Strategic management in a global context

Résumé du document

Stelios Haji-Ioannou started Easy Jet in 1995 with 5 millions pounds, analysts were all predicting the future bankrupt of the new airline company. Where the major Airlines companies such as British Airways or Air France are working hard to make benefit with billions of turnover; Easy jet makes more profits with a ten times smaller turnover. This spectacular success in a few years made Easy jet on of the top European companies. The New York Times has elected Stelios Haji-Ioannou best entrepreneur of the year in 20061. The main reason of this success is the smart business model which define the brilliant strategy of Easy-Jet
The corporate strategy can be define as the processes by witch a company or an organization determine its purposes, objectives and desired levels of attainment; and decide of actions in order to achieve these objectives. The strategy of a company is always related to plan, tactic, perspective or vision and position.
In this essay we will focus on mission statement and on the sense of mission in the corporate strategy management. In a first part we will study the use of mission statement in the corporate strategy management and then in a second part we will focus on the sense of mission, and if it's more beneficial to companies.

Extraits

[...] But some companies refuse to make their mission statement public, not because they don't have one, but because it is considered to be a secret6. Its means that manager's point of view about mission statement is different from one to another. Some of them are considering it as an internal communication tool only. As we said before a mission statement can have many targets. For example the mission statement of Sony Music Canada Our passion is music. Our commitment is our artist. Our focus is on customer service. Our edge is innovation. Our success is in our attitude” 7. [...]

[...] The mission statement has to universal. The targets of its message are the stakeholders. Customers, employees or shareholders will have a different point of view on the company goals and purposes and its mission statement. This is why it is hard to formulate. The mission statement present many issues, one of them is the communication in the company between top managers and operational managers. Examples illustrate the lack of understanding and the problems it might create for the customers. One answer to this issue is the creation of a sense of mission. [...]

[...] - It must be relevant to all the stakeholders, not just the shareholders or the customers. It also means that the mission statement has to be universal. - To finish the mission statement should be existing and inspiring. In the mission statement formulation, many themes are frequently coming back. These themes are: customer, product or service, technology, market, survival, growth, profitability, leadership Tahir Sufi and Howard Lyons (2003) made a survey using 30 missions statement of the largest hospitality firms. They analysed the frequency of key themes listed above. [...]

[...] This is why the mission statement is directly related to the global strategy of the company, it is supposed to be address to the right customers, giving the right mission to the employees and to finish providing the right information to the investors. In the strategic management process, the mission statement is considered as the first step of the plan that defines the future of the company. John V.Mullane (2002) illustrates this relation between strategic management and mission statement by saying that the top management first priority is to define the key concept of the mission8. [...]

[...] Some argue that this limits can be overtake by something more efficient: the sense of mission. Andrew Campbell and Sally Yeung (1991) introduce the notion of “mission statement”, they argue that the creation of a sense of mission in a company might be the reason of it success11. According to their article, fours different concept can define the mission: the strategy, the values, the purpose and the behaviour standards. The sense of mission can be defined as an emotional commitment of the employees towards the company's mission. [...]