A mission statement is a brief description of an entity's fundamental purpose. It answers the question, "Why does our business (or nonprofit or government agency) exist?" The mission statement articulates the company's purpose both for those in the organization and for the public.
Learn more about how a company crafts its mission statement, what makes a mission statement successful, and some examples from major companies.
What Is a Mission Statement?
A mission statement is a sentence or short paragraph that defines the existence of a business, nonprofit, government organization, or any other entity. Mission statements get at the heart of why a company exists, rather than how it exists. In other words, a mission statement isn't a business plan that explains how the entity will turn a profit; it's a statement that defines the motivation for trying to turn a profit in the first place.
It's also important to avoid confusing a mission statement with a vision statement. The difference is that a mission statement focuses on a company’s present state while a vision statement focuses on a company’s future. A mission statement answers the question "Who are we?" and the vision statement answers the question "Where are we going?"
Examples of Mission Statements
Here are the mission statements of some well-known companies and government entities.
- Amazon: "Our mission is to be Earth's most customer-centric company. This is what unites Amazonians across teams and geographies as we are all striving to delight our customers and make their lives easier, one innovative product, service, and idea at a time."
- Tesla: "Tesla's mission is to accelerate the world's transition to sustainable energy."
- Costco: "Here at Costco, we have a very straightforward, but important mission: to continually provide our members with quality goods and services at the lowest possible prices."
- Internal Revenue Service (IRS):"Provide America's taxpayers top-quality service by helping them understand and meet their tax responsibilities and enforce the law with integrity and fairness to all."
- General Services Administration (GSA): "Deliver value and savings in real estate, acquisition, technology, and other mission-support services across government."
Note
Many mission statements change and evolve over the years. It's a good practice to establish a mission statement from the start, but be sure you consistently review it to ensure it expresses your organizational purpose as you would articulate it today.
How Mission Statements Work
The mission statement definition itself is often the result of group consensus effort, and writing a mission statement can be a valuable team-building exercise. Once formed, the statement can then be distributed as a quick way to describe the broad goals of the entity.
Note
Every business should have a mission statement, both as a way of ensuring that everyone in the organization is "on the same page"and to serve as a baseline for effectivebusiness planning.
Because mission statements are part of a company's public face, they are also often used in a company'smarketing. Businesses frequently include them in the bio section of theirwebsite, for instance. Sometimes, a company's mission statement even becomes the core of itsadvertising campaigns.
Properly crafted, a mission statement can lend a strategic focus to an organization and motivate employees to work together toward a common goal. Poorly crafted mission statements, on the other hand, often consist of the latest buzzwords or business jargon and have unrealistic or unattainable goals, which can negatively affect employee morale.
Having a coherent, realistic mission statement is fundamental to engaging your employees and fulfilling your corporate goals. You can work to improve the strength of your mission statement by gathering employee input during the crafting phase. That helps create a sense of unity and shared ownership in the mission statement. You can also explicitly recognize the talents and contributions of your employees in the mission statement.
Key Takeaways
- A mission statement briefly describes the goals and purpose of a business, nonprofit, government agency, or some other entity.
- As opposed to a business plan, which addresses the how of a business, the mission statement addresses the why.
- A well-crafted mission statement can inform marketing efforts and create a sense of unity among employees.
FAQs
Microsoft: “Our mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.” TikTok “ Our mission is to capture and present the world's creativity, knowledge, and moments that matter in everyday life.” Vivint: “Vivint helps families live intelligently in safer, smarter homes.”
What are the 3 parts of the mission statement? ›
What are the three parts to a mission statement? A mission statement includes what a company does, the organization's purpose, and/or what it wants to achieve, and its values or how it wants to achieve those goals.
What are the 3 main purposes of a mission statement? ›
Roles Played by Mission and Vision. Mission and vision statements play three critical roles: (1) communicate the purpose of the organization to stakeholders, (2) inform strategy development, and (3) develop the measurable goals and objectives by which to gauge the success of the organization's strategy.
What is a mission and vision statement? ›
What are mission and vision statements? A mission statement defines the organization's business, its objectives, and how it will reach these objectives. A vision statement details where the organization aspires to go. Why does your company exist? What do you hope to accomplish in the next several years?
What is a good mission statement? ›
Your mission statement should clearly express what your brand does, how it does it, and why the brand does it. You can quickly sum this up in your mission statement by providing the following: Brand purpose. What does your product or service do or aim to offer and for whom?
What is Nike's mission statement? ›
The Nike mission statement is “to bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world.” If we break this statement down, it is easy to see that the company's mission has three core components: bringing inspiration, creating innovation, and supporting every athlete in the world.
What is Chick Fil A's mission statement? ›
Chick- Fil-A Vision: “To glorify God by being a faithful steward of all that is entrusted to us. To have a positive influence on all who come in contact with Chick-fil-A.” Chick- Fil -A Mission: “To be America's best quick-service restaurant at winning and keeping customers.”
Can a mission statement be 3 sentences? ›
A good mission statement is concise. It should be limited to one sentence, though it shouldn't be too limiting as it should encompass the entire company's purpose. A good mission statement also focuses on the long-term goal it wishes to deliver to customers.
What comes first, vision or mission? ›
The first is a statement of vision. It provides a destination for the organization. Next is a statement of mission. This is a guiding light of how to get to the destination.
What are the key words for mission statement? ›
The average length of a mission statement is 29 words, with larger companies tending to choose longer statements. The most common words include “mission”, “value”, “customers”, “services”, “technology”, “help”, “quality”, and “products”.
A live connect with all the stakeholders in the ecosystem is created through a vital statement which is commonly known as Mission Statement of the institution. W2H meaning What, why and how. These are the basic three questions which are answered in a brief and pointed one, two liner or three liners.
What is a good vision statement example? ›
Below are a few examples of concept-based vision statements: BBC: “To be the most creative organization in the world” Disney: “To make people happy.” Google: “To provide access to the world's information in one click”
What is the Starbucks mission? ›
In everything we do, we are always dedicated to Our Mission: With every cup, with every conversation, with every community - we nurture the limitless possibilities of human connection.
How long should a mission statement be? ›
It's succinct.
A good mission statement is typically between one and three sentences long. As you can see, these statements differ in length, but they all fit this basic parameter. If the customer or employee wants to learn more about a particular aspect of the statement, they can find this information elsewhere.
What is your mission example? ›
"To use my writing skills to inspire and educate others around the world to make a change." "To use my gifts as a speaker to improve the self-worth of people around the world." "To inspire children to be more than they thought they could be." "To be a leader to my team, live a balanced life and make a difference."
What is an example of a good vision and mission statement? ›
Mission statement: Creating products to minimize human labor, so we can focus more on living and less on working. Vision statement: To reduce the need for human labor and create a more AI-focused labor force in the next five years. Value statement: Scientific study, innovation and cost reduction.
What is Apple's mission statement? ›
Apple mission statement is “bringing the best user experience to its customers through its innovative hardware, software, and services. ” Tim Cook, Apple's current CEO, stated this as the company's mission statement and included it in the 2018 annual report.
Which of the following is a good example of a mission statement? ›
Answer and Explanation: The answer is D) Develop and sell quality appliances worldwide. A mission statement is a broad declaration of a company's overriding aspirations, without the details of how it will get there.
