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Examples of missions of enterprises in various fields of activity. Organization missions examples

In the article, we offer you a selection of missions of large well-known companies in the world's leading markets. The given examples of missions organization and manufacturing enterprises will help you to fully understand the meaning and meaning of this concept and will help to form the right vision of the business.

All examples of missions are broken down by key product groups and markets.

Retail brand missions

Walmart mission:"We help our customers save money to make their lives better"

Target mission:"Become the preferred shopping destination through innovative solutions, exceptional offerings, exceeding customer expectations."

Mission of The Home Depot:"To provide each customer with a high level of service, a wide range and competitive prices"

IKEA mission:"Improvement Everyday life everyone"

Amazon mission: "To create a space where everyone can buy anything they want online"

CVS mission:"Help people improve their health"

Mission of BestBuy:“We solve the unmet needs of our customers with the ingenuity of our employees”

Missions of IT and Social brands

Google mission:“It is convenient to organize all the information in the world and make it accessible and useful to everyone”

Microsoft mission:“Enabling everyone to realize their full potential”

Skype mission:"Become a platform for people to communicate in real time"

Mission of YouTube:"To provide quick and easy access to video content and provide the ability to share videos with each other"

Twitter Mission:"Instantly connect people everywhere"

Apple mission:"To provide students, educators, creative professionals around the world with the best personal computers through the use of innovative solutions"

Sportswear brand missions

Mission of Adidas:“Become the best sports brand in the world. never compare quantity with quality. The athlete always comes first.

Nike mission:"To bring inspiration and innovative solutions to every athlete in the world"

Umbro mission:“Excite and inspire. Let everyone love wonderful world football"

Asics mission:“Become the number one for sports enthusiasts. To achieve this, we promise to produce the best product, based on our technological advances, and push the boundaries of the body.”

Missions of food and beverage brands

Mission of Coca Cola:“Refresh the world, body, mind and spirit; Awaken optimism through our drinks and our deeds; Bring meaning to everything we do.”

Pepsi mission:“To be the world's best food company focused on ready-to-eat foods and beverages. In everything we do, we are guided by three principles - honesty, consistency and fairness.

Nestlé mission:"We believe that research and development will help make food better, thereby improving people's lives"

Danone mission:"To provide as many people as possible with healthy food"

Missions of B2B brands

Cisco Mission:"The company's software, hardware and services are used to create reliable networks that provide easy access to information anywhere, anytime."

IBM mission:"Lead in the invention, development and production of information technologies, including software, computers, information storage systems and microelectronics. And help with the help of advanced technologies to improve the business of our customers around the world.

Intel Mission:"Create and improve Computer techologies to connect and improve the life of every person on earth"

Mission of General Electric:“We exist to solve the problems of everyone on earth, be it a company or an individual”

Mission of British Petroleum:"Promotion of human progress through the manifestation of the following qualities: honesty, openness of transactions"

Ready solutions

We have a ready-made template with which you can easily apply the theoretical knowledge of this article in practice. You can download a sample for developing the mission of your organization or product in the section.

Mission - behind this word is something sublime in meaning.

What is the place of the Mission of the company in the structure of corporate philosophy? Why and how to formulate the Mission? Examples of Company Missions…

Company mission in corporate culture

In most projects, Mission Statement is almost always the first item. And we recommend starting with it.

The mission is a fundamental element of corporate philosophy. The mission reflects the purpose of the company's existence. The mission is important as an expression of the values ​​of the people who establish the organization. This is a kind of message to all individuals and groups, stakeholders who are interested in or associated with the activities of the organization.

Who are the stakeholders?

Stakeholder(English) stakeholder), interested party, involved party - individual or an entity that has rights, interests, claims or interests in relation to the company.

These groups (stakeholders) are:

  • organization owners
  • organization employees
  • organization's clients
  • business partners of the organization
  • local communities, state
  • society as a whole


Company's mission. Why articulate?

The mission gives the subjects of the external environment general idea about the organization, its goals, means, philosophy. Contributes to the consolidation of a certain image - an external function.

Contributes to the formation of unity within the organization and the creation of a corporate spirit, creates an opportunity for more effective management of the organization - an internal function.

