Vision, values, culture, mission,

aims, objectives, strategy and tactics

Vision and values

Values are a set

of ethical or
operating principles
and beliefs that
guide decision
making

A vision is a
motivating summary of
what an organisation
hopes to achieve. It links
the objectives with the
core values of the
business

Culture

Culture refers to the typical

way of working within an
organisation as demonstrated
by the behaviours of the people
that work for it

Types of business culture

Culture

Characteristics

Power culture

Power is held by a small number of people

Swift decisions are made

Role culture

Highly structured and defined roles

May be bureaucratic and lack creativity

Task culture

Based on team-working within groups set up for a

particular task
Can respond quickly to changing environment

Person culture

Trained workers are given the freedom to share

knowledge and expertise

Entrepreneurial
culture

Encourages risk taking and creativity

Failure is often accepted and learned from

Mission statement

A mission statement is a written expression of

the aims of the business

Mission statement

The mission statement draws together the purpose,

values, beliefs and non-financial goals of an
Organisation. For example:
Long term business success based on newly invented,
innovatively designed products James Dyson

Purpose of a mission statement

To communicate the business aims to

stakeholders
To motivate employees
To act as a PR tool to create an image for the
organisation
Develop customer loyalty

Aims

Aims are the long term goals of an organisation

to ensure customer satisfaction

to deliver shareholder value

Objectives

Objectives are medium term targets that act as

stepping stones to achieving the aims
to achieve a return on equity of 16%
to increase profits by 10% in 2013

Aims and objectives

Aims and objectives often relate to:

Survival
Profit
Growth
Providing a service
Market share
Customer satisfaction
Ethics and sustainability

Changing objectives

Organisations may change their objectives over time

because...
They may achieve their original objectives
The business has grown
The competitive environment changes
The market changes
Technology changes

Conflicting objectives

Some objectives may conflict. For example:

Profit and growth - expansion can increase costs,

especially in the short term

Providing a service and growth - smaller firms
may know their customers better than large firms
and therefore be able to provide a more personalised
service

Purpose of aims and objectives

To provide direction for the organisation

To form a basis for allocating resources
To be motivational
To monitor performance
To measure success

Setting objectives

The objectives that organisations set will depend on

several factors:
The overall aims
Analysis of business performance e.g. SWOT
analysis
Ownership public sector objectives are more
likely to focus on providing a service whereas private
sector firms may focus on profit and growth

SMART objectives
SMART objectives make it easier to assess if targets
have been met

Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Relevant
Time-framed

For example...
To achieve a 5% reduction in
labour turnover in 2013
compared to 2012

Strategy

A strategy is a long term plan by which the aims and

objectives are met.

Strategy

Strategies are medium to long-term plans for

achieving business aims and objectives
So...
Aims/objectives identify where a business wants to
be
Strategies show how it is going to get there

Strategy

Strategies consider the:

Financial requirements
Operational requirements
Human resources requirements for achieving the
aims and objectives.
The external environment must also be taken into
account when developing strategies

Strategy at different levels

Strategies can be developed for different levels within

an organisation:
Corporate for the overall business
Divisional for each area of the business
Functional departmental strategies for success
Individual often identified and developed
through an appraisal system

Devising business strategy

When devising business strategy firms consider:
The current situation SWOT analysis is useful
for this
The competitive environment Porter identified
Five Forces for analysing this:

Threat of new entrants

Bargaining power of buyers
Threat of substitutes
Bargaining power of suppliers
Rivalry among existing firms

Types of strategy

Firms can adopt different types of strategy. According

to Michael Porter, there are three generic competitive
strategies
Overall cost leadership - to maintain high returns
Differentiation to produce something unique in
the market
Focus on one particular market segment or
product

Tactics

Tactics are the shorter term activities that a firm puts

in place to implement its strategy.