What should exist is a coherent and holistic vision of Corporate Social Responsibility and its integration in the activity, the business of the company. In fact, the socially responsible focus should be included in the company’s corporate statement, both in its vision and in its mission and values, which give and confer meaning and purpose as an organization.

On the one hand, there must be a specifi c and singular CSR statement of vision, mission and values in the company, which is the focus that corresponds to the company’s style. But on the other hand, as we said, there must exist an integration, as well as an alignment, of the CSR focus within the corporate mission, vision and values.

A vision (a clear perception of what the company wants to achieve in the medium and long run), without a mission (direction or objective) and values (tools to achieve it) is nothing other than a declaration of good intentions, but a mission without a vision and values is a lack of a sense of proportion, according to Antonio Argandona, professor of Economics and Director of the CSR and Corporate Governance chair at IESE Business School.

CSR must also make itself explicit in a series of promises and public commitments which must not be broken or forgotten, because it means a framework

of action for correct and effi cient decision making in relation to interest groups, in the management of a good relationship with them and of a joint process of value generation, as Michael Porter has recently stated in his article “Creating Shared Value”, published in the Harvard Business Review.

Drawing up the CSR missionThere are two aspects, two dimensions of the CSR mission:

1. Internal: needs that are satisfi ed from those which, in turn, satisfy others’ needs (external mission).

2. External: people’s needs which are solved: the principal contribution to society and ‘raison d’être’.

What attributes must a good mission statement have?

• Authentic.

• Simple.

• Easy.

• Brave.

• Stimulating.

• Feasible.

• Inspiring.

• Convincing.

What is the purpose of the self-declaration made by a company, the elements which make up and make sense of its identity in relation to Corporate Social Responsibility? CSR should be based and rooted in the organizational culture of the company, because there is no single way to understand or practice it.

Strategy DocumentsI07/2011

Mission, vision and values of the company: the centre of a good CSR praxis

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• Credible.

• Ambitious.

It is also necessary to personalize and apply the mission to each of the stakeholders. A good example of this is Southwest Airlines, a great case inspired by the spirit which encourages Corporate Social Responsibility, especially in the labor and environmental sphere.

This was the only company which grew after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, even though it was a low cost company centered on domestic passenger flights, as were the three flights hijacked that day. In 2006, the company obtained, from domestic operations only, the record number of passengers in the entire US, compared to any other competing airline and including international flights in this case.

‘CSR must also make itself explicit in a series of promises and public commitments which must not be broken or forgotten by the company.’

The company’s mission is “dedication to the highest quality of Customer Service delivered with a sense of warmth, friendliness, individual pride, and company spirit.” But the company adds in its Mission statement a specific reference to its talent management policy and its concern for its employees when it states that it offers “a stable work environment with equal opportunity for learning and personal growth.”

Southwest understands that creativity and innovation are two key factors for the growth and efficiency of the company and for this reason it is responsibly committed to a policy of human capital in which concern, respect and care are a

constant in the company, especially as they expect that these principles are the ones that guide the actions and behaviors of their employees with the airline’s clients.

This North American airline company understands that the best way to achieve a responsible behavior from its employees towards its clients and society in general is behaving in the same manner with them, anticipating itself and creating the necessary mood and environment to achieve this, aligning precisely the internal mission with the external one.

Another good example along these lines is that of Starbucks, whose mission is “to inspire and nurture the human spirit – one person, one cup and one neighborhood at a time.” Starbucks represents the commitment of a company, from its own corporate statement to its last operation, with the community in which it operates, the environment in which it develops and the talent on which it relies to achieve it (respect and diversity).

A shared missionThere are different ‘owners’ of the mission within a company, but a mission fails when it is badly drawn up, defined or applied, or it is not necessarily shared by the entire organization and, especially, by its management team. In many cases, the incoherency between the mission and business practice has to do with the way in which objectives are set, often without considering the ethical dimension or the style of internal leadership, led by the CEO.

The mission can be a tool for public relations or a framework for decision making, according to Professor Argandona, two visions which are certainly divergent, if not opposed: it inspires internal politics and procedures, it recognizes and confirms identity and values, and trains managers and employees in their relationship with other stakeholders, apart from stimulating the motivation to allow self-regulation and internal control systems.

Mission, vision and values of the company: the centre of a good CSR praxis

Source: Southwest Airlines, 2011.

Southwest: Commitment to customer care

Our mission

The mission of Southwest Airlines is dedication to the most high quality of service delivered to the customer with a feeling of warmth, individual pride and friendship through of entrepreneurship.

Source: Starbucks Coffee Company, 2011.

Starbucks: Mission and principles

Our mission

These are the principles that guide our daily work:

To inspire and nurture the human spirit person to person, cup to cup and community to community.

Our coffee

Partner Links Partners

Our customers

Our stores

Our community

Our shareholders

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Within the origin of the mission lie the ideals of the founder or founders of the organization, and later of the management team, but in its development it is fundamental to establish a process of open dialogue to enable its continuous improvement in its application. For this reason, only when the company as a whole realizes how much the mission can and does contribute, is when all can share it.

‘Organizational values must be coherent, not contradictory, with the personal values of each individual in the company.’

And to achieve this shared mission the role of communications is especially relevant, in order to give a clear idea to everyone, but also to explain to each one what the company expects from them, what they must do and, fi nally and no less important, to give them autonomy, responsibility, and empower them.

One of the more effi cient ways to make a mission operative, in line with what Professor Pablo Cardona at IESE has posed, is to ensure that it is consistent, that it is aligned to:

• The strategy.

• The operations.

• The policies.

• The procedures.

• The structures.

And the shared mission is expressed in different levels of the organization and must be refl ected in the scorecard, translated into concrete and measureable results, combining it with specifi c objectives.

The function of values in organizational changeValues are ideas (they do not need an origin) and beliefs (as a function of a cultural context) – they are not emotions or feelings, tastes or preferences – of the desirable behavior of people who guide the election or evaluation of alternatives which, in the end, rule behavior. Hence its relevance to the debate surrounding CSR and its implementation in organizations.

Personal values exist, but so do organizational, collective values which do not represent the mere sum of the personal ones, but those which belong to an entire company and which have value in themselves to be appreciated, considered important, good, positive and even attractive.

Organizational values must be coherent, not contradictory, with the personal values of each

individual in the company (hence the importance of the selection and direction of talent through values, as proposed Simon Dolan, professor at ESADE Business School). But a company can also change or suffocate personal values which can adjust, sometimes, to a greater extent than those of the organization itself, to CSR standards, which we see as more responsible.

Furthermore, values must be defi ned around the mission analyzing at the same time real values, experienced within the company, day to day, by way of a yardstick that never misleads nor fail in this task: decision making and prioritization of issues, the facts.

Finally, virtues allow one to live in accordance with values, but self-commitment, the true capacity to act, and its stimulation or advocacy become key in this process. Virtues push, they support the experience of values. That is why permanent examples of internal coherence with values are necessary, as well as a solid pride of ownership which reinforces and reaffi rms them.

Conclusions: a change of values for CSRValues in a company are changed by decision, education, but also by refl ection and meditation on behavior itself and its consequences, which on certain occasions leads to the conversion of these through the acquisition of new habits, always contrary to comfort or satisfaction itself.

In the end, a realistic exercise is necessary to defi ne the company’s mission correctly in agreement with the vision and the values, as well as coordinating it with the specifi c mission of CSR and its needs and requirements.

Mission, vision and values of the company: the centre of a good CSR praxis

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