light directing the business towards its mission. McDonald (2007) indicated that an NPO’s mission can facilitate
innovation, which has been shown to be a key mediating step towards achieving superior organizational
performance; organizational performance is in turn related to vision. Jagersma (2003) found that vision and strategy
are correlated and that a clarified vision helps foster business strategy. Thus, the extent to which organizational
members support and understand the organization’s vision is a key factor affecting performance (Balduck et al.,
2010; James and Lahti 2011).
Vision usually consists of two dimensions—leadership philosophy and specific impression. The philosophy (both
personal and organizational) and impression are usually given by the firm’s founder and form the cornerstone of
management’s direction and methods (Collins and Porras, 1991). The impression is the organization’s mission as
displayed to others. Rowe et al. (1994) pointed out that the leader’s faith, leadership values, and the values of the
corporate culture were the three basic factors affecting the creation of visions. An organization’s vision is related to
the beliefs and values of its leader and of the enterprise. The visions adopted by NPOs influence their strategic
development and performances (Balduck et al., 2010). It is important to carefully explore how their visions affect
organizations’ performance. This study seeks to understand the extent of employees’ recognition of their
organization’s visions by considering the beliefs and values of the business leaders and the company’s values as
forming the core of the vision and evaluating whether the company’s vision is consistent with the staff’s views.