Mission, Corporate Objectives and Strategy

Question 1

What are the two types statements?

Answer 1

Vision

Mission

Question 2

What is a vision statement?

Answer 2

A vision statement sets out what it wants to do or be in the future. A vision statement tends to be more long term

Question 3

What should a vision statement coincide with?

Answer 3

Vision statements should coincide with a business’s corporate objectives as they are forward looking

Question 4

What is the order of statements and objectives?

Answer 4

Mission statement
Vision statement
Strategy
Corporate objectives

Question 5

What influences a businesses mission?

Answer 5

The values of the founders of the business
The values of the business’s employees
The industry of which the business is part
Society’s views
The ownership of the business

Question 6

What are corporate objectives?

Answer 6

These objectives turn the mission statement into something more quantifiable, setting out clearly what has to be achieved. These objectives are medium to long term goals, once more these will be SMART. More social objectives can be difficult to measure

Question 7

What are the eight areas of business activity where objectives can be set?

Answer 7

Market position 
Innovation 
Financial resources 
Physical resources 
Human resources 
Productivity 
Social responsibility 
Profits

Question 8

What influences corporate decisions?

Answer 8

State of the economy 
Global prices 
Technological change 
Migration 
New leader
Poor performance 
Business culture 
The business's ownership 
Pressures of short termism

Question 9

What is short termism?

Answer 9

The pressure to deliver quick results which may harm longer term development

Question 10

What is the difference between strategy and tactics?

Answer 10

Strategy is a long term plan to achieve the business’s vision through corporate objectives, tend to involve a commitment of resources and are difficult to change whereas tactics are short term and look at how to implement a strategy, which involves fewer resources and less uncertainty

Question 11

What is functional decision making?

Answer 11

Functional decision making is taken by the managers responsible for one aspect of the business’s activities

Question 12

What is strategic decision making?

Answer 12

Strategic decision-making is the process of charting a course based on long-term goals and a longer term vision

Question 13

What are some functional areas?

Answer 13

Marketing
Operations
Finance
HR

Question 14

What is SWOT analysis?

Answer 14

SWOT analysis is a method of strategic analysis which considers the internal and external environments of a business, stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats

Question 15

Benefits of SWOT analysis?

Answer 15

Low cost and straightforward technique that can be used by managers in all types of businesses and may be very suitable to assist managers of small businesses in devising strategy
Can assist managers to think in a structured way and focus on both the internal operations and its external environment
Encourages management teams to develop plans that are logical in the context of the business’s current position, whilst actively promoting a forward looking approach which should be a central element of business planning

Question 16

Limitations of SWOT analysis?

Answer 16

SWOT analysis only covers issues that can be classified as strength, weakness, opportunity or threat.
It can provide a lot of information but is unlikely to offer any solutions and its results will require further analysis by managers.
The analysis offers no assistance to judging the relative importance of SWOT in contributing to the development of a strategy. As a consequence managers may underestimate the importance of one or more of the four elements