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A mission statement is a widely used strategic tool that emphasises an organisation’s uniqueness and identity. It was in the early 1980s that academics, managers, and consultants recognised the need for explicitly formulating a mission statement in organisations. Since then, mission statements have remained as a popular strategic tool in organisations. This article conducts a systematic literature review to synthesise research on mission statements. The analysis of the 53 articles selected includes a bibliometric and content analysis. According to their perspective, the works selected were grouped into four thematic areas: (1) mission statement development, (2) mission statement components, (3) mission impact on employees, and (4) mission impact on performance. The overreaching conclusion is that mission statements are widely used in practice but poorly researched in theory. Most articles adopt a managerial phenomenon-based strand, lacking a deep theoretical foundation. The article ends with suggestions for further research in terms of theory, practice, and methodology.

The Social Responsibility (SR) commitments of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) alongside their long-standing functions of teaching and research have been recognized in literature. However, University Social Responsibility (USR) remains a relatively unexplored topic, especially in the post-conflict societies of the Great Lakes Region of East Africa (GLREA). The main objective of this paper is to document USR best practices, challenges and opportunities in GLREA universities. To reach this objective, a search was conducted in the major academic databases, where ten studies out of 93 found from 2000 to 2020 were included for review. Additionally, universities’ website materials, particularly Vision and Mission Statements (VMS) were considered to complement the review in a well established sense of USR in GLREA universities. A narrative review was conducted because quantitative data were not feasible due to a significant level of heterogeneity between the included studies. The overall findings indicated that the scholarship of engagement in the regional context is not a luxury of HEIs as it is in many western universities, but rather a necessity in countries which are still undergoing the early stages of reconstruction. Specifically, the results obtained were twofold: First, the integrated SR in GLREA universities is an emerging agenda, despite its potential for growth. Second, the development of USR in the GLREA is connected to and influenced by the history of African Higher Education, and the institutional traces of that history’s influence can be found in GLREA. Finally, recommendations for USR practitioners are given, and a conclusion is drawn

Lithium mining is a rising sector of the world’s mining industry, and it is strongly tied to various sustainability issues. The mission statements of selected lithium mining corporations are analyzed qualitatively, quantitatively, and semiquantitatively to reveal their top strategic priorities, which determine corporate policy in this sector. It is established that these statements focus most commonly on philosophy, product, and technology. Two thirds of the considered corporations pay attention to sustainability. Although nine-related themes are identified, the most common from them is general sustainability, which makes sustainability-related notions sounding too vague. Attributing these themes to major categories permits to realize that social sustainability is significantly more important to the considered corporations than environmental sustainability, and various important issues (e.g., recycling) are not addressed. Relatively to the other top strategic priorities, sustainability is often considered marginally, and the only two corporations boast sustainability-focused mission statements. Generally, the corporate policy in lithium mining demonstrates attention to sustainability issues, but it needs various improvements in this aspect. It is established that this policy concerns more than a half of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The present study contributes to answering a major research question about the readiness of modern corporations to put some higher purposes on their strategic agenda.

Purpose This study aims, first of all, to analyze the extent to which Italian higher education institutions declare their mission statements in their official documents; then, to examine their content; and finally, to investigate whether mission statements include considerations on sustainability dimensions. Design/methodology/approach After a theoretical background on the new strategic approach adopted by higher education institutions and the related disclosure of their mission statements, the study deepens their sustainable perspective presenting the concepts of social engagement and knowledge transfer from a literary point of view. Then, a documentary analysis on the content of Italian universities’ official mission declarations will be conducted, to understand the role they play in society, by individuating their actual interest in sustainable dimensions. Findings Findings suggest that 36% of the 98 Italian universities state their engagement in societal issues, but only 3 of them mention sustainability targets in their mission declarations. Research limitations/implications The study is limited, exclusively based on what higher education institutions share and, in terms of future perspective, the aim can be to investigate further official documents, especially for what concerns sustainability reports. Practical implications Practical implications regard the denounce of weak attention paid by Italian universities to sustainability, with the aim to foster them to increase connections with the external world, aware of the centrality of their role within society. Originality/value In a context that is not yet completely investigated, the originality of the paper regards the intent to study the sustainable propensity that characterizes the Italian higher education system.

