An attempt to transform the goals and aspirations of a certain company into a holistic picture is formed by its mission and vision statements. To attract consumers, to interest potential investors, and to argue the strategy of work clearly, relevant slogans are approved and promoted. As a target organization to analyze and assess the effectiveness of such statements, the world-famous Coca-Cola Corporation will be considered. Having more than 140-year history, this company leads the market successfully and provides services to millions of consumers. Certainly, its goals and objectives are ambitious, and work on attracting new consumers is constantly conducted. Based on the specifics of its activities (the production of non-alcoholic carbonated beverages), the brand’s representatives have identified several key statements that form the strategic basis for the corporation’s work. Special criteria for evaluating these slogans make it possible to evaluate the degree of their relevance in the context of the company’s promotion, as well as its goals and values. Applying appropriate conditions for the assessment of mission and vision statements allows determining the clarity of the formulation of the organization’s strategies and identifying its primary activities.
Criteria for Evaluation
To analyze Coca-Cola’s mission and vision statements rationally, it is crucial to apply relevant evaluation criteria. First, the essence of each of the considered aspects should be determined. A mission statement is a slogan that allows formulating the primary objectives of a particular enterprise clearly and concisely, which gives one the possibility to understand what exactly a certain business is. According to Smith (2018), five basic characteristics lead to the conclusion that a mission statement is good and appropriate. The author describes them in the form of adjectives: informative, simple, memorable, achievable, and employee buy-in (Smith, 2018). Based on these aspects, the mission statement of a particular organization can be assessed.
For a vision statement, there are also five certain criteria for the analysis of relevance and appropriateness. As Olsen (2018) notes, a corresponding slogan should reflect the projected development of the organization’s business in a few years (five to ten). Also, a good statement, as a rule, mentions goals that seem unattainable, demonstrating the top of possibilities. In addition, “the vision statement clarifies the direction in which our organization needs to move” (Olsen, 2018, para. 22). It is equally important for the sense of purpose to be encouraged and conveyed to the staff. Finally, a corresponding statement should be written in such a language that will attract the maximum number of consumers. If all these compliance criteria are met, both mission and vision statements are well matched.
Mission Statement Analysis
The Coca-Cola Corporation has several mission statements that are mentioned in the official description of the company’s activities. These theses sound as follows: “to refresh the world,” “to inspire moments of optimism and happiness,” and “to create value and make a difference” (The Coca-Cola Company, 2018, para. 3). These slogans are the business card of the organization and are designed to attract the attention of the target audience to the peculiarities of its activities in the modern market. They look brief, and when evaluating them in terms of the aforementioned mentioned five criteria proposed by Smith (2018), some features and nuances may be seen.
From the semantics viewpoint, the content of these statements is rather poor. Little information is presented for analysis, and although the essence of such slogans is brevity, there are no significant conclusions regarding goals since abstract phrases are presented. Nevertheless, the statements are simple and are not overloaded with complex lexical constructions, which allows the target audience to perceive them easily. At the same time, they are memorable, which is also a virtue. Complex sentences, as a rule, do not find an echo in the memory of customers. It is difficult to assess the mission statement in the context of achievement since no significant and clear motives are presented. Regarding employee buy-in, it is possible to assume that a sufficiently large staff is behind these statements because the representatives of the corporation intend “to refresh the world” (The Coca-Cola Company, 2018, para. 3). It is based on such criteria that the quality of the selected mottos may be assessed comprehensively.
All the criteria are mentioned, and their application makes it possible to assess how they are suitable for the Coca-Cola Corporation. Although these statements are not sufficiently informative, they emphasize the company’s work in a positive direction. According to David, David, and David (2014), “a mission statement is a declaration of an organization’s “reason for being” (p. 96). Therefore, despite their simplicity, they reflect the nature of the company’s work and the reasons for its existence in the market. Consequently, in the context of products produced by the corporation, these mottos are good and can be used as a means of attracting the attention of consumers and other stakeholders.
Vision Statement Analysis
In addition to the mission statements, the Coca-Cola Company also mentions its vision ones, which are presented on the corporation’s official website. In particular, it is a special framework that is associated with six aspects – people, portfolio, partners, planet, profit, and productivity (The Coca-Cola Company, 2018). For each of these items, some explanations help to understand the key points better. Based on the assessment and criteria proposed by Olsen (2018), it is possible to analyze the company’s vision in terms of its quality and appropriateness.
Based on the assessment data, there is no clear definition of the potential development of the business in the next few years. The statement mentions the objectives of work, but there are no clear deadlines and time indicators. Also, according to the framework, there is no special dream that can be regarded as the ultimate goal of activities. Nevertheless, the company defines the direction of its work clearly and describes various strategies – financial (“maximize long-term return to shareowners”), partnership (“together we create mutual, enduring value”), and other ones (The Coca-Cola Company, 2018, para. 5). Also, judging by the allegations, the company encourages its employees to work productively and actively, which is another evaluation criterion. Finally, the language of the vision is motivating and confident, which makes it possible to create a sense of trust in consumers and other stakeholders. Due to all these criteria, it is possible to draw up a comprehensive picture of the quality of the brand’s vision statements.
Coca-Cola’s vision statements cannot be called perfect because, based on the evaluation criteria presented, not all the details are mentioned. However, the style of presentation is interesting enough, which captivates consumers’ attention. The division into several groups makes it possible to delineate the scope of activities and present key development prospects. It can be noted that the corporation has a responsible approach not only to its management strategy but also to the personnel policy. As Kopaneva and Sias (2015) argue, “an effective vision can contribute to higher levels of employee job satisfaction, organizational commitment, lower levels of turnover intentions, and role ambiguity” (p. 359). Based on the information presented, the role of the staff is essential, and the corporation values its people who work to achieve the goals set. Therefore, despite the absence of some relevant aspects, the company’s vision statements are successful enough.
Conclusion: Coca-Cola’s Values
In addition to the aforementioned mission and vision statements, the company also lists specific values. They include the following concepts: leadership, collaboration, integrity, accountability, passion, diversity, and quality (The Coca-Cola Company, 2018). All these components are evidence of a sustainable and adaptive business model that allows building a system of values intelligently, taking into account the modern features of the market and competition.
Coca-Cola’s values about the organization’s sense of ethics support the corporate principles of interaction in the team of specialists. The example of maintaining diversity and collaboration shows that the nature of the relationship among employees is benevolent, and no ethical principles are violated. Moreover, the company supports and stimulates attention to one another and encourages teamwork as one of the significant criteria for achieving a quality result. Thus, the value orientations of Coca-Cola are built competently, which allows the staff to achieve those goals and tasks that are defined by the corporation’s mission and vision statements.
References
The Coca-Cola Company. (2018). Mission, vision & values. Web.
David, M. E., David, F. R., & David, F. R. (2014). Mission statement theory and practice: A content analysis and new direction. International Journal of Business, Marketing, & Decision Science, 7(1), 95-110.
Kopaneva, I., & Sias, P. M. (2015). Lost in translation: Employee and organizational constructions of mission and vision. Management Communication Quarterly, 29(3), 358-384.
Olsen, E. (2018). Vision statements. Web.
Smith, E. (2018). Five criteria for a mission statement. Web.