Vision Statement"

From Susan Ward,

Your Guide to Small Business: Canada.
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Definition:

A vision statement is sometimes called a picture of your company in the future but it’s so much more than that. Your
vision statement is your inspiration, the framework for all your strategic planning.

A vision statement may apply to an entire company or to a single division of that company. Whether for all or part of an
organization, the vision statement answers the question, “Where do we want to go?”

What you are doing when creating a vision statement is articulating your dreams and hopes for your business. It reminds
you of what you are trying to build.

While a vision statement doesn’t tell you how you’re going to get there, it does set the direction for your business
planning. (For more on the role of your vision statement in business planning, see Quick-Start Business Planning.) That’s
why it’s important when crafting a vision statement to let your imagination go and dare to dream – and why it’s important
that a vision statement captures your passion.

Unlike the mission statement, a vision statement is for you and the other members of your company, not for your
customers or clients.

When writing a vision statement, your mission statement and your core competencies can be a valuable starting point for articulating
your values.

Be sure when you’re creating one not to fall into the trap of only thinking ahead a year or two. Once you have one, your
vision statement will have a huge influence on decision making and the way you allocate resources.

"Mission Statement"
From Susan Ward,
Your Guide to Small Business: Canada.
FREE Newsletter. Sign Up Now!
Definition: A mission statement is a brief description of a company’s fundamental purpose. A mission statement answers the
question, “Why do we exist?”

The mission statement articulates the company’s purpose both for those in the organization and for the public.

For instance, the mission statement of Canadian Tire reads (in part): “Canadian Tire is a growing network of interrelated
businesses... Canadian Tire continuously strives to meet the needs of its customers for total value by offering a unique
package of location, price, service and assortment.”

The mission statement of Rivercorp, business development consultants in Campbell River, B.C., is: “To provide one stop
progressive economic development services through partnerships on behalf of shareholders and the community.”

As you see from these two mission statement samples, mission statements are as varied as the companies they
describe.

However, all mission statements will “broadly describe an organization's present capabilities, customer focus, activities,
and business makeup”

Source: http://sbinfocanada.about.com/od/businessplanning/g/visionstatement.htm

pur·pose (pûr'pəs)
n.
 1. The object toward which one strives or for which something exists; an aim or a goal: “And ever those, who would enjoyment
gain/Must find it in the purpose they pursue” (Sarah Josepha Hale).
2. A result or effect that is intended or desired; an intention. See synonyms at intention.
3. Determination; resolution: He was a man of purpose.
4. The matter at hand; the point at issue.

To intend or resolve to perform or accomplish.

noun

1. The proper activity of a person or thing: function, job, role, task. See do/not do.
2. What one intends to do or achieve: aim, ambition, design, end, goal, intent, intention, mark, meaning, object, objective,
point, target, view, why. Idioms: end in view, why and wherefore. See planned/unplanned, purpose/purposelessness.
3. Unwavering firmness of character, action, or will: decidedness, decision, decisiveness, determination, firmness,
purposefulness, resoluteness, resolution, resolve, toughness, will, willpower. See certain/uncertain, strong/weak.

verb

To have in mind as a goal or purpose: aim, contemplate, design, intend, mean1, plan, project, propose, target. Regional mind. See
planned/unplanned, purpose/purposelessness.

purpose
Purpose in its most general sense is the anticipated aim which guides action.

The role of purpose in human life

According to some philosophies, purpose is central to a good human life. Helen Keller wrote that happiness comes from "fidelity to a
worthy purpose", and Ayn Rand wrote that purpose must be one of the three ruling values of human life (the others are reason and
self-esteem)[citation needed]. Some people hold that God assigns purposes to people and that it is their mission to fulfill them. Others hold
that purpose is not inherent, but instead freely chosen (or not chosen) by individuals. Among these, some say that natural propensities
may determine what sorts of purposes a person needs to pursue, but do not guarantee that he or she will pursue them, that being
dependent on free choice.

Pursuing a career, raising a family, devotion to a creative vocation or to a cause, and acquiring property are perhaps the most
widespread of long-term purposes that make life meaningful according to such philosophies. Public service and helping the needy are
often cited. Variants of philosophies such as eudaimonia and objectivism sometimes claim that self-sacrificial goals are destructive.

Modern spiritual philosophy sees the purpose life in improving the environment and world condition for all beings. In the most
immediate sense this means each individual finding the special talents which are a gift to serve others. This in turn is found in
pursuing a soul level joy, so that the personal and highest individual purpose of life is pursuit of soul level joy. This is the first joy,
that which has followed the individual from birth. In most instances it begins with the desire for acceptance and evolves to discovery
of each person's genius or gift to serve.

Richard Dawkins and other like-minded scientists would cite man's purpose as ensuring the continuity of one's genetic and/or
memetic make-up.

Teleology

Purpose is similar to teleology, the idea that a final goal is implicit in all living organisms. Until the modern age, philosophy followed
Aristotle's depiction of a teleological cosmos in which all things had a final purpose (namely, to realize their implicit perfection).
Perhaps most modern philosophers of science have reversed the idea of purpose inherent in nature; they do not consider an eye
explicable as being "in order to see"; instead, cause-and-effect processes are credited with bringing about the eye organ, which allows
us to see. The difference is between a cause as pushing from behind (movements of billiard balls) and a cause as pulling from within
(movement of a growing plant). With teleology (purpose) matter is fulfilling some aim from within.