If you will accept our definition of organization - a group of people working together for a common purpose -you will recognize that the purpose statement, or mission statement, is the foundation on which an organization is built. Clarity of mission aids greatly in maintaining alignment throughout the organization. It is somewhat surprising then to find how often the mission statement seems to get filed under airy-fairy.
Organizations generally must somehow create something of value to justify their existence. For-profit companies are very much aware that they need the revenue from customers' purchases in order to remain viable. Those customers tend to part with their money only in exchange for perceived value. The process of creating that value is the core process of the organization, and the mission statement should be a reflection of that core process.
Hospitals might easily arrive at a mission statement that reflects improving the health of their patients and community. An oil refinery converts crude oil into useful consumer products and substrates. A consulting firm helps clients to improve business performance. A manufacturing firm converts raw materials or components into a useful product. Each of these examples represents a collective effort, applying corporate resources to the task of creating value or adding value.
The value creation process, or core process, is not hard to define at a conceptual level. Begin by identifying the initial input and the final output, e.g. in health care the initial input would be a patient health issue and the optimal final output would be resolution of that health issue. Major phases of activities leading to the desired end are marked by discrete interim outputs. Continuing with our health care example, the initial need, or health issue, would prompt a phase of accessing care (output: availability), then evaluating the health issue (output: diagnosis), then treating the health issue (output: treated issue), and finally monitoring progress (output: resolution of issue). The entire process represents a value transformation.
For a mission statement to be part of a compelling organizational construct it must be embedded in the consciousness of that organization. All too often the temptation to embellish is so powerful that the mission statement becomes a paragraph or a page. When any given associate of the company can articulate the mission statement on request and without warning, that mission is embedded as an organizing principle of that company. Not so if the associate has to look it up.
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