Company Goals, Mission Statement, and The Management Function

This week, we will begin by taking a break from writing the business plan on Monday in order to focus on an important event taking place at our school, the Viking Voyage.  Though we will not be working directly on the business plan Monday, much of our class addresses ways in which we, as individuals, can continuously improve.  It’s no coincidence that this too will help us when we return to working toward completing our business plan.  Below is a copy of my plan for Monday’s class:

B/R: 4 minutes: Name/Date on top of paper, list 3 things in life that you are most connected to (ex: baseball, JROTC, socializing with friends, etc.). C/T: We can compare and contrast the idea of continuous improvement with success in various aspects of business.  I will ask students where they spend most of their time, and explain how much time I used to spend at my high school vs. home.  I will demonstrate how a focus/passion for non-school activities helped me in school.  Students and I will discuss difference between push and pull, motivation, and how success comes from the pull of motivation.  Students will write 5-10 ways in which they can apply their motivational pull toward outside activities in school.  For closure, students will provide suggestions for connecting with incoming 9th graders at Viking Voyage

When we return to our regularly scheduled project, we will begin work on the management function of our business plan.  Here’s how the rest of the week lines up:

Tuesday: Mission Statement and Company Goals

Now that we have completed our marketing plan, we can devise a list of goals for the organization, along with a company mission statement.  For those of you who prefer to write in bullet point fashion, feel free to create a list of your company goals/objectives.  If you are more comfortable writing goals and objectives in paragraph form, go for it!  Have at least 5 measurable, easily identifiable goals for your first year in business.

For your mission statement, it wouldn’t hurt to see a few well-written models.  Use the business plans in my classroom and check out this link for some solid examples of well-written mission statements.  A few of my favorite from the link are from Advance Auto Parts, Applied Materials, and of course, Starbucks.

Below is an explanation of each component, taken directly from the scoring rubric:

• Company description: origination date, industry, legal description, location, brief history (if an existing company).

·      Mission statement: A brief statement that represents what company stands for; narrow enough to give direction but not so vague that it could apply to any other organization.

Wednesday: Planning and Organizing

Management can be broken into 4 main components: Planning, Organizing, Leading, and Controlling.  Today we will focus on the first 2 components. 

For the Planning Component, you will need to have your company goals in mind.  Address how you plan to achieve each goal in a few (3 to 5) sentences.  From the rubric:

·       Planning: What are the goals of the business? Identify strategies to achieve each goal.

For Organizing, you will need to break down the number of employees, identify a chain of command, and describe the job of each position in the organization.  From the rubric:

·       Organizing: How is the firm organized to be able to meet objectives? Organization chart to specify what jobs need to be done and by whom.

Thursday: Leading and Controlling

Leadership is an important aspect of running a successful business.  Have you ever noticed that most pets take on the personality of their owners?  Have you ever heard the saying, “the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree,” and realized it to be true?  The same applies in business.  Read this article about corporate culture, and explain how you will lead your employees.  If you are a 1-person operation, how will you direct yourself in terms of staying on task and holding yourself accountable to the highest standards necessary to succeed? From the rubric:

·       Directing: How are directions, assignments, instructions and information provided to employees?

With respect to controlling, think back to your lesson about performance evaluations.  How will you measure employee productivity?  Will you use measurable performance indicators?  Will you use 360-degree feedback?  Will you be the only judge of their performance? How will you make your employees happy to come to work and know when they’re doing well, or how to improve upon their shortcomings?  From the rubric:

·      Controlling: How does the firm monitor progress toward achieving goals?

Friday: Catch-up and Blog

I understand we have done a lot this week, so I’m going to allow Friday to be a catch-up day.  Once you’ve completed the tasks for the week, write a blog about your work. 

·      How well have you stayed on task? 

·      After thinking about the management function, especially the leadership component, how well do you think you will lead your organization to success? 

·      What topics, if any, that we talked about in class on Monday helped you with this portion of the plan? 

·      What part of the plan did you absolutely nail?  Feel free to copy/paste that into your post.

Again, feel free to separate your blog entry into sections by addressing each question.  This will make the entry easy to read and will ensure you touch upon everything properly. 

I hope you had a great week!