University of Colombo

Faculty of Graduate Studies

Postgraduate Diploma in Business Management

2015/2016
PgDBM 504 Strategic Management
Individual Assignment
Title: Vision relevancy & Mission effectiveness
An Analysis on American Premium Water Systems (Pvt) Ltd.

Student Name
R. M. H. Rathnayake
Registration No.
2015/PgDBM/041

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Acknowledgements
I would like to extend my sincere gratitude for our lecturer, Mr. W.G. Premarathne, for his
continuous advice and guidance given to me throughout this module. Without his immense
guidance and supervision, it would be hard for me to continue studies properly.

My thanks also goes to the administration of Faculty of Graduate Studies, University of

Colombo for laboratory and library facilities provided to me whenever we needed.
Finally, the support given by my classmates is also highly appreciated.

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Table of Contents

Acknowledgements.....................................................................................................................- 2 Table of Contents........................................................................................................................- 3 List of Abbreviations...................................................................................................................- 4 List of Figures.............................................................................................................................- 4 List of Tables...............................................................................................................................- 4 Introduction to the report............................................................................................................- 5 Introduction to the organization..................................................................................................- 7 Vision Statement Analysis..........................................................................................................- 8 Mission Statement Analysis......................................................................................................- 11 Conclusion................................................................................................................................- 17 References.................................................................................................................................- 18 -

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List of Abbreviations
APWS American Premium Water Systems

List of Figures
Figure 1 Strategic Management Model....................................................................................- 1 Figure 2 Vision statement of American Premium Water Systems S........................................- 3 Figure 3 Components of an effective mission...........................................................................- 5 Figure 4 Mission statement of APWS......................................................................................- 6 Figure 5 Relevancy of components .........................................................................................- 7 -

List of Tables
Table 2 Mission Statement Evaluation Matrix.........................................................................- 6 Table 3 Matrix evaluation on the redeveloped missions .........................................................- 8 -

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Introduction to the report

This report provides a comprehensive analysis on the relevancy of vision statement and the
effectiveness of mission statement of the American Premium Water Systems (Pvt) Ltd which
engages in the bottled drinking-water industry. Since this report is mainly based on the strategic
intend of the company, the importance of the vision and mission statement is initially introduced.
Developing Vision & mission statements is considered as a step of strategic management
process.

Figure 1 Strategic Management Model (David, 2011)

According to that, vision and mission of an organization are vital for its strategic decision
making which strive the organization to the success. With respect to the American Premium
Water Systems the vision and mission statement is analyzed in this report. Initially, the relevancy
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of the vision statement is indicated and subsequently, the mission statement is analyzed using
mission Statement Evaluation Matrix. The level of effectiveness of the mission statement is
indicated through the result of this analysis. Depending on the effectiveness, the requirement of a
redeveloped mission statement is determined.
Finally, a conclusion is provided along with the necessary recommendations required by the
organization for its betterment.

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Vision Statement Analysis

Vision statement is an aspirational description which indicates what an organization would
achieve or accomplish in the future. It indicates the strategic intent of the organization which
expresses the future direction of the organization. A vision statement of an organization plays a
vital role in strategic decision making and it describes the organizations purpose. It also includes
the organizational values which in turn provide an inspirational direction for the employees.
A Vision statement needs to be very succinct, memorable, realistic, unique, and suits the current
situation (Millard, 2013). It implies that even though hard and fast rules are not connected with
creating a vision statement, generally accepted characteristics that incorporated with the vision
can be identified. Therefore, if a vision statement possess such characteristics, it becomes
effective which in turn directs the organization
The vision statement of APWS is analyzed below and the significance of the vision towards the
strategic decision making is indicated.

Figure 2 Vision statement of American Premium Water Systems (Authors work according to American
Premium Water Systems, 2016).

It is seen that, the vision of APWS possess some of the above mentioned characteristics. The
vision is succinct which provides precise and brief information about the vision. Also an
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effective vision statement need to memorable which enables the people to remember the key
elements. Therefore, this statement can be identified as memorable since it provides a simple
idea.
Generally, most of the vision statements seem impossible to achieve which might discourage the
employees. Thus it supposed to describe the existence of the organization and vision should be
realistic which is possible in achieving. Then it implies the realistic of the vision and in turn it
should be a motivating factor of the employees.
Since bottled water has become an essential need of human, it can be argued that there is a
significant level of competition among the suppliers domestically and internationally. Thus it can
be stated that this industry has a competition among the regional countries and therefore, the
vision of the APWS can be considered as realistic and can be achieved.
However, the uniqueness is lacking in this statement since this type of vision statement can be
created by any organization changing the industry engaged in. The vision needs to be
emphasized on what the organization strive to do differently and how to achieve the excellence
through it. With the unique vision statement, the uniqueness of the products of the company can
also be highlighted.
Finally, a vision statement should be well suited for the current situation. In situations like
change of direction set up or major changes in government policy, the validity of the vision
statement needs to be questioned whether it still stand or not. Therefore, it certainly should be
well suited with the external and internal environment situation of the organization. The vision of
APWS can be considered as a statement which has prepared in accordance with the current
environmental conditions. Since the vision is driven to the international aspect, APWS has more
challenges when achieving the vision.
Above analysis of the vision statement of APWS is carried out based on selected characteristics
of an effective vision. It implies that most of the characteristics that should possess by an
effective vision are incorporated in the vision statement of APWS. However, apart from the
uniqueness, other characteristics are identified as positive factors when analyzing the statement.

