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Creating a mission and vision statement for our research group

Published: January 16, 2012

Author: Jessica Hellmann

Here is what you should do to generate your vision

For several year’s now, I have been working with researchers to develop their research vision. In the beginning, some researchers thought this was a little strange, and I was even met with the comment, “Tamika, a vision is something companies have”!

However, since then, there have been several examples of why having a vision for your research is necessary.

Examples of why you should have a research vision

The first of these came from a blog post looking at the elements of research impact pathways. This work had looked at the Research Excellence Framework impact narratives from the 2014 assessment in the UK and determined the common features of the successful pathways, of which the first element was a clear vision. The second example was a media piece from the University of Toronto , where a Canadian researcher Dr Anna Taddio, was interviewed. In that article, Dr Taddio clearly stated her research vision and even called it her vision. The third reason for having a vision for your research, came as recently as this year when the National Health and Medical Research Council in Australia introduced a specific section into the Investigator Grant proposal asking for the project vision.

What is your research vision?

Well, you can have several, you may have one that is your career vision, and you may have one for each of your research projects or a program of work. In each case, your vision is your destination postcard.

Benefits of knowing your vision

Aside from the need for this in grants, a career vision will help you make decisions and stop you from getting detracted from what you want to achieve. Often researchers and in particular, early career researchers, tell me that they have so much to do and different opportunities that they don’t know which ones to accept and reject. Having a clear vision can help you to decide if the answer is yes or no. When you know where you are heading, you can say no to all the shiny new objects that take you off your path, unless of course, that’s where you want to go.

A program or project level vision is useful in two ways.

• It helps you to clearly articulate where the work is heading and attract likeminded team members and collaborators. When you know and work to your vision, it connects the team and brings everyone on the journey.
• A clear research vision is useful in talking to external collaborators, it gives you and them clarity about why you are undertaking the work, and it helps you to know if you align well with their organisation.

Articulating your research vision

Now we need to consider your vision, not an easy task. This takes time to get it right. Everyone has different ways of creating their vision and usually what happens with researchers is that we make the vision too detailed and wordy. That’s why my preferred structure is to write out both your vision and mission as follows.

Your vision statement describes what you want to achieve in the future. How long to the “future” will depend on if this is for a project or your career. Your vision should inspire you, and in the case of a project vision, it should inspire your team. A vision helps shape your understanding of why you are doing what you do. Your vision is your WHY.

Your mission is about the present state; it is the detail underpinning your vision. Your mission answers the following questions:

• What do I do?
• How do I do it?
• Who do I do it for?

Example of research vision

I mentioned earlier the article from the University of Toronto , in that article, Dr Anna Taddio outlined her vision.

My vision is to make children all over the world healthier by improving their experiences during needle procedures. Dr Anna Taddio

Reading the article further, I was able to ascertain the answers to the questions required for a mission statement.

• How: increasing the number of vaccinated youth through the implementation of interventions and programs.
• Who: Youth aged 6-18
• What: best research evidence on managing pain and fear of needles

Take a look at the article , and you can see that by understanding her vision and mission, Dr Taddio was able to articulate her work clearly and tell the reader why she is doing it.

Have you written your vision for your project or career?

Reach out and let me know your vision.

Want some help to develop your research vision and mission?

To help you, we have put together a FREE video-course to show you how.

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Faculty Application: Research Statement

Criteria for success.

• Clearly articulate your brand.
• Demonstrate the impact of your past work.
• Show that you are credible to carry out your proposed future research.
• Articulate the importance of your research vision.
• Match the standards within the department to which you are applying.
• Show that you are a good fit for the position.
• Polish. Avoid typos.

Structure Diagram

The typical structure and length of research statements vary widely across fields. If you are unsure of what is typical in the field where you are applying, be sure to check with someone who is familiar with the standards. 

In electrical engineering and computer science, research statements are usually around three pages long with a focus on past and current work, often following the structure in the diagram below.

Identify Your Purpose

Your cover letter and CV outline your past work and hint at a general direction of your future work but do not go into detail. Therefore, the purpose of a research statement is to emphasize the importance of your past work and describe your research vision. Both your past/current work and future work presented in the research statement should reflect your branding statement .  

In EECS, faculty research statements focus on past/current work. However, it is important to also include your vision for the future, which should build on your previous work. This statement should convince the committee that your future work is important, relevant, and feasible. The future work section should go beyond direct extensions of your doctoral or postdoctoral work; it should cover a 5-10 year span. Proposed future work should show scientific growth and convince the committee that you propose strong research directions for your future group. Your research statement can also include possible funding sources and collaborations.

Analyze Your Audience

Your audience is a faculty search committee, which is made up of professors from across the department, not just the ones in your research area. A typical search committee member is probably very busy reviewing lots of applications, and hence may not read your statement in depth until you make it to later rounds of the hiring process.

Knowing details of the job posting and what the faculty search committee is looking for will help you tailor your statement. If the call is for a specific research area (e.g., language processing, bioinformatics, algorithms, machine learning, systems), it is beneficial to motivate and emphasize the importance of your work in the language of that area whenever possible.

Structure your statement

Although there is usually no mandated structure for a research statement, it can be very helpful to a reader if the content flows naturally.

Use the hourglass concept. It makes a compelling introduction if a research statement presents motivation starting from the high-level picture and then zooms in to the main topic(s) of research. This is helpful for two reasons. First, a research statement is typically read by committee members from several research areas, so starting with a high-level picture gives members a gentle guidance to the meat of a work. Second, providing general motivation helps in showing how different pieces of research fit in a big puzzle.

After talking about specific results, the story typically zooms back out by discussing impact and future directions. It is best if future work has some concrete research directions and also widens up to touch on a broader perspective of research plans.

The diagram below summarizes the hourglass concept and provides one potential flow of content.

Use good formatting to help retain focus . A successful research statement is typically organized into three main parts: Introduction and motivation; past work/achievements; and vision/future work. Each of these parts can be divided into subsections.

In addition, you can help a reader focus their attention on the important content by:

• making each section/paragraph title tell a message;
• using bullet points and itemization while listing;
• using bold or italics to emphasize important keywords or sentences. 

Some institutions set constraints on the format of research statements, primarily constraints on length . Make sure that your research statement is tailored to the guidelines. It is helpful to prepare two versions of your statement — a long one and a short one. The short version is usually the long one stripped of many details with the emphasis on high-level pictures and ideas.

Say who you are

Your research statement tells a story about you. Think who you want to be in the eyes of committee members (e.g., a programming languages person, a machine learning expert, a theory professor) and which of your achievements you want them to remember.

Make your research statement echo your branding one . A successful research statement builds a story around the author’s branding statement. A strong point is made if past and future work are echoes of the same brand. 

Successful candidates outline their research agenda before stating actual results and after providing a background. Sometimes this is done even before giving background and motivation. In the latter case, the research agenda is typically stated briefly, and then reiterated with more context after providing the background.

Show credibility for your future work by your past work

Your past work is an excellent way to illustrate that you are fit for the future work you are proposing. Refer to some of your past work when outlining feasibility of your proposed future directions. Even if you aim to change your field of research, your past experience should still serve as a justification for why you are well suited for the new line of work.

Dedicate space to your strongest results . Describe your strongest results in the most detail. If you want to mention many papers, organize them into several themes. A successful statement communicates how obtained results affect a field or a research community. Impact of papers can be shown by awards, high number of citations, or follow up papers by other research groups. A reader will have limited time to go over your statement, so make sure that the reader’s attention is spent on your most impactful work. Note that your strongest results do not necessarily have to be your most recent ones; they can even be several years old. Nevertheless, it is still a good idea to also mention some of your recent work as it shows that you have been active lately as well.

Importantly, a research statement should be a coherent story about ideas and impact, not only an overview of published articles. Hence, it is often the case that a research statement does not discuss all papers published or all work done by the applicant.

Use figures to support important claims . Consider including figures . They can be used to support your claims about your results and/or in the future work section to illustrate your research plans. A well-made figure can help the reader quickly understand your work, but figures also take up a large amount of space. Use figures carefully, only to draw attention to the most important points.

Devote time!

Getting out a job application package takes an indefinitely long time (writing, addressing feedback, polishing, addressing feedback … aaaand polishing)! Start early and invest time.

Get feedback . Your application package will be read by committee members that are not necessarily in your research area. It is thus important to get feedback about your research statement from colleagues with different backgrounds and seniority. Note that it might take time for other people to share their feedback (remember, others are busy as well!), so plan ahead.

MIT EECS affiliates can also make an appointment with a Communication Fellow to obtain additional feedback on their statements.

Resources and Annotated Examples

Amy zhang research statement.

Submitted in 2018-2019 by Amy Zhang, now faculty at University of Washington 1 MB

Elena Glassman Research Statement

Submitted in 2017-2018 by Elena Glassman, now faculty at Harvard University 2 MB

Search form

Research and innovation menu, research and innovation, mission, vision & values.

The mission of the Office of the Vice President for Research and Innovation is to advance world-class research, scholarship, and innovation across the entire university. We provide the university community with comprehensive, solution-oriented services and infrastructure to support research, dissemination, and translation of discoveries to maximize impact. By leading the growth of our public university’s research enterprise and securing new resources for our scholars, we contribute to new knowledge, discovery, and innovation in Oregon, nationally, and globally.

We envision a supportive environment for all University of Oregon scholars that enables transformative discoveries and innovation, produces new knowledge, and supports creative activities to benefit Oregon, the nation, and the world.

• Collaboration: Our office advances research and innovation by establishing collaborative relationships at all scales—within our division, throughout the university, and with external partners in higher education, government, industry, and non-profit organizations. We champion disciplinary and interdisciplinary collaboration.
• Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: We proactively support the creation of a diverse, equitable, and inclusive research community. We act upon the deep belief that diverse, equitable, and inclusive research environments are fair and just, and are necessary to accelerate discovery and innovation.
• Innovation and Impact: Our efforts and investments in innovative work at the university advance intellectual and societal impact of fundamental and applied research. We prioritize innovation in research, including the translation of discoveries, public engagement, and dissemination of knowledge.
• Openness and Transparency: We actively seek input from the research community, make reasoned decisions that are fair and principled, and share information in a transparent manner.
• Resilience: We respond to new information and changing conditions in ways that enable rapid learning and flexibility while maintaining continuity and adaptability for our research enterprise.  We approach current opportunities and challenges with an eye towards the long-term resilience.
• Service: We provide high-caliber, solution-oriented service to our faculty, students, and staff to advance their research and scholarship goals while ensuring that activities comply with applicable laws, regulations, and university policies.

/images/cornell/logo35pt_cornell_white.svg" alt="research vision statement"> Cornell University --> Graduate School

Research statement, what is a research statement.

The research statement (or statement of research interests) is a common component of academic job applications. It is a summary of your research accomplishments, current work, and future direction and potential of your work.

The statement can discuss specific issues such as:

• funding history and potential
• requirements for laboratory equipment and space and other resources
• potential research and industrial collaborations
• how your research contributes to your field
• future direction of your research

The research statement should be technical, but should be intelligible to all members of the department, including those outside your subdiscipline. So keep the “big picture” in mind. The strongest research statements present a readable, compelling, and realistic research agenda that fits well with the needs, facilities, and goals of the department.

Research statements can be weakened by:

• overly ambitious proposals
• lack of clear direction
• lack of big-picture focus
• inadequate attention to the needs and facilities of the department or position

Why a Research Statement?

• It conveys to search committees the pieces of your professional identity and charts the course of your scholarly journey.
• It communicates a sense that your research will follow logically from what you have done and that it will be different, important, and innovative.
• It gives a context for your research interests—Why does your research matter? The so what?
• It combines your achievements and current work with the proposal for upcoming research.
• areas of specialty and expertise
• potential to get funding
• academic strengths and abilities
• compatibility with the department or school
• ability to think and communicate like a serious scholar and/or scientist

Formatting of Research Statements

The goal of the research statement is to introduce yourself to a search committee, which will probably contain scientists both in and outside your field, and get them excited about your research. To encourage people to read it:

• make it one or two pages, three at most
• use informative section headings and subheadings
• use bullets
• use an easily readable font size
• make the margins a reasonable size

Organization of Research Statements

Think of the overarching theme guiding your main research subject area. Write an essay that lays out:

• The main theme(s) and why it is important and what specific skills you use to attack the problem.
• A few specific examples of problems you have already solved with success to build credibility and inform people outside your field about what you do.
• A discussion of the future direction of your research. This section should be really exciting to people both in and outside your field. Don’t sell yourself short; if you think your research could lead to answers for big important questions, say so!
• A final paragraph that gives a good overall impression of your research.

Writing Research Statements

• Avoid jargon. Make sure that you describe your research in language that many people outside your specific subject area can understand. Ask people both in and outside your field to read it before you send your application. A search committee won’t get excited about something they can’t understand.
• Write as clearly, concisely, and concretely as you can.
• Keep it at a summary level; give more detail in the job talk.
• Ask others to proofread it. Be sure there are no spelling errors.
• Convince the search committee not only that you are knowledgeable, but that you are the right person to carry out the research.
• Include information that sets you apart (e.g., publication in  Science, Nature,  or a prestigious journal in your field).
• What excites you about your research? Sound fresh.
• Include preliminary results and how to build on results.
• Point out how current faculty may become future partners.
• Acknowledge the work of others.
• Use language that shows you are an independent researcher.
• BUT focus on your research work, not yourself.
• Include potential funding partners and industrial collaborations. Be creative!
• Provide a summary of your research.
• Put in background material to give the context/relevance/significance of your research.
• List major findings, outcomes, and implications.
• Describe both current and planned (future) research.
• Communicate a sense that your research will follow logically from what you have done and that it will be unique, significant, and innovative (and easy to fund).

Describe Your Future Goals or Research Plans

• Major problem(s) you want to focus on in your research.
• The problem’s relevance and significance to the field.
• Your specific goals for the next three to five years, including potential impact and outcomes.
• If you know what a particular agency funds, you can name the agency and briefly outline a proposal.
• Give broad enough goals so that if one area doesn’t get funded, you can pursue other research goals and funding.

Identify Potential Funding Sources

• Almost every institution wants to know whether you’ll be able to get external funding for research.
• Try to provide some possible sources of funding for the research, such as NIH, NSF, foundations, private agencies.
• Mention past funding, if appropriate.

Be Realistic

There is a delicate balance between a realistic research statement where you promise to work on problems you really think you can solve and over-reaching or dabbling in too many subject areas. Select an over-arching theme for your research statement and leave miscellaneous ideas or projects out. Everyone knows that you will work on more than what you mention in this statement.

Consider Also Preparing a Longer Version

• A longer version (five–15 pages) can be brought to your interview. (Check with your advisor to see if this is necessary.)
• You may be asked to describe research plans and budget in detail at the campus interview. Be prepared.
• Include laboratory needs (how much budget you need for equipment, how many grad assistants, etc.) to start up the research.

Samples of Research Statements

To find sample research statements with content specific to your discipline, search on the internet for your discipline + “Research Statement.”

• University of Pennsylvania Sample Research Statement
• Advice on writing a Research Statement (Plan) from the journal  Science

Writing a research vision statement in a pandemic

Tom Gleeson , University of Victoria with lots of input from the GSAS research collective

We’ve all done weird, new things in the pandemic. We have tried Zoom parlour games and a few of us have done the pandemic tropes of giving bread baking or even giving a new fitness regime a try.

Strangely, the very last thing that we did together in person as a research group before the first pandemic lockdown was conduct our first brainstorming session for writing a new research vision and mission statement. Even in these challenging times, we knew this was important and have episodically continued this process through Zoom and Google Docs. We are now happy with the outcome, check it out here and with a bit more detail on our Mission webpage .

We found the process to be insightful, generative, both individually and collectively affirming, and thus overall very useful. We thought we’d share our process to encourage others to reflect and look forward through the pandemic fog with more clarity by working collectively on a research vision statement.

So what is a research vision statement? We personally like Jessica Hellmann’s excellent description : a mission statement is really just a way to clearly define who we are, what we do, and why we do the sorts of things that we do.  We embarked on the process inspired by Earth Leadership Program blog posts by Chris Buddle and John Sabo.

