Questions and Answers

Questions and Answers

What is the role of mission statement in strategic planning?

Much of what we have learned about mission statements originally came from studies of successful companies, which typically have a strong sense of their mission. In retrospect, quite a few writers and consultants took this concept a bit too far by making the creation of the mission statement the central activity in strategic planning. The reality of the companies which have succeeded with strong missions is that those companies (such as Disney, Hewlett-Packard, and GE) succeeded by having strong missions, not by having mission statements. Thus, the role of the mission statement should be to capture the mission that is already there. If there is no strong mission, then a mission statement can assist in communicating the DESIRED mission, but experience has shown that this is something that is best demonstrated first and communicated afterwards. Most strategic planners spend far too much time on mission statements and far too little time on examining how the mission (often a vision of just one person) can best be brought to life within a company.

Shouldn't Strategic Issues be tackled during the Strategic Assessment rather than as separate activities?

Strategic Assessments is simply the exercise of placing market segments on a Market Attractiveness/Competitive Position matrix and considering implications for strategy. It's really just a tool for assessing the relative merits of your position in each of your core market segments.

The strategic issues discussion is intended to capture any questions that remain outstanding regarding the course and direction of the company. These issues can cover anything, and need not be confined to the core market segments. Strategic issues often cover questions relating to management of people, suppliers, political situations, technologies, the economy, and financial strategy, which may not be adequately covered in other parts of the process. The strategic issues discussion is an especially important way to cover non-market issues and issues that may be very specific to a given company.

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