The Influence of Mission and Vision on Planning
As you read the following mission statements, think about what you might deduce about each organization:
“To transform the nation’s health through the power of pursuing” (American Nurses Association)
“The American Red Cross prevents and alleviates human suffering in the face of emergencies by mobilizing the power of volunteers and the generosity of donors.” (American Red Cross)
“The mission of Southwest Airlines is dedication to the highest quality of Customer Service delivered with a sense of warmth, friendliness, individual pride, and Company Spirit.” (Southwest Airlines)
“To inspire hope and contribute to health and well-being by providing the best care to every patient through integrated clinical practice, education and research” (Mayo Clinic)
- “To exploit technical innovations for the benefit of military medicine by developing, demonstrating and integrating across a variety of technology portfolios, including telehealth, medical simulation and training, health IT, medical robotics, command and control, computational biology and mobile solutions” (Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center or TATRC)
- “Google’s mission is to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.” (Google)
An organization’s mission describes its core purpose. In partnership with the organization’s vision, which communicates a future-focused direction, the mission provides a basis for planning and decision making at all levels of the organization. For this Discussion, you compare mission and vision statements from multiple organizations and consider how these statements relate to planning.
To prepare:
Review the information related to the planning hierarchy and mission and vision statements in this week’s Learning Resources.
Research the mission and vision statements of three different types of organizations: a for-profit healthcare organization, a not-for-profit healthcare organization, and an organization outside of healthcare. As you examine the organizations’ mission and vision statements, consider the following:
- How effectively do the mission statements articulate the organization’s purpose?
- How effectively do the vision statements reflect future aims?
- Do the mission and vision statements convey who (which groups) the organizations serve? Do they indicate obligations to various stakeholders?
- Are the statements an appropriate length?
- What do you glean about how leaders in healthcare and in other industries envision and convey mission and vision?
- What do you discern about the interdisciplinary nature of crafting mission and vision statements by looking across organizations, including those outside of healthcare?
- Identify key insights you have gained by comparing the mission and vision statements of these three organizations.
- Consider how an organization’s mission and vision relate to the planning hierarchy. For each organization you have selected, think about how the mission and vision could or should influence planning. What elements of each mission and vision stand out as especially significant?
Post a comparison of the mission and vision statements of the three organizations selected. Explain how specific elements of each organization’s mission and vision statements might inform planning in that organization. Include references/links for the organizations’ mission and vision statements in your post.
Required Readings
- Martin, B. C. (2019). The strategic planning process. In Strategic planning in healthcare: An introduction for health professionals (pp. 21–35). Springer.
- Martin, B. C. (2019). Organizational purpose. In Strategic planning in healthcare: An introduction for health professionals (pp. 37–49). Springer.
- Thomas, P. L., & Winter, J. (2020). Strategic practices in achieving organizational effectiveness. In L. A. Roussel, P. L. Thomas, & J. L. Harris (Eds.), Management and leadership for nurse administrators (8th ed., pp. 135–154). Jones & Bartlett Learning.
- Bonfante, L. (2017). Creating a corporate vision that inspires. CIO InsightLinks to an external site..
- Cronin, C. E., & Bolon, D. S. (2018). Comparing hospital mission statement content in a changing healthcare field. Hospital TopicsLinks to an external site., 96(1), 28–34.
- Kern, H. P. (2018). Integrating purpose with a mission statement: When structured and applied, quality and performance improvement value are created. Healthcare ExecutiveLinks to an external site., 33(6), 70–71.
- Kucmanic, M. (2017). What critical ethical values guide strategic planning processes in health care organizations? AMA Journal of EthicsLinks to an external site., 19(11), 1073–1080.
- MacLeod, L. (2016). Aligning mission, vision, and values: The nurse leader’s role. Nurse LeaderLinks to an external site., 14(6), 438–441.
- Murphy, S. P., & Taylor, P. J. (2018). A board’s mission, vision & values: Trustees need to define their own obligations and aspirations to build a strong culture. TrusteeLinks to an external site., 71(3), 5–7.
An introduction, a purpose statement, and conclusion are required.
