Mission Statements

In the Business Quarterly, James McSherry poked fun of mission statements and noted that, "The general rule seems to be that the more trivial the organization's purpose, the more the mission statement reads like an ex cathedra pronouncement from the Pope...". Many of McSherry's points are both humorous and valid, but, nonetheless, mission statements are now seen by many to be essential if an organization is to succeed.

In the early 1990s there was considerable interest in the subject and the Western Libraries now has several books that will be useful - some of which contain the complete mission statements from a variety of organizations. Listed below are some of the books one can find - listed in reverse chronological order:

Libraries, Mission, & Marketing : Writing Mission Statements That Work. Linda K. Wallace IMS (Information and Media Studies) circ 2HR Z678.W327 2004 Map of Western Libraries
See: Review of this book below:
Libraries, Mission, & Marketing: Writing Mission Statements That Work B Susan Brown. Library Journal. New York: Feb 15, 2004. Vol. 129, Iss. 3; p. 170

The Wilder Nonprofit Field Guide to Craftng Effective Mission and Vision Statements. Emil Angelica, HD30.285.A54 2001

Claim, Intent, and Persuasion. Carmelo Mazza, HD30.285.M39 1999

Corporate Statements: The Official Missions, Goals, Principles and Philosophies of Over 900 Companies. Paul Haschak, HD30.285.H37 1998.
This new work often has web sites for the companies. One will even find the mission statement of the Fluke Corp., which has as its slogan: "Fluke Quality-A Continuing Tradition".

Say It and Live It: The 50 Corporate Mission Statements that Hit the Mark.Patricia Jones & Larry Kahaner. HD30.285.J66 1995
At the conclusion of this book you will find "Six Rules for Writing and Implementing Your Own Mission Statement".

Mission Statements: A Guide to the Corporate and Nonprofit Sectors by Graham and Havlick. HD30.28.G697 1994.
It contains the complete text of over 600 mission statements. Over 25 of these are from Canada and they are easily located by using the Geographical Index (p.539).

Do You Need a Mission Statement?, Andrew Campbell. HD58.7.C345 1990.

Mission and Business Philosophy: Winning Employee Commitment, Andrew Campbell. HD58.7.C346 1990.

A Sense of Mission, Andrew Campbell, HD30.28.C355 1990.

Corporate Philosophies and Mission Statements, Thomas Falsey. HD58.7.F35 1989

If you would like to see the mission statement for the University of Western Ontario, it is available at http://www.uwo.ca/univsec/mission.html

On the somewhat related subject of ethical statements see:

Eighty Exemplary Ethics Statements, Patrick Murphy. HF5387.M85 1998.

Professional Codes of Conduct in the United Kingdom: A Directory, Nigel Harris. BJ1725.H35.

Kensicki, Peter R. "Six Steps to Create an Ethics Statement " National Underwriter. Nov 12, 2001. Vol. 105, Iss. 46; p. 57

Langrehr, Frederick W. "Eighty Exemplary Ethics Statements " Journal of Public Policy & Marketing. Fall 1998. Vol. 17, Iss. 2; p. 339

"Corporate ethics statements: Current Status and Future Prospects"Journal of Business Ethics. Sep 1995. Vol. 14, Iss. 9; p. 727

ARTICLES

Articles may be easily found by searching a variety of databases. Listed below are a few articles from the 1990's. Most of these were found on ProQuest Global. For more details and assistance, please ask at the Circulation Desk in the Business Library.

Beagrie,Scott . "How to... Develop a Corporate Mission" Personnel Today. Feb 22, 2005. p. 35

Bart,Christopher K; Maureen Hupfer. "Mission Statements in Canadian Hospitals" Journal of Health Organization and Management. Bradford: 2004. Vol. 18, Iss. 2/3; p. 92

Anonymous. "Crafting Mission Statements" Association Management. Washington: Jan 2004. Vol. 56, Iss. 1; p. 23

Sisson, Barry . "Managing Better With a Mission Statement" SDM. Jun 2003. Vol. 33, Iss. 6; p. 61

Jenkins, Maureen "What's Our Business???" Black Enterprise Oct 2005. Vol. 36, Iss.3; p.71.

Lewis, Bob. " Mission Statement Gurus" InfoWorld. Mar 31, 2003. Vol. 25, Iss. 13; p. 48

Peck , Abe. " The Mission Position" Folio. Jan 2003. p. 128

Sufi,Tahir; Howard Lyons. "Mission Statements Exposed" International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management. 2003. Vol. 15, Iss. 4/5; p. 255

DavidForest R , Fred R David. "It's Time to Redraft Your Mission Statement" The Journal of Business Strategy Jan/Feb 2003. Vol. 24, Iss. 1; p. 11

Stevens, Michael G. "On a Mission " The Practical Accountant. Jan 2003. Vol. 36, Iss. 1; p. 26

Anonymous. "With Your Board, Emphasize Mission First, Foremost and Always!" Board & Administrator; for Administrators Only. Nov 2002. Vol. 19, Iss. 3; p. 1

Campbell, Andrew "Mission Statements" Long Range Planning, V.30, No.6, Dec.1997,p.931.
Available in the Business Library.

Bart, Christopher "Sex, Lies and Mission Statements" Business Horizons, V.40, No.6, Nov/Dec 1997, p.9
Available in the Business Library

McSherry, James "Mission Statements Galore" Business Quarterly V.58 Iss.3 Spring 1994 p.9-10
Journal held at Business and Law Libraries

Fromberg, Jeff "The Money Is Out There...How To Get It" Agency Sales Magazine V.24 Iss.2 Feb. 1994 p.15-17
Journal held at Business Library

Arend, Jeff "Men With a Mission" ABA Banking Journal V.86 Iss.2 Feb. 1994 p.28-29
Journal held at Business Library

Brabet, Julienne "Sharing the Visions : Company Mission Statements in Britain and France" Long Range Planning Vol.27 Iss.1 Feb. 1994 P.84-94
Journal held at Business Library

Nelton, Sharon "Put Your Purpose In Writing" Nation's Business Vol.82 Iss.2 Feb. 1994 p.61-64
Journal held at Business Library

Allen, David "Targets, Missions and Criteria" Management Accounting V.72 Iss.1 Jan. 1994 p.16
Journal held at Business Library

Vogt, Jean "Demystifying the Mission Statement" Nonprofit World V.12 Iss.1 Jan/Feb 1994
Journal available only on CD-ROM or ProQuest.