A comparison of the quality of european, japanese and U.S. mission statements : a content analysis
- Oxford : Pergamon, August 2004
This study assesses the quality of European, Japanese, and U.S. firms’ mission statements by comparing the content of firms’ statements to the recommendations in the academic literature. Three measures of “quality” were employed: (1) identification of specific stakeholder groups; (2) inclusion of specific components (industry, target customer, geographic scope, values, motivational messages, distinctive competence, future orientation, and financial objective); (3) achievement of four objectives: communicates direction, assists in control, guides decision making, and motivates employees. The study found that few firms included all stakeholder groups, most firms included about half of the recommended components, and most statements did not meet all of the recommended objectives. Overall, although regional differences were found, our results suggest that the statements fall short of meeting the quality criteria suggested in the academic literature