IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/rug/rugwps/07-489.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Is the mission statement dead or alive? The level and determinants of mission statement use amongst the nurses of three Flemish hospitals: a questionnaire survey

Author

Listed:
  • S. DESMIDT
  • A. PRINZIE
  • A. HEENE

Abstract

Background: Although mission statements are one of the most popular management instruments, little is known about the nature and direction of the presumed relationship between mission statements and organizational performance. In particular, empirical insights into the degree of mission statement use by individual organizational members are insufficient. Objectives We address the observed knowledge gap by (1) measuring the level of mission statement use (e.g., explaining the mission statement, making linkages to extant programs or practices, communicating enthusiasm, and adapting the mission statement to the personal work situation) by individual organizational members, and (2) identifying the antecedents that influence mission statement use. Design Questionnaires were used to collect data from a sample of 510 nurses from three Flemish hospitals. Mission statement use was measured by means of Fairhurst’s Management of Meaning Scale. Antecedents of mission statement use were derived from the Theory of Planned Behavior and the mission statement literature. Results The findings indicate that mission statement use is low on average. Attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control, and formal involvement in mission statement communication proved to be significant determinants of mission statement use and accounted for 43% of the variance. The results of the conducted regression analyses indicate that nurses (1) who have a positive attitude towards the mission statement, (2) who perceive pressure from superiors and colleagues to use the mission statement, (3) who feel they are in control of performing such behavior, and (4) who are formally involved in the mission statement communication processes are more likely to use the mission statement. Furthermore, the results indicated that demographic characteristics are not associated with mission statement use. Conclusions To effectively increase mission statement use, investments should focus on redesigning a work environment that stresses the importance of the organizational mission statement and provides detailed information on the ways that individual organizational members can contribute in realizing the mission statement.

