Mission Statements

A Mission or Purpose is a precise description of what an organization does.
According to Wikipedia , a Mission Statement “ is a brief statement of the purpose of a company, religious group or organization”.The main intention is to keep the stakeholders, mainly the members and users aware of the organization`s purpose. For public commercial companies , the main objective is to upload the interests of the shareholders, whatever the mission statement.

The mission statement should be a “clear and succinct representation of the enterprise`s purpose for existence.” Among other things it should incorporate socially relevant and ‘measurable addressing concepts’ such as the moral/ethical position of the enterprise, reputation , the target market, products/services, the geographic domain and the expectations of growth and profitability.

It should describe the business the organization is in. It is a definition of ‘why’ the organization exists currently.Each member of an organization should be able to verbally express this mission.
The mission statement of an organization should be representative of the broadest perspective of the enterprise`s mission.

At other times one may also want to have a very specific grass-roots level mission statement. Some may view it as an opportunity to define their business at the most basic level.

Characteristics of a Mission Statement :

Ø It should contain a formulation of the firm`s objectives that enables progress toward them to be measured.

Ø A company`s mission statement should differentiate it from other companies. It should establish the individuality , if not the uniqueness, of the firm.

Ø A mission statement should define the business that the company wants to be in, not necessarily is in .

Ø A Mission Statement should be relevant to all the firm`s stakeholders. The stakeholders include its customers, suppliers , the public, shareholders and employees.The mission should state how the company intends to serve each of them.

Ø And most importantly , a mission statement should be exciting and inspiring. It should motivate all whole participation in its pursuit is sought. It does not have to appear to be feasible, it only has to be desirable.


A meaningful mission can act as a moral and corporate compass.It helps in making our decisions align with our goals and values.

Each person needs a mission for his or her life.The alignment of your life`s mission with your organizations`s mission is one of the key factors in whether you are happy with your work and workplace.If they are incongruent , you are likely to be dissatisfied with your choice of work and work-place.

As has been summarized by Laurie Beth Jones of “The Path:Creating your Mission Statement for Work and for Life” – “It is the key to finding your path in life and identifying the mission you choose to follow.Having a clearly articulated mission statement gives one a template of purpose that can be used to initiate, evaluate , and refine all of one`s activities.”

Few Examples of Good Mission Statements :

The Elephant Sanctuary: "A Natural-Habitat Refuge Where Sick, Old and Needy Elephants Can Once Again Walk The Earth In Peace and Dignity." One powerful statement that evokes emotion and instant attachment to the cause of this organization.
Sun Microsystems: "Solve complex network computing problems for governments, enterprises, and service providers." A simple mission statement identifying who their market is and what they do.
Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream: A product mission stated as: "To make, distribute & sell the finest quality all natural ice cream & euphoric concoctions with a continued commitment to incorporating wholesome, natural ingredients and promoting business practices that respect the Earth and the Environment." This mission inspired Ben and Jerry to build a cause-related company.

REFERENCES :

1) Wikipedia , Mission Statement . Retrieved on 9th September 2008 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mission_statement

2) Tim Berry , Writing a Mission Statement . Retrieved on 9th September 2008 from http://articles.bplans.com/index.php/business-articles/writing-a-business-plan/writing-a-mission-statement/

3) Ackoff , E. l., (1986). Management in Small Doses, Wiley, NY . Retrieved on 9th September from Effective Mission Statements.

Outcome Mapping

What exactly is this Outcome Mapping and how does it fit into the Corporate Planning context ?

First, we need to understand what Outcomes are ; according to the Oxford Dictionary an Outcome is “a final product or end result; consequence; issue” or “ a conclusion reached through a process of logical thinking”. Both of these definitions place the relevance of Outcomes firmly in every planning procedure, be it a formal or an informal one. Every planning process is undertaken in a bid to achieve a favourable or desired outcome.

Outcome Mapping , introduced by Sarah Earl from the International development Research Centre (IRDC) - a Canadian organization which supports a wide range of development research , is an offshoot of Outcome Engineering which has been conceptualized and is being worked upon by Dr. Barry Kibel , of the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation.

