What Are the Benefits of a Mission Statement to a Business Organisation?

What are the benefits of a mission statement to a business organisation?

A mission statement is the basic conception of a business organisation and the organisation’s reason for existence. It defines what the business dose and what the business wishes to achieve for their customers. In this paper I’ll take Google and Yahoo as examples, compare and contrast their mission statements. To analyze what are the benefits of a mission statement to a business organisation.

“A mission statement describes the organisation’s basic function in society, in terms of the products and services it produces for its customers”(Henry Mintzberg, 2003, p313) is defined by Henry Mintzberg, a renowned academic and author on business management. In addition, an effective mission statement should be clear, concise and precise, communicate the core of organisation’s purpose. Specifically, a good mission statement should describe who the target customers are, where the target market is, what products and services offers, what the key strategy of their business is, what principle and beliefs guide of the organisation has.

Essentially, there are two types of mission statements. One is customer oriented mission statement, it focus on customers, to satisfy customers’ needs and provide solutions for them. It provides more flexibility strategies for company. The other one is product oriented mission statement, it focus on product and technology rather than on customers’ needs. However, the customer oriented mission provides limited strategies for company, because most products have short life cycle and offer limited market expansion.

Google and Yahoo are two multinational companies focused on internet online business. They all support web search engines, provide internet related products and services. However, two different companies with two different mission statements. The mission of Google is to provide “To organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful”. In its mission statement, Yahoo describes itself as a company that is “To be the most essential global Internet service for customers and businesses”.

Comparing two mission statements, both of these missions are customer oriented mission statement type, which means Google and Yahoo focus on satisfying customers needs instead of particular products. These missions clearly define their target customers and their