Suggested Citation

  • S. Desmidt & A. Prinzie & A. Heene, 2007. "Is the mission statement dead or alive? The level and determinants of mission statement use amongst the nurses of three Flemish hospitals: a questionnaire survey," Working Papers of Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Ghent University, Belgium 07/489, Ghent University, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration.
    • Handle: RePEc:rug:rugwps:07/489
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://wps-feb.ugent.be/Papers/wp_07_489.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Bart, Christopher K., 1997. "Sex, lies, and mission statements," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 40(6), pages 9-18.
    2. A. Willem & M. Buelens & I. De Jonghe, 2005. "Impact of organizational structure on nurses’ job satisfaction: A questionnaire survey," Working Papers of Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Ghent University, Belgium 05/347, Ghent University, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration.
    3. Ajzen, Icek, 1991. "The theory of planned behavior," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 50(2), pages 179-211, December.
    4. Bartkus, Barbara & Glassman, Myron & Bruce McAfee, R., 2000. "Mission statements: Are they smoke and mirrors?," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 43(6), pages 23-28.
    5. John M. Stevens & H. Kevin Steensma & David A. Harrison & Philip L. Cochran, 2005. "Symbolic or substantive document? The influence of ethics codes on financial executives' decisions," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(2), pages 181-195, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jasmina Berbegal-Mirabent & Marta Mas-Machuca & Patricia Guix, 2021. "Impact of mission statement components on social enterprises’ performance," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 15(3), pages 705-724, April.
    2. Arsalan Mujahid Ghouri & Naveed R. Khan & Omar B. Abdul Kareem & Muhammad Shahbaz, 2018. "Religiosity Effects on Employees in SMEs: An Islamic Country Perspective," Journal of Enterprising Culture (JEC), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 26(01), pages 85-111, March.
    3. Maria Andersson & Ola Eriksson & Chris Von Borgstede, 2012. "The Effects of Environmental Management Systems on Source Separation in the Work and Home Settings," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 4(6), pages 1-17, June.
    4. Tran Huy Phuong & Thanh Trung Hieu, 2015. "Predictors of Entrepreneurial Intentions of Undergraduate Students in Vietnam: An Empirical Study," International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, Human Resource Management Academic Research Society, International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, vol. 5(8), pages 46-55, August.
    5. Clara Cardone-Riportella & María José Casasola-Martinez & Isabel Feito-Ruiz, 2014. "Do Entrepreneurs Come From Venus Or Mars? Impact Of Postgraduate Studies: Gender And Family Business Background," Working Papers 14.04, Universidad Pablo de Olavide, Department of Financial Economics and Accounting (former Department of Business Administration), revised Sep 2014.
    6. Peng Cheng & Zhe Ouyang & Yang Liu, 0. "The effect of information overload on the intention of consumers to adopt electric vehicles," Transportation, Springer, vol. 0, pages 1-20.
    7. Ruijie Zhu & Guojing Zhao & Zehai Long & Yangjie Huang & Zhaoxin Huang, 2022. "Entrepreneurship or Employment? A Survey of College Students’ Sustainable Entrepreneurial Intentions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-15, May.
    8. Alsalem, Amani & Fry, Marie-Louise & Thaichon, Park, 2020. "To donate or to waste it: Understanding posthumous organ donation attitude," Australasian marketing journal, Elsevier, vol. 28(3), pages 87-97.
    9. Pan, Jing Yu & Liu, Dahai, 2022. "Mask-wearing intentions on airplanes during COVID-19 – Application of theory of planned behavior model," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 32-44.
    10. Benoît Lécureux & Adrien Bonnet & Ouassim Manout & Jaâfar Berrada & Louafi Bouzouina, 2022. "Acceptance of Shared Autonomous Vehicles: A Literature Review of stated choice experiments," Working Papers hal-03814947, HAL.
    11. Jacqueline Ruth & Steffen Willwacher & Oliver Korn, 2022. "Acceptance of Digital Sports: A Study Showing the Rising Acceptance of Digital Health Activities Due to the SARS-CoV-19 Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(1), pages 1-16, January.
    12. Jariyasunant, Jerald & Carrel, Andre & Ekambaram, Venkatesan & Gaker, David & Sengupta, Raja & Walker, Joan L., 2012. "The Quantified Traveler: Changing transport behavior with personalized travel data feedback," University of California Transportation Center, Working Papers qt3047k0dw, University of California Transportation Center.
    13. Brown, Philip & Roper, Simon, 2017. "Innovation and networks in New Zealand farming," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 61(3), July.
    14. Teodora Roman, 2009. "Study regarding entrepreneurial intentions among students," THE YEARBOOK OF THE "GH. ZANE" INSTITUTE OF ECONOMIC RESEARCHES, Gheorghe Zane Institute for Economic and Social Research ( from THE ROMANIAN ACADEMY, JASSY BRANCH), vol. 18, pages 87-94.
    15. Messele Kumilachew Aga, 2023. "The mediating role of perceived behavioral control in the relationship between entrepreneurship education and entrepreneurial intentions of university students in Ethiopia," Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Springer, vol. 12(1), pages 1-18, December.
    16. Kristin Thomas & Evalill Nilsson & Karin Festin & Pontus Henriksson & Mats Lowén & Marie Löf & Margareta Kristenson, 2020. "Associations of Psychosocial Factors with Multiple Health Behaviors: A Population-Based Study of Middle-Aged Men and Women," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(4), pages 1-17, February.
    17. Andreas Falke & Nadine Schröder & Claudia Hofmann, 2022. "The influence of values in sustainable consumption among millennials," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 92(6), pages 899-928, August.
    18. Kamruzzaman, Md. & Baker, Douglas & Washington, Simon & Turrell, Gavin, 2013. "Residential dissonance and mode choice," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 12-28.
    19. Ficko, Andrej & Boncina, Andrej, 2013. "Probabilistic typology of management decision making in private forest properties," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(C), pages 34-43.
    20. Muhammad Shahid Qureshi & Saadat Saeed & Syed Waleed Mehmood Wasti, 2016. "The impact of various entrepreneurial interventions during the business plan competition on the entrepreneur identity aspirations of participants," Journal of Global Entrepreneurship Research, Springer;UNESCO Chair in Entrepreneurship, vol. 6(1), pages 1-18, December.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:rug:rugwps:07/489. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Nathalie Verhaeghe (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/ferugbe.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.