Mission Statement Definition

In the relevant literature there are several definitions of a mission statement. While some definitions focus on its purpose, others focus on components and scope of operations (Rajasekar, 2013). Mission statement as a written formal documents that attempts to capture an organization's unique and enduring purpose and practice (Bart & Tabone, 1998). In simple words, a mission statement "tells two facts about a company: who it is and what it does" (Fasly, 1989, p.3). Similarly, Cochran et al., (2008) state that mission statement "is a declaration of an organization's businesses or reason for being" (p. 27). In straightforward words, "a mission statement reveals what an organization want to be and whom it wants to serve" (Fred, 2003,

Moreover, the mission statement can convey that the scope of operations and activities are customers, products and services, location, values and philosophy. In short, according to Palmer and Short (2008), these aspects of mission statement reflect "how firms see themselves and how they want others to view them" (p. 454).

Components of Mission Statement

In relation to the components of mission statement it has been noticed that some mission statements are broad include many components while others are narrow include only few components. One of the first earlier studies that aimed at identifying the components of mission statement was conducted by Pearce (1982) how assets that the products or services, market and technology are the main three components of mission statement, followed by a study conducted by Pearce and David (1987) who reported eight essential components of mission statement: customers, products or services, market, technology, attention for survival,

These components are purpose, product or service, competitive advantage, scope of operations, philosophy, vision, and sense of shared expectations, public image, and focus on technology, creativity and innovation. In the context of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), Analoui and karami (2002) found, mission statement that includes: long term profit, survival and growth, customer satisfaction, core technology, market, company values and philosophy, product and services quality, public image, geographic domain, self-concept, and concern for suppliers are the main components of mission statement.

Recently, due to the current business conditions and global economic and environmental conditions, King et al., (2010) contend that a mission statement must be, revised, updated and aligned to cope with current changes and developments of environment. They believe that mission statement should be more universal and should contain new components such as going green concept which can be reflected in three aspects: ethical behavior, being socially responsible, and protecting the