Vision and Mission

Vision and Mission
Vision and mission statements play a vital role in the strategic planning of an organization. Aguinis (2013) states defining an organization’s current and future identity are a key component of the strategic planning process. Strategic planning creates a blueprint to chart an organization’s goals and to aid in the division of resources to properly achieve the established goals (Aguinis, 2013). Properly communicating the goals and identity of an organization are essential if employees are to completely understand their purpose and mission to the organization. A review of the vision and mission statements for Harley Davidson reflects certain insights into the identity of the organization but also reflects some areas of improvement in adequately including the eight characteristics of an ideal mission statement.
Characteristics of an Ideal Mission Statement
The mission statement for Harley Davidson is shorter than one might expect based on the components that are contained within an ideal mission statement. The breakdown of the eight characteristics of an ideal mission statement is fairly comprehensive despite the brevity of the statement. Although as will be discussed there is room for improvement in addressing all the components of an ideal mission statement. Aguinis (2013) points out that at times vision and mission statements can blend together; this is evidently the case with Harley Davidson as well as will be discussed.
The basic products or service provided to customers is addressed as is the targeted groups of customers served. The mission statements points out that Harley Davidson provides to (whom) the general public (does what) an expanding line of motorcycles and branded products. The be...

... middle of paper ...

...mployed and timelines for goals; but when you are living the dream you can get lost in the details.

Works Cited

Aguinis, H. (2013). Performance management (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
Harley Davidson. (2013). Company. Retrieved from http://www.harley-davidson.com/en_US/Content/Pages/Company/company.html?locale=en_US&bmLocale=en_US
Jurevicius, O. (2013). Mission statement for success. Retrieved from http://www.strategicmanagementinsight.com/tools/mission-statement.html
Mayhew, B. (2009). Mission statement & vision statement definition and purpose. Retrieved from http://biznik.com/articles/mission-statement-vision-statement-definition-and-purpose
Spearmon, S. (2013). Your company vision: If it’s complicated it shouldn’t be. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/johnkotter/2013/10/14/the-reason-most-company-vision-statements-arent-effective