Outcome Mapping is basically a methodology which “characterizes and assesses the contributions development programs make to the achievement of outcomes”.It can be used at the program, project or organizational level. It still is a work-in-progress methodology which is being tweaked and refined by many development researchers around the globe.

This methodology essentially focuses on one specific type of a result : an Outcome of any behavioural change. “Outcomes are defined as changes in the behaviour , relationships, activities, or actions of the people, groups and organizations with whom a program works directly.” Every development project is undertaken with an objective or goal in mind. And for every such project some favourable outcomes are earmarked or atleast thought of. These outcomes may not be necessarily directly caused by a program`s activities , but it can be safely assumed that they are “logically linked” to these activities. These behavioural changes are aimed at contributing to specific aspects of human ecological well-being by providing partners with new tools, techniques, and resources to contribute to the development process. The partners are known as ‘boundary partners’.They are somewhat like the ‘actors’ of this process model of Outcome Mapping.they can be individuals , groups of individuals or organizations as a whole who interact with the program directly and “from whom the program anticipates opportunities for influence”.
Generally, most of the activities involve multiples outcomes which are brought about by the presence of multiple boundary partners. These actors are the agents who control change and are expected to facilitate the development process by bringing in fresh ideas, resources, alternative channels and different perspectives into the activity. When a program uses Outcome Mapping it does not claim the achievement of development impacts ; rather the focus is on its contributions to outcomes.These outcomes , in turn , enhance the possibility of development impacts. The way I personally see it , it is loosely like a feedback loop – the impacts contribute to the outcomes , and the outcomes in-turn enhance the possibility of these impacts.

Development is essentially about “people relating to each other and their environments” ; hence the basic premise of Outcome Mapping is on people. The uniqueness of the methodology lies in the fact that it shifts away from assessing the developmental impact of a program towards changes in the behaviours, relationships, actions or activities of the people, groups and organizations with whom a development program works directly.This shift significantly alters the way a program understands its goals and assesses its performance and results. At the core of its very existence lies the fact that development is achieved by the people and for the people ; which is infact the “central concept of Outcome Mapping.”

Stages of Outcome Mapping :

Stage 1 : Intentional Design
In this stage the boundary partners adopt a birds-eye view of the whole as-is system. This stage helps a program clarify and reach consensus on the macro-level changes it would like to support and to plan the strategies it would like to use. This is brought about by asking a number of questions like – “ Why ? (what is the vision to which the program wants to contribute?) ; Who ? (Who are the program`s boundary partners?) ; What ? (What are the changes that are being sought ? ); and How ? (How will the program contribute to the change process?).

Stage 2 : Outcome and Performance Monitoring
This stage provides a framework for ongoing monitoring of the program`s actions in support of its boundary partners’ progress towards the achievement of outcomes. It uses ‘progress markers’ which are nothing but a set of graduated indicators of behavioural change identified in Stage 1 , to clarify directions with boundary partners and to monitor outcomes (Outcome Journal). It also uses a Strategy Jounal (to monitor strategies and activities) and a Performance Journal (to monitor organizational practices) to complete a performance monitoring framework. This framework in turn provides the program the opportunity and tools both to reflect on and improve performance and to collect data on the results of its work with its boundary partners.

Stage 3: Evaluation Planning
This stage helps the program decide upon evaluation priorities, so that it can channelise the findings into resources and activities where they would be most useful. The document obtained at the end of this stage is an Evaluation Plan which “outlines the main elements of the evaluations to be conducted.”

Outcome Mapping , very simply put , is a set of guidelines meant for development programs to plan for and evaluate the capacities that they aim to or are already in the process of , helping to build in the “people, groups and organizations who will ultimately be responsible for improving the well-being of their communities.”

REFERENCES :

1) Haylock, Laura , Amy Etherington , Elizabeth Marshall , Suzzane Taylor, Allan Dove ( 10/05/2005) Outcome Mapping - Framework . Retrieved on 9th of September 2008 from http://www.idrc.ca/en/ev-27710-201-1-DO_TOPIC.html

2) Participatory Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation (n.d) Methodologies and Approaches - Outcome Mapping . Retrieved on 9th of September 2008 from http://portals.wi.wur.nl/ppme/?Outcome_mapping