Our first step was to  brainstorm in person with a whole bunch of sticky notes arranged with the headings:

• Who are we?
• What do we do?
• Why do we do it? and
• Who do we do it for?

It was great to see the consistency in responses to these questions from various people in the group and a visitor (Petra Döll). Although we did this in person with real paper stickies lots of online tools like Google Jamboard can work too.

Next, we iterated, refined, and cut ruthlessly. We had a few 1-2 hour long Zoom conversations where we worked collectively and individually on individual sentences, sketched images, and debated many questions, words, and meanings. For me, there were brilliant moments of insight mixed with the frustration of iteration as we would circle back to similar words or debate semantics.

Eventually, we felt confident enough to seek feedback both internally and externally. I reached out to colleagues in academia and industry, family members, and university communication people for suggestions and feedback. In each case, I described what to focus on in their comments and reviews. Family members commented on the clarity of our plain language, colleagues in academia and industry suggested how to make words more consistent with reality, and communications people tightened our language.

One very useful review tool were these questions which we modified slightly from Foresight after Foundry Spatial shared these from the Foresight Launch Program :

• Do you find this purpose personally inspiring?
• Can you envision this purpose being as valid 100 years from now as it is today?
• Does the purpose help you think expansively about the long-term possibilities and range of activities the organization can consider over the next 100 years, beyond current research and impact?
• Does this purpose help you to decide what activities to not pursue, to eliminate from consideration?
• Is this purpose authentic – something true to what the organization is all about – not merely words on paper that “sound nice”?
• Would this purpose be greeted with enthusiasm rather than cynicism by a broad base of people in the organization?
• When telling your children and/or other loved ones what you do for a living, would you feel proud in describing your work in terms of this purpose?

All in all, these iterations, modifications and discussions likely took ~20-30 hours over a 6-8 month period. This feels like time very well spent individually and collectively, especially during this pandemic as we all continue to seek solidarity and community through these challenging times. We plan to return to this blueprint once per year to evaluate if we are still working and living by our mission.

Screenshot from our updated group website, displaying our new mission statement front and center.

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How to Write a Vision Statement (With Examples, Tips, and Formulas)

This comprehensive guide will take you through the entire process of writing a well-thought-out and compelling business vision statement. 

Here’s what you will discover inside: 

• Why is a vision statement important for company goals?

Vision Statement vs Mission Statement: What’s the difference?

• Bad Vision Statements Examples (And What Makes Them Bad)

Helpful Tips for Writing your Vision Statement

• Fail-proof formula: Write your vision statement in 4 simple steps 
• Great Vision Statement Examples For Inspiration
• How to effectively communicate the company vision?

What is a Vision Statement?

In short, a vision statement describes the desired future state of a business within a 5-10 year timeframe and guides the direction of the business's efforts. It is essentially the future objectives of a business. The vision statement is also one of the key elements in a highly-effective business strategic plan.

Why is a vision statement important for company goals? 

We explained the real purpose of the vision statement  in this article , but here’s a quick reminder of what we're trying to achieve with a company vision statement:

• Improve the decision-making process by setting a 'limiter' that helps us to rule out strategic initiatives and opportunities which aren’t aligned with business long-term goals. 
• Make a succinct statement about what our organization is trying to achieve to help third parties such as investors or the media better understand us.
• Create a strong North Star that can guide and motivate employees even during difficult times if it is taken seriously.
• Develop an engaging vision statement that’s  one of the key elements  of thriving company culture. 

The bottom line is that a vision statement isn't just a nice-to-have. It should be included in every business plan and strategy discussion, especially during the strategic planning process , to ensure the organization and its departments stay aligned with its vision and don’t get sidetracked.

The most common mistake we see across the internet and with our clients is that most people do not understand the difference between a company's vision and mission. 

While we covered this a bit more in-depth  in this article , here’s a short recap: 

• A vision statement  describes a long-term, idealistic  state  of the FUTURE. 
• A mission statement  is a roadmap to a specific destination (your VISION) that explains how will you achieve it. 

Mistaking one for another can prevent an organization from reaching its full potential. 

So, while keeping this in mind, let’s look at some “vision” statements examples and analyze where they fit so you can avoid doing the same mistake when crafting your own vision statement.

Bad Vision Statements Examples (and why)

Here are some real-life examples of vision statements that, in our opinion, could do with a little tweaking. For each, we will explain what could be done better.

"Provide maximum value for our shareholders whilst helping our customers to fulfill their dreams."

If this was your vision statement  → Well, let’s hope it isn’t. That’s a classic mission statement example that describes HOW the company will achieve its vision. 

"Our company vision is to make every brand more inspiring and the world more intelligent by 2023."

If this was your vision statement  → You would want to make it more specific and relatable. Is it realistic that 'every brand' will use the services of this company? How about 'making the world more intelligent.' Can you be more specific on which brands? What does it mean to make the world more intelligent? Not to be too harsh though - there are strong elements here; 'making brands more inspiring' makes a lot of sense and has some depth.

"We aspire to be the most admired and valuable company in the world."

If this was your vision statement  → We would suggest you rethink your decision. Can you even make it more empty than it is? Which company doesn’t want to be the most admired and most valuable? Your vision statement should be more specific than that. 

"We are committed to achieving new standards of excellence by providing superior human capital management services and maximizing the potential of all stakeholders - clients, candidates, and employees - through the delivery of the most reliable, responsive ..." [and it goes on, but that's probably enough]...

If this was your vision statement  → you’d want to make sure it is less tangible and subjective. 'New standards of excellence'. 'Superior human capital management. 'Maximizing the potential'. There are simply far too many buzzwords, intangibles, and vagueness here for this to be either memorable or inspiring.

We are, of course, being rather harsh. But hopefully, the above examples illustrate well some of the pitfalls to avoid when creating your own vision.

Keep in mind that vision creation doesn't begin with sitting behind a desk and writing black on white. Reach out to your stakeholders and team members who will play a role in realizing the company's vision. Organize a workshop, or more if necessary, to brainstorm ideas and gather their feedback.

This toolkit with a template and workbook can help you with brainstorming exercises and navigating the whole process.

As a result, including other stakeholders in the vision-creation process will not only yield ideas but also get buy-in from the beginning since it will be their vision too. 

Here are 8 tips to help you write a memorable vision statement: 

• Keep it  short  - max 2 sentences. Your vision statement should be punchy and easy to remember. 
• Make it  specific  to your business and describe a unique outcome that only you can provide.
• Write it in the present tense. 
• Do not use words that are open to interpretation. Saying that you will maximize shareholder return in 2022 doesn't mean anything unless you specify what that means.
• Simple is best . There is a tendency for people to overcomplicate things, but you should make your vision clear enough for both people within and outside your organization to understand. Stay away from jargon, metaphors, and business buzzwords. 
• It should be  ambitious  enough to get people excited, but not so ambitious that it seems impossible to achieve.
• A vision statement isn't a one-off thing and  should evolve  with your business. When brainstorming your vision for the future, stick to a five-year timeframe. It's an ambitious end goal that's far enough ahead to work towards, but not too far for the organization to lose focus and commitment. 
• Vision  should align  with your company's core values. We go deeper into company values in this article, but when you have created your company values, you should review your vision to see if it aligns.

If anything, you should memorize these 4 words before you go into crafting your own vision statement:  Short, Specific, Simple , and  Ambitious .

Fail-proof formula: Write your vision statement in 4 simple steps

There are literally hundreds of articles out there that give examples of good and bad vision statements. There's also plenty of articles that give a high-level overview of what to consider when creating your own.

However, what we noticed was lacking was a concrete process to go through to help you create one. As such, we've outlined a process that we have used with clients in Cascade that might work for you too.

There are plenty of great vision statements out there that will not conform to the process below. But if you're struggling or just need a place to start, then hopefully this will help.

Step 1: Define what you do as an outcome

Start by being exceptionally clear about what it is your organization actually does. Be careful to remain 'outcome focused' rather than 'output focused'. For example, Microsoft famously had a vision statement to Put a Microsoft powered computer on every desk in the world (slightly paraphrased).

Strictly speaking, what Microsoft 'do' is make computer software, but for the purposes of their Vision, they looked forward to the actual outcome of this process - i.e. computers on desks.

Let's look at some other hypothetical examples:

• A bakery makes bread. But the outcome is consumers enjoying that bread.
• A consulting company gives advice. But the outcome is the success of others based on that advice.
• A government department does...lots of things. But the outcome is better lives for the citizens they serve.

Whilst this process may seem obvious - you would be surprised by how rarely organizations actually go through this process in a formal, written way.

Doing so will take you a long way towards creating your vision statement - BUT it's not enough alone! If it was, all bakeries, for example, would have the same vision statement - which is hardly inspiring!

TIP: If you are not sure where your organization wants to be in the future, you can use different tools, like SWOT or SOAR analysis , that will help you formulate your vision and future-oriented goals.

Step 2: Define what unique twist your organization brings to the above outcome

Very few products or services these days are truly new - most are more like reinventions of something that exists already, but with a different approach, focus or spin.

At some point in your organization's lifespan - someone will have believed that the reason that THIS organization would be successful where others have failed, was because of.........something.

You need to define that something!

Let's take our bakery example. So far, our vision statement looks pretty generic, along the lines of customers enjoying our bread. But why will they enjoy our bread MORE than the bread from the place next door?

Is it because we use centuries-old traditions passed through generations of our family? Because we only use premium grade locally sourced ingredients? Whatever your unique selling point is - let it shine through in your vision statement.

Step 3: Apply some high-level quantification

Ironically, a common problem with a vision statement that isn't as good is that it's too visionary! With no possible end in sight (or a totally unrealistic one) - the initial inspiration derived from a solid vision statement can quickly turn to frustration or even cynicism among employees and customers.

That said - this doesn’t mean you should put numbers or any financial metrics to your vision statement. This will come later in your planning process.

However, you still want to add some high-level quantification to make it achievable.

Sticking with our bakery example, we might want to refine our target audience to 'every customer who walks through the door'. That's fine, or maybe we want to be bolder: 'every customer within walking distance of a store'.

The quantification we apply could also be industry specific. If you're a B2B - are you shooting for small businesses or multinationals, for example?

Step 4: Add relatable, human, 'real world' aspects

OK, your vision statement by this point should be getting pretty close to finished. But one final trick you can apply to help make it even more memorable is to add a real-life aspect.

This will allow people to conjure up a solid mental image to associate with your vision statement.

Let's look at an example - which of the following statements is likely to be more memorable:

a) To have every working person in the world using Microsoft product.

b) A Microsoft-powered computer on every desk.

I would argue that (b) is more memorable because as I read this, I'm actually visualizing a computer (in my case) sitting on a wooden desk in a room.

There's nothing wrong with (a) but it's highly conceptual and thus difficult to transform into a mental picture. Let's look at another example:

"Ensure that every customer who leaves our store, does so smiling." 

Here, using the word 'smiling' as opposed to 'happy' is powerful, because it conjures a mental image of a person smiling.

It won't always be possible to bring this level of tangibility to a vision statement - but if it is, I would strongly encourage doing so.

Final check

Our tip for creating a good vision statement is to use our formula, which we explain below, in conjunction with the CASCADE vision framework. 

Ask yourself the following questions to check if your vision statement checks all boxes of a good vision: 

• Is it  C lear? 
• Is it  A mbitious, but not seemingly unattainable? 
• Is it  S timulating? 
• Is it  C oncise
• Is it too  A bstract? 
• D uration: Is it limited to a specific time range? 

Does it  E ncourage you to take action?

Great Vision Statement Examples for inspiration

First, let’s look at the vision statement on an example of the bakery we used in the previous section.

Following our 4-step process, the final vision statement looks like this:

Producing and selling locally sourced cakes and pies that are so delicious and satisfying , that every customer who leaves our store does so with a smile.

If we deconstruct this into our various steps, we can see each at work as follows:

Step 1 - The output Step 2 - The twist Step 3 - The quantification Step 4 - The human connection

Even if yours doesn't look like this at the end, following the process above will help you to bring structure and purpose to your effort.

Of course - there are other ways to write a well-thought-out and effective vision statement. So let’s look at some other examples of great vision that don’t match our vision statement formula but still make an engaging and memorable company vision: 

Vision statement: To be Earth’s most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online. 

Vision statement: To establish Starbucks as the premier purveyor of the finest coffee in the world while maintaining our uncompromising principles while we grow.

Vision statement: A global force for Learning-through-Play. 

We love this one because it’s short, sweet and easy to remember. 

Vision statement: To create the most compelling car company of the 21st century by driving the world's transition to electric vehicles.

Note: If you look closely, you’ll see that their vision statement is a mix of vision and mission statement. Let’s remember the difference between these two: Vision shows your business desired future state, while the company’s mission describes how you will get there. 

Cascade tip:  If you’re in doubt about what is a vision statement and what is a mission statement, do this simple test with two questions: 

• What do they want to achieve?  To create the most compelling car company of the 21st century…  (vision statement)
• How?  … by driving the world's transition to electric vehicles.  (mission statement)

Want to see more examples of a great vision statement? Check  this article with 17 vision statement examples  from top companies, such as Patagonia, Ikea, LinkedIn, and Disney. 

How to effectively communicate the company vision? 

Let's say you've finally crafted the perfect vision statement that makes everyone in the C-suite proud. Marketing updated the website, ran a PR, and posted across all company social media channels. The new direction is making waves in the company, but as time passes, everyone forgets about it and gets on with their business-as-usual. 

If you have a vision but take no action - your organization has no future. In other words, you need to keep the company's vision top of mind 24/7/365 if you want to achieve it. Consistent communication is the key to success.

Keep your vision statement in a place where everyone can see it on a daily basis.

You can start by including your vision in every company-wide meeting. Here at Cascade, we make sure to run the all-hands meeting every week. Here’s what our agenda usually looks like: 

• Drive alignment around company vision and overall strategy 
• Communicate the strategy priorities 
• Share updates and progress toward key business goals
• Celebrate our accomplishment 
• Establish two-way communication between employees and executives 

Turn your vision into a strategic advantage 

We have entered a new normal - an environment where change is the norm. You may have a top-flight board and a great executive team, but the success of your organization depends on your leadership. Your vision for the future needs to be clear and strong so people can understand it and join forces behind it.

In short, unity and a laser-sharp focus are what separate winning businesses from losers these days.

Cascade has your back, offering speedy and agile  business transformation  to help you align teams behind a shared vision and drive business growth.  See Cascade in action  to discover how you can turn your vision into reality.

Editor’s note:

This article was originally part of our ‘How to Write a Strategy’ series:

• How To Write A Strategic Plan: The Cascade Model
• How to Write a Good Vision Statement (This Article)
• How To Create Company Values
• Creating Strategic Focus Areas
• How To Write Strategic Objectives
• How To Create Effective Projects
• How To Write KPIs

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What Is a Vision Statement?

Table of Contents

Writing a vision statement for your business can be challenging because it must define your company, values and future goals. While many established companies focus on their mission statement , a vision statement is a valuable tool for inspiring your team and forging a corporate identity. 

We’ll explore vision statements and their importance, as well as offer tools and best practices for crafting an inspiring vision statement that powers your growth strategy. 

What is a vision statement?

A vision statement is a written declaration clarifying your business’s meaning and purpose for stakeholders, especially employees. It describes the desired long-term results of your company’s efforts. For example, an early Microsoft vision statement was “a computer on every desk and in every home.” 

“A company vision statement reveals, at the highest levels, what an organization most hopes to be and achieve in the long term,” said Katie Trauth Taylor, owner and CEO of Untold Content, a writing consultancy. “It serves a somewhat lofty purpose – to harness all the company’s foresight into one impactful statement.” 

A vision statement matters because it outlines the common goal of everyone in the company. Businesses that are working toward a higher aspiration are more appealing to current and future employees. 

A vision statement can affect a company’s long-term success, so take the time to craft one that synthesizes your ambition and mobilizes your staff.

What’s the difference between a vision statement and a mission statement?

Mission statements are based in the present and convey to stakeholders and community members why a business exists and where it currently stands. Vision statements are future-based, and they are meant to inspire and give direction to employees. 