Ideally, the Mission should reflect the following points:

  • who are your customers (for whom does your organization work);
  • what value your organization brings to the world;
  • What products and/or services do you offer (what needs does your organization meet and in what ways);
  • what values ​​you are guided by when making decisions;
  • what do you aspire to in the future (what do you want to see your organization in many years).

The need for clarity and "transparency" of the Mission lies in the fact that this provides the basis for creating a holistic image of the company. Its goals and ways of behaving in the market.

Particular difficulties with the formulation of the Mission are often encountered by companies with complex structure capital and management. Especially in Russia and state interests. After all, it is necessary to reflect the interests of all interested groups. And you will have to answer for the wording. So it turns out, most often, an indistinct slogan.

Examples of company missions. Company Mission Analysis

Within the framework we carry out the analysis of Missions various companies: what value message, in whose interests the wording works, etc. If the training is carried out before the development of the Mission of the company itself, then it is easier for managers to select the wording.

All examples given are taken from open sources in different times. Therefore, some of the wording may be outdated.

Ford Motor Company Ltd UK: "Our mission is to continually improve the quality of our products and services to meet the needs of our customers, allowing us to prosper in business and generate good returns for our shareholders and company owners."

British Telecom UK: "Providing telecommunications and information Services and world class products. To develop and use our networks in our country and abroad in such a way that we can:

  • Meet the requirements of our customers
  • To support the growth of group profits represented by our shareholders,
  • Make an appropriate contribution to the society in which we do business.”

Philips: "To improve the quality of life of people through the timely introduction of the latest technologies."

United Nations (UN): "Maintaining and strengthening peace, security throughout the world and developing cooperation between states."


A small practical task

How do you think, how will a company behave in the market and in relation to employees, whose Mission says something like "... extracting maximum profit from available resources in the interests of shareholders .."?

Company Mission Development

It is important that the Mission should be formulated by the owner of the company or a group of major shareholders. It is not recommended to entrust this work to hired managers. Would you trust a nanny (even with a higher education) to determine the future of your children?

The process of developing a Mission at a superficial glance is quite simple. Consciousness and formulation. Development of the Mission (formulation of the first version) can take about 3 hours.

Before formulating the Mission, we work for a long time with the owner of the company, clarifying life values. This helps to "tune in" to the founder/owner's personality. In the future, this helps to offer him the correct formulations.

It is more difficult when it is necessary to formulate the Mission in a group of founders/owners. In this case, it is often necessary to re-align the vision of an already established business.

In most cases, the development of the Mission occurs according to the following algorithm:

  1. formulating the meaning of the company's existence;
  2. formulation of "messages" to each group of stakeholders;
  3. combining all formulations in one to three capacious sentences, taking into account the meanings of all phrases.

What should be the mission of the company?

clear message- the answer to the question "Why does the company exist / what do we give to our consumer / why do we ...".

Orientation Whose interests does this Mission represent? To whom is she in more addressed to (who are the stakeholders)?

On the other hand, if you have a diversified company, an umbrella brand or a wide variety of target audiences, the directionality can be "softened". So that everyone finds something of their own in the Mission, but there is no clear protrusion of someone's interests.

Reflection of values— what are fundamental values ​​for us / what we do not accept.

Of course, the text of the Mission (if we consider materials reflecting the corporate philosophy) is not a substitute for the Values. But from the point of view of the entire corporate culture, the Mission is a value of the highest order, the quintessence of values.

Motivational potential- nevertheless, the text should be inspiring, giving the opportunity to join and find the meaning of participation.

How to write a company mission and implement it?

The task of broadcasting the Mission is solved in several ways. In some cases, the leaders of the company are involved in the development of the Mission (as a rule, by this moment we have the first draft from the owner in our hands). The tasks that are solved at the same time are the translation and involvement of management. This occurs during an organizational session or series of sessions. In some cases, the participants make, indeed, constructive adjustments.

Sometimes employees are involved in the formulation of the Mission - in small companies where "family" or immersion of all in a single ideology is important.

It is important not to write the Mission, but to make it "live", to involve employees. In many companies, the study of the Mission becomes part of the adaptation training. The company's values ​​should also be linked to the Mission. A Values ​​provide the basis for the formulation of corporate competencies, according to which employees are assessed and provided Feedback. Thus, the behavior of employees is adjusted in the paradigm of the Mission of the company.

