the vision and vision

7/30/2019 The Vision and Vision

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The Vision and Vision

"After many years of research, a plethora of books and articles on the subject, and nearly a

decade of being the genesis of most strategy sessions with companies, we still find that the

concepts of Vision, Purpose and Mission are open to a wide variety of interpretations"(Murphy,1997 ).This debate has been further complicated by best selling authors, Gary Hamel

and C. K. Prahalad, in their Harvard Business Review article "Strategic Intent".

An inspection of recent research reports and textbooks on Strategy, Vision and Mission, such as,Thompson and Strickland, 1997, Snyder et al., 1994, Campbell et al., 1990, Quigley, 1993,

SANNO Management Development Research Centre, 1993, to name a few, would seem to

substantiate the above statement by Murphy.

Purpose of Vision

Why does the company exist? Who should benefit most from all the effort that is put into the company? Why should a manager or an employee do more than the minimum required? Who owns the company?

These questions are deeply philosophical and spiritual, sometimes evoking long and acrimonious

debate.

The debate appears to resolve itself into three broad categories that vary from the materialistic

and selfish at one end of the spectrum to the more altruistic at the other.

Firstly, there are those who claim that the company exists for the benefit of the owner orshareholders. "Maximisation of shareholders' value" is a phrase often quoted by managers and

academics that hold this viewpoint. (See Rappaport, 1986 )

Most managers and academics, however, have rejected this single - minded approach. They donot believe that the company's only purpose is to create wealth for the owners or shareholders.

They acknowledge the claims of other stakeholders such as customers, employees, suppliers and

the community. The second view of the company's purpose, therefore, is that it exists to satisfyin more than a material sense all its stakeholders. (Stakeholder theory: Pearce and Robinson,

1991)

The third viewpoint aims at identifying a purpose that is greater than the combined needs of thestakeholders, and something to which all the stakeholders can feel proud to contribute. They aim

towards a higher ideal. At The Body Shop, a retailer of cosmetics, the managers promote

"products that do not hurt the environment". Matsushita maintain they only manufactureproducts that will enhance the quality of life of the Japanese people. It is clear that, in these

companies, each stakeholder can feel that the company supports some goal at a level higher than

the monetary, a goal which reaches out to a wider audience, and even to society as a whole.


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Warren Bennis and Burt Nanus, authors of "Leaders: The Strategies for Taking Charge", identify

Vision as a concept central to their theory of leadership. "To choose a direction, a leader must

first develop a mental image of a possible and desirable future state of the organisation. This

image, which we call vision, may be as vague as a dream or as precise as a goal statement.

The critical point is that Vision articulates a credible, realistic attractive future for theorganisation". (Own emphasis)

Robert H. Miles, in an article entitled "Corporate Transformation", states that all successfultransformations are Vision led. He defines Vision in the following way: "It requires projection

into a dimly outlined future.It requires the creation of goals that stretch the organisation beyond

its current comprehension and capabilities". (Own emphasis)

Stephen R. Covey stresses the symbiotic relationship between Vision and Values in an article

called Ethical Vertigo published in Executive Excellence, 1997.

The Book of Proverbs warns us: "Where there is no Vision, people will perish", while MartinLuther King demonstrated the power of Vision when he immortalised his Vision with the words,"I have a dream", and unleashed forces that changed a nation.

Quigley (1994) defines corporate values as "the rules or guidelines by which a corporationexhorts its members to behaviour consistent with its order, security, and growth ... Values and

beliefs are the most fundamental of the three elements of Vision". (Own emphasis)

It is true to say that most Vision statements express an element of ambition. Whether it is to be

"bigger than", to "go from number two to number one", or even "to be the best", an element of

achievement is always present. Komatsu set out to "encircle" Caterpillar (David vs Goliath):

Canon sought to "Beat Xerox": Panasonic has "the quest for zero defect", while Cray Computers"manufactures the best computers in the world".

It is obvious from the discussion so far that a Vision is more than unfettered ambition or being

future oriented. It incorporates cultures, beliefs, value systems and a myriad of force fields. To

better clarify our thoughts on this, we must digress temporarily into the field of neuroscience.

The following is a direct quote from Zohar (1997) "Today neuroscience teaches that from the

moment of conception we are born with sufficient neural connections to regulate our breathing,our body temperature and the beating of our heart, but nearly everything else is pure potentiality.