“The vision is about your goals for the future and how you will get there, whereas the mission is about where you are now and why you exist,” said Paige Arnof-Fenn, founder and CEO of Mavens & Moguls, a global strategic marketing consulting firm. “The vision should motivate the team to make a difference and be part of something bigger than themselves.” 

Mission statements and vision statements are both crucial for building a brand . “While a mission statement focuses on the purpose of the brand, the vision statement looks to the fulfillment of that purpose,” said Jessica Honard, co-CEO of North Star Messaging + Strategy, a copywriting and messaging firm that serves entrepreneurs. 

Although mission and vision statements should be core elements of your organization, a vision statement should serve as your company’s guiding light. 

“A vision is aspiration; a mission is actionable,” said Jamie Falkowski, chief creative officer at marketing and communications company Day One Agency.

Creating the perfect vision statement may seem overwhelming, but it doesn’t have to be. Follow these suggestions and best practices when crafting your vision statement. 

Determine who will shape your vision. 

The first step in writing a vision statement is determining who will craft it. In a small business, you may be able to ask everyone for their insight. In a larger operation, you may need to be more selective while still capturing a range of employee voices.

Evaluate your company’s published materials. 

Your company likely already has published goals and established values in its employee handbook , marketing materials and other publications. Use this information to guide your work, suggested Alison Brehme, an author and content, marketing and media strategist.

“A company’s mission, purpose, goals and values are all involved in the creation of a company vision,” Brehme said. “Weave these concepts and beliefs into your vision statement.”

Hold workshops to brainstorm your vision. 

Brandon Shockley, former vice president of market research at branding and marketing firm 160over90 and now head of investor research and insights at Vanguard, recommended hosting workshops with key stakeholders representing a cross-section of your organization. Then, he said, assemble teams and use collaboration tools to create alternate versions of the statement, and gather employee feedback about how each version resonates. 

Get individual input. 

Falkowski also suggested conducting interviews with individual stakeholders to encourage honest feedback. Employees can identify common themes, describe the organization’s future in words or use visual branding tools as a basis for the vision statement. 

Check out competitors’ vision statements. 

Look at your competitors’ vision statements to determine how you can differentiate your business from theirs. [Related article: How to Do a Competitive Analysis ]

Keep it short but meaningful. 

A vision statement should be concise – no longer than a sentence or two. You want your entire organization to be able to repeat it quickly and, more importantly, understand it. However, a vision statement must be more than a catchy tagline.

“[It] can be smart and memorable, but this is for your team and culture, not for selling a specific product,” Falkowski said. 

Create a longer version for leadership’s eyes only. 

Don’t fret if you feel that a short vision statement doesn’t fully express the intricacies of your vision. You can create a longer version, but it should not be the one you broadcast to the world.

“Let’s be honest – most business leaders, not to mention boards of directors, won’t be able to sum up their vision in a pithy sentence or two. That’s OK,” said Shannon DeJong, owner of brand agency House of Who. “Have a full-length version of your vision for the leadership’s eyes only. Think of the long version as your reference guide to why you’re in business in the first place.” 

Map out your business’s biggest goals. 

When you’re crafting your vision statement, start by mapping out your business’s most audacious goals, Taylor suggested. “Reviewing your long-term goals in a collaborative setting will help you then zoom out on what your organization and the world will look like if you achieve them. That zoomed-out view of your success is really the heart of your vision statement.”

Consider your company’s potential global impact. 

Ask questions that reflect your business’s eventual scale and impact, Honard advised. “Once you’ve answered these questions, you’ve created a roadmap between your present and your future.”

These are a few of the questions Honard uses in guiding clients to identify their vision statement:

• What ultimate impact do I want my brand to have on my community, my industry or the world?
• In what way will my brand ultimately interact with customers and clients?
• What will the culture of my business look like, and how will that play out in employees’ lives? 

Dream big. 

Don’t be afraid to dream big once you gather all the information and get down to writing. Don’t worry about practicality for now; what initially looks impossible may be achieved down the road with the right team and technologies. Work on shaping a vision statement that reflects the specific nature of your business and its aspirations. 

Be daring, not generic. 

Shockley said there’s nothing wrong with a vision statement that is daring, distinct or even disagreeable. “If a vision statement sets out a generic goal that anyone can agree with, it is likely to produce mediocre results. A goal like ‘delivering an exceptional experience’ applies equally to a hospital, bank or fitness club.” 

Consider creating a brand vision board. 

If you’re interested in taking your vision one step further, create a brand vision board, Taylor suggested. A vision board includes your company’s tagline, a “who we are” statement, a “what we do” section, a business vision statement, an overview of your ideal clients, client pain points, your content mission statement, advertising, products and SEO keywords.

“A vision board serves as a one-page business plan that anyone in a company can reference quickly to remember the key concepts that drive the work,” Taylor said.

Quick tips for your vision statement

Here’s a quick breakdown of what to do when formalizing your vision statement:

• Project five to 10 years into the future.
• Dream big, and focus on success.
• Use the present tense.
• Use clear, concise, jargon-free language.
• Infuse it with passion, and make it inspiring.
• Align it with your business values and goals.
• Create a plan to communicate your vision statement to your employees.
• Prepare to commit time and resources to the vision you establish. 

Your completed vision statement should offer a clear idea of your company’s path forward. Honard said many of her clients have used their vision statements to direct their overall plans for the future. For example, they’ve adopted new marketing initiatives to move them closer to their vision, pivoted their focus to clearly reflect their desired outcome, or doubled down on one particular aspect of their brand that is working to serve their vision.

What to avoid when writing a vision statement

• Don’t mix up your mission statement and vision statement. Mission statements are generally easier to write because they reflect what you’re doing now. Remember, a mission statement is what you are working to accomplish today, while a vision statement is what you want to accomplish in the future.
• Don’t overthink your wording. One of the hardest parts of creating a vision statement is coming up with the right wording. You may find yourself endlessly rewriting and fretting about getting it right. Does this sentence or two define your values and shine a light on your corporate identity without sounding too vague? Don’t get lost in the pressure of perfect wording; a specific and unique vision statement is a good place to begin distinguishing your business from the rest of the industry. 

How to use your vision statement

Determine where your vision statement will appear and what role it will serve in your organization. This will make the process more than an intellectual exercise, Shockley said. It’s pointless to hang a vision statement in the lobby or promote it via your business’s social media channels if you never genuinely integrate it into your company culture . 

“The vision business statement should be thought of as part of your strategic plan,” Shockley said. “It is an internal communications tool that helps align and inspire your team to reach the company’s goals.” 

As such, you should view a vision statement as a living document that will be revisited and revised. Most importantly, it must speak directly to your employees. 

“If your employees don’t buy into the vision, you’ll never be able to carry it out,” said Keri Lindenmuth, director of marketing with the Kyle David Group, a web and tech solutions provider. “The vision statement should be something your employees believe in. Only then will they make decisions and take actions that reflect your business’s vision.”

20 examples of inspiring vision statements

Some memorable and distinct vision statements may be all the inspiration you need to write your own. Here are some of the best examples of inspiring vision statements: 

• Amazon: “Our vision is to be earth’s most customer-centric company; to build a place where people can come to find and discover anything they might want to buy online.”
• Ben & Jerry’s: “Making the best ice cream in the nicest possible way.”
• Caterpillar: “Our vision is a world in which all people’s basic needs – such as shelter, clean water, sanitation, food, and reliable power – are fulfilled in an environmentally sustainable way, and a company that improves the quality of the environment and the communities where we live and work.”
• Cradles to Crayons: “Provides children from birth through age 12, living in homeless or low-income situations, with the essential items they need to thrive – at home, at school, and at play.”
• Google: “To provide access to the world’s information in one click.”
• Habitat for Humanity: “A world where everyone has a decent place to live.”
• Hilton Hotels & Resorts: “To fill the earth with the light and warmth of hospitality by delivering exceptional experiences – every hotel, every guest, every time.”
• IKEA: “To create a better everyday life for the many people.”
• Intel: “If it’s smart and connected, it’s best with Intel.”
• LinkedIn: “Create economic opportunity for every member of the global workforce.”
• Oxfam: “To be a self-organized people actively creating a just democratic and sustainable world where power and resources are shared, everyone lives in dignity, and poverty and inequality are no more.”
• Patagonia: “Build the best product, cause no unnecessary harm, use business to inspire and implement solutions to the environmental crisis.”
• Prezi: “To reinvent how people share knowledge, tell stories, and inspire their audiences to act.”
• Samsung: “Shape the future with innovation and intelligence.”
• Southwest Airlines: “To become the world’s most loved, most flown and most profitable airline.”
• Sweetgreen: “To inspire healthier communities by connecting people to real food.”
• TED: “We believe passionately in the power of ideas to change attitudes, lives, and, ultimately, the world.”
• Walgreens: “To be America’s most-loved pharmacy-led health, well-being and beauty company.”
• Warby Parker: “We believe that buying glasses should be easy and fun.”
• Wyeth: “Our vision is to lead the way to a healthier world.”

Can vision statements change?

Many companies benefit from having a vision statement from their inception, but it’s perfectly acceptable not to commit to one specific vision immediately. 

“Getting too tied into one master statement can really mess with the learning and creation process in the early stages,” said Sonia Elyss, president of marketing and communications collective Round Twelve. She encourages her clients to write a vision statement monthly, save the previous drafts, and see what sticks and what doesn’t over time. 

“After the first year, you can look back and see how much you have evolved,” Elyss said. “What parts or words within the statement stuck around, and what was dropped? Those key words tend to end up being major brand pillars you can always come back to and eventually become part of the brand ethos.” 

Tying yourself to a particular vision statement in the early days of your business may limit your opportunities for growth or blind you to the need for change. 

“At the end of the day, trust your gut; test and check; look at the analytics; invest in the feedback your customer is giving you,” Elyss said. “If you aren’t willing to step outside of your initial vision for your business, you might miss a huge opportunity!” 

Regardless of how many years you have been in business or how long you have had your vision statement, you’re not stuck with it. Don’t be afraid to change it – even if you spent time and money developing it – if it stops feeling right. 

The vision for your vision statement

A vision statement is a tool that can help your business grow and achieve brand success. Along the journey of growing your business, you’ll face good months, rough months, and every detour and roadblock imaginable. 

Above all, your vision statement should constantly remind you and your team of the end goal. This message is important to hold on to, especially on the most challenging days. 

Bassam Kaado and Paula Fernandes contributed to the writing and reporting in this article. Source interviews were conducted for a previous version of this article.

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Research statements for faculty job applications

The purpose of a research statement.

The main goal of a research statement is to walk the search committee through the evolution of your research, to highlight your research accomplishments, and to show where your research will be taking you next. To a certain extent, the next steps that you identify within your statement will also need to touch on how your research could benefit the institution to which you are applying. This might be in terms of grant money, faculty collaborations, involving students in your research, or developing new courses. Your CV will usually show a search committee where you have done your research, who your mentors have been, the titles of your various research projects, a list of your papers, and it may provide a very brief summary of what some of this research involves. However, there can be certain points of interest that a CV may not always address in enough detail.

• What got you interested in this research?
• What was the burning question that you set out to answer?
• What challenges did you encounter along the way, and how did you overcome these challenges?
• How can your research be applied?
• Why is your research important within your field?
• What direction will your research take you in next, and what new questions do you have?

While you may not have a good sense of where your research will ultimately lead you, you should have a sense of some of the possible destinations along the way. You want to be able to show a search committee that your research is moving forward and that you are moving forward along with it in terms of developing new skills and knowledge. Ultimately, your research statement should complement your cover letter, CV, and teaching philosophy to illustrate what makes you an ideal candidate for the job. The more clearly you can articulate the path your research has taken, and where it will take you in the future, the more convincing and interesting it will be to read.

Separate research statements are usually requested from researchers in engineering, social, physical, and life sciences, but can also be requested for researchers in the humanities. In many cases, however, the same information that is covered in the research statement is often integrated into the cover letter for many disciplines within the humanities and no separate research statement is requested within the job advertisement. Seek advice from current faculty and new hires about the conventions of your discipline if you are in doubt.

Timeline: Getting Started with your Research Statement

You can think of a research statement as having three distinct parts. The first part will focus on your past research, and can include the reasons you started your research, an explanation as to why the questions you originally asked are important in your field, and a summary some of the work you did to answer some of these early questions.

The middle part of the research statement focuses on your current research. How is this research different from previous work you have done, and what brought you to where you are today? You should still explain the questions you are trying to ask, and it is very important that you focus on some of the findings that you have (and cite some of the publications associated with these findings). In other words, do not talk about your research in abstract terms, make sure that you explain your actual results and findings (even if these may not be entirely complete when you are applying for faculty positions), and mention why these results are significant.

The final part of your research statement should build on the first two parts. Yes, you have asked good questions, and used good methods to find some answers, but how will you now use this foundation to take you into your future? Since you are hoping that your future will be at one of the institutions to which you are applying, you should provide some convincing reasons why your future research will be possible at each institution, and why it will be beneficial to that institution, or to the students at that institution.

While you are focusing on the past, present, and future or your research, and tailoring it to each institution, you should also think about the length of your statement and how detailed or specific you make the descriptions of your research. Think about who will be reading it. Will they all understand the jargon you are using? Are they experts in the subject, or experts in a range of related subjects? Can you go into very specific detail, or do you need to talk about your research in broader terms that make sense to people outside of your research field focusing on the common ground that might exist? Additionally, you should make sure that your future research plans differ from those of your PI or advisor, as you need to be seen as an independent researcher. Identify 4-5 specific aims that can be divided into short-term and long-term goals. You can give some idea of a 5-year research plan that includes the studies you want to perform, but also mention your long-term plans, so that the search committee knows that this is not a finite project.

Another important consideration when writing about your research is realizing that you do not perform research in a vacuum. When doing your research you may have worked within a team environment at some point, or sought out specific collaborations. You may have faced some serious challenges that required some creative problem-solving to overcome. While these aspects are not necessarily as important as your results and your papers or patents, they can help paint a picture of you as a well-rounded researcher who is likely to be successful in the future even if new problems arise, for example.

Follow these general steps to begin developing an effective research statement:

Step 1: Think about how and why you got started with your research. What motivated you to spend so much time on answering the questions you developed? If you can illustrate some of the enthusiasm you have for your subject, the search committee will likely assume that students and other faculty members will see this in you as well. People like to work with passionate and enthusiastic colleagues. Remember to focus on what you found, what questions you answered, and why your findings are significant. The research you completed in the past will have brought you to where you are today; also be sure to show how your research past and research present are connected. Explore some of the techniques and approaches you have successfully used in your research, and describe some of the challenges you overcame. What makes people interested in what you do, and how have you used your research as a tool for teaching or mentoring students? Integrating students into your research may be an important part of your future research at your target institutions. Conclude describing your current research by focusing on your findings, their importance, and what new questions they generate.

Step 2: Think about how you can tailor your research statement for each application. Familiarize yourself with the faculty at each institution, and explore the research that they have been performing. You should think about your future research in terms of the students at the institution. What opportunities can you imagine that would allow students to get involved in what you do to serve as a tool for teaching and training them, and to get them excited about your subject? Do not talk about your desire to work with graduate students if the institution only has undergraduates! You will also need to think about what equipment or resources that you might need to do your future research. Again, mention any resources that specific institutions have that you would be interested in utilizing (e.g., print materials, super electron microscopes, archived artwork). You can also mention what you hope to do with your current and future research in terms of publication (whether in journals or as a book), try to be as specific and honest as possible. Finally, be prepared to talk about how your future research can help bring in grants and other sources of funding, especially if you have a good track record of receiving awards and fellowships. Mention some grants that you know have been awarded to similar research, and state your intention to seek this type of funding.

Step 3: Ask faculty in your department if they are willing to share their own research statements with you. To a certain extent, there will be some subject-specific differences in what is expected from a research statement, and so it is always a good idea to see how others in your field have done it. You should try to draft your own research statement first before you review any statements shared with you. Your goal is to create a unique research statement that clearly highlights your abilities as a researcher.

Step 4: The research statement is typically a few (2-3) pages in length, depending on the number of images, illustrations, or graphs included.  Once you have completed the steps above, schedule an appointment with a career advisor to get feedback on your draft. You should also try to get faculty in your department to review your document if they are willing to do so.

