Vision, Goals, Objectives

Background

In the Session Long Project (SLP) of MGT599, we will create a “strategic toolkit,” which once assembled, will allow you to undertake strategic planning and implementation projects in any organization. Upon completion of the Module 1 SLP, you will immediately be able to use your SLP to assess the mission and vision statements of any company. The goal of the SLP is thus one of skill-building – i.e., in each module we will focus on developing a skill for a different phase of the strategy-making process. Throughout this course, you should complete the SLP before you complete the Case. However, before you begin to address the SLP assignments, you need to read the background materials thoroughly.

Required Reading

Welch, J., & Welch, S. (2008). State your business: Too many mission statements are loaded with fatheaded jargon. Play it straight. Business Week, 4066 (80). Retrieved on November 6, 2012 from http://www.businessweek.com/stories/2008-01-02/state-your-business

Assignment

In this module, you will be learning what constitutes a good mission and vision statement. You will also be developing a list of criteria for evaluating such statements. You will then use these criteria to evaluate a corporate vision and mission statement in the Case. Finally, you will be comparing your two lists for commonalities and differences.

Keys to the Assignment

The key aspects of this assignment that you must cover in your 3-4 page paper include:

Step 1: Read the background materials and conduct additional research relative to writing mission and vision statements. You may rely solely on the websites in the background materials or supplement them if you wish. You will find that there are a great many opinions on what constitutes a “good” mission statement. Your job is to identify five criteria that you believe are crucial to devising good mission statements.
Step Two: Research the background websites dedicated to writing vision statements. Again, you may supplement them if you wish. Identify five criteria you think are critical to good vision statements.
Step Three: In a 3-4 page paper:
List the five criteria you have chosen for mission and vision (5 each). This can be a bulleted list.
Justify your choices. Explain why you think each individual criterion is important.
Critically compare the commonalities and differences between your two lists. Be sure that you address this requirement with appropriate depth.
Assignment Expectations