Mission statements

Senior managers generally respond better to specific requests than to broad expressions of need. "First we need a mission statement" is likely to draw a quizzical expression and limited assistance. "The task group has developed this mission statement for your review and signature we plan to distribute it to all plant locations to kick off the effort" tells the boss exactly what you need and why you need it, and establishes that you expect to carry the ball. 

Vision statements that lack substance are easily dismissed as window-dressing. Once it s drafted, review your PSM mission statement critically for the Huff factor."... 

If your company is actively involved in industry initiatives such as Responsible Care , a formal mission statement may have been prepared that could be helpful as a guide. 

Group mission statements express more specifically the role and function of a given group within the company. In essence, a group s mission statement or charter officially empowers the group to take on a particular job. It confers on the group the approval of top management, and outlines the company s expectations for its performance. 

These kinds of mission statements, while not confidential, are generally intended for distribution within a company, not outside it. 

Mission statements and charters are often most useful when expressed in terms of job functions rather than of individuals, especially for long-term initiatives during which there may be turnover in the composition of the designated task team. 

An example of a group s PSM mission statement appears as Figure 2-5. 

Following Is a sample charter or mission statement, establishing a company s PSM champion and task group, endorsing their activities, and broadly defining their responsibilities. 

FIGURE 2-5. Sample Group Charter or Mission Statement... 

What is this team s mission A team s mission, or mandate, or charter, provides a capsule summary of its reason for being why it has been created, how it will operate, and what is its goal. While a formal team mission statement should be refined and adopted by the group itself (to assure members understanding and endorsement), you should have dear ideas in outline form to share and discuss with teammates. A sample of such an outline, and a more formal mission statement deriving from it, appears as Figure 3-6. 

Following are two versions of a PSM team s mission statement. The first Is a draft prepared in advance of such a team s first meeting the second reflects group consensus and is designed for dissemination to company employees. 

FIGURE 3-6. Sample PSM Team Mission Statement Outline and Final Version... 

Successful Quality Management programs usually have clearly defined missions and objectives. Of the organizations that have committed to integration, we have found no single example that meets our needs. The following mission statement and goals have been adapted from several sources. 

Figure 2.6 The EMEA mission statement and principal activities (reproduced with permission of EMEA).

A mission statement for RJR s Pharmacology Division identified optimum nicotine as a priority and outlined an integrated program of research to define the role of nicotine in smoker satisfaction and optimize nicotine as a product design parameter (R.J, Reynolds 1990b). 

A majority of interviewees, however, did not express this level of criticism towards NOBCChE. In fact, most interviewees viewed NOBCChe s role as sharply different from that of the ACS. NOBCChe s mission statement emphasizes... 

Establishes a statutory mission statement for FDA, which includes both the promotion of public health by taking appropriate action on the marketing of regulated products in a timely manner and the protection of public health by ensuring that regulated products are safe, effective and properly labelled. 

Developing a process research mission statement that embodies principles of green chemistry ... 

A complementary approach advocated by Covey (1992), would be to work on developing one s own personal mission statement, in which you set out your values md guiding principles for directing your life. You may be comfortable with neither of these approaches, which are only suggestions for your self-assessment. The point is to find some way of formulating your own sense of direction. 

Corporate agendas may be written down in the form of mission statements, corporate plans, action points, and similar documents. But ultimately agendas are a psychological phenomenon. They are the ideas and visions that managers carry around in their heads that provide the reference points against which decisions to do or support something are made. 

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