Sex, lies & mission statements

Abstract

<p>Mission statements seem to be everywhere and yet we know so little about their value and effectiveness. To tackle this problem, we reviewed the relevant mission literature to discover what others had to say about mission statements. We then conducted a survey of 88 CEOs from leading North American corporations to gauge the current state of mission management practice. In so doing, we began to discover some of the reasons why mission statements were not getting the credit they deserved or the results that most managers and experts have expected. We also found what seems to distinguish mission statements that work from those that do not.</p>