Mission

An organization should have a clearly defined mission that guides decisions and (along with an organizational vision) future directions. While organizations’ missions are typically stable, changes in scope and sometimes even purpose do occur. Sometimes these changes are intentional, and the rationale is easy to discover. but sometimes this is not the case. A common occurrence known as mission creep can happen when an organization’s scope expands, often incrementally, in a direction that was not originally intended. You will also see changes in mission caused by market expansion or contraction, mergers and acquisitions, innovation, changing societal needs, and so on.

Another common occurrence, known as mission proliferation, can happen when different parts of the organization articulate and publish independent missions, often to help inspire and direct those working in subunits. In theory, each subunit mission statement should align with and support the organization’s mission, but this is not always the case and deviations from the organization's mission may contribute to confusion. This outcome may be especially true in organizations that are large and complex, or in ones where decision making is decentralized.

An organization's mission may be found in a formal published statement or explained verbally be the CEO or another senior leader. Public sector organizations sometimes have two organizational mission statements—an official version that is long and detailed, and an abbreviated version used for public dissemination. A mission can change over time, and it can be instructive to examine the process used the bring about that change. It is also useful to ask whether there is evidence an organization's mission is having a positive impact on its performance.

Check Your Knowledge

Question 1

What purposes should an organizational mission serve?

Question 2

What is mission creep?

Question 3

One of the potential challenges associated with organizational missions is mission proliferation. Explain what this means and why it can be problematic.

Question 4

What are some of the things that a mission statement should accomplish?

Question 5

What are some of the problems that can occur in the absence of an effective and organizational mission and well-written mission statement?

Question 6

Below are mission statements for Coca-Cola and Pepsi published on their corporate websites in 2016. Apply what you have just read about effective missions and mission statements to an analysis of these two examples.

  1. Which statement does the best job describing the company's purpose and why? What about if you were an investor? 
  2. Would your conclusion change if you were looking at this from the perspective of a customer? What about if you were an employee? 

Coca-Cola Our Mission Our Roadmap starts with our mission, which is enduring. It declares our purpose as a company and serves as the standard against which we weigh our actions and decisions. To refresh the world… To inspire moments of optimism and happiness… To create value and make a difference.

Pepsi As one of the largest food and beverage companies in the world, our mission is to provide consumers around the world with delicious, affordable, convenient and complementary foods and beverages from wholesome breakfasts to healthy and fun daytime snacks and beverages to evening treats. We are committed to investing in our people, our company and the communities where we operate to help position the company for long-term, sustainable growth.