What diet we will be fed, what climactic conditions and germs we will encounter, what language

we will be exposed to - all these and much more are uncertain at the moment of birth". So, theinfant brain is genetically hard wired and activated. The interaction between the infant and theenvironment {stimuli} enables the brain to adapt to whatever physical and cultural conditions it

finds. It allows the brain to wire itself, as it evolves, in accordance with its experience". In effect,

the human operating system is operational, but no application programmes have been installedyet.


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"Experiments on the language learning abilities of human infants, based on the recorded sounds

that infants make in the first months after birth, reveal that every human infant, regardless of

where on this planet it is born, utters the approximately eight hundred sound patterns found inthe totality of all human languages. The infant's brain has the capacity to range freely across the

spectrum of all the possible linguistic sounds. Yet, within the first year of its life, the infant

singles out those sound patterns relevant to the language of its own culture. It lays down neuralpathways for the recognition and use of those sounds - it wires its brain according to itsenvironment - and loses the ability to recognise and use those sounds not used by the

surrounding culture. The infant constructs its world at a wonderfully rapid rate. The infant must

grow new neural connections in its brain if it is to have a world.

In Western cultures, most young people of 16 or 18 years, or, in their early twenties if they

continued with higher education, have grown enough neural connections to 'coast' for the rest oftheir lives. In short, they have wired in their basic life's paradigm." Zohar (1997).

If we hypothesise that the new - born organisation can be equated with an infant (the analogy

between biological systems, quantum physics and business systems have received increasingattention in recent years - for example, in "Leadership and the New Science" by Margaret

Wheatly, in "Rewiring the Corporate Brain" by Danah Zohar and in "The Quark and the Jaguar"by Murray Gell - Mann), then it is reasonable to apply the conclusions drawn above with regard

to the hard and soft wiring of the infant brain, to a business organisation. It is probable that the

new - born organisation similarly constructs its world at a very rapid rate in terms of the

environment in which it is enmeshed. However, the institutionalisation of the paradigm must, ofnecessity, go through the same growth cycle, i.e., infancy, childhood, puberty, adolescence, and

maturity. The organisational life cycle can, of course, be equated with this. We postulate, from

this, that the paradigm of the organisation will be embedded by the end of the embryonic or earlygrowth phase of the organisation.

In practical terms, this means that the newly formed business will rapidly create and construct alanguage, a culture, and a belief and value system that are a derivative of the environment.

1. as defined by the leader or founder,2. the social and ethical values of the society (the business environment) and3. any other force fields that interface or interact with the infant organisation.

A vision helps unite people towards a purpose. Creating and living a vision is the role of leaders

in organisations. They have to espouse it and help others to believe it.

Visions are aesthetic and moral, they come from within as well as outside.

According to Disney, a successful vision accomplishes six goals:

gives a sense of the future guides decision making and strategy creates a shared purpose provides guidelines that determine behaviour


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inspires emotion connects to values

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 theimage 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.

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.

Mission

A mission statement is a unifying statement of what an organisation is in business to do. It is a

key reference point in the planning and implementation of change.

A mission statement is a description of the organisation's key purposes.

A mission statement describes the purpose of an organization. It explains the reason for existence

also fondly referred to in this French phrase as raison detre.An organisations mission starts

bringing more perspective by way of narrowing down from the broader vision. Another strikingdifference between a mission and a vision is that the mission focuses on the present while the

vision looks at the future.

The link being that it is the desire for a better future (vision) that is motivating the organisationand individuals to perform their mission today.

Different practitioners approach the process of mission development differently. This also means

there are various tools and schools of thought available that are used in the development of amission. Here we will debate using one selected technique

We shall tackle what I consider fundamental questions whose responses provide elements ofwhat would constitute a mission statement. The first question, Whoare we? brings out issues

of identity. It is important that a mission statement should indicate the identity of an

organisation. This helps the members of the organisation to clarify their own understanding of

the organisation they are working for. It also begins to bring in the uniqueness of that particularorganisation. An organisations uniqueness is a key selling point, whether in profit or non-for-

profit sector. The second question tackles the issue of servicewhat do we do? An organisation

has to be clear of what services it is or it is not providing. This helps the organisation in terms ofidentifying its strategic position and relevant networks; relevant funding sources (in case of non

profit organisations); the general legal and policy framework that it has to be familiar

with in that sector etc.
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Strategic Planning

Strategic Planning

Strategic planning is a very useful process when determining or changing the basic thrust of ones

laboratory business. It is different from operational business planning on two important fronts: first, it is

built on an assessment of the external as well as the internal environments (SWOT analysis) and,

second, it is the purview of senior laboratory management. We customize our approach to strategic

planning to best suit a particular clients needs and situations.


