Influence Of Vision & Mission On Innovation

Image by Aline Berry from Pixabay

Vision can be defined as ‘A mental image of a possible and desirable future state of the organization’

Vision is the future picture and sets the scene for the purpose and strategy of the organization. A vision should be credible and realistic, setting an attractive future point for the organization. Something that is better than the current state.

One of the reasons a strategic vision can be developed is to create desirable challenge for managers within the organization. A combination of challenges along with a credible, realistic future vision, that the people within the organization ‘buy in to’ can influence innovative processes as they may be the only way to achieve such a vision.

Mission statements are personal to each organization and usually consider the nature of the business i.e. what business are we in? What business should we be in? They are usually defined from a customer perspective i.e. what the business does for the customer. They reflect the values and beliefs of an organization, and where possible the goal of the organization’s competitive advantage… “To be the leader in the field of…” They are connected with the defined purpose of the organization and are communicated to all stakeholders both inside and outside the organization. They define where the company is headed and what the company stands for.

Mission statements can directly influence a company’s culture (This is the way we do things around here). Company culture can influence attitudes to risk and change both of which can have a direct effect on the innovativeness of an organization.