To formulate or not to formulate? The question is, rather, to live or not to live in accordance with the Mission.

Well, at the end (at the very end of the page) a small gift for the lazy ...

Need to develop a Mission?

We help develop elements of corporate philosophy and manage corporate culture. You can invite our consultants to accompany your corporate culture project. Contact us now and we will be with you tomorrow!

The mission of the organization is the most important component of the strategic development plan of any company. The mission is the reason for the existence of the enterprise. Mission is defined in the process strategic planning, it is the main strategy of the enterprise, in accordance with which all other activities are built. Its adoption makes it possible to clearly define the purpose of the activity of this enterprise and does not give managers the opportunity to focus on personal interests.

The mission defines the main goal of the company. The company, as a rule, begins its activity with the definition of a clear mission, established by the top management. However, over time, the mission is gradually overwritten as the company develops new products and conquers new markets. To select a mission, an enterprise must clearly define who will be its customers and what needs of customers it will satisfy. On the basis of the mission, the goals of the activity are determined.

A distinctive feature of the mission is that it must be completed after a certain period of time.

The duration of the mission should be foreseeable and fairly short. As practice shows, most often this period is five years. This is done so that the generation of workers present at the adoption of the mission statement could see the results of their work.

Distinguish between broad and narrow understanding of the mission.

mission broadly is considered as a statement of philosophy and purpose, the meaning of the existence of the enterprise. The philosophy of the enterprise determines the values, beliefs, principles in accordance with which the enterprise intends to carry out its activities.

It is the purpose that determines the activities that the enterprise intends to carry out and what type of enterprise it intends to be. The philosophy of an enterprise usually rarely changes. Although it can change, for example, with a change of ownership. As for the second part of the mission, it may vary depending on the depth of changes that may occur in the enterprise and in the environment of its operation.

In the narrow sense of the mission- a formulated statement regarding why or for what reason the enterprise exists, i.e. the mission is understood as a statement that reveals the meaning of the existence of the enterprise, in which the difference between this enterprise and similar ones is manifested.

The position on the mission of the enterprise is the first step in rethinking the business. The mission statement is an expression of the vision of your business, your company. The mission helps to achieve clarity of purpose within the company, serves as the foundation for making all important decisions, introduces an element of obligation in achieving the goals of the enterprise, leads to understanding and support of the company in external environment in achieving her goals.


Achieving the strategic goal involves:

Improving the corporate governance system in order to create the maximum value of the Group;

Qualitative change in the system of relationships with clients - the introduction of a new ideology of working with clients based on a combination of standard technologies with an individual approach to the client;

Maximum use of potential international cooperation to promote modern financial services using external resource sources for the purpose of developing the business of the Group's clients;

Improving the Group's internal control and risk management system;

Security high level information and technology support for the Group's business;

Formation of a team of professionals capable of solving modern problems of the Group's development;

Implementation of further regional expansion along the path of maximum approximation to service users.

The main goal of any business is to make a profit. Often this goal is identified with the mission, but this is a huge catch for the organization itself, since in this case it is very difficult for the manager to distinguish the activities of his company from competitors and, as a result, count on a long existence.

Goals are set based on the following principles:

Concreteness and measurability;

Achievement and reality. Unattainable goals are not amenable to motivation, but the implementation of easy goals is poorly motivated, therefore, the goals must correspond to the abilities of employees;

Availability of deadlines;

The elasticity of goals, the possibility of their adjustment. This principle is especially relevant in our constantly changing environment.

In the conditions of market relations, taking into account the constant changes in the position of the enterprise itself, its competitors, intermediaries, buyers, forms of financing and the state of the industry in which the organization operates, the obligatory goal of the strategy is also to overcome risk or risk situations not only in the present, but also in the future.

The purpose of the activity is the desired state of the control object after a certain time. The coherence of the work of the staff depends on its correct formulation. But no matter how well the goals of the enterprise are formulated, they must be communicated to the staff, which often does not happen at our enterprises due to an insufficiently developed communication system.

Many companies develop formal mission statements. A mission statement is a statement of a company's main goal: what it wants to achieve in the broadest sense. A clear mission statement acts as an "invisible hand" that guides the company's employees, allowing them to work independently and at the same time collectively to achieve the company's overall goals.

The goals of the enterprise can be short-term, medium-term and long-term.

