Business Mission Statement
& Supporting Information
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Template for: Business Mission Statement
The purpose of this section is to specify the mission of the
business and to present supporting information. The business mission defines
the general direction and purpose of the business. A business mission should be
a little more specific than providing the best of everything for everyone in the
world.
Business Objectives
Sample business objectives might include:
- Increase market share from 14% to 17% within two years;
- Maximize annual profitability surpassing at least $50 million this
year;
- Add $40 million of business to corporate Business `A' and $22 million
to Business `B' this year;
- Attain stock price of 45 by the end of this year;
- Improve ROI to 14% this year; 15% next year and thereafter;
- Provide a decent living for employees (e.g., no layoffs; and salary
raises at least equal to inflation);
- Maximize shareholder value attaining a value of at least $1 billion by
the end of 1997.
The more specific each business objective is the better; and they should
be listed in priority order. The business objectives should be viewed as the
framework for a report card to be graded in the future to measure the success of
the business. They should state what the business is trying to do. The
objectives should be well understood by corporate management, and clearly
communicated to the business owners and the employees.
Business objectives should be chosen from the full domain of possible
economic and non-economic contributions the business unit intends to make to its
full complement of stakeholders. In many firms where different goals are not
discussed and not put in priority order, the objectives are little more than a
wish list.
The following situation illustrates the problem when objectives are not
specified in priority order:
- SBU Manager X was given two goals: maximize annual profitability and
maximize shareholder value. In December, an employee had an idea for a
product that would have cost $1 million to develop and to market. It could
have been developed in 60 days and sold immediately for $3 million. Based on
maximizing annual profitability (and that year's bonus) the project was
rejected. If priorities had been established and maximizing shareholder
value had been identified as a higher priority, then the project would have
been approved.
Vulnerabilities
Vulnerabilities represent a listing of those factors that might make it
difficult to achieve established business objectives. Vulnerabilities serve
as an input required to judge the probability of attaining the business goals,
and to measure the risk/reward trade-off. In practice the list of
vulnerabilities also provides political cover.
Internal Organizational Trends
This section identifies expected trends within the business unit and
corporate environment that might affect the business. Examples include:
organizational restructuring; data center changes; product bundling or
unbundling with other businesses; office relocation; corporate layoffs; and
changes in the corporate culture.
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