Evaluating Mission Statement

The website www.missionstatements.com lists the mission of Dollar General as “Serving Others. For Customers, A Better Life. For Shareholders, A Superior Return. For Employees, Respect and Opportunity.” On their website, http://www2.dollargeneral.com/About-Us/pages/mission-profile.aspx, Dollar General shortens that to just “Serving Others,” however, navigating the website shows that Dollar General does work to incorporate the full mission statement into their day to day operations. In fact, each section of the mission statement is addressed in the about us page.

Home Depot is a leader in the home improvement retailer industry. While many companies are falling behind Amazon and Walmart, Home Depot continues to beat its earnings estimates and attract investors. This part of the report will analyze the core competencies, strengths, and weaknesses of Home Depot to give insight into its recent successes and interpret possible downfalls.

If I were to analyze the company's mission statement according to the elements of a mission statement enumerated by David and David, it would be as follows:

The Home Depot mission statement reads as follows: “The Home Depot is in the home improvement business and our goal is to provide the highest level of service, the broadest selection of products and the most competitive prices. We are a values-driven company and our eight values include the following: excellent customer service, taking care of our people, giving back, doing the “right” things, creating shareholder value, respect for all people, entrepreneurial spirit, and building strong relationships.”

Ideally, a good mission statement also provides information regarding the organization’s overall management philosophy, its business model, its technical and social competencies, and its values and beliefs (Aguinis, 2009; Azaddin, 2011; Bart & Hupfer, 2004; Covin, Slevin, & Schultz, 1994). Moreover, to make mission statements of large companies more individually relevant, Azaddin (2011) advocates flexible “guiding statements” that account for the “context, culture, structure, and needs of an organization” (p. 31). Thus, a mission statement must be meaningful and applicable to all stakeholders for strategic decision-making to be effective.

34). The organization’s mission statement should “work through metaphors that help employees make appropriate decisions when faced with day-to-day situations, which sometimes can be novel or stressful” (Rothaermel, 2013, p. 34). More specifically, customer-oriented businesses should have a customer-oriented mission statement, while product-oriented businesses should have a product-oriented mission statement (Rothaermel, 2013). Product-oriented businesses should be wary, however, as customer-oriented mission statements allow for greater strategic flexibility (Rothaermel, 2013).

The Home Depot mission is rooted upon 8 fundamental values. “ The Home Depot is in the home improvement business and our goal is to provide the highest level of service, the broadest selection of products and the most competitive prices. We are a values-driven company and our eight core values include taking care of our people, giving back to our communities, doing the right thing, excellent customer service, creating shareholder value, building strong relationships, entrepreneurial spirit, and respect for all people” (ir.homedepot.com).

From its roots as a vision in 1978 of a home improvement superstore The Home Depot has become a giant in this sector. Influenced by the “do-it-yourself” customer or the corporate contractors each policy and business plan is developed with a consumer stake holder emphasis. As its founders stated “We’re in the people business” (Planning), and this is maintained in its business structure today. Set up as a direct to consumer warehouse of home improvement and building products

Mission statements for any organization are today a foundation stone for defining its activities, attitudes and culture. Thus the mission statement influences the organization to a very great extent. Thus the mission statement shows the degree of internalization and the general principles of governance adopted by the institution, and its core values and responsibilities and the area of interest. (Yopp, 2008)

The mission statement is often publically stated and used by almost every organization today. It helps provide basic guidelines, essentially the core values of a company, and what they aim for. A mission statement gives customers

Home Depot is the world's largest home improvement retailer operating in 45 states, Canada, Chili and Puerto Rico. Home Depot stores aim to serve both do-it-yourselfers and professional contractors with home improvement superstores carrying between 40,000 and 50,000 different products. Home Depot has also been listed as one of Fortune's most admired specialty retailers for the past six years. In order for companies to succeed in the competitive current marketplace they must consider not only the bottom line and their investors but also their impacts on the community, their employees, and their customers. Home Depot was founded on the idea that treating employees well is an important responsibility. Home Depot believes employees that are

The seventh value is entrepreneurial spirit; this is just making sure Home Depot is creative and innovative in serving their customers. The last value of Home Depot is to have respect for all people. This means that Home Depot’s associates must work in an environment of mutual respect (HomeDepot.com).

What is a mission and vision statement is what needs to be understood. Both have two purposes; the mission statement is what the company is doing and what its main objective is, and the vision statement is what the company wants to become. From the beginning Nike knew what they wanted to become and that was and is still to be the leader in the worldwide industry for sports apparel and athletic footwear. Nike focuses on producing the highest and best quality in athletic apparel and shoes worldwide. Nike does not really have a vision statement. The company’s growth through innovation and leadership is how Nike sees itself. The company has a strong vision of growth in the future.

The mission statement is a written document that an organization declares its core purpose. The mission statements defines the essence of the organizations needs and their core purpose of their existence. It describes the role that they play in the community and portrays the club’s image, charisma, and individuality. If the mission statement is written correctly it can provide an explanation to internal and external individuals on what the organization stands for. Some of the components that are key to the mission statement are members, product and service, market, technology and philosophy are just a few that should be in the mission statement. Without and effective mission statement to inspire your employees and members on why you exist it won’t mean anything to them. Here is an example of a mission statement from Kohl’s

Take a position: Mission statements are critical to a successful marketing organization versus mission statements rarely provide useful marketing value. MY OPINION:Pro: A well-crafted corporate mission statement reflects the values of the firm as they relate to the community at large, its stakeholders, its employees, and its customers. Once the firm’s positions are delineated in the mission statement, marketing can begin the process of setting its priorities, goals, and objectives derived from the stated priorities of the firm. With the advent of holistic marketing, what the firm