Short term goals determined for no more than a quarter or a year. This can be an increase in the assortment at a trading enterprise, and the sale of stale goods in certain deadlines, etc.

Medium term goals established for a period of one to three years. This is both an increase in capacity and an improvement in quality.

Long-term goals are set for a period of three to ten years. They may include the development of new markets, the universalization of production, etc.

After establishing the mission and goals, the enterprise can proceed to further activities.

Companies traditionally define their business in terms of the products they produce (“We make furniture”) or the technology they use (We develop software"). But the mission statement of the company must be market-oriented.

Defining activities from a market point of view is better than definitions from a product or technology point of view. Products or technologies sooner or later become obsolete anyway, and the basic needs of the market may remain the same forever. The market-oriented mission defines the company's activities, taking into account its focus on meeting the basic needs of customers.

That is why Rolls-Royce claims to be in the business of power, not jet engines. Visa provides not credit cards, but the opportunity for customers to exchange values ​​without even leaving their homes, to purchase almost everything and almost everywhere.

When defining the mission, the company's management should avoid two points: both excessive specification and excessive vagueness.

The mission should be:

Realistic.

specific. It should be suitable for this company and no other.

Based on specific features.

Stimulate. The mission is to make people believe.

The company's mission statement should reflect the company's vision and direction for the next ten to twenty years.

Companies should not revisit their mission every few years in response to the slightest change in the market environment. However, the company should redefine its mission if it does not inspire consumer confidence or conflicts with the best way for the company to develop.

At each level of management, the mission of the company needs to be translated into specific strategic goals. Increasing profits becomes the next main goal of the company.

Profit can be increased by increasing sales or reducing costs. Sales volume can be increased by expanding the company's share in the domestic market, developing new foreign markets, or a combination of both. These goals become relevant marketing tasks companies.

These goals should be as specific as possible. The target to "increase our market share" is not as specific as the target to "increase our market share by 15% by the end of the second year". Thus, we can conclude: the mission of the company determines the philosophy of the enterprise and the main direction of activity, and strategic goals are realistically measurable tasks facing the company.

The formation of the company's goals comes from an assessment of the potential capabilities of the company and the provision of its appropriate resources. In management theory, the goals of the organization are divided into general goals, developed for the company as a whole, and specific goals, developed for the main activities of the company's divisions on the basis of a general strategy.

General goals reflect the company's development concept and are developed for the long term.

There is a typical ranking scheme for general goals, expressed by formulating the general directions of the company:

Ensuring maximum profitability, with the existing set of activities, determined by the following indicators: sales volume, level and rate of return, annual growth rates of sales and profits, the amount paid wages, product quality level, etc.

Ensuring the stability of the company's position in the following areas: technical policy (expenditure on research and development new products), potential for competitiveness (reducing costs, designing new markets), investment policy (size of investments and their directions), personnel policy(provision of labor resources, their training and payment, etc.), solution of social issues.

Development of new directions of development, new types of activities of the company, which involves: development of a structural policy, including diversification of production, vertical integration, acquisitions and mergers, development of information systems.

Specific goals are developed within the framework of general goals for the main activities in each division of the company. The most important among them are:

Determining the level of profitability for each individual unit. Of paramount importance in determining the profitability of each unit is given to such an indicator as the rate of return on invested capital.

In comparison with the data of previous years, this indicator is the most important not only in planning, but also in control, i.e. planning and reporting and plays a decisive role both in setting goals and in evaluating the results and effectiveness of the company. Depending on the degree of centralization of management, profitability targets for each division can be set either at the level of top management or at the level of the manager of a subsidiary.

In the first case, they are determined centrally, but the indicators for each subdivision are differentiated depending on the specific conditions that develop for each of them. In highly decentralized companies, production units can set the rate of return for each product themselves. The indicators developed by them are coordinated with the highest level of management and are linked to the global goals of the company.

Other specific goals are developed after the definition of profitability goals and are in the nature of sub-goals, the achievement of which is an important step towards the implementation of the company's mission. Usually they are established by determining the directions of development in the respective functional areas.

In particular, subgoals may include:

- Marketing- achievement certain level sales in absolute terms or a specified share of sales in one or more market segments, the introduction of new products, determined by the number or relation to all manufactured products; measures to improve the system of distribution and promotion, expansion of the volume of technical services etc.

