Introduction
The mission, vision, and values contribute to an organization’s ability to reach its desired end state by clearly stating the fundamental principals that will guide the firm’s actions and defines a clear set of values that encourages staff to work towards accomplishing the desired end state. The Alameda County Community Food Bank was chosen for completing a strategic plan. This paper will discuss the strategic plan for the Alameda Community Food Bank, components of the strategic management process that will be analyzed, and how the outcomes will affect the leadership and culture of the organization.
Background
The Alameda County Community Food Bank has been in existence helping people since 1985 and serves as the central clearinghouse for donated food in Alameda County (Alameda County Food Bank, 2007). The Food Bank provides assistance to the low-income, working poor adults, the elderly, people with disabilities, abuse survivors, people living with AIDS, and the homeless (Alameda County Food Bank, 2007). Assistance is provided through numerous community based organizations and conducts community education on topics of hunger and poverty.
Mission Statement
The Alameda County Community Food Bank aims to alleviate hunger and address its root causes in Alameda County through nutrition education and public policies while providing nutritious food to people in need and advocating for their rights to fresh healthy food.
The mission statement must be clearly defined to determine the basic goals and philosophies that will shape the Food Bank’s strategic position. The purpose that identifies the scope of its operations in product and market terms and sets it apart from other firms in the same industry is the company’s mission (Pearce & Robinson, 2004). The statement of the Food Bank’s intent encompasses the firm’s strategic decision makers, the image they want to project, the firm’s self concept, the principle product or service areas, and customer needs the firm will strive to satisfy (Pearce & Robinson, 2004).
Reaching the Desired End State
The mission, vision, and values for the Food Bank will help the organization in reaching its desired end state by ensuring that the planning process is focused and moving in the direction intended by the organization and it stakeholders. The mission statement provides a unifying purpose for the organization that sets a foundation for developing objectives, decision making, and encapsulates the organization’s business activity. By promoting a sense of shared expectations among all levels and projecting a sense of worth that can be assimilated by outside stakeholders, the mission statement can inspire the organization to reach its desired end state.
An article discussing the importance of a mission statement states that a mission statements’ job is to outline the organization’s unique purpose and establish the basis of its values and traits, as well as describe the attitude that is to be expected of those a part of the organization. Furthermore, this philosophical foundation sets the “tone” for physical actions, meaning that the content of the mission statement can determine the behavior of personnel (Hitt & Ireland, 1992).
In efforts to eliminate hunger in the Austin Community, Hope Church operates a food pantry that provides food and supplies to local residents within the 60651 and 60644 postal zip codes. The Pantry is operated by a friendly volunteer staff who’s there to be a blessing to others! The hope food pantry is a non-profit organization which distributes food to a variety of community agencies which serve the people in need. Last year alone, over 1 million pounds of food was distributed throughout our community. The hope food pantry also host special events to raise money and food for our community. For every dollar raised, the food pantry can provide ten meals to the needy.
..., John E., Strickland, A.J. Thompson, Arthur “Whole Foods Market In 2006: Mission, Core Values, and Strategy”, Crafting & Executing Strategy 15th Ed., McGraw-Hill Irwin, 2007
Goodwill works to enhance the dignity and quality of life of individuals and families by strengthening communities, eliminating barriers to opportunity, and helping people in need reach their full potential through learning and the power of work. ("About Us", n.d.) This the mission statement of Goodwill Industries International, Inc. from their website http://www.goodwill.org/. So what exactly is a mission statement? Worth states that, "The mission statement is a guide to every action by the organization and is the principle standard against which its performance should be measured." (2017, p. 60). According to their home page, Goodwill Industries International is successful in completing their intended mission.
Every company has to have a business mission statement. This a set standard that a company abides by that makes their company unique.
The mission of the agency is to “provide for the needs of hungry people by gathering and sharing quality food with dignity, compassion, and education”. Volunteers were there to restock the shelves and bag the food for the clients. The staff duties consisted of interviewing clients and making sure the facility ran smoothly. Harvest Hope serves a diverse population residing within Lexington, West Columbia, and Cayce.