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What Is a Vision Statement? 25 Vision Statement Examples

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What is a vision statement, what is the purpose of a vision statement, vision statement vs. mission statement, vision statement vs. purpose statement, 25 vision statement examples, how to write a vision statement.

A vision statement almost sounds mystical. But it’s not supernatural, far from it. Rather, a vision statement is a foundational business document.

There’s a lot of paperwork that clutters the office of any organization, but the vision statement is unique from the rest. Often confused with a mission statement , the vision statement has a different purpose. A vision statement looks toward the future, but a mission statement talks about what the company is doing in the present.

A vision statement is a business document that states the current and future objectives of an organization. A company’s vision must align with its mission, business plan , strategic plan, and organizational culture. A vision statement isn’t only used in business; nonprofits and government offices also use them to set strategic goals.

Vision statements aren’t necessarily set in stone. They can be returned to, reviewed and revised as necessary. Any changes should be minimal, however, because a vision statement is a guideline for a company’s strategic plan , so it must be thoroughly reviewed.

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The business vision of an organization might change over time, as companies adapt to their business environment and external factors that might affect their ability to achieve their mission. Using a SWOT analysis is a good way to gauge the internal and external factors that shape the business environment of a company.

A vision statement doesn’t have any particular length. However long it is, the vision statement is formally written and is used as a reference in company documents to serve as a guide for short and long-term strategic planning. The best way to learn about vision statements is to look at examples. We’ve gathered 25 vision statement examples from the best companies in the world to help you write your own.

As stated above, a vision statement is an integral part of an organization because it aligns with its mission, core values, and culture. It also guides the strategic plan because it sets future goals. Similar to a mission statement, a vision statement it’s a living document that’s referred to as a lodestar to lead a company to its next innovation and so, all the projects and programs executed by the project management office (PMO) should be aligned with it.

Related: Free Project & Tracking Templates for Excel

There are different approaches when it comes to writing a vision statement, as companies have unique core values. For example, a motivational vision statement will both motivate existing employees and also drive talent to the company. They’ll want to work at a place with a business vision that aligns with their personal values. A strong vision statement also works to help differentiate your company. All companies want to become profitable, but a company can create a unique vision statement that’s appealing to its customers and employees.

Free Vision Statement Template

Feel inspired? Ready to make your own vision statement? Download our free vision statement template for Word and start refining your vision. There’s even guiding questions to help you get started.

Why Is it Important to Have a Vision Statement?

Vision statements are one of the most important documents you can create for your business because they set a common goal for everyone in your organization. Once you get your employees on the same page, it will be easier to lead them toward success.

Types of Vision Statements

In addition to the traditional business vision statement, there are other types of vision statements, such as project, product and even personal vision statements.

Project Vision Statement

A project vision statement is used to guide a project, motivate the project team and further inspire those involved. Like any vision statement, it’s short but should be powerful to communicate the project’s aim. It’s not specific or directional but delivers the end goal of the project which must be aligned with the strategic goals of a company. In that sense, the project team can use the project vision statement as a guide to follow and help them make decisions that align with the overall project vision.

Product Vision Statement

A product vision statement is also a guide and a tool to motivate and inspire product development teams. It tends to look toward the future to expose where the product will be in a number of years. Therefore, a product vision statement goes beyond what the product is currently, but its vision shouldn’t be unrealistic. While there’s no standard length, like any vision statement, the product vision statement should be short and to the point.

Personal Vision Statement

A vision statement isn’t restricted to the realm of industry, you can make one for your own purposes. A personal vision statement simply focuses on your personal values, strengths and goals. While you can use a personal vision statement for your professional life, it’s also commonly focused on life-long goals. As with any vision statement, use it to keep you on track and make the right decisions to direct you to that transformational achievement. Then, you should make an action plan to make your personal vision come true.

The vision statement and mission statement are both equally important for a company as they complement each other and guide the direction of your company. The main difference between them is that the mission statement describes what your company does, while your vision statement explains what the company attempts to achieve in the future.

On the other hand, their main similarity is that they both need to align with your company’s core values and culture because all these elements make up your company’s identity and differentiation factors.

The vision statement comes before the purpose statement and it outlines where you want to be. First, you have to conjure it. You’re not there yet, but keeping the vision in sight allows you to get there in time.

A purpose statement is the why, it’s the reason you want to achieve the vision that’s your goal. You have to answer the question of why you want to achieve this vision. Therefore, the purpose statement is about the overall values.

There’s also a mission statement, which often joins these other two statements. The mission statement is about how you’ll achieve your goals. This allows you to make a plan, create steps to implement it and track your progress towards achieving that vision statement.

The best way to learn about vision statements is to look at real-life vision statement examples. We’ve gathered 25 vision statement examples from the best companies in the world to help you write your own. These examples prove that a vision statement isn’t a templated document that only differs from other organizations by the branded logo on top of it.

• IKEA: “Our vision is to create a better everyday life for many people.”
• Nike: “Bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete* in the world. (*If you have a body, you are an athlete.)”
• McDonald’s: “To be the best quick service restaurant experience. Being the best means providing outstanding quality, service, cleanliness and value, so that we make every customer in every restaurant smile.”
• Amazon: “We strive to offer our customers the lowest possible prices, the best available selection and the utmost convenience.”
• Walmart: “Be the destination for customers to save money, no matter how they want to shop.”
• Google: “To provide access to the world’s information in one click”
• Microsoft: “To help people and businesses throughout the world realize their full potential.”
• Facebook: “People use Facebook to stay connected with friends and family, to discover what’s going on in the world and to share and express what matters to them.”
• Coca-Cola: “Our vision is to craft the brands and choice of drinks that people love, to refresh them in body and spirit.”
• Starbucks: “Treat people like family, and they will be loyal and their all.”
• Tesla: “To create the most compelling car company of the 21st century by driving the world’s transition to electric vehicles.”
• Samsung: “Inspire the world with our innovative technologies, products and design that enrich people’s lives and contribute to social prosperity.”
• Netflix: “Becoming the best global entertainment distribution service.”
• Zoom: “Zoom is for you.”
• Patagonia: “We’re in business to save our home planet.”
• Oxfam: “A world without poverty.”
• Disney: “To be one of the world’s leading producers and providers of entertainment and information.”
• Instagram: “Capture and share the world’s moments.”
• LinkedIn: “Create economic opportunity for every member of the global workforce.”
• Meta: “Give people the power to build community and bring the world closer together.”
• Shopify: “To make commerce better for everyone.”
• Uber: “We ignite opportunity by setting the world in motion.”
• TED: “Spread ideas”
• American Express: “Become essential to our customers by providing differentiated products and services to help them achieve their aspirations.”
• Sony: “To be a company that inspires and fulfills your curiosity.”

Every company has a unique vision statement, but the process is similar for most of them. Here are some steps to help you write your own.

1. What Are the Core Values of Your Company?

The core values of your company define its identity and how it interacts with the communities and the environment. It’s important to understand them to define your company vision.

2. What’s Your Company Mission?

Understanding what your company does and how it operates is essential to planning for the future.

3. Understand Your Company Culture

A strong company culture is an essential part of the success of any business. That’s why your vision must be aligned with it, otherwise, your strategic planning won’t work.

4. Identify Current Strategic Goals

Before you think about future goals, you must understand where your organization currently stands. Your vision might be a long-term plan that sets goals for the next 5 to 10 years, but those goals need to be realistic. You can use a SWOT matrix to get a better idea of the competitive environment of your business.

5. Define Future Goals

Think about what you’d like your company to achieve in the next 5-10 years based on the current status of your business and create a strategic plan to achieve your goals.

6. Write Your Vision Statement

Now that you have an idea of the main elements that are involved in the process of writing your vision statement, you can create one that fits your organization.

Best Practices for Writing a Vision Statement

There’s no template for writing a vision statement, however, a common structure for successful ones includes these traits:

• Be concise: This isn’t the place to stuff a document with fluff statements. It should be simple, easy to read and cut to the essentials so that it can be set to memory and be repeated accurately.
• Be clear: A good rule of thumb for clarity is to focus on one primary goal, rather than trying to fill the document with many ideas. One clear objective is also easier to focus on and achieve.
• Have a time horizon: A time horizon is simply a fixed point in the future when you’ll achieve and evaluate your vision statement. Define that timeline .
• Make it future-oriented: Again, the vision statement isn’t what the company is presently engaged in but rather a future objective of where the company plans to be.
• Be stable: The vision statement is a long-term goal that should, ideally, not be affected by the market or technological changes.
• Be challenging: That said, you don’t want to be timid in setting your goals. Your objective shouldn’t be too easy to achieve, but also it shouldn’t be so unrealistic as to be discarded.
• Be abstract: The vision statement should be general enough to capture the organization’s interests and strategic direction.
• Be inspiring: Live up to the title of the document, and create something that will rally the troops and be desirable as a goal for all those involved in the organization.

Because the vision statement is a foundational business document that will guide the company’s strategic planning direction for years to come, consider using project planning tools and brainstorming techniques to get input from everyone on the team. That way, you’ll get greater buy-in from the company, and you’ll widen your net for collecting business vision ideas.

Using ProjectManager to Write a Vision Statement

Writing a vision statement is a project in itself, and one that should be treated with some weight. A vision statement informs the direction, morale and spirit of the organization: you need it to be inspiring.

To help you craft the ideal vision statement, try ProjectManager . Our subscription model gives you several entry points. Then you can create collaborative task lists, so you can brainstorm with other leaders in the organization regarding your direction. Create a task, and add subtasks, so you can take everything into account when making your vision statement. Plus, you can add comments and files to tasks, so collaboration can stay focused and localized.

Once you’ve crafted a vision statement that inspires your team, the real work begins. To achieve that vision, you’ll need the right tools. ProjectManager is online project management software with tools like online Gantt charts, task lists and kanban boards to help you complete projects and make a name for yourself. Take a free trial of our award-winning software and see how it can help you realize your vision .

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World Leaders in Research-Based User Experience

How to create a ux-vision statement.

February 6, 2022 2022-02-06

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A documented vision helps teams articulate their UX goals and identify and prioritize UX efforts. Without a strong, shared vision, team members may not be able to articulate the purpose of their work or the value that work provides to the greater organization.

This article provides a practical, step-by-step, collaborative process for creating a vision. It involves understanding the current state of UX, aligning on an ideal future vision, and determining an action plan for bringing the vision to life.

In This Article:

What is a ux vision, the process: how to create a ux-vision statement, stage i: gather, stage ii: envision, stage iii: plan, what's next communicate the vision.

Definition: A UX vision is an aspirational, future-state view of an experience people will have with a product, service, team, or organization.

The concepts of a UX mission statement and a UX vision statement are often and easily conflated, though they are different:

• A vision statement  is an aspirational statement that answers the question: What do we want to become in n years? Who do we aim to be in a reasonable amount of time?
• A mission statement answers the question: What collective value do we generate now? What do we do as a group that helps realize that aspirational vision?

In other words, a mission statement captures who we are and how we provide value now; a vision statement captures what we want to become. Both should inform the overall UX or design strategy (the steps for achieving our vision) and be checked against our goals and objectives (metrics or indicators of how well we are achieving that vision).

Vision statements can exist at different levels. There are 2 common types of visions that are relevant for most UX teams:

• Product visions describe the impact and value that a product or service will provide to the people who use it.
• Team visions describe the value that a team will provide to the company or the impact it will have on a product or service. Team visions are useful for teams undergoing rapid growth or change or for teams attempting to promote drastic cultural shifts to maintain an aligned and steady momentum.

Deciding which type of vision is important for a team depends on the current state of UX at the organization. Perhaps there are severe usability issues with a product or there is disagreement from stakeholders about product direction. In that case, a product vision could help visualize what's next. On the other hand, maybe other departments throughout the organization are unsure of the value provided by the UX team and don't know how to engage with it. In that case, a team vision could be a powerful tool for increasing understanding of UX.

Both vision statements and mission statements should be created as part of a collaborative process so that the entire team is rallied around and believes in the final output. Because of the group activities and discussions involved, a strong facilitator is necessary to drive the process. (The facilitator can be a member of the team if they can display objectivity in leading discussions and if team members have an appropriate level of trust with this facilitator and each other.)

Goal: Collect or Conduct Research to Understand the Current State of UX

The first stage involves aligning external stakeholders and gathering existing knowledge. Resist the urge to jump straight to ideation exercises and plastering sticky notes on walls or Miro boards. Collect and distill any research knowledge that already exists and consolidate stakeholder views already in place. If no existing research exists, it's a good time to conduct some.

Depending on the knowledge already available, several methods can build current-state understanding:

• Stakeholder interviews: These allow the team to understand the current perception of any processes, successes, and obstacles from various external perspectives. In addition, they help engage stakeholders in the process, therefore building buy-in for the vision once it has been created.
• Usability testing : If no user research exists, even a small study will provide great insights about UX issues that need to be optimized in a future-state version.
• Competitive analysis: This method helps the team identify competitive strengths and weaknesses of the current experience so that strong elements of competitor products can be built into the future-state vision.

Goal: Cocreate a Shared, Research-Backed Vision

The second stage is about defining what the team or product should provide in comparison to what it currently provides. This step is typically a collaborative workshop session where key stakeholders and team members align on a shared future-state vision that they create together.

There are 3 steps in this workshop:

• Share and review existing research
• Brainstorm and prioritize future-state attributes
• Craft a vision statement

Share and Review Research

One goal of this stage is that the wider team understands the existing research. Plan a dedicated time and space for reaction to and sense-making of findings.

One way to help team members engage with vision-related research insights is an activity called Obstacles and Opportunities . In this activity, a research lead presents major themes in research findings — categorized as opportunities or obstacles — to team members, who can then react to each theme by using color-coded dots (i.e., dot-coding ) to mark them as:

• Agree: Items they agree with
• Disagree: Items on which they have a different perspective
• Surprising: Perspectives they have not considered before or did not expect to hear
• Essential: Items they believe are critical to recognize or improve for the future-state vision to be successful

Individual team members can assign as many categories to each theme as they feel are relevant. (Note: This method of dot coding is slightly different than dot voting , where participants use dots to vote on the importance or value of items within a set of items.)

To reduce groupthink and bias, allow team members to individually assign their categories on a sheet of paper before going up to the shared space to code the statements.

Brainstorm and Prioritize Future-State Attributes

After reviewing the current state, ask the team to envision how the ideal future-state differs from the current state. To constrain the team's ideation, provide a focus question such as:

• Where do we want to be in 5 years?
• What does it look like when we are providing our full value?
• What does the ideal experience look like?

The workshop slide below shows a focus prompt to describe the ideal state in 5 years. Providing a reasonable yet aspirational time constraint (e.g., 2–5 years) enables the team to be creative during ideation while still remaining somewhat grounded in reality.

With the focus question as a guide, have the team individually generate future-state attributes on sticky notes during a timed round of silent brainstorming and then post these attributes up in a shared space. Follow with a round of affinity diagramming , where the team works together to cluster related attributes into groups, giving each group a high-level descriptive label. Finally, the team can use dot voting to prioritize the attribute groups based on what team members believe is most important for the future state.

One method of dot voting for future-state attributes is to allow people to vote for both must-have attributes and nice-to-have attributes. Give people 5 red dots and 5 green dots. Instruct them to put their red dots on the attribute clusters they feel the future-state vision must have and the green dots on the things that are nice to have. (Red dots are worth 2 points, and green dots are worth 1 point.) The votes can then be tallied and compared in order to understand where the team collectively places the most importance.

Craft a Shared Vision Statement

Finally, the group uses the top attributes as inputs to create potential vision statements. During a timed activity, each team member drafts vision statements individually and then shares them with the group. If being democratic is important to your team, you might follow group sharing with another round of dot voting, where team members identify strong elements or phrases from each draft statement. Then the vision lead takes these as inputs to create a final vision statement.

Goal: Identify Activities and Resources Required to Realize the Vision

At this point in the process, the team has a solid understanding of the current state, as well as a documented vision statement describing the ideal future state. This stage is about closing the gap between those 2 states. Collaborative methods are used to identify resources and activities required to bring the vision to life and then prioritize and roadmap those items into an action plan.