- in R&D- development of new products, adaptation of traditional products to the requirements of specific foreign markets; - improvement of the technical level of production.

- for production- establishment of normative indicators providing effective use these resources, the development of various programs: cost reduction and product quality control, production of new and improvement of products.

- in finance- determination of the structure and sources of financing, in particular, the share own funds in the estimated investment for the planning period.

Aims of affiliates and subsidiaries, usually formed by the parent company, are as follows:

Increasing sales and growth rates of the company;

Increasing the company's market share, increasing profits and especially the rate of return, the "getting used" of the branch and its contribution to the development of the economy of the host country.

The definition of the mission and goals consists of three sub-processes, each of which requires a lot of responsible work.

The first sub-process is to determine the mission of the company, which in a concentrated form expresses the meaning of the existence of the company, its purpose.

This part of strategic management ends with a sub-process of short-term goals.

Defining the mission and goals of the company leads to the fact that it becomes clear why the company operates and what it strives for. And knowing this, you can more accurately choose a strategy of behavior.

The goals of the firm give uniqueness and originality to the choice of strategy in relation to each particular firm. The goals reflect what the company is striving for. If, for example, the goals do not imply intensive growth of the company, then the appropriate growth strategies cannot be chosen, even though there are all the prerequisites for this both in the market, in the industry, and in the potential of the company.

In principle, there are two approaches to setting the objectives of the enterprise. The essence of the first approach is quite simple and well known to Ukrainian management specialists: to set goals based on the level achieved, adding, say, 2-3% to last year's figures. This is the so-called method "planning from what has been achieved."

The second approach to setting corporate goals is much more complicated, it involves breaking the goal-setting process into a series of successive steps:

1. Definition of mission (philosophy) of business.

2. Establishment of long-term general goals for the planning period.

3. Definition of specific goals (tasks).

It is believed that the main advantage of this step-by-step approach is that it forces the managers and specialists of the enterprise to comprehend what they want to achieve and how.

Mission is a business concept that reflects the purpose of the business, its philosophy (this term literally means« responsibility, role).

The mission helps to determine what the company actually does: what is its essence, scale, prospects and directions of growth, differences from competitors. At the same time, it focuses on the consumer, and not on the product, since the mission (philosophy) of the business is most often determined taking into account the consumer interests, needs and requests that are satisfied by the business. Therefore, the definition of a mission is closely related to marketing and involves answering the question: “What value can a company bring to consumers while achieving greater success in the market?”

To illustrate the concept of mission, two approaches to business can be compared: to open a hairdressing salon or a beauty salon for women. The second approach comes from consumer needs and considers the business more broadly, with the prospect of growth: today - only hairstyles, tomorrow - makeup, healing procedures etc. In this case, the business mission can be defined, for example, as follows: "We make women beautiful."

It is believed that the mission statement should be bright, concise, dynamic construction, easy to understand (often it is a slogan) and reflect the following aspects:

Range of satisfied needs;

Characteristics of the company's products and its competitive advantages;

Business growth prospects.

Surveys show that 60-75% of North American companies have a clearly defined mission. The leaders of many new Ukrainian companies also define the mission of their business. Let us give examples of the formulation of the mission of the company.

Company mission Xerox perfectly demonstrates the prospects for business growth - "From copier to the office of the future."

Other examples of missions:

- “We save your time and money” (Investbank);

- "One step ahead of demand" (firm "Nadiya", Kharkiv);

“We don't just sell equipment. Our main task is to offer solutions to problems for your business” (Plant of self-propelled chassis, Kharkov);

- “We do not just carry out transportation - we offer a transport service” (Southern Railway, Harkov city).

Mission of the organization

Organizational values

Type of values Categories of values Characteristics of goals
Theoretical Truth, knowledge, rational thinking Long-term research and development
Economic Practicality, greed, capital accumulation Increase, profitability, results
Political Power, recognition Total capital, sales volumes, number of employees
Social Beautiful human relationships, conflict-free, involvement Social responsibility, friendly atmosphere in the organization
aesthetic Artistic harmony, composition, form and symmetry Product design, quality, attractiveness
Scientific Scientific potential Patent and science intensity
ethical Consistency with the environment Ethics, moral issues

That is, the mission is understood as a statement that reveals the meaning of the organization's existence, in which the difference between this organization and similar ones is manifested.