PurposeThis paper aims to compare the mission statements of Indian and Singaporean firms in the healthcare sector, and define the main components of Indian and Singaporean mission statements.Design/methodology/approachThe study was based on a network analytic approach and content analysis. The research was performed on 200 companies (100 Indian companies and 100 Singaporean companies). For each company, we searched for a mission statement published in the company website. Nonnegative Matrix Factorization (NMF) in Python programming language was utilized to obtain the differences in the components of mission statements between Indian and Singaporean firms.FindingsThe study results indicate a similarity and variation between Indian and Singaporean mission statements. Both countries are more concerned about patients, service, community, quality, and healthcare in their mission statements, but Indian mission statements emphasize quality, affordable price, and technology more than Singaporean firms. In contrast, Singaporean mission statements tend to highlight innovation and company value. This research will assist strategic managers in identifying the mission statement components and choosing the right strategy for the organization.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the literature and ethos theory by identifying and distinguishing the paramount differences between the Indian and Singaporean mission statement components in the healthcare sector.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the understanding of mission statement contents and its function in guiding employee's behaviour from the organisational culture (OC) perspective. Design/methodology/approach – The research is based on a mixed method approach. The quantitative content analysis of mission statements was performed on a sample of 222 Slovenian companies. Mission statement's keywords were analysed with exploratory factor analysis. Advanced network analytic approaches such as PathFinder algorithm were utilised to obtain better understanding of interrelatedness of underlying mission components. Three interviews with the top managers were performed as well. Findings – The mission statement content analysis identified five associated organisations’ orientations: concern for stakeholders, orientation towards stability, orientation towards cooperation and innovation, and development and growth. The interviews confirm missions’ role in communicating the espoused or declared OC, although different approaches to achieve employees’ commitment to the organisation's mission can be identified in regard to the size of the organisation. Originality/value – The cultural approach to the analysis of mission statements confirms that the mission statements incorporate basic contents of OC. The methodology applied gives new possibilities in the research of OC perspective of strategic statements.

Social enterprises mix economic and social objectives, forming a bridge between non-profit and profit enterprises. Mission statements are a strategic tool that can provide a company with a purpose of being, a “being” that communicates the core of the business to internal and external stakeholders. In this paper we aim to investigate the link between mission statements and performance in social enterprises. The sample includes 39 social enterprises located in Spain. Our findings indicate that those firms for which the mission statement explicitly considers the customers and the product/service offer are more likely to exhibit higher economic performance.

Israeli higher education organizations are currently under pressure to achieve global excellence, satisfy Israeli economic and security needs, and serve Israel's diverse social groups; they are also required to meet standards of proper governance; and, they wrestle with Israeli, Jewish, Zionist and Palestinian legacies. This array of complex and often conflicting constraints drives our research, to investigate how Israeli higher education organizations are embedded in this particularly complex environment. Whereas research on the mission statements of universities focuses primarily on higher education organizations in the core countries, which serve as the ideals and templates for others worldwide, our investigation reorients this burgeoning research towards the study of higher education identification outside the highly-reputable Western academia. We examine the English-language mission statements of all academic organizations in Israel, in the period 2008-2018. Analyses reveal two main findings: (1) that local-global axis of organizational identity is ordered along place/space distinction and (2) that such giocai identity is enacted at the field level, among categories of higher education organizations. We discuss these findings in the context of the \"identity paradox\" of contemporary organizations, which are compelled to simultaneously declare their uniqueness as well as their relevance to certain social groups and agendas.

Schools develop mission statements in part to communicate their purposes of schooling to internal and external audiences. The goal of this study is to employ text analytic techniques to analyze school mission statements. Focusing on Arizona and New Jersey’s schools, we seek to understand: 1) what themes (topics) emerge from their mission statements, 2) whether local context (politics) and institutional factors (being a charter) mediate topic prevalence, and 3) how similar school mission statements are to one another overall and across select factors. Using structural topic modeling we find that five topics emerge as particularly prevalent, and they address key purposes within the US context related to social, academic, and civic development with an emphasis on a safe environment and a sense of community. Local political leanings have a minor impact on the prevalence of topics but being a charter has a distinct influence. Compared to regular schools, charters are more likely to include themes related to preparing for college, academic approaches, and character and family ties, but they place lower emphasis on community and citizenship themes. School missions display moderate levels of similarity, indicating that a common set vocabulary has permeated schools’ missions, though differences remain, including between states. Overall, this study deepens our understanding of the varieties of schools’ missions and reveals text analytic techniques are well suited for uncovering them. Plain Language Summary Schools develop mission statements in part to communicate their purposes of schooling to internal and external audiences. In a novel application, the goal of this study is to employ text analytic techniques to analyze school mission statements. Focusing on Arizona and New Jersey schools, we seek to understand what themes (topics) emerge from their mission statements, whether local context (politics) and institutional factors (being a charter) mediate topic prevalence, and how similar school mission statements are to one another overall and across select factors. Employing structural topic modeling, five themes emerge as most prevalent. The themes broadly address key purposes within the US context related to social, academic, and civic development with an emphasis on a safe environment and a sense of community. Local political leanings have a minor impact on the prevalence of topics but being a charter has a distinct influence. Compared to regular schools, charters are more likely to include themes related to preparing for college, academic approaches, and character and family ties, but they place lower emphasis on community and citizenship themes. School missions display moderate levels of similarity, indicating that a common set vocabulary has permeated, though differences remain, including between states. One limitation of the study is the focus on two states; however, preliminary analyses of a small national sample suggest comparable vocabularies. Overall, this study reveals school mission statements present meaningful variations in the purposes of schools. Schools are communicating interpretable goals and text data mining techniques are well suited for uncovering them.