Organizational mission encompasses the broad aims of the organization; it defines what for the organization strives. Therefore, the process of defining mission for any organization can be best understood by thinking about it at its inception. Truly speaking, an organization’s mission lies in the basic philosophy of those who create and manage the organization as shown in figure Key decision maker’s philosophy Visionary long- term concept of organization Organizational mission formulation Philosophy. Philosophy, in the context of management of an organization, consists of an integrated set of assumptions and beliefs about the way the things are, the purpose of the activities, and the way these should be. These assumptions and beliefs of those who create an organization (owners) and those who manage it (managers, specially the decision makers) become base for defining vision of the organization. These assumptions and beliefs are sometimes explicit, and occasionally implicit, in the minds of the decision makers. The philosophy of a person has its origin in two premises-fact premises and value premises. Fact premises represent our descriptive view of how the world behaves. They are drawn from research findings and our experiences. Value premises represent our view of the desirability of certain goals and activities.
Vision: Vision of an organization has a long-term orientation and is derived from organizational philosophy. Vision represents a challenging portrait of what the organization and its members can be in the future therefore, the organization should create projections about where it should go and what major changes lie ahead. Once the vision is established, persistent and enthusiastic communication of it throughout the organization is required so that various subsystems embrace it with commitment. Key decision makers’ philosophy and visionary long-term concept of the or-animation taken together define organization’s mission in the form of desires, beliefs and assumptions in the following form:
- The product and service offered by the organization can provide benefits at least equal to its price.
- The product or service can satisfy the needs of the customers not adequately served by others presently.
- Technology used in producing product or service will be cost and quality competitive.
- The organization can grow and be profitable than just survive in the long run with the support of various constituents.
- The organization will create favorable public image which will result in contributions from environment.
- Entrepreneur’s self-concept of the business can be communicated and adopted by employees and stakeholders.
- The organization will be able to satisfy the entrepreneur’s needs and aspirations which he seeks to satisfy through the organization.
At the initial stage, the above elements go into mission formulation. As the or-animation grows or is forced by competitive forces to alter its product, market, and technology, there may be need for redefinition of the mission. However, the revised mission will reflect the same set of elements as the original-like type of product to be offered, type of customer to be served, type of technology to be employed, growth of organization, favorable public image, self-concept of entrepreneur, and needs and aspirations of entrepreneur, though in modified form.