Typically, the definition of the mission of the organization pursues the solution of the following tasks:

  • reveal area active action organizations and cut off development paths that lead nowhere;
  • determine the basic principles of competition;
  • work out common base to develop the goals of the organization;
  • develop a concept of activity that inspires the employees of the organization.

Mission objectives is a vision of what an organization should be or stand for. They should reflect the interests of all groups of influence or different groups of people, one way or another connected with the activities of the organization and involved in the process of its functioning (owners, managers, employees and workers, consumers, suppliers, banks, government agencies, local governments, public organizations and etc.).

When developing a mission, the following groups of factors are taken into account:
  1. The history of the emergence and development of the organization, its traditions, achievements and failures, the current image.
  2. Existing style of behavior and way of action of owners and managers.
  3. Resources, i.e. everything that an organization can manage: cash cash, recognized product brands, unique technologies, talent of employees, etc.
  4. , representing the totality of all factors that affect the organization's ability to achieve its goals with the help of selected strategies.
  5. Distinguishing characteristics of the organization.

For example, the mission of the Marriott Hotel Company is formulated as follows: "We strive to be the best in the world in providing accommodation and food for our customers by encouraging staff to provide customers with extraordinary services and to protect the interests of shareholders."

Following the above rules is very difficult task. This is one of the main reasons why not all organizations have well-defined missions, and some simply do not have them.

Organization goals

The main initial base for the formation of the goals of the organization - and innovation. It is in these areas that the values ​​of the organization are located, for which the consumer is willing to pay. If an organization is not able to meet the needs of consumers at a good level today and tomorrow, then it will not have a profit. In other areas of activity (production, personnel, etc.), goals are valuable only to the extent that they improve the organization's ability to meet customer needs and implement innovations (innovations).

There are six types of goals:

  1. Achievement of certain indicator values market share.
  2. Innovation Goals. Without the development and delivery of new services, an organization can very quickly be knocked out by competitors. An example of a goal of this type maybe: 50% of sales should come from products and services introduced in the last five years.
  3. Resource goals characterize the organization's desire to attract the most valuable resources: qualified employees, capital, modern equipment. These goals are marketing in nature. Thus, organizations compete to attract the most capable university graduates, retailers compete for the best location. outlets. As a result, the achievement of such results creates the prerequisites for the implementation of other tasks.
  4. Performance Improvement Goals. When personnel, capital and production and technical potential are not used efficiently enough, then the needs of consumers will not be satisfied enough, or this will be achieved through excessive expenditure of resources.
  5. Social Goals aimed at reducing the negative impact on natural environment, to assist society in solving problems of employment, in the field of education, etc.
  6. Purpose of obtaining a certain profit can only be established after formulating previous goals. is something that can help raise capital and encourage owners to share the risk. Profit is therefore better seen as more of a restrictive goal. The minimum profitability is necessary for the survival and development of the business.

Organization and Marketing Performance Indicators

The definition of activity goals and their evaluation are directly related to the choice of appropriate ones.

Very often, such an indicator is considered. In doing so, it is assumed that profit maximization- This the main objective organization's activities.

The following arguments are usually given in support of this view:
  1. Profit maximization is the formal goal for which an organization exists. The one who has invested is not interested in specific projects, but in profit.
  2. Profit is the ultimate reward for working efficiently and creating value for consumers.
  3. Profit is a simple and understandable criterion for evaluating the effectiveness of business decisions. This is the main criterion for choosing the best solutions.

When profit maximization is considered as the main and only goal of the organization's activity, then this approach should be considered simplified both from a theoretical and practical point of view. The organization seeks to achieve, rather than the maximum level of profit. Often this value of profit acts as a restrictive goal when formulating goals focused on consumers and innovations.

Profit maximization as an evaluation criterion when considering alternative strategies can be used as a first approximation in finding the best solutions. Other criteria should be taken into account in the subsequent stage of the analysis.

The choice of the criterion for the effectiveness of the activities of a non-profit organization

First of all, it should be noted that along with organizations that live off their profits, there are also non-profit organizations. The choice of a school or a hospital as a criterion for the effectiveness of the activity contradicts the very idea of ​​​​creating such organizations. However, profit can be one of the indicators of the effectiveness of the self-supporting component in the activities of non-profit organizations.

