STRATEGIC CASE STUDY

LECTURE 2
PURPOSE
(MISSION, VISION, OBJECTIVES & CORE VALUES)
Lecture Learning Objectives
1. To understand how to establish and implement corporate core
values.
2. To describe the components and role of mission and mission
statements in strategy formulation.
3. To describe the components and role of vision and vision
statements in strategy formulation.
4. To formulate objectives for businesses and determine what
makes objectives a good one.

David Abbam Adjei

CORPORATE CORE VALUES
Corporate values are the operating principles, attitudes, beliefs,
views, that guide an organization's internal conduct as well as its
relationship with its stakeholders.
Corporate values are the principles preached and practiced in any
business organization, across levels, hierarchy and structure so as to
generate a uniform behaviour and create a culture.

David Abbam Adjei

Components of core values
Core values that are common across organizations in different
industries are:
1. Accountability. Acknowledging and assuming responsibility for
actions, products, decisions, and policies.
2. Balance of work and life. Taking a proactive stand to create and
maintain a healthy work and life balance for workers.
3. Commitment. Committing to great product, service, and other
initiatives that impact lives within and outside the organization.
4. Community. Contributing to society and demonstrating corporate
social responsibility.
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5. Diversity. Respecting the variety of people and their backgrounds.
6. Empowerment. Encouraging employees to take initiative and give
their best.
7. Innovation. Pursuing new creative ideas that have the potential to
change the world.
8. Integrity. Acting with honesty without compromising the truth.
9. Ownership. Taking care of the company and customers as they
were one’s own.
10.Safety. Ensuring the health and safety of employees and going
beyond the legal requirements to provide an accident-free
workplace.
David Abbam Adjei
How Core Values Can Influence Strategy
Values influence the organization and strategy in the following ways:
1. Values for Sustainability. Values help in drawing out a
sustainable strategy for the organization which enables the
organization to diversify, enter into new business, make
advancements etc, while not diluting the belief and culture.
2. Values for Credibility. An organization’s worth is judged by the
character it exhibits. Values help in building this character.
3. Clarify the identity of the company to clients. Core values
educate clients and potential customers about what the company is
about and clarify the identity of the company.
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4. Values for Differentiation. When the strategy of two firms is equally
the same and good, what will make the two firms different would be
their corporate values.
5. Values for recruitment. Talented people are mobile but, essentially, they
are attracted and faithful to organizations whose corporate values match
their key principles, belief and views.
6. Values for Focus. Values enables the organization and all employees to
be in the same page when it comes to the ‘why’, ‘what’ and ‘how’ of
adapting and implementing a particular strategy.
7. Values for "Human" control systems. Belief in corporate values
strengthens peer responsibility for keeping one another aligned; it also
generates self-guidance and self-policing.
David Abbam Adjei
CORPORATE MISSION
Peter Drucker says when you ask the question “What is our
business?”, you are indirectly asking the question “What is our
mission?”
Mission exists to answer two fundamental questions: ‘what is our
business and what should it be?’.

David Abbam Adjei

Mission Statement And Its Components
The mission statement is a declaration of an organization’s “reason
for existence.” It answers the question “Who are we?”
A mission statement should have the following components:
1. Customers. Who are the firm’s customers? What is the target
market for these customers?
2. Products or services. What are the firm’s major products or
services and value provided to customers from these products?
3. Markets. Geographically, where does the firm compete? Where
does the firm seeks customers?
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4. Technology. What technology is used to produce and market
products? Is the firm technologically current?
5. Concern for survival, growth, and profitability. Is the firm
committed to growth and financial soundness?
6. Philosophy. What are the basic beliefs, values, aspirations, and
ethical priorities of the firm?
7. Concern for public image. Is the firm responsive to social,
community, and environmental concerns? What contributions the
firm makes to the communities?
8. Concern for employees. Are employees a valuable asset of the
firm? What are the importance of managers and employees to the
firm? David Abbam Adjei
Examples of mission Statements
We are a global family with a proud heritage passionately committed to
providing personal mobility for people all around the world. (Ford
Motor Company)
Our Mission is: •To refresh the world in mind, body and spirit. •To
inspire moments of optimism through our brands and actions. •To create
value and make a difference everywhere we engage. (Coca Cola)
To create lasting solutions to poverty, hunger and social injustice.
(Oxfam)
Google’s mission is to organise the world’s information and make it
universally accessible and useful. (Google)

