Vision statement

Abstract

A Vision statement is a description or declaration of what an organization wants to obtain or accomplish in the future. This can be on a mid-term or on a long-term basis. A Vision statement can be used by companies, corporations, organizations, as well as NGO’s and non-profit organizations. A Vision statement is used as a road map for organizations, pinpointing where it should be heading and what the ultimate goal and vision is for the organization. It can provide guidance for employees, as well as give inspiration and motivation. Typically, a Vision statement is: concise, clear, oriented towards the future, challenging and very inspiring. In order to have a “good” Vision statement, it must be concise and clear, so that it presents an ultimate goal and can be remembered. It must be future-oriented so that it describes the state which the organization wants to achieve. Lastly, a Vision statement must be inspirational in order to be motivational for ex. employees, so that the necessary changes are carried out that result in the end goal. Many organizations have and use Vision statements. This article includes statements from organizations from different sectors, such as Tesla (automotive), Pfizer (healthcare and pharmaceuticals), Nike (retail) and The International Federation of Red Cross (IFRC) (non-profit). These Vision statements comply with most of the important points a “good” Vision statement consists of. Challenges of Vision statements are lastly included in this article. These include, but are not limited to: making the entire organization understand the vision, clearly communicating the vision and making a transition from one vision to another. The limitations of such a statement is thus, deeply dependent on how it is constructed, communicated to others in the organization and used by the management. However, Vision statements can play an important part for organizations and can give both guidance and motivation, as well as provide a description of the organization's overall goal.

The Big Idea

A Project Vision Statement is a description or declaration of what an organization wants to obtain or accomplish upon the completion of a project. The purpose of a Project Vision Statement is to show the direction of the project and the desired outcomes. Furthermore, is it to inspire the project team working on the project, as well as the projects different stakeholders.

Annotated bibliography

http://www.collegeofmanagement.mahidol.ac.th/research/images/VisionstatementsJBS.pdf