Here, lead a group brainstorm by asking the team: In order to make this vision a reality, what do we need to create or provide? To provide structure to the brainstorming process, you can use Requisite Roundup — which involves having team members think about what would be needed within predetermined categories, such as:

• Processes: Workflow, planning, communication, meetings
• People: Roles, headcount, supporters, skills, buy-in
• Tools and tech: Systems, software, repositories, automation
• Governance: Standards, policies, prioritization

For this activity, break up the team into small group or pairs. Write each category on an envelope and assign one envelope per small group. During timed rounds, small groups brainstorm items for their category on sticky notes or index cards and place them in the envelopes. At the end of the round, envelopes are passed, continuing until each small group has had an opportunity to generate items for each category.

After brainstorming, team members work together to review the generated required items and assemble the generated required items into a draft timeline, working together to determine which required items should be in place first.

In order for the vision to gain momentum and spread throughout the organization, there has to be some way to communicate it. Create some sort of artifact to help others imagine the future state the team has envisioned. The artifact could be just about anything (e.g., a formal document, a video, a vision board, a prototype) based on the culture of the organization.

The document below is an example vision artifact used by a team to share and communicate the future-state vision of its digital presence. It captures the vision statement as well as prioritized objectives and tactics the team identified for realizing the vision.

This is a crucial step to hold the team accountable and engaging others with the vision. Even when created within a strategic and collaborative process such as the one outlined in this article, visions will fail if they are not shared and visible.

When created using a systematic and collaborative process such as the one outlined in this article, visions are powerful tools for aligning teams, guiding work, and prioritizing initiatives.

Follow these 3 guidelines to ensure the vision is as strong as possible:

• Ground it in research: Gather and share existing research — or conduct research when none exists — in order to provide a foundation for understanding the current state, and inspiration for the future-state in form of user needs and desires.
• Be inclusive: Invite others into the process. Use collaborative methods to increase buy-in and ownership, and consider a wide set of opinions and insights.
• Share it out: Communicate the vision to others with engaging artifacts that capture the ideal state and the priorities identified to realize the vision.

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UX Vision & Strategy: Top Questions Answered

Sarah Gibbons and Anna Kaley · 4 min

UX Strategy Components

Anna Kaley and Sarah Gibbons · 3 min

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Does organizational vision really matter? An empirical examination of factors related to organizational vision integration among hospital employees

Terje sltten.

Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences, Campus Lillehammer, 2604 Lillehammer, Norway

Barbara Rebecca Mutonyi

Gudbrand lien, associated data.

The datasets used and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

There seems to be a consensus that a vision for an organization is a valuable thing for organizations to have. However, research on organizational vision has predominantly been studied from a leadership perspective. In contrast to previous research, organizational vision in this paper takes an employee perspective. Specifically, the purpose is to examine factors associated with the integration of organizational vision among employees in hospital organizations. Consequently, it focuses on a relatively neglected domain within health services research.

A conceptual model, centred on the concept of organizational vision integration, was developed and tested on a sample ( N =1008) consisting of hospital employees. Partial least-squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was used to test the hypotheses, using SmartPLS 3 software. Furthermore, a bootstrapping test was used to inspect potential mediating effects. Specifically, the test assessed whether the proposed direct and indirect effects were statistically significant, and at the same time revealed the nature of the mediation effect.

The results from the empirical study reveal three key findings: i) organizational vision integration among employees is directly and positively related to creative performance in their respective work role ( = 0.16). Organizational vision integration and employees psychological capital explains almost 40% ( R 2 = 0.36) in employees creative performance, ii) psychological capital and employees perception of organizational attractiveness are directly and positively related to employees organizational vision integration ( = 0.19 and = 0.40, respectively) and explains about 30% ( R 2 = 0.29) of employees organizational vision integration, iii) employees organizational vision integration mediates the relationship between employees psychological capital, perception of organizational attractiveness and employees creative performance.

Conclusions

Taking an employee perspective, this study contributes to revealing whether and how organizational vision matters and its impact on hospital employees work performance. To achieve organizational vision integration among hospital employees successfully, this study shows that it is important for hospital leaders to be aware of the pattern of impact of both personal as well as environmental-related factors.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12913-021-06503-3.

Almost all of todays organizations have developed a strategic vision for their organization. Hospital organizations are no exception to this trend. For example, the organizational vision of the Mayo Clinic in America, which is one of the most famous and best hospitals in the world, is: Mayo Clinic will provide an unparalleled experience as the most trusted partner for health care [ 1 ]. Another example is the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden, which is one of the worlds foremost medical universities. The organizational vision of Karolinska Institutet is: to advance knowledge about life and strive towards better health for all [ 2 ]. There seems to be, both in practice and theory, a consensus and an agreement that a vision is a good and valuable aspect for organizations to have. The fundamental premises or basic idea for such an assumption is the belief that organizational vision works just like a lodestar for a ship that is used to guide a ship (in our case hospital organizations) towards its desired direction and preferred aim. However, on the other hand, some people question or wonder whether a vision of an organization really has an impact, expressing statements such as: after all, a vision of an organization is just some few words written on a piece of paper or on the wall of a company. According to Liu, only a few companies produce vision statements that actually capture the hearts of the group members [ 3 ]. In a similar vein, Kantabutra and Avery timely ask: some organizations already have a vision, but how effective is it? [ 4 ]. This signals a need to acquire more insight and knowledge about factors associated with organizational vision.

In previous research, one finds a variety of descriptions of the concept of organizational vision. However, most descriptions of organizational visions have a dominating leadership perspective in its orientation towards goal achievement. This dominating leadership focus can be criticized because it does not capture well or correspond satisfactorily to three aspects of how to integrate an organizational vision in todays modern organizational business context. Regarding this, Kohles et al. state: as organizations become increasingly horizontal simply crafting a compelling vision may no longer be enough [ 5 ]. This horizontal approach implies that leaders should be and act more like employee supporters than employee supervisors [ 6 ]. Leaders undoubtedly play an important and active role in developing a vision integration. However, it is not enough to just communicate or spread the vision throughout the organization. Kohles et al. stated that such approaches assume that leaders need only to articulate a vision to achieve follower buy-in [ 5 ]. This stresses the importance to also consider the integration of organizational vision from an organizational members perspective. These receivers of the proposed organization vision play a critical role because they ultimately determine whether vision statements are ignored or accepted [ 5 ]. Although leaders follow all how-to-do-it recipes to ensure that employees accept the organizational vision, it is not sufficient. Employees mental acceptance of an organizational vision does not necessarily mean it will guide them in how to perform their work. The acceptance should also include a behavioural manifestation of organizational vision in employees day-to-day work. Accordingly, organizational vision should be embedded in employees work role performance. Stated in another way: organizational vision should be integrated into the minds and feet of organizational members. Therefore, an organizational vision integration can only be considered as successfully achieved when it provides conscious directions and acts as an inner mental voice that guides the behaviour of organizational actors [ 5 ]. Consequently, the following can be concluded: leaders can create and persuasively sell the most brilliant organizational vision in the world, but it takes employees to bring the organizational vision to (real) life and reality. Accordingly, it becomes fundamentally important to take an employee perspective when studying the integration of organizational vision.

For the reasons above, this paper has three aims, all with their own associated contributions. First, and most importantly, it aims to take an employee perspective when studying organizational vision integration. As such, it contributes to the focus on group organizational members (referring to employees) that have been only rarely mentioned in the visioning process often relegated to a largely passive role in vision implementation [ 7 ]. Second, it aims to examine how organizational vision integration is associated with the achievement of desired organizational goals. Specifically, it focuses on whether an organizational vision can increase hospital employees level of creativity and innovative behaviour (referred to as creative performance) in such a way that it is beneficial to the performance of hospital employees work role. As such, it responds to the call for more research on conditions that promote the innovative performance [which is an area of research] that still remain to be explored more in depth [ 8 ]. Recently, Mutonyi et al. called for more research that links organizational vision to employees capability to be innovative [ 9 ]. Third, it aims to examine a selection of premises or factors that potentially trigger the integration of organizational vision among employees as well as employees work role performance. Specifically, it includes both personal-related factors (referred to as employees psychological capital) as well as environmental-related factors (referred to as organizational attractiveness). By conceptually suggesting and empirical testing organizational vision as a mediating factor, the paper add to our knowledge regarding the role organizational vision plays for hospital organizations.

To the authors best knowledge, this is one of the pioneering studies within health services research that has focused on aspects associated with hospital employees integration of organizational vision. According to Liu [ 3 ], there is a limited collection of materials relative to organizational vision particularly those applicable to the service industrys critical area of service quality [ 3 ]. Consequently, the paper contributes to both theory and practice, regarding organizational vision, within the domain of health services research.

The paper is organized into three parts. The first part elaborate the conceptual framework of the study. The second part contains the methodology, statistical analysis and results from the tests of hypotheses. The final part discusses the findings from the study and provide suggestions for further research as well as a final conclusion of the study.

Conceptual framework of the study

Organizational vision integration (ovi).

Organizational vision is described in various and multifaceted ways in the literature. To name a few examples, organizational vision is described in terms of being an ideal and unique image of the future [ 10 ], a mental image of a possible and desirable future state of the organization [ 11 ], a business technology, or corporate culture in terms of what it should become over the long term and articulate a feasible way of achieving this goal [ 12 ], a guide to what the organization should become rather than a description of what it is [ 13 ], ideological goal that organization members can feel morally satisfied in pursuing [ 14 ], the primary guiding force of all organizational activity [ 15 ]. Others suggest that an organizational vision should be motivational, build self-confidence and create a common purpose among those who are encompassed by the vision [ 16 ].

Previous research within the domain of organizational vision has, according to Testa [ 17 ], been dominated by three streams of research. First, research has taken a leader level and focused on vision as characteristics or traits of effective leaders. Second, research has focused on how vision is defined and the development of vision statements. Third, research has focused on the role vision plays in the achievement of organizational goals as a by-product of leadership style [ 17 ]. A predominantly common trait across the three research streams is, as noted above, to take a leadership perspective. Consequently, an employee perspective when studying aspects related to organizational vision has to a large extent been neglected. Therefore, instead of considering a top-down approach, regarding such as how leaders communicate or diffuse the organizational vision through the organization, the approach of this study embraces how well the organizational vision actually is adopted, absorbed or integrated among individual members of the organization.

Employees focus and role in the process of OVI are only rarely or tangentially discussed as passive recipients of the vision [ 5 ]. However, in contrast to this dominating leadership perspective in previous research, this study takes an employee perspective when studying the integration of organizational vision. By taking an employee perspective, it supports Kohles et al.s assumption that the realizations of vision [seen from an employee perspective] may be at least equal to, if not greater than, the importance of strategic leaders [ 5 ]. Specifically, in line with Kohles et al., OVI in this study refers to whether or not followers [referring to employees] use the vision as a guiding framework when making decisions and discretionary behaviors in their daily work roles [ 7 ]. Consequently, the focus in this definition is on the implementation of the vision in employees minds and feet. The authors of this paper are not aware of any previous study within health services research that has taken an employee perspective when studying hospital employees OVI.

In understanding OVI, one must consider two conditions. First, there is the attention and knowledge. This is about employees perception of whether they have been informed and know and understand the vision [ 7 ]. The second condition of OVI, is intention and embraces whether employees use the vision as a guiding framework in their particular jobs [ 7 ]. Only when the two conditions are present simultaneously and intertwined do they characterize and constitute a positive OVI. The way that OVI is defined and operationalized in this study is conceptually close to and matches well the concept of Sltten and Mehmetoglu where they refer to strategic attention [ 18 ]. Similar to the concept of OVI, Sltten and Mehmetoglu describe strategic attention as how the firms strategy serves as a guiding principle or a compass for frontline employees in their work role [ 18 ]. Although the authors label their concepts as strategic attention, it is interesting to note that the items used for their concept focus exclusively on aspects related to the integration of organizational vision and thus overlap to a large extent how the concept of OVI is described and operationalized in this study. Considering the important role employees play in all so-called service organizations, such as hospital organizations (which is the empirical context of this study), it is reasonable to assume that it is of fundamental importance to integrate or implement organizational vision into each individual member of the organization. As Sltten and Mehmetoglu noted: Without implementation the organizations strategy is useless implementation is fundamental for a firms success [ 18 ].

In the following sections, several factors are proposed to be related, either indirectly or directly, to employees OVI.

The relationship between OVI, CP and PsyCap

Employees OVI is suggested to be related to employees creative performance (CP). CP is a service effort which is manifested in employees respective work roles. CP in this study refers to and embraces individual employees capability to be creative and innovative. Consequently, CP is a combination of both a cognitive element (think creatively) and a behavioural element (act innovatively). In the literature, one will find that creativity and innovative behaviour are two closely related concepts. For example, Gilmartin suggests that creativity is the fuel for innovation and asserts that creativity is a basic building block of invention and thus innovation [ 19 ]. The two elements that constitute CP are manifested in employees respective work role in the organization. It is important to note that CP is not limited or directed towards any specific work role. In contrast, CP as one part of what in Fig. ​ Fig.1 1 is labelled as employees service effort could be manifested both internally in the organization (e.g. a new administrative routine) or externally (e.g. a new way that improves service quality provided to hospital patients). Consequently, CP could be potentially manifested in various work roles employees hold in the organization.

Conceptual model of examining factors related to organizational vision integration

As also indicated in the previous discussion, an organizational vision is a tangible representation of the long-term goals for the company and its idealized future state [ 5 ]. This means that a vision of an organization per definition communicates to organizational members the existence of a gap between the current situation and the ideal future state of an organization. The only way to close the gap is by undertaking changes that move the organization towards its desired direction and preferred aim. Consequently, when an organizational vision is appropriately designed it constitutes a form for freedom, encouragement and motivation for organizational members to make the necessary behavioural changes to become more in harmony and in accordance with the organizations desired and idealized future state. This is in line with Kohles et al. who state: while vision statements may be more or less novel, ranging from incremental shifts to drastic changes, all of them represent an attempt to change employee behaviors [ 7 ]. Consequently, OVI should enable employees to think creatively and be innovative and thus act visionary within the boundaries of the formal vision articulated by the organization. In the presence of OVI, employees have both knowledge about organizational vision and consciously use the organizational vision as a guiding tool when performing their work role. Little research has attempted to explore the relationship between OVI and CP in health services research. For example, in a study by Sltten and Mehmetoglu [ 18 ], which included 279 employees in hospitality organizations, the authors found that employees strategic attention (a concept similar to OVI) was positively associated with employees level of work engagement and level of innovative behaviour. Consequently, when OVI is present it is reasonable to assume that such employees have a larger potential to manifest a greater CP than those with less OVI. Consequently, the following first hypothesis is proposed:

• Hypothesis 1: OVI is positively related to CP

The level of OVI is also suggested to be related employees psychological capital (PsyCap). PsyCap is an internal oriented triggering factor. The expression internal oriented reflects that PsyCap is an individual or personal-related factor. The PsyCap of a person can be explained as the positive psychological state of the individual towards positive development [ 20 ]. PsyCap consists of four personal-related resources, which are (i) hope, (ii) efficacy, (iii) resilience and (iv) optimism [ 20 ]. These four resources of a person have a synergistic association and collectively constitute a state-like resource of who you are [ 21 ]. In line with previous research, this study defines PsyCap as an individuals positive psychological state characterized by: (1) having confidence (self-efficacy) to take on challenging tasks and put in the necessary effort to succeed at them; (2) having a positive feeling (optimism) about future success; (3) persevering towards goals, and when necessary redirecting paths to goals (hope) to succeed; and (4) when beset by problems and adversity, bouncing back, sustaining or increasing ones efforts (resilience) to attain success [ 20 ].

The concept of PsyCap is about the level of positive resources or internal strengths a person possesses that can be capitalized on or exploited. Thus, the resources of PsyCap constitute a persons motivational state. As Abbas and Raja state, psychological resources have motivational components [ 22 ]. Thus, regarding the role employees possess in the organizations, PsyCap should make employees more engaged, more open for changes and more eager to get things done as prescribed by the organization (e.g. through the organizational vision). Previous research supports that PsyCap is positively linked to an increased level of employees work engagement as well as their job performance [ 23 ]. Based on this, there are good reasons to expect that the resources of employees PsyCap are also capable of contributing positively to increase OVI of members of an organization. As previously discussed, OVI contains two conditions, referring to (i) attention and (ii) intention. This implies that to achieve OVI there must be an inherent willingness in place among employees, finally determining whether vision statements are ignored or accepted [ 5 ].

