Stock Market Guide to Management Communication
What a Mission Statement Means for Stock Market Investors
A Mission Statement may seem simple and mundane for an outsider after it is done, but it calls for consummate skill to sum up the core values of an organization and its purpose. Top stock market operators always make it a point to study the Mission Statements of companies in which they have strategic investments. It is easy for anyone to do this by simply visiting an office, warehouse, or a production unit of the company concerned. Mission Statements are displayed prominently in all company sites, for their core purpose is to bond all employees to common business goals.
It is not only the stock market which is concerned with Mission Statements. Organizations of all kinds, including those which work not-for-profit, can and do use them. The Indian Airports Authority of India, which is a body of the Government Ministry of Civil Aviation, for example, has Mission Statements displayed in all the offices of Managers of the airports it operates. It lays clear and uniform aims for all personnel, dispersed over a wide area, to follow in harmony and with diligence.
Stock market holders of a few shares can also be competitors or Trojan Horses, so some crafty companies cloak their Mission Statements in verbiage that only makes true sense to loyal insiders! However, a comparison of the values projected in a Mission Statement with the behavior, demeanor, and actions of employees, can tell volumes to a serious stock market investor who wants to know more about an organization which uses his or her funds.
The main stock market value of a Mission Statements lies in the fact that no company can afford to display a new one everyday! Management statements to the stock market can change from one quarter to the next, but the Mission Statement is virtually permanent. That is why investors can use it for independent assessment of how a company has performed in relation to its plans. It is another matter that amateur owners may pay only lip service to a Mission Statement that they have commissioned from a Consultant, using it to decorate walls, even as they go about their businesses in entirely contradictory ways!
