Comparing Mission Statements

Comparing Mission Statements
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Comparing Mission Statements
Mission statements are an integral part of corporations and learning institutions. Mission statements define what an organization is all about. According to Alegre et al. (2018), a mission statement is a written summary that explains what purpose the organization wants to serve. Further, a mission statement has been used as a managerial tool by organizations to guide decision-making. This paper focuses on the mission statement of a corporation and a higher learning institution. Specifically, the paper will compare and contrast the mission statement of Microsoft Corporation and Harvard College.
Microsoft Corporation's mission statement is "to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more (Microsoft, n.d.)." This is achieved through an array of products and services that are not only meant for organizations but also individuals. On the other hand, Harvard College's mission statement is "to educate the citizens and citizen-leaders for our society (Harvard College, n.d.)." This is achieved by exposing students to people from different backgrounds with different interests. The college offers a variety of courses in science and liberal arts to expose students to different topics.
Both mission statements have clearly stated what the purpose of the organization is. Microsoft's purpose is to empower, and over the years, it has done so by providing a "mobile-first, cloud-first platform (Patel, 2017)." This mission has guided strategic decisions in terms of what services or products Microsoft has to offer. Harvard's purpose is to educate, and it does so by providing science and liberal arts programs (Harvard College, n.d.). Further, both mission statements communicate how the organizations want to be seen. Alegre et al. (2018) state that mission statements identify the company's desired image. Microsoft wants to be seen as an empowering organization throughout the world. Harvard wants to be seen as an educational institution that focuses on future leaders.
However, the two statements differ in terms of the target market. According to Alegre et al. (2018), the best mission statements ...