They are a non-profit organization this collects and distributes food for hunger relief charities. The food bank works with 600 food pantries, senior centers, soup pantries, and other agencies strictly with giving donations. With the help of volunteers, the Houston Food Bank sorts, packs, and re-distributes food to community. In 2008, the Houston Food Bank merged with End Hunger, making more effective use of community resources by working together. During the 2014-2015 fiscal year, the organization successfully distributed 74,000,000 nutritious meals. The organization relies strictly on donations. They, however, will accept monetary donations in order to buy food. For example, in 2002, a privately held supermarket chain in Texas, called HEB Grocery Company, teamed up with the Houston Texans in a campaign called ‘Sacks for Hunger’ where the team will donate $1000 for every sack made. As of 2013, the ‘Sacks for Hunger’ program has successfully raised over $47,000 dollars for the Houston Food Bank, the equivalent of 141,000 meals for hungry
The strategic process that UNICEF, like any other organization, goes through, starts with a mission statement continues through its goals, internal and external analysis and implementation and results in a competitive advantage in the marketplace they operate in (Yates, 2012).
The mission statement is a condensed version of the firm’s strategic plan (Brigham & Houston, 2013). In a nutshell, the mission statement should provide a clear vision of the purpose of the business. A company’s mission statement can be likened to a lighthouse, or in today’s terms, to a GPS. It is a precise statement, containing pinpoint clear direction and focus of what the firm does, how the firm does it, who it is done for, and the values they stand by (Brigham & Houston, 2013). If any employees, or the company as a whole, lose track of their goals, their direction, or sense of purpose, the mission statement helps remind them and get them back on track.
Due to the famine in Marín the food bank increased the distribution of food
In conclusion, fighting food insecurity and poor nutrition among low income families, particularly in developing countries, is a complex task. It requires many different strategies as there are many factors influencing hunger and why it occurs. The three strategies chosen are effective on their own, but implemented together will address many more of the determinants causing this issue. The World Food Programmes strategy is a quick fix when solving this problem and is not sustainable, but alongside Oxfam and MicroLoans strategies, they would all make an extremely positive change in how food insecurity looks today.
Strategic implementation is a critical factor when making decisions regarding issues that affect the vision, mission, or objectives of an organization. Strategies are often implemented in accordance to the culture of the organization, the nature of control systems, the stakeholders, and the nature of the organizational design. In order to achieve success in the implementation of strategies, the structure of these factors must work in coordination with one another. For instance, the strategic vision of CPK lies in the creation of a globally recognized brand name and therefore, all of the goals and objectives of CPK must be directed in realizing that the company achieves this objective (California Pizza Kitchen 2011). Furthermore, the vision statement is inclusive in itself in that it communicates the message in a directional, flexible, and focused manner.
The four steps that lead managers and the firm through the strategic planning process are first defining the company’s mission, then setting objectives and goals, next designing a business portfolio and lastly developing functional plans. The first step involves focusing on consumers’ needs and wants. Setting forth a market oriented mission that organizations want to reach based on consumers of the environment. After finding the mission, organizations then proceed to put together supportive objectives for every level of management to help achieve its mission. Next the company has to design a business portfolio evaluating all of its current business and future business by coming up with
What does the food pantry do to help their community? The local food pantry helps people who are having a financial crisis. They may have lost their job, or had a medical emergency, or their car may have broken down. The food pantry helps the people who are needy or who are poor and need some help getting food. People that go hungry for a long period of time will change as a person completely. More than seventy percent of people go hungry in the world. Going hungry for a certain period of time damages your mental health and physical health. When it dames your mental health it causes you to have negative thoughts about things. Going hungry also changes your physical health, it causes you to lose weight and it will mess up your respiratory system.
The statement of a mission encourages one to progress to succession. A mission statement involves strategic planning in ...