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Benefits of Having a Clear Mission
a. To the Management and Employees
• Achieve clarity of purpose among all managers and employees.
• Resolve divergent views among managers.
• Promote a sense of shared expectations among all managers and
employees.
• Achieve synergy among all managers and employees.
• Provide direction for the managers and employees

David Abbam Adjei

b. To the company or organisation as a whole
• Provide a basis for all other strategic planning activities.
• Achieve higher organizational performance.
• To provide a basis, or standard, for allocating resources
• To facilitate the translation of objectives into a work structure
involving the assignment of tasks to responsible elements within
the organization

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c. To Stakeholders and outsiders
• Provide a focal point for all stakeholders of the firm.
• Project a sense of worth and intent to all stakeholders.
• Project an organized, motivated organization worthy of support.

David Abbam Adjei

 CORPORATE VISION
A vision is simply a shared mental framework that gives form to
the future of an organization.
A vision is simply a picture of what the company would like to
become.
As the word ‘vision’ suggests, it is an image of how the
organizations sees itself.
It is in most cases a dream, the aspirations the organization holds
for its future, a mental image of the future state.
Vision, therefore, specifies a destination and not a route.

David Abbam Adjei

Vision Statement And Its Components
Mission statements answer the question of “Who are we?”
Vision statements answer the question “Where are we going?”
A good vision should have the following general components or
attributes:
1. Powerful. The company should paint a clear picture of where it is
heading.
2. Be forward-looking and directional. The vision statement should
describe the strategic course that will help the company prepare for
the future.
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3. Concrete and focused. The vision statement should focus on
providing managers with guidance in making decisions and
allocating resources.
4. Flexible. This allows the directional course to be adjusted as market,
customer, and technology circumstances change.
5. Feasible. The path and direction should be within the realm of what
the company can accomplish. The vision should not be too generic.
6. Purposeful. The directional path should be in the long-term interests
of stakeholders. This means that the vision statement should not rely
on exaggerations.
7. Should be emotional and memorable. Ideally, vision should be
reduced to a few choice lines or a memorable slogan.
David Abbam Adjei
Examples of Vision Statements
General Motors’ vision is ‘’to be the world leader in transportation
products and related services’’
PepsiCo’s vision is ‘’to continually improve all aspects of the world
in which we operate— environment, social, economic—creating a
better tomorrow than today’’

David Abbam Adjei

Benefits of Vision statements
Vision statements play critical roles:
1. Communicate the purpose of the organization to stakeholders,
2. Inform strategy development,
3. Develop the measurable goals and objectives by which to gauge
the success of the organization’s strategy
4. Affects employee behaviour,
5. Serve as a coordinating tool, and
6. Useful in times of crisis.
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COMPANY GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
Mintzberg defines goals as “the intention behind decisions or actions”.
He indicates that organisation will normally have 4 key system goals:
1. Growth. Organisation will typically pursue growth in profits, sales
and customers in the future.
2. Efficiency. This is getting the greatest benefit in terms of output from
the given input.
3. Survival. Organisation needs to survive into the future in order to
achieve the other system goals.
4. Control of the environment. The organisation needs to adapt to
changes in the environment.
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What are Objectives?
Objectives are statements of specific outcomes that are to be
achieved.
Objectives are often expressed in financial terms. They could be
the expression of desired sales or profit levels, rates of growth,
dividend levels or share valuations.

David Abbam Adjei

Characteristics or Qualities Of Good Objectives
Specific—What exactly is the company going to do and for whom?
The “specific” part of an objective tells us what will change and for
whom in concrete terms.
Measurable—Is it quantifiable and can the company measure it? 
Measurable implies the ability to count or otherwise quantify an
activity or its results.

