomena occurring inside and outside it.

Therefore, the formation of a mission is not only the development of provisions, but the communication of these provisions to employees and the acceptance of these provisions by the latter. An organization acquires a mission when the members of the organization agree with it and follow its provisions in their activities.

Sometimes you even feel a little sorry for people who explore the Internet in search of clear instructions on how to write a mission statement for a company.

Most articles of this kind are academic works that only confuse the reader.

To understand such materials, you have to try very hard.

Below we will try to explain as clearly as possible why and for what purpose the company needs a mission. Perhaps this instruction will not be so stuffed with special terms, but you will be able to figure it out.

Some basic information

Without beating around the bush, the classic mission answers just one simple question:

Why was the company created?

Unfortunately, a company's mission is often confused with strategy, vision and values. This is fundamentally wrong. Of course, no one forbids modernizing the mission by interweaving part of the vision or strategy into it, but still, in the classical sense, it has clear boundaries that cannot be crossed.

To avoid any confusion, let’s try to explain how a company’s mission differs from vision, strategy, and so on.

Company's mission answers the question “What are we created for?” Mission Statement: We are dedicated to providing the safest medicines for seniors.

Company vision answers the question “Where do we see ourselves in the future?” Unlike a mission, a vision can change over time and does not have a specific deadline. Essentially, this is a dream, the desire of the company to become such and such in N years. An example of a company's vision: “We strive to become the largest supplier of medicines for pensioners in Russia.”

Company strategy answers the question “How are we going to achieve our vision?” Strategy is a more complete decoding of the path to achieving the company's vision. Example strategy: We are going to become the largest supplier of medicines for pensioners in Russia. To do this, we will create our own scientific institute and order quickly payback equipment.”

Company values answer the question “What is important to us?” An example of company values: “We strive to be open and positive, we never try to argue with customers, we value their attention.”

Let us dare to give a little advice: the ideal solution for the company would not be an attempt to cram all the points into a poor mission, but a targeted division into points. That is, first you give the company the desired mission, then the subtitle “Vision”, then “Strategy” and “Values”. And under each of them, accordingly, there is a little meaningful text with specifics. This will make it clearer to both employees and readers.

Now that the short excursion away from the topic is over, we can return to the rules for writing mission statements for companies. As we have already found out, the classic mission answers the question “What are we created for?”

The second question you have to answer is:

Why does a company need a mission statement at all?

Yes, yes, so radical. The fact is that not all organizations need a mission at all. Of course, even the Panties & Socks company, which rents a couple of pavilions on the market, has the right to write a full-fledged version.

Undoubtedly. And yet it will not be of much use, since making a profit cannot be considered a full-fledged basis for writing a company mission.

This is more important only for those companies that have already reached some minimum socially significant level. In other words, for companies from the “medium” level and above. If you really want to, but don’t have much to say yet, you can combine mission and vision (dream).

The option is not ideal, but it is quite suitable for decorating a website and some internal corporate documents. After all, a bad soldier is one who does not dream of becoming a general.

How to write a company mission?

There is not a single clear rule that would say “The mission for a company or organization is written only this way and that way, and anyone who writes otherwise is a loser and a saboteur.” Of course not. Everything is subjective. Below we will give an example that will help you write a completely unique mission. Just remember that:

If your company's mission can be applied to any other organization, it's trash.

A good mission is always unique and specific. It cannot be limited to a bunch of empty phrases, the sole purpose of which is to somehow fill up space. Specifics are important. There is no need for pearls like “We are always the best and for world peace.”

Template for writing a company mission:

Answer 5 questions:

What does the company do?(produces children's bicycles)

Your buyer - who is he?(mothers, fathers, grandmothers, grandfathers)

What needs do we cover?(we make inexpensive, but high-quality and safe children's bicycles)

How do we help this world?(we make bicycles that parents are not afraid to give to their children)

Why do we consider ourselves successful?(because 30% of families have our bicycles).

Having these inputs, we can quickly create a very rough example of the text. Let's say this:

We are proud that our products have become synonymous with safety and reliability. We exist so that a young and strong generation who sincerely loves cycling grows up in Russia.

As you noticed, not all points from the template were used. This is quite normal, the idea should not be too cumbersome. It is very important that the company's mission is filled with your true aspirations and spirit, and not a bunch of random words.

Now is the time to talk about mission size. It is recommended to write missions longer than 4-7 sentences. If you look at examples of Western companies, you will see that even world-class giants get by with one or a few proposals. Trying to create a company mission statement on several sheets of paper is tantamount to teaching a first-grader descriptive geometry. Do you want effect? Write succinctly and to the point!

Mission Analysis

Below we have tried to highlight the main criteria for analyzing the company’s mission, which will help us check it for compliance with GOST requirements and common sense.

Availability of specifics. A mission consisting of “friendly teams”, “flexible discounts” and “dynamic companies” has no right to a decent existence. Only specific and unique texts.

Ease of perception. Probably, words like “eschatological” and the like have every right to exist. We don't know. And yet, we do not recommend using them in the company’s mission. The text should be such that even a schoolchild can understand it. The same applies to sentences: there is no need to construct complex forms of 30-50 words.

Realism of the picture. When reading a text, a person must believe what it says. Or at least admit the possibility of implementing what is written. Completely fantastic versions only cause laughter and bewilderment.

Memorability. The mission statement for the company should be written so briefly and clearly that the reader will not forget it after 3 seconds.

Motivation. The mission should not only tell you how wonderful you are, but it should also motivate the staff. Ideally, it is known to every employee in the organization. This is normal and even good. When a person has an understanding of the goal, it is always easier for him.

This concludes the brief story about how to write a mission statement for a company.

Click on spoilers, see examples of missions of famous companies

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Construction companies. Examples

Trading companies. Examples

Groups of companies. Examples

Insurance companies. Examples