Why mission statements are important? Before going into that, let me first briefly tell you what a mission statement is. Contact Us for Promotions & Partnerships Firms in corporate business arena perform different business activities to earn profit as well as to retain their market share and stand. How does the general public know what they are up to? Is it really necessary for the firms to expose the nature of their activities to outsiders! Well, by explicitly defining the mission of your company, you stand a chance to gain identity, character and image and there is nothing to lose. A mission statement defines the basic reason for the existence of the organization and it clearly reflects your corporate philosophy. The management’s actions also might reflect their mission, in which case the mission statement is not explicitly defined and sometimes it could be deduced from the press statements released by the CEO. Whether defined or not defined, each and every organization has a definite mission that is clearly communicated to all the employees for action. When defined, it also serves as a means to highlight the firm’s social responsibility. Following are the Distinct Characteristics that a Mission Statement Should Possess It should be precise: The mission should neither be narrow as to restrict the activities of an organization nor too broad to make the situation pointless. It should be crystal clear: It should be clear enough to lead to action and not high-sounding and adhere to cheap publicity. It should be feasible: The actions mentioned must be well within the reach of the company and should not be impossible. It should be realistic and achievable. As, credibility is involved, firms must exercise caution when they release their mission statements. Feasibility mainly depends on the resources available that facilitate the firm to work towards the mission. It should be motivating: Motivating both for the employees and the society. Employees must identify themselves with the organization and feel proud that it is worth working for the firm and customers should take pride in associating themselves with that firm. It should be distinctive: It should project your distinctive competence to sustain competitive advantage. Say, if you own a garment shop, you should talk about the range of clothes that you can offer for different sections of the society and you can name yours a “Family Shoppe”, so that people will understand the nature of your business. It should indicate major components of strategy: If the aim of your company is stability, growth, diversification or concentration, all those can be included in your mission statement. It should also indicate how objectives are to be accomplished: The time period, production target, product specialization, product or process differentiation, everything can find their place in mission statements for the benefit of the society and self. Strategic management involves intelligent and timely decision making and mission statements are nothing but components of strategic planning that help the managers to lead the firm with some distinct “ideology” in the form of mission statements. Some Interesting Mission Statements Google’s mission is to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.  Nike-“Crush Reebok.” Wal-Mart-“To give ordinary folk the chance to buy the same thing as rich people.” Walt Disney-“To make people...

People Management and Trade Unions Need for Trade Unions Why do employees join trade unions is an important question. Most of the workers are members of any one of the trade unions. One of the major objectives of trade unionism is to promote industrial democracy. This objective is achieved when trade union is an organization of the workers, for the workers and by the workers”. In practice this rarely happens and instead unions become an oligarchy. Union leaders by and large, show authoritative  behavior with less participation, openness and transparency. Decision-making is centralized, elections are often postponed and positions are filled repeatedly by nominations. Rank and file is pampered with promises and seldom gets near to decision-making process. Positions get worse when unions are guided by outside leaders and regulated by the policies of political parties.   Ideology of Trade Unions Absence of democratic leadership reduces the effectiveness of trade unions and prevents the development of trade union leadership from among the workers within the industries. In due course, trade unions become obsessed with political ideology or personal interest ousting the welfare of the workers. Before we move on to the functions of trade unions, let us understand the reasons for the existence of such organizations. To get a common platform to air ones views, aims, ideas and feelings and obtain recognition and status among fellow workers. Make use of the principle of unity for the purpose of securing good working conditions, higher economic compensations, better career prospects and welfare needs. Security of employment and protection against calamity of accident, death and social security after retirement. Restrict management action which is against the interest of the workers. Functions of a Trade Union The internal functions of a labor union includes better wage claim, to ensure better working conditions, reasonable work etc.,The external functions include conducting night school, games, sports and other recreational activities. These two functions may be grouped as economic and social functions. Many unions try to capture political power through election, so that they can influence upon the programmes and policies of government in favor of labor. This function is known as political function. Under the legal functions, the interpretation of law takes the major share. A jist of the main purpose of trade organizations: To improve the standard of living and working condition of the workers. To protect the security of workers’ employment. To ensure better health, reasonable working hours and welfare measures. To improve the political status. To raise the vocational status. To bring better participation in the management. To inculcate the feeling of self respect and confidence among worker force. To bring industrial peace and harmony. As long as unionism is considered as an anathema by the management, there will be lack of harmony and mutual trust between the management and labor force. Management must not consider labor unions as a legal obligation as it does not develop faith and goodwill. Instead the union has to be viewed as a partner in trade to live with and work with. Union must also recognize that work is worship and the survival and success of organization depends on the very survival and success of the workforce. Once the team spirit is built up no unreasonable demands will be raised and union leaders must view strikes and lock outs as last resorts to put pressure on management. The Trade Unions Act, 1926– An act to provide for the registration of Trade Unions and in certain respects to define the law relating to registered Trade...