Therefore, successfully to achieve OVI, employees must have an inner-motivational drive that pushes them to undertake changes in the direction of a continuously improved goal-fulfilment of an idealized future articulated through the vision of the company. A persons level of PsyCap constitutes this necessary motivational driver to OVI. As Abbas and Raja state: PsyCap is considered an individual-level higher-order factor that facilitates change [ 22 ]. Considering the four resources embraced in PsyCap (that is hope, efficacy, resilience and optimism [ 20 ]) it is reasonable to assume that each individual resource, as well as collectively, has a potential to contribute positively to the successful achievement of OVI. Therefore, the PsyCap of employees can be said to be a prerequisite for the achievement of OVI among organizational members. Consequently, depending on the level and content of employees PsyCap, it should either promote or inhibit the OVI among organizational members. In this study, we limit our focus to examining the positive aspects of PsyCap. Specifically, it is expected that the more PsyCap possessed by employees the more it positively relates to the OVI among organizational members. Consequently, the following hypothesis is proposed:

• Hypothesis 2: PsyCap is positively related to OVI

Although PsyCap is expected to have impact on OVI the literature also suggest that PsyCap are directly related to CP. For example, Abbas and Raja state that based on the four resources that constitute PsyCap: these positive psychological resource capacities may help employees exhibit innovative behaviors [ 22 ]. Previous research has identified a positive direct relationship between PsyCap, both as an individual and a collective resource, and CP in a variety of employee contexts [ 22 , 27 ]. However, very little research has been undertaken examining the relationship between PsyCap and CP using hospital employees as the empirical setting. Based on previous research, this study proposes PsyCap to have a direct effect on employees CP. Consequently, it is assumed that PsyCap will provide a necessary repository of psychological resources that help effectively innovative work-related ideas [ 22 ]. Consequently, the following hypothesis is proposed:

• Hypothesis 3: PsyCap is positively related to CP

The relationship between OVI, OA and PsyCap

In this study, employees perception of organizational attractiveness (OA) is proposed to be related to employees OVI. OA is an external oriented triggering factor. The expression external oriented reflects that OA embraces an individual employee evaluation and perception of the environment in the organization, whether it is considered as good or bad. Thus, OA in this study is defined as employees perception and the degree employees experience the organization as a great place to work and consider their organization as an attractive place of employment. Specifically, the concept of OA is about peoples attitude toward the organization for which they work [ 28 ]. In line with previous definitions of OA [ 28 , 29 ] the content of OA reflects two aspects of employees attitude, namely, (i) choosing the same organization or employer again if given the choice and (ii) recommending the organization or employer to someone you know well [ 28 ]. This definition captures both the direction of the attitude (positive or negative) as well as the strength of the attitude of current employees in the organization [ 28 ]. Notably, the definition of OA does not focus on any specific or attribute-like aspects of the organization that employees would potentially find attractive (e.g. leadership support, co-operation etc). In contrast, the definition of OA takes a holistic perspective of what is included in the OA equation. Consequently, OA is an expression of employees attitude that embraces all aspects of the organization that employees find relevant to appraisal. The concept of OA is relatively similar to psychological climate in that it is about individuals interpretation of the environment [e.g. organization] in a way that is psychologically meaningful [ 30 ]. Thus, OA reflects employees attitude toward viewing the organization as a desirable entity with which to initiate some relationship [ 31 ]. As Sltten et al. commented regarding the definition of OA chosen in this study: it is reasonable to assume these two aspects [of OA] capture well the core objective for any company to strive toward [ 28 ].

There are good reasons to expect that OA is related to OVI. When employees perceive OA as favourable, it should lead to a positive attachment to the organization. Based on this, one should expect such employees to be engaged, willing to work harder and thus more proactive to do what is in the interest of the organization that employs them while the opposite would most likely be the case for those who have a negative perception of OA. Previous research on OA, undertaken in a hospital setting, has found that OA is positively related to employees engagement and level of service quality. OA is also found to decrease employees turnover intentions significantly [ 28 ]. Consequently, a positive perception of OA implies that employees have a strong identification with their organization. As Chen et al. noted organizational identification reflects the general satisfaction of employees with their organization and their assessment of attractiveness [ 32 ]. These employees are likely to continue working for the organization and make their best effort to benefit the organization [ 32 ]. Following this, it is expected that those employees who perceive OA as positive are also more inclined to be more motivated to expend necessary effort regarding OVI in their respective work role. A study by Kirkpatrick and Locke supports this idea. In their laboratory study, the authors documented a positive relationship between the attitude of employees and vision implementation [ 33 ]. Similarly, in a study by Liu, which included 600 employees, the authors found a positive relationship between employees perception of organizational vision and employees job satisfaction [ 3 ]. The concept of satisfaction in the study by Liu captured employees perception of company factors and supervisor factors [ 3 ] and thus shares some similarities with the concept of OA. The assumption of a link between OA and OVI can also be drawn from the psychological-contract theory which is one of the most influential theories to understand organizational behavior [ 29 ]. Psychological-contract theory focuses on how working relationship is interpreted, understood and enacted [ 29 ]. Sltten et al. commented on the relevance of psychological-contract theory for OA: it is reasonable to assume that OA implicitly includes a psychological-contract element that potentially binds the employee to his or her organization [ 28 ]. A consequence of this positive binding is, according to Lee et al., that employees psychological contracts influence their efforts on behalf of the employer [ 34 ]. When employees perceive their working relationship in the organization as favourable (e.g. perceive OA in a positive way), this has a positive impact on employees effort and motivation to engage more actively in what constitutes an extra-role effort of workers. As such, the OVI of employees stems from a voluntary will do (or psychological contract), and thus not part of a formal written have to do contract (or employment contract). Therefore, it is reasonable to assume that OA acts as an external oriented motivational triggering factor (as presented in Fig. ​ Fig.1) 1 ) to the OVI of employees. Consequently, the following hypothesis is proposed:

• Hypothesis 4: OA is positively related to OVI

As previously mentioned, this paper defines PsyCap as a positive psychological state of the individual towards positive development [ 20 ]. When defining the concept as a psychological state, it implies that PsyCap is dynamic and prone to change. Specifically, it means that all four resources embraced in PsyCap (referring to (i) hope, (ii) efficacy, (iii) resilience and (iv) optimism [ 20 ]) are all potentially changing as time passes. An implication of this is that PsyCap is open for development and therefore is manageable. Luthans et al. support this assumption by stating that PsyCap is open to development and can be managed for effective work performance [ 21 ]. By this line of reasoning, it is expected that OA has the potential to positively develop or manage employees PsyCap. To the authors knowledge, no previous research has examined this specific relationship. However, OA is an employees interpretation of the environment [ 30 ] and is reflected in their attitude, which embraces all aspects of the organization that employees find relevant to appraisal. When employees have a positive perception of OA, it implicitly means they experience a state of well-being and/or thriving, both of which have been found to be related to PsyCap in previous studies. Therefore, one should expect OA to have similar direction and association with PsyCap as other positive and attractive evaluated aspects of the organizational environment manifested in previous studies. Previous research has found that employees perception of an organizations supportive climate, such as authentic leadership, can positively develop employees PsyCap [ 23 ]. In a study by Choi [ 35 ], the author found a positive association between employees perception of an organizations autonomous work environment and employees PsyCap. The same positive pattern of relationships, as found in previous studies, is expected to be identified between employees perception of OA and their PsyCap. Consequently, the following hypothesis is proposed:

• Hypothesis 5: OA is positively related to PsyCap

Mediating effects

The preceding discussion of theoretical relationships implicitly suggests that OVI and PsyCap is functioning as mediator among several of the variables comprised in this study. However, the following contains a discussion that explains and elaborates explicitly the rationale as well its hypothesis for the totally four mediators assumed to be identified in this study.

First, it is assumed that OVI mediates the relationship between PsyCap and CP. There are three interrelated underlying premises for proposing OVI as a mediator. First, a vision statement represent attempts to change employee behaviors [ 7 ]. In the existence of OVI, employees are consciously aware of undertaken changes based on what is prescribed and communicated by the vision of the organization. Second, motivation is a prerequisite for making changes. This represents the important role of PsyCap as a motivational driver for both OVI and CP. Third, OVI and CP share a common feature because they both focus on changes in a specific work role. On the other hand, CP and OVI differ in that OVI is about attention and intention to change (and thus attitude-like) while CP is about the actual manifestation (and thus behaviour-like) changes in how the work role is done. Taken together, when OVI increases because of an increase of PsyCap it should lead to an increase in the CP of employees. Consequently, OVI functions as the common denominator or nexus between PsyCap and CP. Therefore, driven by the PsyCap of employees, OVI becomes a central source to having a visionary mindset that in the next round could be reflected in employees CP in their respective work roles. While OVI is a source to visionary mindset, it also simultaneously functions as a boundary or a gatekeeper between PsyCap and CP. Specifically, OVI filters and decides what creative and innovative ideas who should pass further in such a way that it matches and are in harmony with the vision of the organization. Consequently, because of the central role that OVI seems to have, it is reasonable to assume it operates as a mediator in the relationship between PsyCap and CP. Consequently, the following hypothesis is proposed:

• Hypothesis 6: OVI mediates the relationship between PsyCap and CP

It is also expected that OVI of employees will mediate the relationship between employees perception of OA and CP. The rational for this is partially similar the same premises as discussed in the previous hypothesis. However, instead of having PsyCap as an initiator or originator to the domino-effect affecting OVI and CP it is now suggested that OA functions as this initiator, affecting OVI and CP. As mentioned in the previous discussion OA is an external oriented triggering factor (referring to employees perception of their organizational environment). Thus, OA just represents another type of initiating source compared to PsyCap, which were described as an internal oriented triggering factor (referred to as a personal-related condition or state). Consequently, when OVI increases because employees have a more favourable perception of OA, it should lead to an increase in the CP of employees. Therefore, as the common denominator or nexus in the relationship, OVI is both a source in having a visionary mindset while it simultaneously also functions as a boundary or an inner mental gatekeeper of vision between OA and CP. This latter aspect embraces how OVI selects what creative and innovative ideas are acceptable and could be passed further because it is in accordance and harmony with the vision of the organization. Consequently, because of its role it is expected that OVI will function as a mediator between OA and CP of employees. Consequently, based on this reasoning the following hypothesis is proposed:

• Hypothesis 7: OVI mediates the relationship between OA and CP

In the previous discussion it was proposed that PsyCap has a direct relationship with both OVI and CP. However, this study also proposes another alternative or additional route to how PsyCap can potentially relate to OVI and CP. Specifically, it is expected that PsyCap can act as a mediator. A mediator should explain the link between a predictor and a criterion variable. Specifically, it proposed that PsyCap play a mediating role between OA and the two variables OVI and CP. OA is, as also mentioned in the previous discussion, capable to develop, manage and change PsyCap employees in a positive direction. Therefore, the more employees perceive OA as positive the more it should drive or lead to an increase in the motivational muscle that PsyCap comprises. Furthermore, when PsyCap increases, stemming from employees having more favourable perception of OA, this should next lead to the higher level in both OVI and CP of employees in the organization. There are three reasons to expect PsyCap to act as a mediator. First, the idea finds support in previous research. For example, in a study of 103 service sales representatives, it was found that the PsyCap of employees functioned as a mediator between employees perception of organizational resources (referring to climate and leadership) and their performance outcomes such as innovative behaviour, employees sales performance and sales representatives general job engagement [ 23 ]. Second, support for PsyCap as a mediator also finds support in the Heskett et al.s service-profit chain model [ 36 ]. The basic idea and premises of the chain model are that internal factors of a service organization (e.g. OA) have an impact on how people think and feel (e.g. PsyCap) about their organizations, which next have an impact on their work role engagement and performance (e.g. OVI and CP). Third, further support for PsyCap as a mediator stems from the previously mentioned psychological-contract theory. Considering OA as part of employees psychological contract, it has impact or influence on what Lee et al. mentioned as employees efforts on behalf of the employer [ 34 ]. As such, it is reasonable to assume that PsyCap plays a mediating role both for employees vision implementation as well as their motivational effort explicitly manifested in their OVI and CP respectively. This reasoning leads to the two concluding hypotheses in this study:

• Hypothesis 8: PsyCap mediates the relationship between OA and OVI
• Hypothesis 9: PsyCap mediates the relationship between OA and CP

Conceptual model

Figure ​ Figure1 1 provides a summary based on the discussion above. The conceptual model consists of three separate parts, organized in a causally related manner, and labelled triggering factors , vision implementation and service effort .

As seen in Fig. ​ Fig.1, 1 , OVI is reflected in the vision implementation among employees. Service effort is manifested by employees creative performance (CP). The triggering factors are represented by psychological capital (PsyCap) and organizational attractiveness (OA). PsyCap and OA represent two distinctive sources of triggering factors. OA is an external oriented triggering factor implying that it comes from outside the person and thus is an environmental-related factor. In contrast, PsyCap is labelled as an internal oriented triggering factor indicating that the source comes from within the person and consequently is a personal-related factor. Although OA and PsyCap are dissimilar, they have similarities because both are proposed to be initiators or generators of vision implementation (reflected in OVI) and service effort (reflected in CP).

As shown in Fig. ​ Fig.1, 1 , both OVI and PsyCap are suggested to be directly related to employees CP. Moreover, OA and PsyCap are proposed as direct triggering factors that promote employees OVI, and OA is proposed to be directly related to PsyCap.

In addition to the above mentioned direct effects, the relationships between OA, PsyCap and employees CP are both proposed to be mediated by OVI. Finally, the relationship between OA and the two variables OVI and CP is assumed to be mediated by employees PsyCap. Table ​ Table1 1 summarizes all nine proposed hypotheses leading this study.

Hypotheses leading this study

Note: PsyCap Psychological Capital, OA Organizational Attractiveness, OVI Organizational Vision Integration, CP Creative Performance

This study has aimed to examine factors related to OVI, how OVI is adopted, absorbed or integrated among individual members of the organization, with a focus on the implementation of the vision among hospital employees. Consequently, as part of the health services research that focuses on individual-level innovations, we conducted a cross-sectional study in which Norwegian hospital employees ( N =2000) were invited to participate. Participants in the study were all employed at hospitals situated in the inland counties of Norway. With over 10,000 employees, with a coverage of over 40 sites, the hospital organization is one of the largest health expert communities in its region. Initial contact was sought through the Director of Research (DOR), who disseminated all the information about the survey to division managers, staff unit and department managers. After several meetings and exchange of emails, the survey was developed to test the hypothesized relationships. Before sending out the survey to potential respondents, several pretests with two experts were performed to ensure the overall quality of the survey. As such, some redundant or ambiguous items were modified or deleted.

With the help of the DOR, an information email was sent to division managers and department managers to inform their employees of the study. Division managers and department managers were viewed as ambassadors to encourage and motivate employee participation in the survey. The survey information and URL were distributed by the DOR through emails to division managers and department managers, who furthered it to their employees. To maintain participant anonymity and avoid nonresponse bias, the study used a platform called Nettskjema ( www.nettskjema.no ). Irrespective of their degree of qualification, all hospital employees ( n =2000) across 7 staff units and 10 divisions were encouraged to participate because the goal of this study was to examine generally the role of OVI in hospital organizations. Therefore, all specialized categories were summarized under a general category. For example, specialized nurse or senior nurse were summarized under the category Nurse, and specialized doctors or senior doctors were summarized under the category Doctor. Furthermore, we collected a total of n =1008 completed questionnaires, a response rate of 50.4%. As shown in Table ​ Table2, 2 , personal characteristics were included in the survey. From Table ​ Table2, 2 , we can see that of the respondents in the study, 73% were female, reflecting the Norwegian context where the health sector is dominated by female workers [ 37 ]. About 37% of the hospital employees were under the age of 45years, 77% worked full time, and over 55% had been employed at the organization for more than 10years.

