analysis of a mission statement

In this article, Google and Southwest Airlines—two of the biggest corporations in the world—are examined. The two businesses have been examined in terms of their mission or vision statements. The mission statement of Google contrasts with the mission statement of Southwest Airlines, which advocates the practice of servant leadership. According to the analysis of Southwest Airlines' mission statement, the corporation is "Dedicated to the best quality of customer service offered with a sense of warmth, friendliness, individual pride, and team spirit. We are devoted to provide our staff members a stable work environment with equal opportunities for education and personal development (Rothaermel &Frank, 2015). Contrarily, Google's aim and communications in order to make them universally accessible and useful is to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful” (Noviantoro, 2014). The vision statement of Google is parallel to its mission statement. It goes as, “To provide access to the world’s information in one click (Noviantoro, 2014).

The two mission statements have similarities and differences in terms of their content and purposes.

There is major difference spotted on the purposes the mission serves. Google’s mission statement content serves the people worldwide through information delivery at the click of the button. This is the reason why Google is familiar to all of us in every corner of the world. Whether a person needs to navigate to unfamiliar places, or do homework, Google comes handy in all aspects (Noviantoro, 2014). All a user needs to do is click and information is displayed for them to use it. It does all these through millions of websites stored in their computers and therefore one does not need to memorize all the websites in your brain. Many more search engines exist but Google comes first when searching for information. On the other side is Southwest airlines mission statement which indicates their purpose is service delivery via their airline. Their mission is to provide quality services to its customers and at the same look into the welfare of its employees (Rothaermel &Frank, 2015).

The two companies’ missions are similar at some capacity. First, they both are committed to being efficient in the service delivery. Southwest Airlines mission for instance mentions, “… customer service delivered with a sense of warmth, friendliness…” to suggest that they strive to become efficient in their operations to meet customer expectations. In airline business, the passengers need an airline crew that meets their needs in a more friendly and warm manner. Southwest Airlines has drafted some of those needs into their mission statement suggesting they are yearning to become what the customers want them to be. Google Company on the other hand has mentioned, “…Organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful” to suggest efficiency levels they are yearning to acquire in terms of service delivery (Noviantoro, 2014). In both case, quality of operations desired is stated clearly in the company’s missions.

Mission Statements and Culture

Mission statements have major impacts on the cultures of various organizations. The culture of Google for instance is putting the users first. This can be traced in their mission statement which narrows down their pledge to users ahead. While many organizations strived to market their websites and raise revenues from advertising, Google eliminated all distractions in their web page and presented users with an empty page having only a search box and logo of Google. They had to put off pop-up advertising because of how users got annoyed of them (Rothaermel &Frank, 2015). It is from there henceforth that most of their advertisements are marked ‘sponsored’. This was ideally to improve the user experience and putting it ahead of money. This has been a success considering Google is now the best search engine in the world. Google also developed a good environment for its workers and it is continually improving. They have a culture of making their teams happy. In 2007 they were ranked first “best place to work for” by a magazine called fortune (Noviantoro, 2014).

Southwest Airlines on its side has a culture of safeguarding the interests of its employees. According to an interview carried out between the business insider magazine and the CEO of Southwest, Herb Kelleher in 2013, he clearly states that focus is on the employees by affording them time, effort and attention or even money. This incorporated with their focus on customers has yielded the success of the organization as it is today (Nisen, 2013). All these cultures can be traced directly into their mission statement. This means that the company puts so much emphasis into customers’ satisfaction and employees’ focus.

Servant Leadership Principles at Southwest

Southwest Airlines explicitly and implicitly reveal most of the principles of servant leadership model according to (Selldurai, 2004). Some of them are outlined as follows:

Listening

For Southwest to come up with their mission statement, it is quite evident they listened to their customers. They for instance complained or heard about how they crew were rude and uncaring therefore they decided to change. They went ahead and put warmth’ and ‘friendliness’ as their mission purpose.

Empathy

This is very explicitly covered in their mission statement. They were able to empathize with their customers and deliver quality as any other human being would desire when placed in their shoes. They also empathized with their employees and provided a stable environment to work.

Foresight

Explicitly their mission statement looks into the future of the organization in a clear manner. The standards in the mission statement cannot be achieved in a day but over a period of time. The company foresees success as a result of quality services and happy employees.

Commitment to Growth of People

The mission explicitly states ‘…equal opportunity for learning and personal growth’. This is a declaration to the workers that their welfare will be checked at all costs. This translates to success of the company when an employee is motivated (Rothaermel &Frank, 2015).

The companies in these case studies have upheld their values/principles as indicated by their mission statements more than they have not. This is because a company like Google has continually been upgrading to ensure user access to websites is easier through bookmarks and website suggestions when searching vital information. This is in line with their mission to make information universally accessible for all. Southwest Airlines has been reducing delays which are accustomed with most airlines. They have come up with a system with an early warning to detect these hold ups before they paralyze the whole travels (Nisen, 2013). Also, they have improved technologies to communicate better with customers that are delayed. This in itself is a sign of the ‘quality services’ they have mentioned to offer to its customers.

Google Company does not meet the servant-leadership model status though in some aspects they offer services just like companies that belong to it. In order to meet the status of servant-leadership models, Google Company will have to adjust their mission statements and include a number of things. Their mission statement should be adjusted to commit to people growth, build the community, be more listening to users and employees, have empathy, be persuasive, and possess stewardship (Selldurai, 2004).

Mission statements are not only guiding principles but they form a fundamental cultural base for any organization. As demonstrated by these two companies; southwest Airlines and Google, the success of any firm relies on the company’s mission statement and visions. Some firms may be more inclined to servant leadership model, but the few that embrace standard leadership models have also proved they can be successful like Google case. Overall, mission statements are important to any company and should be used to analyze companies ‘direction.































References

Nisen, M. (2013). Southwest’s founder explains why there’s no secret behind its great culture, Business Insider, Inc.

Noviantoro, T. (2014). Culture in Google Inc.: Organizational Culture in Google Inc. Linked In

Rothaermel, Frank T. (2015). Strategic Management, New York, NY: McGraw-Hill,

Selldurai, R. (2004). Servant Leadership: Research and Practice: Research and Practice. IGI Global (Ed).