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Environmental AssessmentWe conduct a laboratory industry assessment and synthesize the data into useful information for

planning purposes. Laboratory industry assessments usually include marketplace assessment,

competitor assessment, technology assessment, economic assessment, and

government/regulatory assessment. External opportunities and threats are characterized and

profiled.

Internally the operation is assessed on the following parameters: management abilities and

effectiveness, productivity, cost effectiveness, appropriateness of scope of services, customer

satisfaction, employee satisfaction, safety, and quality. Output from this internal assessment

includes a summary of the organizations strengths and weaknesses.

Group Facilitation

We work with your planning team to facilitate the development of the new organizational

mission, vision and guiding principles based on findings and conclusions from the environmental

assessment.

To fill the gap between current state and the future state vision, both positioning and

performance strategies are developed and augmented with the appropriate business cases to

ensure implementation proceeds as desired.

Simply put, strategic planning is clarifying the overall purpose and desired results of anorganization, and how those results will be achieved.

There are different ways to do that planning, depending on the purpose(s) of the planning, the

life cycle or stage of development of the organization, the culture of people in the organization,


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types of issues the organization is currently facing, and the rate of change in the external

environment of the organization.

For example, many people use vision-based or goals-based planning, in which they clarify the

results they want to achieve in the future. They develop a vision of what the organization and its

customers or clients will look like at some point in the future, and then articulate what they haveto do to achieve that vision. They work from the future to the present.

Unfortunately, many people believe thats the only way to do strategic planning. Thats wrong.Another form of planning is issues-based planning, which clarifies current issues that the

organization must soon address and how it will address them. Issues-based planning works from

the present to the future. Issues-based planning is usually a shorter term planning and often isfocused primarily ( but not exclusively) on internal matters.

Model One - Vision-Based or Goals-Based Strategic Planning

This very basic process is typically followed by organizations that are extremely small, busy, andhave not done much strategic planning before. The process might be implemented in year one ofthe nonprofit to get a sense of how planning is conducted, and then embellished in later years

with more planning phases and activities to ensure well-rounded direction for the nonprofit.

Planning is usually carried out by top-level management. The basic strategic planning processincludes:

1. Identify your purpose (mission statement) - This is the statement(s) that describes why yourorganization exists, i.e., its basic purpose. The statement should describe what client needs are

intended to be met and with what services, the type of communities are sometimes mentioned.

The top-level management should develop and agree on the mission statement. The statements

will change somewhat over the years.

2. Establish a vision statement - This statement describes the future state of yourcustomers/clients and your organization at some point in the future.

3. Select the goals your organization must reach if it is to effectively work toward your

mission and achieve your vision - Goals are general statements about what you need to

accomplish to meet your purpose, or mission, and address major issues facing the organization.

The vision and goals might be long-range, for example, for 3-5 years into the future.

4. Identify specific approaches (or strategies) that must be implemented to reach each goal - The strategies are often what change the most as the organization eventually conducts more

robust strategic planning, particularly by more closely examining the external and internal

environments of the organization. Small organizations might not refer to strategies and, instead,go the next step about action planning for each goal.

5. Identify specific action plans to implement each strategy (or objectives to achieve each

goal) - These are the specific activities or objectives that each major function (for example,


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department, etc.) must undertake to ensure its effectively implementing each strategy (or

achieving each goal). Objectives should be clearly worded to the extent that people can assess if

the objectives have been met or not. Ideally, the top management develops specific committeesthat each have a work plan, or set of objectives.

5. Compile the mission, vision, strategies and action plans into a Strategic Plan document.Ensure that upper management approves the Plan.

6. Monitor implementation of the Plan and update the Plan as Needed - Planners regularlyreflect on the extent to which the goals are being met and whether action plans are being

implemented. Perhaps the most important indicator of success of the organization is positive

feedback from the organizations customers.

Model Two - Issues-Based Planning

Organizations that have very limited resources; several current, major issues; little success with

achieving future-oriented goals; or very little buy-in to strategic planning might use the issues-based approach to planning instead of the goals-based approach.

