Meet with your co-managers and prepare a strategic vision statement for your company. It should be at least one sentence long and no longer than a brief paragraph. When you are finished, check to see if your vision statement meets the conditions for an effectively worded strategic vision set forth in Table 2.2 and avoids the shortcomings set forth in Table 2.3. If not, then revise it accordingly. What would be a good slogan that captures the essence of your strategic vision and that could be used to help communicate the vision to company personnel, shareholders, and other stakeholders?

Transcribed Image Text:

TABLE 2.2 Characteristics of Effectively Worded Vision Statements Graphic-Paints a picture of the kind of company that management is trying to create and the market position(s) the company is striving to stake out Directional-Is forward-looking; describes the strategic course that management has charted and the kinds of product-market-customer-technology changes that will help the company prepare for the future Focused-Is specific enough to provide managers with guidance in making decisions and allocating resources Flexible is not so focused that it makes it difficult for management to adjust to changing circumstances in markets, customer preferences, or technology Feasible--Is within the realm of what the company can reasonably expect to achieve Desirable-Indicates why the directional path makes good business sense Easy to communicate-Is explainable in 5 to 10 minutes and, ideally, can be reduced to a simple, memorable "slogan" (like Henry Ford's famous vision of "a car in every garage") Source: Based partly on John P. Kotter, Leading Change (Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 1996), p. 72.