Vision Statement

Corporate vision is a short, succinct, and inspiring statement of what the organization
intends to become and to achieve at some point in the future, often stated in competitive
terms. Vision refers to the category of intentions that are broad, all-inclusive and
forward-thinking. It is the image that a business must have of its goals before it sets out
to reach them. It describes aspirations for the future, without specifying the means that
will be used to achieve those desired ends. A vision statement is sometimes called a
picture of your company in the future but it’s so much more than that. Your vision
statement is your inspiration, the framework for all your strategic planning. A vision
statement may apply to an entire company or to a single division of that company.
Whether for all or part of an organization, the vision statement answers the question,
“Where do we want to go?”

Warren Bennis, a noted writer on leadership, says: "To choose a direction, an executive
must have developed a mental image of the possible and desirable future state of the
organization. This image, which we call a vision, may be as vague as a dream or as
precise as a goal or a mission statement."

What you are doing when creating a vision statement is articulating your dreams and
hopes for your business. It reminds you of what you are trying to build.
While a vision statement doesn’t tell you how you’re going to get there, it does set the
direction for your business planning. That’s why it’s important when crafting a vision
statement to let your imagination go and dare to dream – and why it’s important that a
vision statement captures your passion.

Unlike the mission statement, a vision statement is for you and the other members of your
company, not for your customers or clients.

When writing a vision statement, your mission statement and your core competencies can
be a valuable starting point for articulating your values. Be sure when you’re creating one
not to fall into the trap of only thinking ahead a year or two. Once you have one, your
vision statement will have a huge influence on decision making and the way you allocate
resources.

Benefits of a Vision Statement

Makes it easier to define the actions and goals that will help you achieve your vision.
Acts as a yardstick against which you can measure your current reality and your progress.
Allows you to evaluate your values. If, for example, one of your values is honesty, you
know if you're compromising your vision by being dishonest.

Examples:

Tata’s vision: Our purpose in Tata is to improve the quality of life in India through
leadership in targeted sectors of national economic significance to which the Group can
bring a unique set of capabilities.

Dell: It’s the way we do business. It's the way we interact with the community. It's the
way we interpret the world around us-- our customers needs, the future of technology,
and the global business climate. Whatever changes the future may bring our vision -- Dell
Vision -- will be our guiding force.

The mission statement

The mission statement should be a clear representation of the enterprise's purpose for
existence. It should incorporate socially meaningful and measurable criteria addressing
concepts such as the moral/ethical position of the enterprise, public image, the target
market, products/services, the geographic domain and expectations of growth and
profitability.

The intent of the Mission Statement should be the first consideration for any employee
who is evaluating a strategic decision. The statement can range from a very simple to a
very complex set of ideas. Normally, the Mission Statement should represent the broadest
perspective of the enterprise's mission.
Mission Statements of Well Known Enterprises

The following are some examples of mission statements from real enterprises.
3M
"To solve unsolved problems innovatively"
Wal-Mart

"To give ordinary folk the chance to buy the same thing as rich people."
Walt Disney

"To make people happy."

Mission Statement should have a grand scale, be socially meaningful and be

measurable

A Mission Statement should consider including some or all of the following concepts.

• The moral/ethical position of the enterprise

• The desired public image
• The key strategic influence for the business
• A description of the target market
• A description of the products/services
• The geographic domain
• Expectations of growth and profitability
Industry Analysis

An industry is defined as a group of organizations that offers a similar product or class of

products that are close substitute of each other.
For example when we talk about automobile industry, we include all types of products.
At the second level we can define automobile industry in terms of products that perform
different functions, for example commercial vehicles, passenger cars and two wheelers.
If we take two wheeler segments, it can be classified as motorcycles Scooters etc.
Here these different products are close substitutes of each other as they perform similar
functions.

Industry analysis is a tool that facilitates a company's understanding of its position

relative to other companies that produce similar products or services. Understanding the
forces at work in the overall industry is an important component of effective strategic
planning. Industry analysis enables business owners to identify the threats and
opportunities facing their businesses, and to focus their resources on developing unique
capabilities that could lead to a competitive advantage.

Industry analysis can be undertaken by analyzing the following factors which determine
the following factors which determine the comprehensive nature of an industry

1. Industry setting
2. Industry Structure
3. Industry attractiveness
4. Industry performance
5. Industry practices
Industry setting: Industry setting deals with the pattern of industries in terms of their
stage of evolution and maturation as well as geographical dimension.
On the basis of this porter has classified industries into five categories:

1. Fragmented industry
2. Emerging Industry
3. Industries undergoing a transition to maturity
4. Declining industries
5. Global industries

Industry structure:-
Industry structure means the underlying economic and technical forces operating in
an industry. It consists of nature of competition based in number of competitors and
their roles and product differentiation.

When number of sellers and type of product differentiation are combined together,
there are five types of industry structure
1. Pure Monopoly
2. Pure oligopoly
3. Pure competition
4. Differentiated oligopoly
5. Monopolistic competition
INDUSTRY ATTRACTIVENESS

An industry is considered attractive that offers scope for earning profit if the relevant
conditions imposed by it are met to a reasonable degree.

Industry attractiveness is determined by the following factors:

• Nature of demand
• Industry potential
• Profit potential &
• Entry and exit barriers

Nature of demand:

The analysis of demand in terms of total market size in which the organization is
presently operating or plans to enter gives the scope of the present and future business.

• If the industry demand is increasing because of certain factors like increase in

population, increase in income, change in tastes, etc the industry becomes
attractive.

• On the other hand if the demand is decreasing either because of industry being at
decline life cycle stage, or because of substitute products. It is not attractive.

Demand may be affected by seasonal and cyclical phenomena. If the industry demand is
affected by seasonal and cyclical phenomena, it becomes less attractive.
Industry Potential:

Industry potential deals with the scope of business that it offers at present and in future.
In turn, this depends on the total industry sale potential. A high volume industry has
much more potential than a low volume industry because the former can accommodate
large number of players and capturing a large market share pushes the sale at high level.
E.g.:
In oral care industry, toothpaste can be considered as high volume
industry but that is not the case with tooth powder segment.

Profit potential:

Profit potential is related to the existence of possibility of earning targeted volume of

profit .Though profit volume is related to sales volume and both move together, it is the
rate of profitability that matters .

Generally industries like consultancy, information \ etc. offer higher profitability,

industries where product differentiations exist offer higher profitability as compared to
commodity industries.

Entry and Exit barriers:

Every industry has some entry barriers to new entrants and exit barriers to the existing
players. Entry barriers can be economy of scale of operation, investment requirement.
INDUSTRY PERFORMANCE

Industry performance is related to the current and future factors which determine the
performance of an industry vis-à-vis other industries.

Performance of an industry is measured, generally in terms of the following factors:

• Profitability
• Operational efficiency
• Innovation &
• Technological advancement.

INDUSTRY PRACTICES

Industry practices refer to what a majority of industry players with regards to pricing,
distribution, promotion, and research and development. These factors may vary from
industry to industry depending on the nature.

E.g.: Pharmaceutical Company spends more money on R&D

compared to fast –moving consumer goods industry. Thus, to analyze particular industry,
practices relating to the following aspects should be analyzed:

• Pricing
• Distribution
• Promotion
• Research & Development