Please create 1 page academic responses for each post. Also include 1 reference.
Crafting a vision statement takes time. Why not save time and go directly to selecting strategies? Tracking and measuring sustainability can involve tedious reports and statistics. This can detract from the mission of creating a broader base of support for sustainability. Search community and businesses involved in sustainable actions and find examples of an engaging vision.
Re: Reflective Exercise #4
Crafting a vision is the first requirement of any business as it acts like the compass for the organization by ensuring that the long term vision is the foundations for any goal setting and strategic design. The vision statement describes the purpose of what the organization is trying to achieve, should be easy to understand and articulate. The vision statement should include your organizational values, inspire employees and provide a clear course for organizations future (Kokemuller, n.d.).
Strategies cannot be created or implemented without understanding what the organizational vision is. Strategies are the steps and the detailed plans that are needed to achieve the vision. Outlining the steps, it takes to reach a vision provides manageable tasks and goals that can be celebrated along the way. Reporting and benchmarking is required to measure progress and ensure the organization is on its way to reaching its vision (Robertson, 2014. Pg. 293).
Danone’s vision Antoine Riboud, who was part of one of the founding families of Danone, Chairman and CEO is quoted on Danone’s sustainability page; ” A company’s responsibility does not end at the factory or office doorstep. People’s entire lives depend on the jobs it creates. Through the energy and raw materials it consumes, it changes the face of our planet. The public sees to it that we are reminded of our responsibilities in this industrial society. (…) Growth should no longer be an end in itself, but a tool which, rather than harm the quality of life, instead enhances it. ” (Danone, n.d.). At Danone social and economic goals are seen as entwined and their vision is to create “economic, social and environmental value” (Danone, n.d.).
Danone has identified four main sustainability projects to help reduce their environmental footprint; climate, water, agriculture and packaging. By creating partnerships with its stakeholders, Danone is able to achieve its sustainable goals. In one case Danone worked with dairy farmers to feed cattle flax seed which reduces CO2 emissions, improves the health of cows and improves the quality of milk (Danone, n.d.).
Danone. (n.d.). Our Commitments | Danone Canada. Retrieved from http://www.danone.ca/en/in-action/our-commitments Kokemuller, N. (n.d.). Importance of Mission Vision in Organizational Strategy | Chron.com. Retrieved from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/importance-mission-vision-organizational-strategy-16000.html
Robertson, M. (2014). Sustainability Principles and Practice. New York : Routledge Taylor & Francis Group .
402 words
Re: Reflective Exercise #4
A vision statement reflects a company’s long-term, big picture ideal; it is clear, concise and easily communicated message (Robertson, 2014, p. 291). On the other hand, strategies are operational, time structured and manageable. They are the “how” to the vision. As noted in our textbook, broad change is built around a compelling vision (Robertson, 2014, p.312), it focus on the company’s future. Martin Luther King inspired change with his inspirational visionary “I have a dream” statement. That aspirational statement was a clear and strong picture of where he wanted the movement to be. One innovative and visionary company that has a strong vision statement is Nike. Their sustainability vision statement is: “Sustainable Innovation is a Powerful Engine of Growth” (Nike, 2015). Nike approached its commitment to sustainability by weighing its three options: do nothing, continue on course by setting efficiency targets or step out of the box and become innovation disrupters. They chose the third option. In 2004 they brought on board a new CEO that was passionate in his commitment for sustainability and who brought about an internal cultural shift towards embedding sustainability into every aspect of the company’s innovation and performance processes (Vogel, 2012). It is this collective shift that led to their new vision statement, so that their stakeholders could easily understand that at Nike sustainability is a core driver for growth and profitability and not something that the company was trying to retrofit into an existing model.
Robertson, M. (2014). Sustainability Principals and Practice. Published by Routledge.
Vogel, L. 2012. Nike’s Gameplan for Growth that’s Good for All. Management Innovation eXchange. Retrieved from: http://www.managementexchange.com/story/nike%E2%80%99s-gameplan-growth-that%E2%80%99s-good-all
291 words
Re: Reflective Exercise #4
A vision statement allows for an organization to unitedly strive towards achieving the same outcomes. Following through with any sort of strategy would be useless without first implementing a vision: the firm’s aspirations for how they would like to be perceived or what they would like to have accomplished, in the future (Robertson, 2014). I think it would be safe to say how a set vision, discussed by all stakeholders at the very beginning of the planning process would be very valuable for the company, as it would help to spread optimism, and a passion for following through with sustainable methods.
More specifically, a sustainable vision statement should boost employee morale, while taking into consideration their suggestions on how to proceed with more effective methods, and most importantly should attract future employees who share the same values and passions.
Minesto, a marine energy technology developing team based out of the U.K. share the following vision statement: “Power to Change the Future.-We aim to become the world’s leading developer of tidal and ocean current power plants” (Minesto, 2017).
Robertson (2014) describes how the vision statement “is the place to dream big”, and that is exactly what Minesto has accomplished in their statement, by describing how they envision themselves making a large impact in the future as the number one company in their industry, despite the fact of how difficult this task of producing tidal energy has proven to be for many to this day.
Minesto, (2017). Vision and values. Retrieved from http://minesto.com/about-us/our-vision
Robertson, M. (2014). Sustainability Principles and Practice. [Bookshelf Online]. Retrieved from https://online.vitalsource.com/#/books/9781135035976/