A vision statement is a company’s envisionment of the future regarding where they hope to stand and what they hope to have accomplished while a mission statement states how its vision is going to come to fruition and is directed more towards the company’s occupants and investors. Both are important to a company because of the motivation and inspiration they provide to all of the company’s participants, not just the employees or the shareholders. According to this week’s posted article “Mission vs. Vision”, both statements must convince the employees, customers, and shareholders that they are taking part in a greater purpose and a more promising future rather than simply making money and satisfying upper-management.

Zimmer Biomet:

-Vision statement: “To restore mobility and improve the quality of life for patients around the world”

-Mission statement : “To lead the industry in delivering value to healthcare providers, their patients and stockholders, while embracing our social responsibilities”.

Stryker:

-Vision statement: “To make healthcare better by offering innovative products and services that help improve patient and hospital outcomes”.

-Mission statement reads: “Together with our customers, we are driven to make healthcare better.”

Both companies specialize in orthopedics and can be expected to share similarities, though the Stryker vision is more broad with what they do by using the term “healthcare” rather than “mobility”. The overall use of such broad terms in both company statements were most likely put in place to show promise in hoping to improve aspects not only in orthopedics, but possibly to other fields as well, perhaps expanding more in regenerative medicine rather than implantable prostheses. All major companies seem to have a general statement in both their mission and vision as a way of implying that the company has no limits as to what it can achieve, resulting in a vast, promising future.

The “Mission vs. Vision” article states that when conjuring a mission/vision statement, it is best to consult with representatives from all departments of a company to ensure that all of a company’s participants are equally involved and inspired enough to drive the company since “a chain is only as strong as its weakest link”. Are there any other similar actions that should be taken into consideration by a company when coming up with its overall goals and objectives? Is it a good idea to involve everyone in a company in coming up with these statements as “too many cooks spoils the broth”, or should the decision remain solely in the C-suite with the CEO, COO, CFO, etc?

References:
Levy, Piet “Mission vs. Vision” (2011) American Marketing Association