Importance of Vision, Mission and Values of an Organization
It should be noted that long term goals play a crucial role in any organization’s development plans as compared to short term goals. Consequently, organizations have been known to put in place visions, missions and values to encourage stakeholders focus on a common goal.
Though visions, missions and values of organizations appear as meaningless statements to some people, they play a very important role in the quest to achieve long term objectives. They provide pillars on which organizations base their day-to-day aims as well as roadmaps on which long term strategies are founded (Hirschey, 2008). By aligning an organization’s vision, mission and values with the organization’s long term strategies, employees and other stakeholders are given a yard stick to measure their activities.
Furthermore, it has been noted that an organization whose strategic plans are in harmony with its vision, mission and values is more likely to succeed in the long run. All organizations aspire to be sustainable in the long run. In this regard, positive organizational culture is paramount in achieving these aims.
However, organizational culture can only be fostered if proper vision, mission and values are put in place. In addition, company vision, mission and values are used guiding principals in streamlining projects so as to attain desired outcomes. In a nutshell, vision, mission and values give specific aims that a firm seeks to achieve.
Techniques of Environmental Analysis
Analysis of business environment is very important in determining success of an organization. Organizations use many techniques in analyzing business environment though cross-impact analysis and expert opinion are more effective. Cross-impact analysis allows comparison of variables besides forecasting of events (Freeman, 2010).
On the same note, cross-impact analysis does not require extensive knowledge in mathematics for one to be able to use the model. As a result, many employees can be able to use it. Similarly, expert opinion technique is highly beneficial since it involves professional advice. Professionals are well experienced in matters relating to their areas of specialization and will, therefore, be in a good position to forecast future events.
Though situations change, it has been noted that there is a tendency of circumstances being repeated overtime (Hirschey, 2008). Consequently, people experienced in various areas will be able to tell the expected trend of events. Incidentally, environmental analysis is crucial in ensuring long term sustainability and should therefore be dexterously handled. It is important to note that organizational effectiveness is influenced by both internal and external factors.
Factors Influencing Organizational Effectiveness
In order to achieve long term goals of an organization, various factors have to be in play. To begin with, positive organizational culture should be insisted on since it ensures that all stakeholders work towards a common goal. Additionally, all strategies implemented by an organization should be customer focused, because an organization cannot survive without customers (Freeman, 2010). Moreover, reaction to any changes in the market should be swift in order to gain competitive advantage.
In Addition, an organization where decision making process is decentralized is likely to perform better, because it is easy to react to abrupt changes in the market. On the contrary, organizations where top management makes all decisions are ineffective since it takes time to implement policies. Similarly, organizations with high ability of adapting to changes in the environment usually have sustainable growth (Freeman, 2010).
References
Freeman, R. E. (2010). Strategic Management: A Stakeholder Approach. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Hirschey, M. (2008). Fundamentals of Managerial Economics. Stanford: Cengage Learning.