Personal characteristics of the study sample ( N =1008)

Instruments

This study covered four constructs: PsyCap, OA, OVI and CP. The claims used for the constructs in this study are listed in Table ​ Table3. 3 . All claims used for the constructs are based on previous research. However, because none of the instruments have specifically been used in a Norwegian healthcare context before, there was a need to adapt claims to the study context, here Norwegian hospital organizations. The items used to capture the concept of PsyCap were adopted from Luthans et al. [ 38 ]. Items used to capture the concept of OA were adopted from Trybou et al. [ 29 ]. Items used to capture the concept of OVI were adopted from Liu [ 3 ] and Sltten and Mehmetoglu [ 39 ]. Finally, items used to capture CP were adopted from Zhou and George [ 40 ], Janssen [ 41 ] and Scott and Bruce [ 42 ]. It is important to note that in this study, the items used for the constructs PsyCap, OA, OVI and CP have all previously been validated in the healthcare setting [ 8 , 43 , 44 ]. However, the items were further adapted to fit the healthcare setting in the Norwegian context. A Likert scale from (1) strongly disagree to (7) strongly agree was used for all items. More importantly, the survey and all of its items used in this study are a part of a larger survey research project focusing on various aspects of employee-relations in hospital organizations. As such, the claims used in this study are appended accordingly (see Additionalfile 1 : Appendix 1).

Constructs (Psychological Capital (PsyCap), Organizational Attractiveness (OA), Organizational Vision Integration (OVI), Creative Performance (CP)) and claims used in the study

Data analysis

Based on the conceptual model, partial least-squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was used to test the hypotheses, using SmartPLS 3 software [ 45 ]. The first step in evaluating the PLS-SEM results involved examining a set of criteria for the reflective and formative measurement models. When the measurement models assessments were satisfactory, the next step was to assess the structural model. We followed the rules of thumb of Hair et al. [ 46 , 47 ] to assess the quality of the measurement and structural model results. Based on the PLS-SEM results, mediating effects were also estimated and analysed using the bootstrapping test of Zhao et al. [ 48 ] and Nitzl et al. [ 49 ]. This bootstrapping test assesses whether the direct and indirect effects are statistically significant, and the combination of these two tests determines the degree of the mediation effect.

Measurement model

OA and OVI were modelled as reflective constructs. To assess the reflective measurement models, we examined convergent validity, internal consistency reliability and discriminant validity. Convergent validity is the extent to which a claim correlates positively with alternative measures based on the same construct, and this was evaluated with loadings of the measures and average variance extracted (AVE). Internal consistency reliability is an estimate of the construct reliability based on the size of the correlations of the observed measures and was evaluated using composite reliability and Cronbachs alpha. Discriminant validity is the extent to which a construct is distinct from other constructs; in this study, as recommended by Hair and colleagues [ 46 , 50 ], it is assessed using the heterotraitmonotrait (HTMT) ratio of correlation between constructs.

PsyCap and CP were modelled as formative constructs. Assessment of the formative measurement models were, as recommended by Hair et al. [ 46 , 50 ], based on test of any multicollinearity for the indicators, the indicators weights and their significance as well as the indicators loading and their significance. All indicators had VIF values below 5, indicating no critical collinearity issues. Not all indicator weights, as is a measure of relative contribution to the formative constructs, were significant. Following Hair et al. [ 46 ], insignificant indicator weights should not be interpreted as poor measurement model quality, instead the focus should then be on the absolute contribution, represented as indicator loadings, and if these are significant, as is the case for our study.

As we can see from Table ​ Table4, 4 , the evaluations of both the reflective and formative constructs support the view that this is a reliable and valid measurement model.

Results of the measurement model for the reflective constructs of Organizational Attractiveness (OA) and Organizational Vision Integration (OVI) and the formative constructs Psychological Capital (PsyCap) and Creative Performance (CP)

a AVE Average variance extracted, HTMT Heterotraitmonotrait ratio of correlations

b *** p <0.01 is the significance level

Structural model

The direct effects in the structural model are shown in Fig. ​ Fig.2 2 . 1 For the endogenous constructs, the models in-sample predictive power was examined using R 2 . Based on the rules of thumb [ 46 , 50 ], the R 2 values for PsyCap (0.38), OVI (0.29) and CP (0.36) were moderate. All the standardized direct-path coefficients were statistically significant at the 1% significance level. The path coefficient between OA and PsyCap was the highest at 0.62, the second-highest of 0.51 was between PsyCap and CP and the third-highest, 0.40, was between OA and OVI. The relationship between OVI and CP was positive ( = 0.16), supporting H1. H2 and H3 were also supported because the relationships between PsyCap and OVI and between PsyCap and CP were positive ( = 0.19 and = 0.51, respectively). Finally, there was a positive relationship between OA and OVI ( = 0.40) and between OA and PsyCap ( = 0.62), supporting H4 and H5.

Results of the structural model of triggering factors and service effort of hospital employees vision implementation. Standardized coefficients (*** <0.01)

As previously mentioned, when testing the mediation effect of the proposed hypothesis, as summarized in Table ​ Table1, 1 , we followed the approach of mediation analysis of a PLS-SEM, proposed by Nitzl et al. [ 49 ], as modified the mediation test in standard (covariance-based) SEM, introduced by Zhao et al. [ 48 ]. Simply stated, utilizing bootstrapping to assess whether the direct and indirect effects are statistically significant, we can determine whether there exist no-effect non-mediation, direct effects onlywithout mediation, complementary mediation, competitive mediation (direct and indirect effects are significant, but opposite direction) or indirect-only mediation. We tested two mediator effects of OVI and two mediator effects of PsyCap (Table ​ (Table5). 5 ). OVI had a significant positive indirect effect ( = 0.032) and a complementary mediation effect on the relationship between PsyCap and CP, supporting H6. OVI indirect-only mediates the relationship between OA and CP (with an indirect positive effect of = 0.065), supporting H7. The positive indirect effect of PsyCap on the relationship between OA and OVI was significant ( = 0.118), implying a complementary mediation effect and support for H8. PsyCap showed a significant positive indirect effect ( = 0.313) and an indirect-only mediation effect between OA and CP, and thus H9 received support.

Test of mediation effect of OVI and PsyCap

a *** p <0.01 is the significance level

b The PLS-SEM mediation analysis and classification of mediation effects are based on Zhao et al. [ 48 ] and Nitzl et al. [ 49 ]

c The direct effect between OA and CP is not specified on our conceptual model. However, we estimated also a model included this direct effect, and found the direct effect OA CP not statistically significant ( =0.054, p =0.21). Based on that, in the mediation classification framework by Zhao et al. [ 48 ] and Nitzl et al. (2016), a significant indirect effect and insignificant direct effect imply indirect-only/full mediation

d These two effects ((OA PsyCap OVI CP) and (Total indirect effect OA CP)) are not an direct part of our analysis, but included to report all possible effects in our conceptual model

This study aimed to examine factors linked to OVI. Consequently, the paper adds to the current research on organizational vision which is described as a key concept in the strategy and leadership literature [ 51 ]. Specifically, the study offers three main contributions. First, in contrast to the leadership perspective that has dominated previous research, this study examines the integration of organizational vision from an employee perspective. Second, it contributes to revealing the role that OVI plays for employees work performance, in this study manifested in their CP. As such it contributes to revealing whether OVI really matters and to what extent OVI can be described as a guiding force [ 15 ] to hospital employees work role activities. Third, it adds to our understanding of and insight into the direct impact of different types of triggering factors to OVI. Simultaneously, it contributes to revealing how different types of triggering factors indirectly (through OVI) are linked to employees work performance (represented by CP). To the authors knowledge, this is one of the pioneering studies to focus on OVI, as well as its antecedents (represented by OA and PsyCap) and effects (represented by CP), from a (hospital) employee perspective. Accordingly, this study offers a novel contribution to health services research.

Organizational vision is often referred to as the primary guiding force of all organizational activity [ 15 ]. Following this idea, OVI in this study is about whether hospital employees use the hospital vision as a guiding framework when making decisions and discretionary behaviors in their daily work roles [ 7 ]. The findings show that OVI has a direct impact on employees service effort manifested in their CP ( = 0.16). The impact of OVI, together with the direct impact of PsyCap ( = 0.51), explains almost 40% ( R 2 = 0.36) in employees service effort manifested in their CP. Consequently, hospital managers should be aware that OVI among hospital employees matters because it, together with PsyCap, constitutes a substantial power to guide CP of employees in hospital organizations.

Although few studies within health services research have examined the impact of OVI on CP in a hospital context, the results are supported within research undertaken in other types of service organizations where the human factor is important. One example of this is the study by Sltten and Mehmetoglu [ 18 ]. In their study, a total of 279 frontline employees in hospitality organizations participated. The findings revealed that employees level of strategic orientation (a similar concept to OVI) was positively associated with frontline employees work engagement and their innovative behaviour (a related concept to CP) as a part of their work role [ 18 ]. The value of organizational vision for employees performance is also supported in the study by Liu [ 3 ]. In their study, a total of 560 customer-contact employees from 50 branches (fast-food outlets) nationwide participated. The findings revealed that customer-contact positive perception of organizational vision was directly related to employees level of service effort in their respective work role. Similar to the concept of service effort in the study by Liu [ 3 ], service effort of CP in this study is manifested in the work performance of employees in their respective work role. However, CP in this study is an expanded type of service effort compared with the one in the study by Liu [ 3 ] and can best be described as an extra-role service effort. Because CP is not normally included in a formal work contract or as part of an in-role responsibility, CP goes beyond what is expected or should-do and thus it is about employees volunteering and their want-to-do extra effort reflected in their capability to think creatively and act innovatively (referring to CP). As found in this study, the OVI among employees is, together with their PsyCap, significantly related to employees extra-role service effort manifested in their CP.

The impact of OVI on CP also parallels ideas proposed in the study by Koryak et al. [ 51 ]. In their study, the authors examined, among several other factors, the impact of firms written vision on followers perception of their firms explorative activities. In their study, explorative activities referred to whether firms sought out new ideas, and were measured using items such as looking for novel technological ideas, exploring new technologies, creating products or services that are innovative. Thus, explorative activities in the study by Koryak et al. [ 51 ] match well what is embraced and constitutes core aspects of CP in this study. CP, which refers to thinking creatively and acting innovatively, is by its nature focused on performing explorative activities. Similar to our study, Koryak et al. [ 51 ] assumed that organizational vision should motivate, guide attention and action and lead to more explorative activities following daily operations. Although these reasons are both plausible and logical from a theoretical point of view, the authors did not receive empirical support in their study results. Consequently, the findings in our study differ from Koryak et al. [ 51 ] because we found a significant relationship between OVI and CP. However, some potential reasons could explain why Koryak et al. [ 51 ], in contrast to our study, did not receive empirical support. Specifically, we suspect two plausible reasons could potentially explain the insignificant findings in Koryak et al. Both reasons are based on how organizational vision is focused on in Koryak et al., which constitute a major contrast to this study. First, in the study by Koryak et al., a majority of participants (85%) were top executives (CEO). Consequently, the authors of the study took a leadership perspective and not an employee perspective as done in this study. Second, the concept of organizational vision in Koryak et al. [ 51 ] focused solely on the communicative aspect of organizational vision. Participants (referring to leaders) were asked two questions about firms vision, namely, (i) does your company have a written vision? and (ii) have you talked to your employees about your vision for the company in the last 6months? Consequently, the focus on organizational vision in Koryak et al. [ 51 ] is on the senders (referring to leaders) and not on the receivers (referring to employees) of organizational vision which is done in this study. Although it is important to communicate organizational vision well throughout the organization, it is fundamental and critical that organizational members themself perceive if they are informed, familiar with and conscious about doing their job in line with the companys vision and aim. This latter aspect is what OVI is about in this current study. Based on this reasoning, one way to interpret or understand the insignificant findings between organizational vision and explorative activities in Koryak et al. [ 51 ] is to say the findings (just) confirm that it is not satisfactory enough for leaders to just communicate the vision throughout the organization. Specifically, it confirms that communication of organizational vision is not the same as achieving OVI among employees. Consequently, the relationship between OVI and CP revealed in this study is an implication for hospital leaders to have a clear focus on how well OVI is understood among organizational members. Thus, an explicit formula to potentially achieve success for hospital leaders, regarding organizational vision, can be pronounced by living (or leading) the following slogan: Communicate to integrate .

The results in this study further reveal that when OVI is clearly present in hospital employees minds and feet, it can have an impact on hospital employees CP manifested in their respective work role. Furthermore, it is also essential for hospital managers to understand those factors that positively foster employees OVI as well as employees CP. In this study, two types of triggering factors were proposed to be related to OVI and CP. PsyCap is proposed to be an internal or a personal-oriented triggering factor while OA represents an external or an environmental-oriented triggering factor. As explained in the previous discussion, the triggering factors differ in their orientation. However, the findings reveal that PsyCap and OA are interrelated, and in different ways, have an impact on both employees OVI and their CP.

PsyCap was found to have a direct impact on employees level of OVI ( = 0.19) as well as having a direct impact on CP ( = 0.51). Furthermore, based on the mediator test suggested in Zhao et al. [ 48 ], it was found that OVI operates as what Zhao et al. term complementary mediation [ 48 ]. A complementary mediation signifies that two pathways lead to CP. The first works directly from PsyCap to CP and the second means that OVI has a mediating effect between PsyCap and CP. It is important to recognize that these two routes do not substitute each other but co-exist and act as complementary impact. PsyCap is about a persons positive psychological state of the individual towards positive development [ 20 ]. Consequently, based on the findings in this study, those resources embraced in employees PsyCap are important triggering factors and motivators to both employees OVI and their CP. Previous research supports that PsyCap (or parts of PsyCap) is linked to aspects of employees CP [ 23 , 25 ]. However, to the authors knowledge, this is among the first studies in health services research to reveal the role PsyCap plays, both directly and indirectly, on employees OVI as well as employees CP. In the literature, PsyCap is described as a resource a person possesses. Furthermore, this resource embraced in a persons PsyCap is characterized as being relatively controllable, which implies that PsyCap is open to development [ 21 ] and manageable for effective work performance [ 21 ]. An implication of this is the importance of hospital leaders continuously to cultivate and develop PsyCap among their hospital employees and specifically in a positive way manage those four resources that PsyCap consists of (referring to (i) hope, (ii) efficacy, (iii) resilience and (iv) optimism).

Although leaders can help develop those resources of PsyCap, the results of this study further reveal other types of triggering factors that are related to employees PsyCap. Specifically, OA was found to have a direct impact on PsyCap ( = 0.62) and explains 38% of the variance in PsyCap. OA, as an external oriented triggering factor, is about how employees attitude [ 28 ] towards the environment in the organization in which they are employed is considered as good or bad. OA has substantial influence or managing impact on PsyCap. Although OA is highly central for employees PsyCap, the findings reveal that OA influences OVI and CP. When considering OVI, which is the most focused concept in this study, the findings reveal that OA has a direct impact on OVI ( = 0.40). It is important to note that the impact of OA (an external environmental-oriented trigger), is twice the size of the direct effect of PsyCap (an internal personal-oriented trigger) on OVI ( = 0.19). It reveals that OA is the primary triggering source for OVI among employees. Consequently, hospital leaders should be aware of the important role OA plays for the successful achievement of integrating the organizational vision among organizational members.

However, although OA have a dominating direct impact on OVI, OA together with PsyCap explain almost 30% ( R 2 = 0.29) of the variance in OVI. Furthermore, the analysis shows that OA has another pattern that relates to OVI. Based on the mediation results presented in Table ​ Table5, 5 , this study found that OA also functions as what Zhao et al. term complementary mediation [ 48 ]. Specifically, this means that in addition to having a direct impact on OVI, the impacting power of OA on OVI simultaneously works through the resources embraced in employees PsyCap.

