One of the first things that any observer of management thought and practice asks is whether a particular organization has a vision and mission statement. In addition, one of the first things that one learns in a business school is the importance of vision and mission statements. Let us first understand what Vision and Mission Statements mean.

Vision is a company’s apparitional description of what they would like to achieve or accomplish in the future. It is the desired future position of a company. A Vision Statement is intended to serve as a clear guide for choosing the current and future courses of action. Similarly, a Mission Statement defines the company’s business, its objectives, and its approach to reach those objectives. Elements of Mission and Vision Statements are often combined to provide a statement of the company’s purposes, goals, and values.

Above everything else, vision and mission statements provide unanimity of purpose to organizations and imbue the employees with a sense of belonging and identity. They spell out the context in which the organization operates and provides the employees with a tone that is to be followed in the organizational climate. They also specify the core structure on which the organizational edifice stands and to help in the translation of objectives into actionable cost, performance, and time-related measures. Finally, Vision and Mission Statements provide a philosophy of existence to the employees, which is very crucial because as humans, we need meaning from the work to do and the vision and mission statements provide the necessary meaning for working in a particular

In summary, coherent and meaningful Vision and Mission Statements go a long way in setting the base performance and actionable parameters and embody the spirit of the organization. It is for this reason that organizations spend a lot of time in defining their Vision and Mission statements and ensure that they come up with the statements that provide meaning instead of being mere hollow sentences.