Performance unit 9 overview and objectives

¶ … organization does not yet have a clear mission statement. The company is of a small size and operates only to cover its costs. Its activities are customer centric and the customer base served is quite niche. The company does not possess major comparative advantages, but strives to make its mark by providing specific services, to specific customer segments, and doing this at high levels of quality.

The business model relies on the customization of the offer and hopes that satisfaction would transform into loyalty, as well as word of mouth publicity. It is as such expected that the unique treatment and experience of the customer represent a source of future revenues sustainability, as well as a method of attracting new customers.

In this setting then, the mission statement of the firm would probably revolve around the dedication to serving customers' needs. Still, since the mission statement does not exist in a clearly formulated manner, the company operates in the direction indicated by the management.

The absence of a mission statement translates into both advantages, as well as disadvantages. For instance, the more common limitation of not having a mission statement is that of the absence of an organizational vision of the future. The employees might not be certain of the direction in which the firm is headed. They might not be able to envision the future of the company, and as such their own future.

Within our company for instance, given that the firm is also small, the opportunities for promotion are extremely limited. The employees perform their daily tasks in a rather mechanic manner, and their passion for the job is rather limited. As they are unable to envision the future of the firm, they are also unable to envision their own future within the firm. They are continually tormented by questions such as: What am I doing here? Am I sacrificing my years in a dead-end job? Will this firm advance and present me with opportunities for advancement? Should I be searching for something else?

In other words, in the absence of a mission statement, the employees become insecure and the company would eventually face the loss of some of its best employees due to lack of future prospects. And the loss of the employees subsequently translates in the loss of intellectual capital, the decreasing of the ability to serve customers' needs, as well as the generation of additional costs with staff replacement.

But aside from this, the absence of a mission statement also generates lack of vision and credibility among the public, the business partners and other categories of stakeholders, who are unable to envision the company's future.

Still, aside from the shortages, not having a mission statement can also be perceived from a positive angle. This virtually testifies to the fact that the company is flexible, rather than rigid. In the existence of mission statement, the organization is somehow forced to follow the pre-established path. On the other hand however, in the absence of a mission statement, the company is more flexible and can decide to change course, if the initially implemented business model does not generate the expected results.