■ Introduction
Before an organisation starts to make judgements about how it is going to
compete, fundamental decisions about the organisation’s overall method
of operation and the areas it wishes to serve have to be articulated. A con-
scious statement of the primary direction and purpose of the organisation
has to be the key foundation upon which objectives and strategy are
based. This rationale behind the company’s existence usually comes in the
form of a mission statement and is meant to act as a guiding light to all
personnel within the organisation.
■ Mission
The mission of the organisation is the unique purpose that distinguishes it
from other companies and defines the boundaries of its operations. The
mission statement is a proclamation of the organisation’s primary object-
ive that encapsulates its core values. The organisation’s aims and aspir-
ations are the result of a series of influences (see Figure 7.1).
There are four major sources of influence acting upon the core meaning
behind an organisation’s existence. Johnson and Scholes (1999) refer to
these as:
1 Corporate governance: To whom should the organisation be accountable
and within what regulatory framework should executive decisions be
overseen and reviewed? With any organisation these issues which
relate to accountability, will have an influence on the overall direction
of the institution. Some groups that the organisation is meant to serve,
such as small shareholders, can be very removed from the managers
actually running the company. Thus the regulatory framework acts to
constrain management freedom and protect the rights of stakeholders.
2 Stakeholders: Stakeholders in an organisation include such groups as
customers, suppliers, shareholders, employees, financiers and the wider
social community. In reality even operating within the corporate gov-
ernance framework, organisations may be inclined to further the
An organisation has to have key objectives that define the aims that any strategy attempts to
fulfil, this is the realm of strategic intent. This chapter explores the issues surrounding an
organisation’s mission, goals and objectives. The hierarchy of objectives in an organisation is
discussed, as is the use of the balanced scorecard approach.