Challenges
Without a clear corporate mission and a shared vision of the future to guide actions, the typical large company would be ungovernable.
A mission expresses the organization’s timeless aspirations and values. A vision is more practical and describes a desirable end state—consistent with the mission—that will be realized within a finite period. And a strategy is the plan to realize that vision.
Several key questions are central to the development of mission and vision:
For what broad principles and aspirations does our company stand?
What specific medium-to-long-term strategic goals are we working toward?
How do we ensure that our mission is broadly embraced across the organization and not just seen as words on paper?
How should we develop and communicate our vision to foster the broadest possible alignment?
BCG Competencies
We have extensive experience in helping clients express their mission and sharpen their vision.
These are some of our typical projects:
Envisioning Growth Through Megatrends. We identify the best mission-consistent medium-to-long-term growth vision, using megatrends as a lens.
Exploring Futures with Scenario Planning. We define and pressure-test a medium-to-long-term vision through the development and exploration of a carefully drawn set of future scenarios.
Mission and Vision Development. We work with clients to craft, communicate, and establish a mission—and then to shape a related vision for the business.
BCG’s virtual Center for Sensing and Mining the Future is a critical resource. In addition to maintaining a rich database on more than 100 critical megatrends and nurturing a global network of external experts on key topics, the center’s staff invests in developing perspectives on where and how important opportunities and risk are likely to arise.