strategic planning

Mission/Vision Statement Revision of Office Depot    

INTRODUCTION

            Organizations must make some very important decisions in reference to their strategic management, the decision must be made by the most competent and effective leaders in the organization.  Organizations are believed to focus on the formulation of their mission and vision statements at the initial stage of the establishment of the business either for profit or non-profit organization.  The organization is believed to have plans in providing the best quality products and customer service to its customers, and at the same time providing a favorable public image.  The top management that is responsible for the formulation of the mission and vision statements, establishment of the long term objectives, and generation, evaluation, and the selection of the best strategies for the organization. The above functions of the top level management are very important to the success of the organization and with this; the set of beliefs about a business at its inception is put into writing, and evaluation is always made to make sure that as the organization grows or changes, the managers must be ready to revise the first set of beliefs as the pioneer ideas are always put into consideration in the revised statements of vision and mission.

                                                ABOUT OFFICE DEPOT

Office Depot is a supplier of office products and services that was established in 1986 with its first company established in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.  Office Depot as the global supplier office supplies gained the largest market share from the merger of Office Depot and OfficeMax.  The business helps customers be it home, office, or others to work better and be more productive with the provision of latest technology, core office supplies, print and document services, business services, facilities products, furniture, and school essentials.  Home Depot employs about 66,000 employees, annual sales of about $18 billion, 2,200 retail stores, and is present in about 60 countries all over the world. 

                       

                                                   MISSION AND VISSION STATEMENT

Mission and Vision statements are popular in many organizations, but the meaning are confused to mean the same in some organizations.  Mission statement refers to what the business of an organization is; what kind of business are we in and what do we offer.  Vision statement on the other hand refers to what organization plans or aspires to become with time.  

 The Mission Statement of Office Depot is mixed with the corporate values of the company as it provides the guidelines to follow in operating the business and dealing with the customers. Based on the Office Depot website, its mission statement and corporate values include:

“Delivering Winning Solutions That Inspire Work life.”  The mission statement is further broken down and explanation given to the keywords. 

            It is important for Home Depot to understand that the reason for having a strategic management is having an end result of gaining and sustaining the competitive advantage and a larger market share among the competitors.  So, the top management of Home Depot should put into consideration the need to use comparison of the vision and mission statement of its company with those of the competitors. The best way to make this happen is to make sure that the proposed mission statements include the nine components and nine characteristics.  With this, Home Depot’s high level management should be consider being prescriptive, forward-looking, and insightful    

Evaluating the Mission/Vision statements of an organization is not an easy task, but with the use of the guidelines of what the mission/vision statement should include would make it easier.  With the evaluation of the Mission/Vision statement of Office Depot can be evaluated based on the nine desired components that reveal what components are included.  An organization that does not have all the components does not necessarily becomes a bad organization since there is no best mission/vision statement, but lacking most of the components is the problem because the more of the components, the better the mission/vision statement of the organization. 

As Office Depot listed that “listening to our customers and understand their needs. We offer products, services and innovative thinking that enable our customers to achieve success” This part takes care of customers and products/services as part of the components of a good mission statement.  The market and the technology can be associated with the “innovative thinking that enable our customers to achieve success” in which innovative thinking making use of new technology to provide the products needed by the customers to achieve their business success. The market is referred to as the businesses and homes of the customers who are schools, offices, churches, homes, and other.  Inspiration from “Our inspiration is contagious and enables us to unleash creativity to help people achieve their goals. Our motivation and enthusiasm inspire others to succeed.” This can be associated with the survival/growth/profits needed as part of the components needed to have a successful mission statement.  

The self concept and concern for the employees of Office Depot can be traced to the part of the statement “We combine our energy for work with our passion for life. We are creating a fuller, more enriched lifestyle. We share the desire to maximize human potential to achieve personal dreams.” The concern for the public image can be seen all over the mission statement, the website, and the overall public image of the organization as a whole. 

            A good mission statement should also include the following characteristics. A good mission statement must be broad in scope- No monetary amount, no numbers, ratios, percentage or objective.  Less than 250 words in length, inspiring, identify the utility of a firm’s products, reveal that the firm is socially responsible, reveal that the firm is environmentally responsible, include the nine components, reconciliatory, and enduring.  Office Depot’s mission/vision statement can be agreed to meet most of these characteristics.

            A well-designed vision and mission statements are very important for an organization in the area of formulating, implementing, and evaluating strategy.  Vision and mission statements should always be revised and changed as needed as organizations are supposed to re examine their mission statements yearly. 

Office Depot’s mission statement “Delivering Winning Solutions That Inspire Work life” can now be revised to become:  “Delivering Winning Solutions that Inspire Work life to our customers by providing the best quality and environmental friendship products while using the best technology by our employees. 

It is very important for organizations to have a clear mission and vision statements due to some benefits they will enjoy.  These benefits includes having a clear direction, having a focal point for stakeholders, promoting a sense of shared expectations and achieving a clear purpose among managers and employees of the organization, and above all, having a basis for all other strategic planning activities in the organization. 

 

 

 

 

References

            David, F (2013).  Strategic Management Concepts and Cases: A Competitive Advantage

Approach, Fourteenth Edition

Jacobs, F.R., Chase, R.B., &Aquilano, N.J., (2008). Operations & Supply Management

(12^th ed). New York, NY. McGraw-Hill Irwin.

Kim, W. Chan; Mauborgne, Renée. Blue ocean strategy. Harvard Business Review,

            Oct2004, Vol. 82 Issue 10, p76-84. blue_ocean_strategy_hbr_oct2004.pdf