Some claim that the main purpose of mission and vision statements is to motivate employees. Investigate and discuss this claim.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

For large, public corporations and N-F-Ps employees are a crucial stakeholder constituency. Students
should collect a representative sample of statements of intent made by enterprises (whether or not
‘billed’ as mission or vision statements) and subject them to a simple content analysis of words and
phrases that either refer to employees or, more likely, are likely to resonate with staff. The latter
include should statements of corporate values that enterprises increasingly seem to present to
emphasise employee concerns and well-being. For example when Cirque du Soleil states on its
website that:
‘Cirque du Soleil wants above all to take its place in society as a good citizen, with all the
duties and responsibilities that go with citizenship. Beyond philanthropic gestures, good
citizenship consists of an attitude of social responsibility at the very heart of all our
business strategies and management. Cirque du Soleil's citizenship principles are founded
on the conviction that the arts, business and social initiatives can, together, contribute to
making a better world.’
it seems reasonable to infer that it is sending a message to staff as well as the wider world
about the worth of its societal contribution far beyond its immediate entertainment activities.
The engineering company Invensys is even more direct when it stresses its “I want to work
here” culture, underpinned with five principles, namely, agility, innovation, integrity, courage
and meritocracy. The explanation of each quality refers explicitly or implicitly to its staff.