David Abbam Adjei

Attainable/Achievable—Can the company get it done in the proposed
time frame with the resources and support they have available?
The objective must be feasible with the available resources,
appropriately limited in scope, and within the activity’s control and
influence.
Relevant—Will this objective have an effect on the desired goal or
strategy?
Relevant relates to the relationship between the objective and the overall
goals or strategy.
Time bound—When will this objective be accomplished?
A specified and reasonable time frame should be incorporated into the
objective statement. David Abbam Adjei
Role of Objectives on Strategy
1. Objectives deal in the Concrete. Mission and vision have
some degree of vagueness. Concrete strategic objectives allow
everyone to agree on what, exactly, the company must achieve.
2. Strategy implementation guide. Objectives serve as a guide to
implement strategy. Performance are evaluated against
objectives.
3. Responsibility. Objectives are given to the managers of
divisions, departments and operations. This communicates to
them about the activities, projects or areas they are responsible
for.
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4. Integration. Good strategic objectives unify the activities of
everyone throughout the business.
5. Motivation. Management will be motivated to reach their
objectives in order to impress their superiors and perhaps
receive bonuses.
6. Evaluation. Senior management control the business by
evaluating the performance of the managers responsible for
each of its divisions, using objectives.

David Abbam Adjei

REVIEW QUESTIONS
Question 1
Write good objectives for each of the following statements.
a. We will be a leader in pharmaceutical innovation.
b. Customer satisfaction is our primary goal.
c. We promise on time delivery.
Question 2
Some firms publicize their corporate mission statements by including
them in annual reports, on company letterheads, and in corporate
advertising. What, if anything, does this practice say about the ability
of these mission statements to be sources of sustained competitive
advantage for a firm? David Abbam Adjei
Question 3
Which of the following are objective? Give your reasons.
1. A supermarket chain has a target of increasing its market share
from 20% to 25% within the next five years.
2. A fitness and leisure centre has set itself the aim of becoming ‘best
in the field’.
3. A telecommunications company has set itself the target of
reducing customer complaints in the next 12 months from 1.5% to
1% of its total customer numbers.

David Abbam Adjei

Question 4
N Airline operates in the short haul flight industry. Unlike many of its
competitors who are constantly seeking to reduce costs, often at the
expense of customer service, the foundation of N’s business strategy is
based on providing a superior quality of service. Its mission is to be
market leader, providing unrivalled customer service, in flight comfort
and reliability in the short haul airline industry. It views its customers as
central to strategic developments, and values its staff in building
success.
a. Distinguish between the concepts of mission and objectives.
b. Illustrate how the mission for N Company could be translated into
strategic objectives.
David Abbam Adjei
Question 5
The mission statement of C plc is "to provide our customers with a top quality
product at a fair price". Required to evaluate the usefulness of this mission
statement.
Question 6
Q Ltd is owned by three shareholders. They have stated their desire to improve
the profitability of the company and thereby increase their dividends.
Q Ltd has created a number of objectives to respond to its shareholders needs.
One of these is to ‘delight its customers and the world at large with our products
by the end of the next financial year’. One of Q's managers has suggested that
this does not meet all of the criteria for an objective. Do you agree?
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Question 7
JA plc is a publisher of both fiction and non–fiction books, a
market in which it faces significant competition.
It has recently published a new mission statement:
‘JA will continue to grow and innovate as an organisation, while
acting in a socially responsible way.’
For a future meeting of the Board of Directors, the Marketing
Director has been asked to prepare a presentation to discuss this in
more detail. She has asked you to help her by suggesting objectives
that could be used to help the company achieve its missions of
‘growth’ and ‘innovation’.

David Abbam Adjei

The Marketing Director has suggested that the only objective for
‘social responsibility’ will be the happiness of the workforce.
Required:
Recommend, with reasons, Two possible objectives each for Both
growth and innovation for JA, as requested by the Marketing
Director.
Comment on her proposed objective for social responsibility and
recommend, with reasons, an alternative.

David Abbam Adjei

Question 8
A mission statement describes an organisation’s basic purpose and
what it is trying to achieve. It can play an important role in the
strategic planning process. There is no standardised format for
mission statement. However, there are common elements included in
most mission statements. Discuss any five (5) of these elements

David Abbam Adjei