Below we will only talk about organizations that live off their production and economic activities, which will be called companies.

Despite the predominant use of profit indicators to measure business success, they have certain disadvantages. First, in practice, profit indicators can be manipulated quite easily and simply by managers in order to obtain falsified results. A variety of and, moreover, completely legal methods of depreciation accounting for inventory valuation, accounting for research and development costs, foreign currency transfers, and in particular many options for registering new acquisitions, can turn losses on individual accounting items into large reporting profits and vice versa.

Of course, companies that care about creating and maintaining a favorable image, first of all, proclaim missions that have a social sound and have a high attractive force for all groups of the company, and above all for its managers and employees. Without this, it is difficult to use such an important management tool as ( corporate culture). True, there is an opinion that the goals of the mission belong to the category of the so-called declared goals, "working for the public," and among the hidden, undeclared goals, the goal is to make a profit.

To a certain extent, this contradiction can be overcome if the company's goals are connected with the goals. Since the marketing plan directly sets the task of selling certain products in selected markets, the goal of such activities is to achieve the planned indicators of sales volume, profit, market share. At the same time, the priorities and values ​​of these indicators depend on the development goals of the company as a whole. Thus, the profit indicator naturally fits into the goals of the marketing plan, and the achievement of certain results contributes to the achievement of the company's more general goals.

Today, a company is required to be able to choose a multi-purpose perspective for itself and satisfy the needs of the most different groups interests. The main task management of the company is to reconcile these dissimilar and in many ways conflicting interests. Within a well-balanced company, the reconciliation of these interests is usually not difficult. One reason is that influence groups generally do not seek to maximize their interests, instead they just hope to get a satisfying outcome. In fact, leaders operate in the zone of tolerance. tolerance zone is the area effective functioning, within which the company satisfies the interests of all its key influence groups.

The second most important indicator after profit for many companies it is growth, turnover or value of assets. Some executives believe that there is a relationship between company size and marginal profitability. Until a company becomes a major player, they argue, it will be vulnerable to stronger competitors. Others point to a link between the size of a company and the pay of its executives.

That's why everything greater distribution finds a multidimensional, and not focused on 1-2 indicators, the nature of determining the goals of the company. As a result of this methodological reorientation, a multi-criteria approach to evaluating the performance of companies is becoming more and more widely used. So, Forbes magazine uses a 500 ranking system the best companies United States, including the following evaluation criteria: the average level of profitability over the past 5 years (their total market value and return on invested capital), sales growth rates, stock returns, as well as the absolute values ​​of sales volumes, net income and profit share in the price for the last year.

G. Ford defined the mission of the Ford company as providing people with cheap transportation. He well understood that the mission of the company should be focused on the consumer and primarily solve the problems of the consumer, and not the internal problems of the organization, such as ensuring profits, expanding the market, increasing sales, etc.

The mission of the famous company Eastman Kodak is: "Become the world leader in chemical and electronic imaging." Here we can see that the statement traces the company's main long-term goal of "becoming a global leader", but also specifies in which industry. At the same time, despite the fact that we know this company more as a manufacturer of photographic products, the company's management does not limit itself to only these products.

Matsushita Electric sees its mission as "contributing to a better quality of life by providing society with as cheap as water electrical appliances."

Considering this mission, we see that, on the one hand, it is quite specific, because:

the field of activity of the company is named - the production of electrical household appliances;

a global goal is drawn - improving the quality of life of society;

it is clear how the company is going to achieve its goal - supplying society with cheap electrical household appliances.

But at the same time

the aspiration of Matsushita Electric is formulated very broadly and implies the presence of a variety of projects leading to one global result;

the direction of development is also formulated broadly and gives greater freedom in choosing specific ways to achieve the goal.

The mission statement of Sun Banks, one of the world's largest financial institutions, is a prime example of a mission statement that is the product of careful and serious design. Sun Banks' mission is to contribute to the economic development and well-being of the communities it serves by providing citizens and businesses with quality banking services in a manner and to the extent that is consistent with high professional and ethical standards, providing fair and appropriate returns to company shareholders, and fair relationship with company employees.

