Proposed definitions of a mission and a mission statement
A thorough review of the literature as well as the discussion above show that purpose
(the ultimate reason for an organization’s existence) is central to almost all proposed
definitions of the mission statement (see Appendix). It is time to make a clear
distinction between the concepts of mission, vision, values, business definition, and
the like. The intention here, however, is to focus on the definition of a mission.
Defining other concepts, as important as it is, requires more research to develop
well-supported arguments, which is beyond the scope of this paper.