ABSTRACT
The chopping and changing of the orientation in the mission statement is somewhat disconcerting. It stems from the fact that there are many parties with vested interests in the wellbeing and performance of the enterprise. The mixture of external and internal audiences, for whom the statement is promulgated, is not only intended to satisfy the needs and perceptions of its diverse readers, but to highlight the fact that this multitude of interests inevitably generates different expectations and different perceptions of priorities, thereby highlights the need for many performance criteria. Once the vision of the Chief Executive Officer and the board is created, it needs to cascade down to the lower echelons through the declaration of a ‘mission statement’. Bearing in mind that this was the time in the history of the company that such a declaration of intent had ever been explicitly and publicly stated, it was widely acclaimed, and its initial impact on the managerial structure was remarkable.
