Vision

The following entry is the one originally submitted by the contributors. The previous version of this entry that appeared in the original printing of the encyclopedia was not the one submitted by the contributors and was mistakenly used by the Publisher. The entry was written by Drs. Efthimios Poulis and Konstantinos Poulis, and the Publisher apologizes for submitting the wrong version of this entry for publication.

A general and short definition of “vision” could be the aspirations of an organization, namely, what the organization wants to become and intends to achieve in the future. In simple terms, the vision answers the question: “Where does the organization want to go?” These aspirations are expressed in the vision statement, which was widely used in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The vision statement is often broad and states the aspirations only, without mentioning the ways that these aspirations will be achieved. Unlike the mission statement, the vision statement is mostly used for the employees of the company and not for external use (e.g., customers, suppliers, and other stakeholders).

The vision of the organization, in order to be successful, has to possess the following characteristics:

• 1
  It has to be short and succinct, in order for everyone to remember it and be able to implement it in detail.
• 2
  It has to be precise and accurate, so as not to create any misunderstandings among the members of the organization regarding its meaning and implementation.
• 3
  It has to be simple, clear, and straightforward, so as to be understood and accepted by all members of the organization. In this way, employees will be able to participate in achieving the goals.
• 4
  At the same time, though, it should not be too detailed and specific, so as not to prevent individuals from expressing their own ideas and adopting innovative practices.
• 5
  It has to be inspiring, so as to motivate employees toward a common goal.
• 6
  It has to create commitment and group cohesiveness and unite employees in such a way that they will be able to achieve that goal effectively, sharing common beliefs.
• 7
  It has to guide action, so that employees can focus on implementing the strategic plans of the organization and maximizing performance.

Despite its importance, though, the use of corporate vision has received many criticisms. These include the arguments that it neither motivates nor inspires employees, that it does not provide guidance for future action, and that it does not create [Page 1688]consensus on the strategic goals of the organization. All these criticisms, though, stem from a single argument against the use of visions: it is just a piece of paper on the wall. Opponents of the vision statement go on arguing that it is an internal marketing trick, a statement that is used to motivate employees, but it does not have any real value. In order to inspire, the opponents argue, the vision should be more than that.

The response to these criticisms is that the real value of it does not rest with the statement itself, but with its creation. During this process, the members involved should question every assumption and fact regarding the organization itself, the way of doing business and their future plans. At that point, disagreements and conflicts are desirable, since they reveal biases and problems in the strategic direction of the organization. In this way, the process of creating a vision statement constitutes a useful tool in identifying and solving organizational problems.

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