1. Identify the current, major issues facing the organization. Write down 3-5 major issues.

2. Brainstorm ideas to address each major issue. It's not important that the ideas be the perfect

ideas -- it's important for now to identify at least a reasonable approach to address each issue.

The issues and ideas are usually short-range, for example, for 9-12 months in to the future.

3. Compile the issues and ideas into a Strategic Plan document. Ensure that upper

management approves the Plan.

4. Monitor implementation of the Plan and update the Plan as Needed - Planners regularly

reflect on the extent to which the goals are being met and whether action plans are being

implemented. Perhaps the most important indicator of success of the organization is positive

feedback from the organizations customers.

Model Three -- Alignment Model

The overall purpose of the model is to ensure strong alignment among the organizations mission

and its resources to effectively operate the organization. This model is useful for organizations

that need to fine-tune strategies or find out why they are not working. An organization might alsochoose this model if it is experiencing a large number of issues around internal efficiencies.

Overall steps include:

1. The planning group outlines the organizations mission, programs, resources, and needed

support.

2. Identify whats working well and what needs adjustment.


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3. Identify how these adjustments should be made.

4. Include the adjustments as strategies in the strategic plan.

Model Four - Scenario Planning

This approach might be used in conjunction with other models to ensure planners truly undertakestrategic thinking. The model may be useful, particularly in identifying strategic issues and goals.

1. Select several external forces and imagine related changes which might influence the

organization, e.g., change in regulations, demographic changes, etc. Scanning the newspaper forkey headlines often suggests potential changes that might effect the organization.

2. For each change in a force, discuss three different future organizational scenarios (includingbest case, worst case, and OK/reasonable case) which might arise with the organization as a

result of each change. Reviewing the worst-case scenario often provokes strong motivation to

change the organization.

3. Suggest what the organization might do, or potential strategies, in each of the three scenarios

to respond to each change.

4. Planners soon detect common considerations or strategies that must be addressed to respond to

possible external changes.

5. Select the most likely external changes to effect the organization, e.g., over the next three to

five years, and identify the most reasonable strategies the organization can undertake to respondto the change.

Model Five - Organic (or Self-Organizing) Planning

Traditional strategic planning processes are sometimes considered mechanistic or linear, i.e.,theyre rather general-to-specific or cause-and-effect in nature. For example, the processes often

begin by conducting a broad assessment of the external and internal environments of the

organization, conducting a strategic analysis (SWOT analysis), narrowing down to identifying

and prioritizing issues, and then developing specific strategies to address the specific issues.

Another view of planning is similar to the development of an organism, i.e., an organic, self-

organizing process. Certain cultures, e.g., Native American Indians, might prefer unfolding and

naturalistic organic planning processes more than the traditional mechanistic, linear processes.Self-organizing requires continual reference to common values, dialoguing around these values,

and continued shared reflection around the systems current processes. General steps include:

1. Clarify and articulate the organizations cultural values. Use dialogue and story-boarding

techniques.

2. Articulate the groups vision for the organization. Use dialogue and story-boarding techniques.


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3. On an ongoing basis, e.g., once every quarter, dialogue about what processes are needed to

arrive at the vision and what the group is going to do now about those processes.

4. Continually remind yourself and others that this type of naturalistic planning is never really

over with, and that, rather, the group needs to learn to conduct its own values clarification,

dialogue/reflection, and process updates.

5. Be very, very patient.

6. Focus on learning and less on method.

7. Ask the group to reflect on how the organization will portray its strategic plans to

stakeholders, etc., who often expect the mechanistic, linear plan formats.

Model Six -- Real-Time Planning

Many experts assert that conventional strategic planning has become rather out-dated because theworld is changing much more rapidly than before, to the extent that conventional (especially

long-range) plans quickly become obsolete. These experts might assert that planning be done

continuously, or in "real time." The process might look like the following:

1. Initial discussions to clarify mission, vision and values. Ideally, these are documented, such

that changes are easily recognized and communicated.

2. Discussions in, for example, Board and staff meeting that clarify current, major priorities. It's

important that these discussions be based not only on people's current opinions, but that they alsobe based, as much as possible, on verified impressions from accurate data, for example, from

environmental scans, market research, brainstorming or product/program evaluations. It'simportant that the updated/changed priorities also be documented.

A challenge in this type of planning is that many investors and funders expect to see "stable"

documented strategic plans. Many might infer that regular changes are the result of poorplanning, rather than from a new type of strategic planning.

the vision and vision

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