An analysis of organizational vision and mission statements with a focus on Eastman Chemical Company

This work examines the purpose, construction, and identification of stakeholders in organizational vision and mission statements. This work also reviews differing views on the governing objectives of publicly held companies and concludes that the objective of maximizing shareholder value, while acting responsibly toward all the other stakeholders, provides the best opportunity for providing long-term value to all The Eastman Chemical Company vision, "to be the world's preferred chemical company", and the mission, ''to create superior value for customers, employees, investors, suppliers, and publics", are closely examined. Value creation, from each stakeholder's point of view, is evaluated, including the view of the employee investor. At Eastman, all employees have some equity ownership in the company. The thesis concludes that the Eastman vision and mission are both realistic and achievable, albeit difficult. Success will depend on effectively aligning the decisions and actions of the workforce to the vision and mission. Creating value for the various stakeholders requires that the value drivers for each is understood and that tensions among stakeholders be anticipated and managed. The ability to pick up on and act on "early warning signals" that threaten the firm's core capabilities, its competitiveness, and stakeholder satisfaction are critical for success.

Department dc:contributor.department

Sloan School of Management

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

1999

Author dc:creator

• Sneed, Norris P. (Norris Preston), 1955-

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• John E. Van Maanen.

• Sloan School of Management

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/9804

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/9804