Currently, vision and mission statements have been diluted in the business world to the extent that they have become less significant (Whiteley, 2007). As such, visions and missions have been mainly identified with unenthusiastic connotations. Nonetheless, when utilized appropriately vision and mission statements have proved to be very helpful.
Poorly structured vision and mission statements are misplaced opportunities for drawing and enhancing organizational culture, enhancing productivity, and drawing and preserving new talent. Researchers have shown that corporations that have distinct vision and mission statements that are supported with tactical strategies do better than those who do not (Whiteley, 2007).
Therefore, vision and mission statements offer organizations with bearing. Through this, corporations can be able to implement actions that guide their businesses forward and keep away from allocating capital to actions that do not (Whiteley, 2007). In their absence, the organizations will find it very difficult to come up with a unified plan. In this article, mission and vision statement of Sears Holdings is analyzed.
Sears Holdings’ mission statement assert that the corporation is focused on expanding their businesses by means of offering excellent goods and services at a huge value when and where their clients require them, and by creating optimistic, permanent relations with their clients (Shop internationally at Sears, 2014).
On the other hand, the corporation’s vision is to be the favored and be the most reliant store for goods and services that improve home and family lives. Based on the above mission and vision statements, the organization aims are augmenting their clients’ trust, acting with honesty in all they do, treating all persons fairly, being answerable for their acts, and winning as a group.
Currently, there are over 4000 Sears’s stores in North America. Despite its growth, the company is currently fighting to gain profits. At the present, the company’s production is worsening on all levels amid a cutthroat environment. In the recent past, the company recorded murky Q1 incomes resulting in a huge net loss of $2.62 per share (Shop internationally at Sears, 2014).
The precipitous slide was way below what the analysts had anticipated at a loss of $0.60 per share. In the same report, the company’s revenues had decreased by nine percent to $8.74 billion. The slide was below what financial forecasters had predicted at $8.74 billion. The company’s management team blamed the adverse weather for the losses. However, their claims fail to validate for the deterioration in the struggling Kmart sections.
The company’s financial records indicate that the corporation sales have been declining for the past six years. The only optimistic performance was that the company recorded a growth of 20% in its online sales (Shop internationally at Sears, 2014). Nonetheless, an increase in online sales does not imply that the company is in a turnaround process. Without immediate interventions, the company is expected to perform poorly through to the year 2016.
To reduce on the losses and to stage a comeback, the corporation has put in place measure that will ensure that it gets lean, focus on men’s clothing, and concentrate more on their core services.
Notably, for the last few years the organization has been able to operate majorly owing to trades of its real estate section. The shutdown of a number of its Kmart stores has helped the corporation reduce its operation costs. However, the shutdown of a number of its store is not enough for the company to get lean. The company should invest hugely in the remaining stores.
Equally, strict inventory management has helped the company from increasing its losses. Despite this, it is apparent that Sears is short of the one vital thing that will enable it to turnaround. As such, the company should come up with an appropriate plan that will enable it to reverse the declining losses and return to their prestigious position in the market. Through this, the corporations can be able to implement actions that guide their businesses forward and keep away from allocating capital to actions that do not.
A good vision statement should indicate what the business is all about, where the business wants to be in the future, the clients the organizations wants to engage relate to, and connect with the mission and be different from it (Carpenter, Bauer, & Erdogan, 2010).
Equally, a good mission statement should portray the organization’s reasons for operations and plans to satisfy the stakeholder’s needs. Based on the above requirements, Sears mission and vision does not require any revision. As such, its vision has captured where Sears wants to be in the future, the clients it plans to engage.
Similarly, Sears’ vision is related to its vision because it seeks to achieve what the mission highlighted. Therefore, the company’s dismal performance cannot be attributed to their mission statement or vision statement. Instead, the company’s management team should be blamed for failing to abide by the organization’s mission and vision. This has resulted in poor performance, declining sales, terrible management choices, and lack of concise efforts to advance branding plans.
References
Carpenter, M., Bauer, T., & Erdogan, B. (2010). Principles of management 1.1. Irvington, NY: Flat World Knowledge. Shop internationally at Sears. (2014, January 15). Web.
Whiteley, A. M. (2007). Core values and organizational change: theory and practice. Hackensack, New Jersey: World Scientific.