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Mission Statement Analysis

A mission statement of an organization declares the purpose and the reason for existence (Taylor,
2015). It serves the employees to remain focused on the targets as well as encouraging them for
innovations of moving towards achieving company goals. It also guides the decision making
process while articulating the mission to the customers, suppliers and the community (Taylor,
2015). David (2011) emphasizes that since the mission statement is often the most visible and
public part of the strategic management process, it should include nine essential components.
They can be briefly illustrated as follows.
Components of an effective mission
1. Customers - Who are the firms customers?
2. Products or services - What are the firms major products or
services?
3. Markets - Geographically, where does the firm compete?
4. Technology - Is the firm technologically current?
5. Concern for survival, growth, and profitability - Is the firm
committed to growth and financial soundness?
6. Philosophy - What are the basic beliefs, values, aspirations, and
ethical priorities of the firm?
7. Self-concept - What is the firms distinctive competence or major
competitive advantage?
8. Concern for public image - Is the firm responsive to social,
community, and environmental concerns?
9. Concern for employees - Are employees a valuable asset of the
firm?

Figure 3 Components of an effective mission (Authors work according to David, 2011)

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A combination of above mentioned nine components is also called as Mission Statement

Evaluation Matrix which is generally used for the purpose of evaluating a mission statement.
According to the above matrix, the Mission statement of APWS is evaluated as follows.

Figure 4 Mission statement of APWS (Authors work according to APWS, 2016).

Mission statement evaluation matrix

To be the best water company in Sri Lanka
Component

Whether it possess or not (Yes/No)

Customers

No

Products

Yes

Markets

Yes

Technology

No

Concern for survival growth & profitability

No

Philosophy

No

Self-concept

No

Concern for public image

No

Concern for employee

No

Table 1 Mission Statement Evaluation Matrix (Authors Work according to David, 2011)

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Mission statement evaluation matrix indicates the level of effectiveness through the number of
components that hold by a mission statement. Higher the number of components expresses a
higher level of effectiveness. According to the above analysis, only 2 components highlighted in
the chart are possessed by the mission statement which means it lacks 7 components. The
following figure indicates the relevancy of the components with the mission.

Figure 5 Relevancy of components (Authors work according to David, 2011)

Therefore, it can be identified that the effectiveness of the mission is low since it lacks 7
components. Due to the lower rate of effectiveness, improved or redeveloped mission statement
is essential in order to achieve the vision.
David (2011) has indicated 9 main characteristics in which an effective mission statement holds.
They are as follows.

Broad in scope; should not include monetary amounts, numbers, percentages,

ratios, or objectives
Less than 250 words in length
Inspiring
Identify the utility of a firms products
Reveal that the firm is socially responsible
Reveal that the firm is environmentally responsible
Include nine components
Reconciliatory
Enduring

Considering the above mentioned characteristics, two mission statements are proposed.
Proposed Mission statement No.1
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To become the best hygiene water provider in Sri Lanka valuing the health consciousness of the
inspired customers being financially accomplished through latest technology and competent
work force in a lean & green environment.
Proposed Mission statement No.2
To hold a hygiene bottle of water in every hand of Sri Lankan valued customer which delivered
through a financially stabilized, high technical process and proficient personnel in a
sociologically and ethically enriched environment.
The approach of redeveloping the two statements are illustrated using the mission statement
evaluation matrix.
Included factors in the redeveloped mission
Mission No.1
Mission No.1
Component
Customers
Products
Markets
Technology
Concern for survival
growth & profitability
Philosophy
Self-concept
Concern for public
image
Concern for employee

inspired customers
water
Sri Lanka
latest technology
financially accomplished
health consciousness
hygiene
lean & green environment
competent work force

customer
bottle of water
Sri Lankan
high technical process
financially stabilized
ethically enriched
hygiene
physiologically and ethically
enriched environment
proficient personnel

Table 2 Matrix evaluation on the redeveloped missions (Authors work according to David, 2011)

Since the current mission statement does include only two components of the evaluation matrix,
the redeveloped mission statements are proposed concerning all the components in order to make
it effective.

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Conclusion
This report is mainly prepared in order to understand the importance of a Vision & Mission
statement of an organization. For that, the relevancy of vision and the effectiveness of the
mission is analyzed considering the vision and mission statements of American Premium Water
Systems (Pvt) Ltd.
Initially, the importance of both vision and mission statements is indicated using literature.
Subsequently, the vision is analyzed through a generally accepted criteria and it indicates that the

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level of relevancy of the vision is considerably high. However, the uniqueness of the vision is
lacking and apart from that, other characteristics provides a positive indication.
Following chapter is based on the effectiveness of the mission statement which is analyzed
through the mission statement evaluation matrix. Even though the vision statement is relevant,
the mission lacks more components which it should possess. Apart from the two components
product & market, other seven components mentioned in the matrix lack the statement.
Therefore, it is proved that the level of effectiveness is low which in turn indicates the necessity
of a redeveloped mission. Therefore, two redeveloped missions including all the nine
components are proposed finally. Since the company profile does not include goals & objectives,
only the vision and mission are considered to specify the strategic intent.
Deeming in to the above analysis, it is proved that the uniqueness of the vision and
redevelopment of mission are required for its farsighted view.

References
David, R.F. (2011). Strategic Management CONCEPTS AND CASES. (12 ed.). Retrieved 31
July, 2016, from http://202.28.25.105/elearning/courses/703309/document/StrategicManagementDavid.pdf?cidReq=703309
Millard, S. (2010). Characteristics of Mission and Vision Statements. Retrieved 25 July,
2016, from https://hilo.hawaii.edu/strategicplan/documents/SPC21_10_Mission_and_Vision.pdf

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Taylor, F. .N. (2015). What is a Mission Statement?. Retrieved 28 July, 2016, from
http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/3783-mission-statement.html

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