A Sense of Mission: Defining Direction for the Large Corporation

Campbell, a founding director of Britain's Asbridge Strategic Management Centre, and Boston University economist Nash ( Good Intentions Aside ) here extol the benefits of a well-postulated and well-promulgated corporate mission statement. According to the authors, who surveyed management practices at 1500 major firms, a code articulating a company's purpose, strategy, professional standards and social values makes employees more loyal and management more focused and consistent in its decision-making. Just such a statement, the authors recall, helped Johnson & Johnson recover consumer confidence after several people died in 1982 from taking poisoned doses of its Tylenol pain reliever. A ``sense of mission'' that gave official priority to passengers' convenience and comfort brought an earnings turnaround to British Airways; Borg-Warner's creed stressed the company's specific obligations to shareholders, employees, customers, suppliers and society in general. Other case histories focus on Disney, Honeywell, Ford and Price Waterhouse. (Feb.)