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Mission Possible: Do School Mission Statements Work?

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  • James Davis
  • John Ruhe
  • Monle Lee
  • Ujvala Rajadhyaksha

Abstract

Does ethical content in organizational mission statements make a difference? Research regarding the effectiveness and results of mission statements is mixed. Krohe ( 1995 , Across the board, 32, 17–21) concluded that much of the good results do not come from the mission statements themselves but from the strategic re-education that happens in producing one. We attempted to discover whether universities that explicitly state their ethical orientation and vision in their mission statements had students with higher perceived character trait importance and activities that reinforce character than universities that did not. While the faculty and administration may receive benefits from mission statement development through strategic re-education as Krohe suggested, do the statements influence the students at the university who may have had no role in its creation? Using a sample of senior business students at 16 universities we found that students at universities with ethical statements in their mission statements had significantly higher perceived character trait importance and character reinforcement than those at universities whose missions lacked ethical statements. This research suggests that schools that explicitly stated ethical content in theirâ\x90£mission statements do influence student ethical orientation. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media, Inc. 2007

Suggested Citation

  • James Davis & John Ruhe & Monle Lee & Ujvala Rajadhyaksha, 2007. "Mission Possible: Do School Mission Statements Work?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 70(1), pages 99-110, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:70:y:2007:i:1:p:99-110
    DOI: 10.1007/s10551-006-9076-7
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Ireland, R. Duane & Hirc, Michael A., 1992. "Mission statements: Importance, challenge, and recommendations for development," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 35(3), pages 34-42.
    2. Sidhu, Jatinder, 2003. "Mission Statements:: Is it Time to Shelve Them?," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 21(4), pages 439-446, August.
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    Cited by:

    1. John E. Cicala & Natasha Delcoure & Barbara R. Oates, 2017. "Does Benchmarking Hinder Mission Diversity Of Aacsb-Accredited Schools: Evidence From The U.S. And Europe," Business Education and Accreditation, The Institute for Business and Finance Research, vol. 9(2), pages 1-14.
    2. Martinus Parnawa Putranta, 2017. "The Relationships between Personal Values, Institutional Values and Affective Commitment (A Case of Graduate Students at A FaithBased Institution in Indonesia)," GATR Journals jmmr146, Global Academy of Training and Research (GATR) Enterprise.
    3. Odile Paulus, 2008. "La déclaration de mission, une revue de la littérature," Working Papers of LaRGE Research Center 2008-13, Laboratoire de Recherche en Gestion et Economie (LaRGE), Université de Strasbourg.
    4. James Suleiman, 2022. "A Lexical Analysis Of Mission Statements From Aacsb Accredited Business Schools," Business Education and Accreditation, The Institute for Business and Finance Research, vol. 14(1), pages 17-31.
    5. Will Drover & Jennifer Franczak & Richard Beltramini, 2012. "A 30-Year Historical Examination of Ethical Concerns Regarding Business Ethics: Who’s Concerned?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 111(4), pages 431-438, December.
    6. Valentina A. Bali & Devin Higgins, 2023. "More than Meets the Eye? Using Text Analytic Techniques to Unpack School Mission Statements," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(4), pages 21582440231, December.
    7. Todd W. Moss & Jeremy C. Short & G. Tyge Payne & G.T. Lumpkin, 2011. "Dual Identities in Social Ventures: An Exploratory Study," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 35(4), pages 805-830, July.
    8. Anant Deshpande & David Tsai, 2021. "Managing a Mission-driven Franchise Organization: An Empirical Investigation of Organizational Practice and Individual Outcomes," Global Business Review, International Management Institute, vol. 22(2), pages 311-347, April.
    9. Yingyan Wang, 2011. "Mission-Driven Organizations in Japan: Management Philosophy and Individual Outcomes," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 101(1), pages 111-126, June.
    10. Macedo, Isabel Maria & Pinho, José Carlos & Silva, Anabela Martins, 2016. "Revisiting the link between mission statements and organizational performance in the non-profit sector: The mediating effect of organizational commitment," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 34(1), pages 36-46.

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