Resumen de A Good Battle Cry is Half the Battle: Creating a Mission Statement with a Sense of Mission
All managers are compensated for their ability to make decisions. Operational managers focus on tactical decisions targeted at satisfying today's customers. Administrative managers will generally focus on strategic decisions targeted at tomorrow's customers. The effectiveness of each of these endeavors requires rational guidelines that detail where the manager's efforts should be directed. While policies are the primary guidelines followed by operational managers, administrative managers focus their efforts on mission statements. In addition to supplying managers with a general strategic direction and goals for the firm, the mission statement also establishes the foundation for how the firm's stakeholders are to be treated. Over the past several decades there has been a tremendous effort by researchers to synthesize the knowledge of strategic decision-making. What has been neglected in this task is the importance of creating and utilizing a mission statement. This article reviews the theoretical basis, purpose, and development of mission statements. Examples of excerpts from mission statements, along with one of the industry's finest mission statements, are provided.
