Week 4
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Mission and Values: Defining Who You AreThe Importance of Core Values
How loyal are you to the companies you buy from or do business with? Would you say they have your trust? The promises companies make to their customers and themselves and how well they live up to them can inspire loyalty or contribute to failure.
Take what happened to Starbucks. Beginning in 2007, its profits began to fall. Eventually close to 1,000 Starbucks coffee shops closed and thousands of employees were laid off.
The decline was partially the result of the 2008 economic slowdown and increased competition. But according to Howard Schultz, who returned in 2008 after an 8-year absence, it was also due to Starbucks having forgotten who it was (Sherman, 2017).
Schultz attributed the company’s subsequent successful turnaround to:
Investing in restoring the confidence and capabilities of his workforce, improving the signature ambience of his stores and doubling down on Starbucks’ brand promise ‘to inspire and nurture the human spirit – one person, one cup and one neighborhood at a time.’ (Sherman, 2017, Starbucks section, para. 1)
In other words, recommitting to its core values.
Reference
Sherman, L. (2017, April 3). Corporate mission statements don’t really matter, unless you want to be a great leader. https://www.forbes.com/sites/lensherman/2017/04/03/corporate-mission-statements-dont-really-matter-unless-you-want-to-be-a-great-leader/Last week, you learned that the operations department is responsible for generating the day-to-day customer experience. This week will demonstrate that it is the mission of an organization that defines its purpose for existing and guides it into the future.
A mission statement generally answers the “what” question, as in “what are we here to do?” The values of a company should support its mission. Values answer the questions how and why and clarify the manner in which the organization intends to pursue its mission. The mission and values of an organization have a powerful impact on its reputation in the marketplace and in the world, whether the company strives to live up to them or because it fails to do so.
Because of the likelihood of overlapping concerns, business ethics are also a key topic this week.
TO DO LIST
What You Need To Know: Learn about the importance and structure of missions and mission statements, explore resources focused on business ethics, and review an RPZ scenario in preparation for this week’s discussion.
Interactive Learning Module: Complete an interactive activity on creating citations and references in APA style.
Prepare: Explore the Writing Center’s resources and learn how to access and use Smarthinking to improve your writing.
Assignment: Write a 3–5 page white paper on the importance of mission and vision statements and a code of ethics to a business.
Discussion: Participate in the weekly discussion activity in Yellowdig.
Practice: Practice using SafeAssign to check your work for unintentional plagiarism and improper source referencing.
Discussion OverviewIn this week’s discussion, you will choose among three options: apply this week’s concepts to a scenario video, share resources you found in the Capella Writing Center that you believe will be valuable, or share which readings this week are most relevant to you.
Assignment OverviewFor this assignment, you will write a 3–5 page white paper (a document providing information on a topic) to convince partners in a new business that they need to develop a code of ethics and a mission and vision statement for the company. As part of your argument, you must also discuss the relationship between the code of ethics and the mission and vision statement in terms of strategic management and explain leadership’s role in promoting and supporting the mission, vision, and ethical principles of the organization.
Assignment Instructions
MISSION, VISION, AND ETHICS IN ORGANIZATIONS
Scenario
Suppose you have been hired by a small group of partners who are in the process of starting a new business. The business will design, produce, and sell an innovative product to the biomedical industry. The partners have a great deal of experience designing products but very little knowledge about starting a business. Due to the sensitive nature of the new business, you feel that the partners need to develop a code of ethics and a mission and vision statement for the company. They do not agree. You need to write a white paper (a document providing information on a topic) to convince them that this is an important step in establishing a new business.
Instructions
Based on the scenario above, develop a white paper on the importance of mission and vision statements and a code of ethics. Use the Week 4 Assignment Template [DOCX] to develop your white paper with the following sections.
Purpose of Mission and Vision Statements.
Explain the purpose of mission and vision statements using real-world examples and supporting evidence.
Key Elements of Mission and Vision Statements.
Identify key elements within mission and vision statements and explain why the elements are important for a company.
Purpose of a Code of Ethics.
Explain the purpose of a code of ethics and why the code should be directed toward all stakeholders, including leadership, employees, and customers.
Key Elements of a Code of Ethics.
Identify key elements within a code of ethics and explain why the elements are important for a company.
Relationship Between a Company’s Mission and Vision Statements and Its Code of Ethics.
Explain the relationship between a company’s mission and vision statements and its code of ethics in terms of strategic management.
Role of Leadership in Promoting and Supporting the Mission, Vision, and Code of Ethics.
Explain the role of an organization’s leadership in promoting and supporting the mission, vision, and ethical principles of the organization, and discuss the consequences of a leader who fails to promote and support the mission, vision, and ethical principles of the company.
Your white paper should be 3–5 pages in length, well organized, and written in clear, succinct language. Follow current APA rules for attributing sources that support your analysis and conclusions.
Academic Integrity and APA Formatting
As a reminder related to using APA rules to ensure academic honesty:
When using a direct quote (using exact or nearly exact wording), you must enclose the quoted wording in quotation marks, immediately followed by an in-text citation. The source must then be listed on your references page.
When paraphrasing (using your own words to describe a non-original idea), the paraphrased idea must be immediately followed by an in-text citation, and the source must be listed on your references page.
Refer to the scoring guide to ensure that your work meets the grading criteria for this assignment.
Example assignment: You may use the Week 4 Assignment Example [PDF] to give you an idea of what a Proficient or higher rating on the scoring guide would look like.
Additional Requirements
Your assignment should also meet the following requirements:
Written communication: Communication should be clear and well organized, and support a central idea, with no technical writing errors, as expected of a business professional.
References: References and citations are formatted in consistent style, with a preference for using current APA style and formatting.
Number of resources: Use a minimum of three scholarly resources related to the content of the assignment.
Length of paper: 3–5 typed, double-spaced pages, in addition to the title and references pages.
Font and font size: Times New Roman, 12 point.
Once you have completed your assignment, submit your paper to SafeAssign as a draft. Review the report and correct any citations you missed or cited incorrectly before submitting your assignment for grading.
Your paper is due by midnight CST Sunday.