Another example of a successful (according to the author) mission is the mission of Reyter. It reads as follows: "Providing services to those who seek to improve the management system of their company is our only business, customer satisfaction is our main goal." In the statement of the mission, the company does not limit itself to a certain set of clients, but is ready to provide its services to all those who need it, with the maximum benefit for the consumer.

Despite the fact that Russian companies are just beginning to realize the importance of a mission to the functioning of organizations, many companies do have a mission statement. As an example, here are a few excerpts from the missions of Russian companies.

Corporation "Dovgan" - "protected quality, protected health".

The mission of the consulting center for management and marketing is to "promote the economic recovery of Russia and gain its rightful place in the world market through the development of Russian entrepreneurship."

The Radian company - "providing the region with modern engineering and technical means of protection of the world's leading companies, complex solutions that combine: security and fire alarms, video surveillance systems and access restrictions to premises, as well as air conditioning and lighting."

An example of a differentiating mission is Nokia's mission: "By connecting people, we help meet the fundamental human need for connection and social contact. Nokia builds bridges between people - whether they are apart or face to face - and helps people get the information they need." It would seem, which of the things listed in the mission of Nokia do not do other companies producing mobile communications? Motorola, Sony-Ericsson, LG, Panasonic and other players in this market offer absolutely the same.

For example, Russian industrial company OAO Severstal, a Forbes-listed company, uses its mission to communicate to employees the company's key priorities and how it treats them and other stakeholder groups. As a result, if a company employee has a question about how to act in a given situation, whether it is worth looking for non-standard solutions or being content with long-accepted approaches to work, the mission provides answers to these questions.

Moreover, being big company with a branched structure, OAO Severstal invests in infrastructure development in the regions where the company's production is located, which is reflected in its mission and values. Such investments not only contribute to the development of the business, but also positively influence the dedication of the company's employees - thus they have the opportunity to feel part of something important and more than just the production of steel products, which they do not even deal with in life.

Severstal's mission: "To be the best partner for all stakeholders: to create competitive advantages for our customers, to generate growing and reliable demand for suppliers, to guarantee an attractive income for shareholders and a decent level of remuneration for the company's employees, to help unlock the creative potential of employees. Most Significant and priority standards of behavior in the company are reflected in the strategic values ​​of OAO Severstal: continuous improvement through unlocking the creative potential of employees, focus on results, team spirit, trust and honesty, willingness to accept a challenge, leadership, customer orientation, social responsibility."

Citibank Mission: We help people manage their money effectively.

EBay Mission: To provide a global marketplace where anyone can buy or sell almost anything.

Ford Motor Mission: We are a global family and proud of our heritage of providing personal freedom of movement for people around the world.

Mary Kay's mission: To enhance the lives of women around the world by providing quality products to customers, opening new horizons for independent beauty consultants and providing them with unlimited possibilities. career development doing everything so that women who come into contact with the company Mary Kay were able to realize themselves.

focusing stakeholders on specific aspects of their strategy and specific products, customer groups, markets, geographies, or ways to achieve business goals. The narrow approach is especially actively used by companies that at one time were the first to introduce some kind of innovation to the market, since it is this innovation that is their main goal. competitive advantage and strategic direction. Or, the mission is formulated narrowly, if the success of the company requires an absolutely clear understanding of every aspect of its activities.

Examples of a narrow mission statement include companies and organizations such as IBM, Polaroid, Starbucks, CIA, among others.

IBM Mission: We strive to be leaders in the invention, development and manufacture of the industry's most advanced information technologies, including computer systems, software, storage systems and microelectronics. We turn these technologies into value for our clients with professional solutions, service and consulting services around the world.

Polaroid's mission: To improve the instant photography and digital market to meet the growing need for people to capture the faces of friends and family, places that are dear to their hearts, and funny moments in life.

Starbucks Mission: To be the world's leading purveyor of the world's finest coffees while living up to our unwavering principles (a place of work that respects employees; cultural diversity; superior coffee standards; customer satisfaction; contribution to the local community; profitability) as the company grows.

CIA Mission: We are the eyes and ears of the nation, and sometimes its invisible hand. We achieve the mission in the following way:

Gathering only the necessary intelligence.

Providing up-to-date, objective and comprehensive analysis – on time.

By taking protective action against the President of the United States to prevent threats or to further US political goals.