Using your favorite search engine, research the mission and vision statements of different fortune 500 companies. Then, you will write an essay in which you compare and contrast the mission statements of two companies and the vision statements of two companies. You may use the same companies for both the mission and vision comparisons or separate companies. Within your essay, include the following:
- Explain the principle value of two vision statements.
- Explain the principle value of two mission statements.
- Compare and contrast vision statements of each organization in terms of composition and importance.
- Compare and contrast mission statements of each organization in terms of composition and importance.
- Do you think organizations that have comprehensive mission statements tend to be high performers?
- How do mission and vision statements assist in selecting an industry-specific strategy?
- Explain why a mission statement should not include monetary amounts, numbers, percentages, ratios, goals, or objectives.
Your essay should be a minimum of three pages in length or approximately 750 words, not including the title and reference pages.
Vision Statement of Wal-Mart (Fortune 1)
“To become the worldwide leaders in the retail industry.”
Vision Statement of Carrefour (Fortune 65)
“The ambition of Carrefour is to become the preferred retailer whenever it operates.”
Mission Statement of Wal-Mart
“To help people save money so they can live better.”
Mission Statement of Carrefour
“The mission of the company is to become the leading distribution groups through expanding hypermarkets, supermarkets, hard discounts and convenience stores.”
Principle Value of Two Vision Statements
The principal value of the vision statement of the Wal-Mart Company is the business expansion. The company intends to expand retail stores in different parts of the world and dominate in the presence of other retail chains.
The principal value of the vision statement of Carrefour is the quality of the product. Through the quality product, this company is looking to become the preferred retailer in the retail market.
Principle Value of Two Mission Statements
The principal value in the mission statement of Wal-Mart is low price. For Instance, the company offers products at low prices to target low-income people. It can help them save money.
Carrefour company contains the principal value in the mission statement is the effective distribution process to make high-quality products accessible to customers.
Comparing & Contrasting Vision is regarding Composition and Importance
Wal-Mart wants to become the retail leader in the international retail industry. Regarding the composition, it can be seen that the company management has come up with the precise and short vision statement (News.walmart.com, 2017). It can be easily understood and elaborate, as the main business or principal value is business expansion. The vision statement is important for the company, as all key stakeholders in the company understand the business expansion. In the retail industry, the company expands the business due to demand, or potential markets, and it makes the vision statement important (Efron, 2017).
Comparatively, Carrefour has also come up with the short mission statement. Regarding the composition, it is a little confusing for stakeholders. For Instance, the company could have mentioned a few elements that lead towards the customer preference. As compared to Wal-Mart, Carrefour indicates the intention towards the competitive advantage through the customer preferences (Vidalon, 2018). The company is depending on customers to become the preferred retailer. On the other hand, Wal-Mart depends on business management to expand the business. Regarding the importance, Carrefour is giving importance to different customer values in the vision statement; as through proposed values, the customer preference can be justified.
Comparing & Contrasting Mission regarding Composition and Importance
The mission statement of Wal-Mart is quite different compared to Carrefour. Again, comparatively, the mission statement is short, as it just indicates lower prices for customers. Making people live better is an attractive factor for business and customers. Conversely, Carrefour contains a long mission statement. It indicates the wide distribution system in different countries. Instead of indicating the customer in the statement, channelizing hyper stores superstores and hypermarkets is a good approach that makes it quite meaningful, as far as the retail trends are concerned. Comparatively, the importance has been given to the customer access and the distribution channels instead of costly and offerings.
High performance through Comprehensive Mission Statements
Yes, I think that the firm can contain high performance through the comprehensive mission statement. The comprehensive mission statement indicates several factors or possible initiatives that must be gained in the future. Through the comprehensive mission statement, the management of the company can make it meaningful for all key stakeholders. Business management can gain several insights from the long mission statement, and based on it, formulate different strategies (Denis & Vidalon, 2017). The form management can derive several options from the comprehensive mission statement that helps to improvise in the competitive market. It leads towards the high performance of the firm (Efron, 2017). Carrefour has been included in the fortune 500 companies due to its excellent performance in the retail market. The company is quite triggered by its mission statement, and therefore, it is giving the tough time to its rivals (Denis & Vidalon, 2017).
Formulating an Industry-Specific Strategy
Interestingly, the company management can articulate the industry-specific strategy through integrating with the vision and mission statements. For Instance, based on different insights derived from these statements, the company usually identifies different industry trends. Accordingly, the company formulates an industry-specific strategy. The example of Wal-Mart is quite pertinent (Efron, 2017). The mission is to help people save money. The industry trend is high-quality products at low costs. Thus, the industry-specific strategy of Wal-Mart is “Everyday Low Prices.” Therefore, it can be said that the mission and vision statement provide assistance to the firm management in making the industry-specific strategies.
Why monetary Amounts, Numbers, Percentages, Ratios, Goals, or Objectives are not important
Monetary amounts, numbers, percentages, ratios, goals, or objectives are not important in vision and mission statement. Normally, vision and vision statements are designed regarding customers and the market. Thus, showing numbers in the statements indicate the personal monetary interest of the company. It is better to make a customer or market driven vision and mission statements instead of indicating a possible financial benefits and objective. Moreover, customers are not interested in amounts or numbers, as they perceive the brand image through the proposed value in both statements.
References
Denis, a., & Vidalon, D. (2017, September 18). Carrefour’s new boss may close hypermarket stores in France: union. Retrieved from https://www.businessinsider.com/r-carrefours-new-boss-may-close-hypermarket-stores-in-france-union-2017-9
Efron, L. (2017, May 31). Why Wal-Mart Is Winning In A Losing Industry. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/louisefron/2017/05/31/why-wal-mart-is-winning-in-a-losing-industry/#5ccf5a9f44d5
News.walmart.com. (2017, October 10). Walmart Highlights Progress on Strategic Initiatives and Outlines Plan to Win with Customers and Shareholders at its Meeting for the Investment Community. Retrieved from https://news.walmart.com/2017/10/10/walmart-highlights-progress-on-strategic-initiatives-and-outlines-plan-to-win-with-customers-and-shareholders-at-its-meeting-for-the-investment-community
Vidalon, D. (2018, January 17). Carrefour warns on profit again ahead of strategy plan. Retrieved from https://www.reuters.com/article/us-carrefour-results/carrefour-warns-on-profit-again-ahead-of-strategy-plan-idUSKBN1F628R