1. Mission and Vision Statements

2. Hierarchy of business aims
Vision-This is the desired future state of the organization
Mission-An expression of the overall purpose and scope of the organization which is in line with the values and expectations of the stakeholders
Goal-A general statement of the aim or purpose in line with the mission
Objective-A more precise statement of the aim in line with the goal. It should ideally be quantified if possible.

3. Vision statements
Vision is orientated towards the future, to give a sense of direction to the organisation. Vision statements try to answer the question. What is the business for? A vision for the future has three aspects:
What the business is now
What the business could be in an ideal world
What the ideal world would be like

4. Mission statements
Mission answers the question – what sort of business are we or do we want to be?
Mission statements describe an organisation’s basic purpose, i.e. what it is trying to accomplish. A mission describes the organization's basic function in society, in terms of the products and services it produces for its customers A mission statement should be brief, flexible and distinctive, and is likely to place an emphasis on serving the customer.

5. Elements of a corporate mission
Campbell (1990) argues that to be effective corporate mission must contain four elements:
Purpose ie what and for whom the company exists for.Why does the company exist? to create wealth for shareholders?, to satisfy the needs for stakeholders
Strategy; the range of businesses in which the firm seeks to compete and some indication of how it intends to compete. Mission provides the commercial logic for the company, and so defines, nature of business, product/services offered etc
Policies and standards of behaviour; guidelines which help staff decide what to do on a day-to-day basis to carry out the strategy. The mission needs to be converted into everyday performance
Values and culture; beliefs and moral principles which lie behind the firm's culture. Values for the basic unstated, beliefs of the people who work in the organisation

6. Advantages of mission Statements
Communicate the nature of the organization to stakeholders
Communicates the desired culture and behaviour
Focuses strategy
Providing strategic direction to the organization
Assisting in the resolution of potential conflict among different stakeholder groups
Providing a framework within which managerial decisions can be made
Assisting in the presentation of a clear image of the organization
Helping to prevent potential misinterpretations of the organization's ‘reason for being’.

7. Criticisms
Generally full of meaningless phrases (e.g. quality, best, etc).
May not be a true representation of the culture or goals of the organization.
Useless if it lacks detailed objectives and programmes for implementation.
They may be vague and therefore valueless
They may be unrealistic and not reflect reality
There may be inconsistency between different elements
They may be inconsistent with management action
They may lack sufficient external focus

8. Impact of mission statements on performance
Identity of the persons for whom the organisation exists e.g. shareholders, customers, employees
The nature of the firm’s business
Ways of competing such as reliance on quality, innovation, technology and low prices etc
Principles of business e.g. commitment to suppliers and staff, social policy etc
Commitment to customers

9. Corporate objectives
Objectives are set to help the organization control performance
Characteristics of a good objective
S – specific
M – measurable
A – agreed
R – realistic
T – time bound
A goal is by contrast a general intention such as to improve profits