elasticity of the airline industry

INTRODUCTION

In 1973 Peter Drucker wrote that “mission and philosophy is the key starting point in business” and claimed that the lack of thought and attention given to them as the cause of many frustrations and failures in business.

Subsequently Pearce (1982), David (1989), Campbell and Tawadey (1990) and others developed a body of knowledge on mission statements as a strategic tool essential for good management practice.

The Ashridge model:

MAINTAINING A CORPORATE FOCUS mission statement is a powerful instrument which can significantly influence the actions of an organisation

Campbell and Tawadey (1990) put the mission statement into the context of a mission model, entitled "The Ashridge

Mission Model", which comprises four elements:

*Purpose describes why the organisation exists

*Strategy focuses on how the purpose might be achieved

*Values are what the organisation cherishes and believes in

*Behaviour standards are the policies and patterns existing within the organisation which guide and colour how it operates

*key issues are whether such elements have been addressed and whether the organisation's stance is clearly understood by all employees

* Strong links between the four elements will result in a strong mission

During the 1990s attitudes to company mission statements were generally positive with more companies using them and academics and consultants engaged in defining and evaluating them. Most of this was within the context of strategic management since mission and vision form a “framework within which strategising takes place” (Eden and Ackerman 1998) leading to the mission as a statement of strategic intent.

Leading management authors advised that corporate headquarters draw up business plans which include broad statements of mission and strategy (Kotler 1991, Kay 1993, Lynch 2000, Thompson 2001). There were numerous definitions and categorisations of mission statements (Jauch and Glueck 1988, Johnson and Scholes 1999, De Wit and Meyer 1994, Barrow et al. 2001), but little discussion, still less empirical evidence, of how mission statements are used, by whom and their impact on performance.

Research since 2000 has attempted to remedy the deficiency in the mission statement literature and to establish a link between mission statements and performance. Bart and Baetz’s (1998) in-depth study showed that the prese...

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Campbell, A., & Yeung, S. (1991). Creating a sense of mission. Long Range Planning, 24(4), 10-20

David, F. R. (1989, February). How companies define their mission. Long Range Planning, 221 (113), 90.

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Eden, C. and Ackerman, F. (1998) The Journey of Strategic Management, London: Sage Publications

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– Mary Klemm & John Redfearn Mission Statements: Do They Still Have a Role?

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