View source for Social:Vision statement

[[File:LUMO Community Wildlife Sanctuary vision and mission statement at the main gate in Kenya.jpg|thumb|The vision and mission statements of the LUMO Community Wildlife Sanctuary]]
A '''vision statement''' is a high-level,{{sfn|Project Management Institute|2021|loc=§4.6.1 Strategy Artifacts}} inspirational{{sfn|Project Management Institute|2021|loc=§4.6.1 Strategy Artifacts}} statement of an idealistic emotional future of a company or group. Vision describes the basic human emotion that a founder intends to be experienced by the people the organization interacts with.<ref>[[Finance:Start with Why|Start with Why]]</ref>{{Circular reference|date=October 2020}}<ref>[[Finance:The Infinite Game|The Infinite Game]]</ref>{{circular reference|date=August 2020}}

Vision statements may fill the following functions for a company:<ref name=Lipton>{{cite journal|last=Lipton|first=Mark|title=Demystifying the Development of an Organizational Vision|journal=Sloan Management Review|date=Summer 1996|volume=37|issue=4|page=83|url=https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/demystifying-the-development-of-an-organizational-vision/|access-date=2019-11-25|format=PDF download}}</ref>
* Serve as foundations for a broader strategic plan.
* Motivate existing employees and attract potential employees by clearly categorizing the company's goals and attracting like-minded individuals.
* Focus company efforts and facilitate the creation of core competencies by directing the company to only focus on strategic opportunities that advance the company's vision.
* Help companies differentiate from competitors.{{sfn|Project Management Institute|2021|loc=Glossary §3 Definitions}}

A consensus does not exist on the characteristics of a "good" or "bad" vision statement.  Commonly cited traits include:<ref name="Kantrabutra">{{cite journal |last1=Kantabutra |first1=Sooksan |last2=Avery |first2=Gayle |date=2010 |title=The power of vision: statements that resonate |url=http://www.collegeofmanagement.mahidol.ac.th/research/images/VisionstatementsJBS.pdf |journal=Journal of Business Strategy |volume=31 |issue=1 |pages=37–45 |doi=10.1108/02756661011012769}}</ref>
* concise:{{sfn|Project Management Institute|2021|loc=§4.6.1 Strategy Artifacts}} able to be easily remembered and repeated
* clear: defines a prime [[Philosophy:Goal|goal]]{{sfn|Project Management Institute|2021|loc=Glossary §3 Definitions}}
* time horizon: defines a time horizon
* future-oriented: describes where the company is going rather than the current state
* stable: offers a long-term perspective and is unlikely to be impacted by market or technology changes
* challenging: not something that can be easily met and discarded
* abstract: general enough to encompass all of the organization's interests and strategic direction
* inspiring:{{sfn|Project Management Institute|2021|loc=§4.6.1 Strategy Artifacts}} motivates employees and is something that employees view as desirable

== See also ==
* [[Social:Strategic planning|Strategic planning]]
* [[Social:Mission statement|Mission statement]]
* [[Strategy Markup Language]]

==Citations==
{{Reflist | 30em}}

==References==
*{{cite book|last=Project Management Institute|title=A guide to the project management body of knowledge (PMBOK guide)|date=2021|others=Project Management Institute|isbn=978-1-62825-664-2
|edition=7th|location=Newtown Square, PA}}


[[Category:Business terms]]
[[Category:Strategic management]]

{{Sourceattribution|Vision statement}}