A mission statement should focus on goals, clarify issues and outline visions and objectives. It should communicate the essence of the company to the employees, shareholders and to the public (Hassan, M 1988). Similar to this, Doyle (1998) points out, that a mission statement describes the purpose of the business and its essential characters.
A company without a mission statement is like the Cheshire Cat in Alice in Wonderland described; “If you don’t know where you’re going, it doesn’t matter which way you go.”
Most large corporations produce a “mission statement” to give a clear indication of the fundamental aims of the organisation. Whitbread and Headwater are two of those who established a mission statement.
Since 1985, Headwater is in the business of soft adventure travelling which includes guided and independent walking, cycling, canoeing and cross-country skiing in a number of destinations throughout Europe. Its philosophy is to provide customers with a real insight into local life and culture apart from mainstream tourism. Headwater holidays employs 23 employees headquartered in Cheshire and more than 30 part time employees oversees.
Whitbread are a leading force in the UK's leisure industry employing more than 80,000 people and operating more than 6,000 pubs, restaurants, hotels, shops and leisure clubs. Whitbread employees serve up to 10 million customers every week, in major chains like Pizza Hut, Hogshead, Beefeater, Marriott Hotels or David Lloyd Leisure. Whitbread Plc is headquartered in London and achieved turnover (2000) of GBP 2,951.4 million (Hoover, 2001).
The author will examine both mission statements to take a closer look at the aims and how they seek to achieve them. Both companies have their core business in le ...