From vision to reality: Delivering on corporate mission & purpose statements
Many companies invest significant effort in developing mission and purpose statements to guide decision making, inspire employees and promote the organization externally. But how do they ensure that these goals and words are translated into concrete actions across the company?
12/08/2025
4 min
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Two common approaches—communication and metrics—are necessary, but not sufficient, according to recent research by professors from IÉSEG and the Norwegian University of Life Sciences – NMBU. They argue that companies should consider crafting clear “mandates” for each of their business units or departments – clarifying their function, authority and domains of activity – to align different units with the overarching mission or purpose statement.
Previous research has highlighted the potential disconnects that organizations can face between the words of their mission/purpose statement and how these are understood and influence employees. This gap can lead to decreased employee motivation, misaligned operations, and make it more difficult to realise the organization’s overall ambition.
Communication and metrics – necessary, but not sufficient
Some experts have highlighted the importance of consistent communication and metrics in achieving real results from a purpose statement.
As for communication, there are many tools available to promote a better grasp of the organizational values, goals, and mission among employees. Examples include positing key principles or goals on the walls of buildings or distributing booklets to employees. However, such efforts do not necessarily ensure that employees will feel accountable for actions that could advance the purpose.
Companies may also use metrics (e.g., key performance indicators, or “KPIs”) and scorecards to track the implementation of the purpose. However, these metrics, by themselves, are insufficient for empowering employees to take the necessary steps to advance the purpose or for ensuring that the entire organization is properly aligned and moving in the same direction.
Rather, the authors Shawn POPE (IESEG) and Nicolay WORREN (NMBU) argue companies should try ensure that their purpose cascades down into different levels of the organization via the creation of mandates for individual business units, teams or departments. The starting point is the organization’s overarching purpose, explains Professor WORREN. “From there, leaders can define how each unit can contribute to fulfill the overall purpose and also how the mandates of different units complement each other”.
What is a unit mandate?
A unit mandate is a statement or document that clarifies the function of a business unit. In essence, it answers the question why does the team or unit exist? It also clarifies the unit’s function, domain of activities, and its authority or jurisdiction to make certain decisions or take on certain activities.
The authors outline five criteria that managers should bear in mind when preparing these mandates.
Five keys for writing effective unit mandates
- Vertical alignment: The mandate should be aligned with mission of the unit which is hierarchically above (and responsible for) the unit. For example, the mandate of an external communications team should be clearly aligned with the mandate of the Marketing & Communications Department.
- Clarity: The formulation of the mandate should be clear and precise about the purpose, domain of activity and specific responsibilities/authority of the unit. Clarity will support accountability as management periodically checks in with the unit to assess its progress.
- Focus: The scope of the mandate should not be too broad. This will prevent conflict with other units’ mandates over, for example, which salesperson has coverage over which clients.
- Coherence: The three core elements – function, domain and authority – should be coherent. For example, managers should ensure that a unit is given an amount of authority that is appropriate for actually performing its function.
- Alignment: Senior management needs then to ensure that mandates should be aligned with mandates form other units at the same level – to avoid overlap and conflict. This can prevent duplication of efforts, confusion from clients, and the potential for internecine conflicts.
By implementing effective mandates across the company, managers may strengthen units’ autonomy and accountability, facilitate collaboration and clarify roles within a company, and ultimately help companies to deliver on their purpose.
Find out more in their paper in the Academy of Management Perspectives (2025): Delivering on the purpose: the formulation of effective unit mandates
The rise of the corporate purpose statement in the USA
In this separate article in the LSE Business Review blog, researchers Shawn POPE and Irene BECCARINI look at the rising popularity of purpose statements in America. After updating a 2017 dataset on the mission statements of Fortune 100 companies, they “were struck by the number of companies that are abandoning a “mission” for a “purpose” They found that approximately half of Fortune 100 companies now have a purpose statement (compared to just 20% eight years ago). In the article, they look at the reasons behind this trend and some of the keys to having an effective purpose statement.