Finally, OA also plays a role when it comes to employees CP. However, based on the mediation test of Zhao et al. [ 48 ], the findings reveal that OA does not act as a complementary mediation but in contrast acts as an indirect-only mediation. In total, two indirect-only mediations between OA and CP were found. The first indirect-only mediation works through OVI and the second indirect-only mediation works through PsyCap. When comparing the different patterns of relationship, it reveals that OA plays a multifaceted role and is highly central for OVI among employees. In addition, the mediation results in Table ​ Table5 5 reveal that OA has an indirect effect on OVI as well as on employees PsyCap and employees CP. Although limited research within health services research has examined the multiple impacts of OA, as done in this study, the findings highlight the importance of hospital leaders to focus on OA. As Trybou et al. noted: hospital attractiveness is of major importance [ 29 ]. Consequently, hospital leaders should follow the recommendation by Sltten et al. who advocate that OA is something that needs to be focused on, maintained, and cultivated [ 28 ].

Limitations and future research

According to Kantabutra and Avery more research is still needed into characteristics of power visions and vison realization factors [ 4 ]. This study has contributed to revealing that organizational vision really matters when considered from an employee perspective. However, research on this issue within health services research is relatively absent and can be described more or less as a black box. There is a need for substantial research on a range of aspects within the domain of organizational vision. Based on this study, three areas to be focused on in future research are suggested.

First, and this is most fundamental, considering the focus on OVI in this study. Although the way OVI is defined in this study functioned well, there is a need for more research to capture the true nature of the aspect integration in the concept of OVI. Integration is a relatively complex phenomenon. Integration can be described as the act of bringing together smaller components into a single system that functions as one. Based on this, future research should try to reveal whether the concept of OVI consists of one or several subdimensions. Should OVI be considered as a formative or reflective concept? Taking an employee perspective, future research on OVI should focus on the act in time regarding integration. Specifically, research should focus on the process of how OVI is manifested among employees in an organization. What does a positive OVI process normally look like? Why is it that some employees do not integrate an organizational vision? Future research could also look at integration by considering how employees perceive aspects related to the explicit formulation and aspiration communicated through the formal written vision of organizations. What are the ingredients of a formal written vision that are capable of capturing the minds and feet of employees in a hospital organization? How does an organizational vision motivate and engage hospital employees? Is there a difference in OVI when employees contribute in the process to develop a new vision, compared with when they are just presented a new vision? Because of the complexity of OVI, it is highly recommended to do more qualitative research on OVI. Moreover, such qualitative studies could next be followed up and tested on a large scale, using quantitative methods, to reveal the generalizability of findings both within and across contexts.

Second, this study contributed to revealing two types of triggering factors that had an impact on OVI. Both PsyCap, as an internal (personal) oriented triggering factor, and OA, as an external (environmental) oriented triggering factor, have an impact on OVI. As previously mentioned, two types of triggering factors explained about 30% ( R 2 = 0.29) of the variance in OVI. Consequently, there is considerable variance left in OVI to be explained. Based on this explanation gap in OVI, future research should include other types of both internal and external triggering factors. Considering external oriented triggering factors, future research could examine how different types of organizational culture act as a triggering factor for OVI. For example, one could study the impact of the four culture types proposed by Cameron and Quinn [ 52 ]. The four mentioned in their framework are (i) clan culture, (ii) adhocracy culture, (iii) market culture and (iv) hierarchy culture. Other potential types of organizational culture would be to examine the impact of innovative culture [ 53 ] or internal market-oriented culture [ 28 , 54 ] on OVI. Other dimensions of external oriented triggering factors to OVI would be to focus on how different leadership styles can foster OVI. In the literature, there is a range of possibilities of leadership styles to include such as leadership autonomy support, empowering leadership, authentic leadership, ambidextrous leadership or several other leadership styles mentioned in the literature. When considering internally oriented triggering factors, future research could examine how variation in employees inner attachment to the organization has an impact on OVI. One such factor would be to study the impact of what the literature labels as employees affective commitment. Affective commitment is defined as employees positive emotional attachment to the organization [ 55 ]. Another internal oriented triggering factor is the relatively new concept of thriving [ 56 ] which is defined as the psychological state in which individuals experience both a sense of vitality and learning at work [ 57 ]. These external and internal oriented triggering factors are only a few examples, among several other potential triggering factors, that could be included as impacting factors to OVI in future research.

Third, this study found that OVI, based on the mediation test of Zhao et al. [ 48 ], acts as both complementary mediation and indirect-only mediation in relation to CP. It is highly recommended that future research uses sophisticated statistical tests to reveal types of mediating effects. Such statistical tests bring more nuanced knowledge and insight about both the role of OVI as well as identifying potential patterns on how OVI is related to service effort such as the level of CP among employees in organizations. Future research could also relate OVI to other types of service effort relevant to health care organizations such as the level of service quality, the level of productivity in the delivery of services or others. Consequently, based on the specific recommendations in each of the three areas regarding future research related to OVI, it is well reflected and is summarized in the following statement by Foster and Akdere: There is much room for more research and investigation to be completed in the area of organizational vision [ 58 ].

Previous research has predominantly taken a leadership perspective when studying organizational vision. The contribution of this study is to examine factors related to OVI from an employee perspective using hospital organizations as the empirical setting. The findings reveal that to achieve OVI successfully among hospital employees, hospital leaders need to be conscious of the complex configuration of influences of both personal as well as environmental-related factors.

Acknowledgements

The authors express their gratitude to the study subjects for their participation in this research.

Abbreviations

Authors contributions.

TS led the development and mainly drafted this manuscript. BRM contributed to the development of the questionnaire, data collection and input to the manuscript. GL contributed to the development of the questionnaire, statistical analysis, interpretation of data and general input to the manuscript. All three authors approved the final draft.

Not applicable.

Availability of data and materials

Declarations.

This study was approved by the Norwegian Centre for Data Research (NSD) (project number 239029). The NSD is a resource centre and ethics committee for academic research in Norway. In addition, the study was approved by the Data Protection Office of the hospital organization included in this study. In accordance with the Personal Data Act 27 and 8 no. 1, the participants were given written information about the project and gave their consent by choosing to participate actively in the study by answering the online questionnaire.

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

1 Before the structural model was assessed, multicollinearity between the latent constructs was examined by looking at the variance inflation factor (VIF) values, where VIF values above 5 indicate multicollinearity issues [ 50 ]. All VIF values were lower than 2, indicating no multicollinearity problems.

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Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

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22 vision statement examples to help you write your own.

When launching a startup, founders typically have an idea of what they want to achieve — a vision of what success will look like. During the strategic planning process, it’s important to put this vision into concrete terms. Not only does a vision statement clarify your thoughts, but it helps employees and stakeholders understand what the business has set out to accomplish. No matter what the business, a good mission and vision statement can inspire and motivate employees to make that vision a reality.

Whether it’s your first or fifth business, writing a compelling vision statement can be challenging. Below, we'll share how to write a vision statement — one that inspires your employees and positively impacts your business — and we'll look at a few vision statement examples to help you get started. 

What is a vision statement? 

A personal mission statement and personal vision statement can be used to guide our decision-making and help us stay focused to meet our long-term goals. Company statements are no different. A company vision statement is one of your most important business documents, along with your mission statement and core values. Although it’s easy to confuse the three, each one is unique and serves its own purpose. 

Core values are the organization’s long-term beliefs and principles that guide employee behavior. A mission statement deals with “why” an organization exists, while a vision statement outlines “what” that existence will eventually look like. A mission statement has to do with what the organization is doing in the present, while a vision statement focuses on the future. Mission statement examples include L’Oreal’s “Offering all women and men worldwide the best of cosmetics innovation in terms of quality, efficacy, and safety.” Conversely, Disney’s vision for itself is “to be one of the world’s leading producers and providers of entertainment and information.”

Primarily intended for internal employees and shareholders, a vision statement describes what an organization aspires to be. It helps to think of a vision statement as part roadmap, part inspiration. By outlining a long-term vision, rather than just short-term goals, a vision statement helps give the organization shape and purpose. 

Why it’s important to have a vision statement.

Despite the importance of a vision statement, many companies choose to operate without one. Some simply combine their mission and vision into one general document. Others do away with the idea altogether, thinking that corporate visions are vague statements that serve no actual purpose. 

Furthermore, studies show that highly aligned organizations grow revenue 58% faster, and are 72% more profitable than ones that are unaligned. If an organization doesn’t have a vision or a clear idea of what it wants, it will greatly limit its opportunities and have a difficult time inspiring employees to stay committed.  

How to write a vision statement.

Writing a vision statement may seem like a daunting task. It’s read by every employee and shareholder, and greatly impacts the success of the organization. And a vision statement takes time and thought. When done well, a vision statement can provide the encouragement your company needs to achieve its goals. To streamline the process, keep the following steps in mind while crafting your vision statement:

1. Determine who will help write your vision statement.

When starting out, it’s likely you and your partners will be responsible for writing your company’s vision statement. Once you start hiring, you can ask managers and employees to contribute additional insights. Interviewing a range of individuals will help create a vision statement that integrates and speaks directly to the entire organization. 

2. Project your goals for the future.

Imagine your company five or ten years down the line. The outcome you envision — your dream for the future, your success as a company — should be captured in the vision statement. Keep in mind that the statement should only include the vision, not an actual step-by-step plan for implementing solutions. 

The following questions can help you clarify your vision: 

• Where do we want the organization to go? 
• What can we realistically achieve?
• What problem does the organization intend to solve?
• What are the changes we believe the organization can make for individuals? For the industry? 
• How will things be different if the vision is realized?
• What phrases or keywords describe the type of organization and outcome we want?

3. Stick to the specifics.

A generic vision statement — one that sounds like it could apply to any company — will not be enough to motivate your team. Vision works best when it’s specific and describes an end goal only your organization can provide. Don’t be afraid to dream big. A lukewarm vision will only yield lukewarm results. So it’s important to be bold, and even risky, when writing your vision statement. 

4. Keep it short and simple.

While it should be specific, a vision statement shouldn’t be overly detailed. It should be concise. Start by jotting down all of your ideas, and then pare those down to the essentials. Keeping just one or two key points helps create a clear vision that’s easy for everyone to focus on and fulfill. Stay away from technical terms and jargon, and use the present tense. Rather than trying to write something catchy, aim for clarity. A great vision statement works best when it’s simple, memorable, and inspirational. 

Revisit your vision often as your company evolves.

A vision statement sets an organization’s sights on the future. However, once that future is reached, the vision needs to continue moving forward. Your vision statement is a living document, not a set of static sentences. It plays an important part in your overall strategic plan for a certain time frame. It should therefore be regularly updated to reflect your organization’s current purpose. 

Brex is trusted by 1 in 3 startups for credit cards and spend management — are you next?

Constantly communicate your vision.

Once you have a vision statement that articulates your end goal, make sure it’s clearly communicated. A vision is more effective when your entire organization takes it to heart. Commit the proper resources and time toward realizing the vision you’ve set. This can mean investing in seminars and training or launching a new product. It can also include offering the lowest possible prices, entering new markets, or exploring other areas of opportunity. A good way to help everyone align with a company's vision statement is by inviting them into the process. Ask for employees’ input, and suggest ways to incorporate the vision into their work. Then, make sure to recognize or reward individuals for their standout contributions.

Vision statement examples.

Sometimes, seeing what works for notable companies is just the inspiration you need to create your own vision statement. Below are some inspiring vision statements from today’s top companies:

Concept-based vision statements.

Some vision statements are based on concepts of what the company hopes to be or achieve in the future. This can be a general statement focused on customers, or a position the company wants to hold within the industry. Below are a few examples of concept-based vision statements:

• BBC: “To be the most creative organization in the world”
• Disney: “To make people happy.”
• Google: “To provide access to the world’s information in one click”
• IKEA: “To create a better everyday life for the many people”
• Instagram: “Capture and share the world’s moments”
• LinkedIn: "Create economic opportunity for every member of the global workforce”
• Microsoft: “To help people throughout the world realize their full potential”
• Nike: “To bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world”
• Oxfam: “A just world without poverty”
• Shopify: “To make commerce better for everyone”
• Sony: "To be a company that inspires and fulfills your curiosity.”
• TED: “Spread ideas”
• Tesla: “To accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy”
• Uber: “We ignite opportunity by setting the world in motion”
• Whole Foods : “To nourish people and the planet.”

Quality-based vision statements.

Other common vision statements are focused on internal goals. These include the type of products and services the company hopes to provide as they grow. Quality-based vision statements can also relate to company culture and operations. The following are some examples from actual United States companies in different industries:

• Amazon: “Our vision is to be earth’s most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online.”
• Avon: “ To be the company that best understands and satisfies the product, service, and self-fulfillment needs of women—globally.”
• Ben & Jerry’s: “Making the best ice cream in the nicest possible way”
• Ford: “People working together as a lean, global enterprise to make people’s lives better through automotive and mobility leadership.” 
• IBM: “To be the world’s most successful and important information technology company. Successful in helping our customers apply technology to solve their problems. Successful in introducing this extraordinary technology to new customers. Important because we will continue to be the basic resource of much of what is invested in this industry.”
• McDonald’s: “To move with velocity to drive profitable growth and become an even better McDonald’s serving more customers delicious food each day around the world.”
• Nordstrom: “To serve our customers better, to always be relevant in their lives, and to form lifelong relationships”
• Starbucks: “To establish Starbucks as the premier purveyor of the finest coffee in the world while maintaining our uncompromising principles while we grow.” 
• Warby Parker: “We believe that buying glasses should be easy and fun. It should leave you happy and good-looking, with money in your pocket. We also believe that everyone has the right to see.”
• Zappos: “To provide the best customer service possible. Deliver 'WOW' through service”

Keep a clear vision.

Even if it’s just a few sentences, a vision statement provides a lot of value. Not only does it outline the company’s desired outcome, but it can communicate intentions and hopes for the future. The best part is that a vision statement changes with your organization. When a vision is reached or updated, it’s time to create a new vision statement. This encourages everyone toward greater goals, and opens your company to more possibilities.

Ready to bring your vision to life? Brex can help.

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Pediatric Grand Rounds: Being a Molecular Sleuth

Stephen C. Ekker, Ph.D.

Location: Hybrid: Dell Children’s Medical Center Signe Auditorium & Zoom

Address: 4900 Mueller Blvd, Austin, Texas 78723 | View Map »

Date: Friday, May 17, 2024

Time: 7:30–8:30 a.m.

Add to Calendar »

About the Event

In this installment of Pediatric Grand Rounds, Stephen C. Ekker , Ph.D., presents “Being a Molecular Sleuth.” Ekker is the associate dean of innovation and entrepreneurship at Dell Medical School and the associate vice president of research translation for The University of Texas at Austin. He is also a professor in the Department of Pediatrics at Dell Med and a professor in the Department of Molecular Biosciences in the College of Natural Sciences.

Email Pam Knight for the Zoom link.

Learning Objectives:

• Explain the complexities around the diagnosis of tyrosinemia.
• Illustrate how mitochondria represent a dynamic organelle with a broad range of impact on biology and disease.
• Describe how new gene editing tools are now in use to model disorders due to alterations in mitochondrial DNA.

Target Audience:

• Primary: Pediatricians, pediatric subspecialists, family medicine physicians and pediatric residents
• Secondary: Nursing and hospital Staff

Attributes/Competencies

This activity has been designed to promote some of the following desired physician attributes and competencies:

• ACGME: Patient Care, Medical Knowledge, Practice-based Learning and Improvement; Interpersonal and Communications Skills. Professionalism, Systems-based Practice
• IOM: Provide Patient-centered Care, Work in Interdisciplinary Teams, Employ Evidence-based Practice, Apply Quality Improvement, Utilize Informatics
• IECC: Interprofessional Teamwork & Team-based Practice

Speaker Disclosure

Stephen C. Ekker, Ph.D., speaker for this educational activity, does not have relevant financial relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose .

Planner Disclosure

Nalinda Charnsangavej , M.D.; Daniel Richards , M.D., FAAP; Sara Dryden, M.D.; Leah Jorgensen-Kamin, D.O.; Quynh Pham , M.D.; Uyen Truong, M.D.; and Pam Knight , planners for this educational activity, have no relevant financial relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose.

The CME Advisory Committee, reviewers of this educational activity, have no relevant financial relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose.

Accreditation Statement

The University of Texas at Austin Dell Medical School is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

The University of Texas at Austin Dell Medical School designates this live activity for a maximum of 1.00 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.