The role of mission and its position within the strategic management process

Introduction

Many textbooks and articles describe how best to plan strategically and what the fundamental steps must be taken in the strategic planning process. One main issue is that many authors are unanimous in relation to the mission statement, which should be the first step in the corporate planning process. However, others think the mission’s mapping should be stated in another level of the planning hierarchy. Therefore, it is essential to specify the role of mission in that process to be able to dwell on the different perspectives. But first, before the general role of mission is described, there will be an outline of the reasons why many authors put the mission in different levels of the process. This could help to understand the general role of the mission in that context more precisely. At least, writers are of the same opinion that the major argument in favour of planning is in the co-ordination of decision-making in order that an organisation moves in a well-focused direction. Without planning, the efforts of the organisation may not be well coordinated and managers and staff may be headed in different directions. Planning also helps to ensure that the corporate future is taken into account, so that the organisation can control the situation it finds itself in and prepare for unexpected eventualities (Hannagan, 1995).
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