All companies and institutions are in existence to provide a specific function to society. The very survival of any company is to appeal to those which indirectly control the company’s fate which is the consumer. Every business is created in order to fulfill a specific need or function to assist select individuals and in order to be effective, a manager’s role is to define the purpose and mission of that business.

The soil that businesses and corporations thrive in is the economy and economic performance. The economy relating to soil and business relating to plants; these two separate identities require each other in order to prosper; the soil supplying nutrients to the plant and vice-versa. In order for a manager to make the right decision regarding any action, that manager needs to place the economic needs first. The economic forces then decide if that action put forth by the business was the right choice by market adjustments reflected in stock market prices and consumer volatility. When actions put forth by executives positively affect the economy, the business enterprise becomes profitable and the executive’s responsibility for performance is fulfilled until the market compensates and re-balances.

Keeping this in mind, the mission that a manager needs to create for one’s organization needs to be why the organization does what it does, not by the means which it does it. The mission statement should effectively trickle down from the executive level down to the floor level by inspriation and guidance on what to do and what not to do. An organization that provides ambulance services which has a mission statement of “We provide medical aid to people” does not provide guidance; however, changing that to “Taking care of those in medical need” can be. Every action or inaction can be related to that statement of caring for people. The Girl Scouts of the United States with Frances Hesselbein has the mission of “Being here to help girls reach their highest potential.” This was the “North” on a compass and all those believing in that mission were tuned to head in that direction and become successful and not stray off course.

An organization’s mission is the glue that expands as the organization grows beyond it’s borders and enters new territory and is the foundation of the next segment on a manager’s role in making work productive and having the “achieving worker”.