Mission Statements and Competitive Advantage

This video and the following questions address issues of importance concerning mission and values in successful organizations. Read the text section on Vision, Mission and Values before answering the interactive questions.

The President of the Humane Society of Silicon Valley Christine Benninger discusses the importance of mission as she transforms the organization around their mission "To save and enhance lives." This video and the following questions address issues of importance concerning mission and values in successful organizations. You should be familiar with the text section on Vision, Mission and Values before starting this activity. This will help support your understanding of Learning Objective 2-1 on describing the roles of vision, mission, and values in the strategic management process.

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0:00- Tell the students, if you would -

0:01I know a little bit about this,

0:01but I'd love for you to share it.

0:03What was it like when you joined?

0:05What was the state of the organization,

0:07and how were they doing?

0:09- So when I joined, when I said

0:11I didn't really know much about

0:14the job, I really did not know

0:16much about the job, like the

0:19county had a contract with the

0:20Humane Society to house their

0:23stray animals, and that was a

0:25contract that provided 90 percent

0:28of our revenue stream,

0:29and the county had just

0:30cancelled that contract.

0:33We had about 300 donors.

0:37We had a board that didn't

0:39believe in fundraising, because

0:40we didn't really want to go out

0:43to the - to the world sort of

0:46with a tin cup and beg.

0:48We fought with everybody

0:51in our community.

0:52had no support from the vets.

0:53No support, you know,

0:54from city government.

0:56We had employees that were

1:01dealing drugs onsite.

1:02We had employees that were

1:04sending animals - you know,

1:07selling animals to bunchers.

1:08The bunchers are people who

1:09collect animals and take them

1:11out for use in labs,

1:15rather unscrupulous labs,

1:17so it was a bit of a cesspool

1:20when I first started. Yeah.

1:21It was quite interesting.

1:22- And what was on the list of

1:24positives, though?

1:27- These guys. - Yeah. - You know,

1:28so Lily is - she wasn't there when

1:34I first got there, but - so what

1:36made it all worthwhile was the fact

1:38that we had this amazing mission,

1:41which was to save and enhance lives.

1:44And it's not just literally

1:46about the four-legged lives,

1:48it's about the two-legged lives

1:49and the magic that happens

1:52when those two entities come together.

1:54So that's the saving grace,is

1:56that the mission really carries

1:58you through the tough times.

2:00- Indeed, I'm intrigued by the

2:02whole 90 percent of your revenue

2:03coming from a contract that was

2:05about to be cancelled.

2:06Can you take the students back

2:08to the moment that you realized

2:10this was happening and kind of

2:12what your thoughts were at the time?

2:14- Well, I probably can't exactly tell

2:15you my thoughts because you don't

2:17want it on tape - a lot of

2:19four-letter words there, my God.

2:24But, you know, when you and I

2:25had talked, you know, I think

2:28oftentimes when your back is to the wall

2:29like that, that's probably

2:31when you start to become

2:32your most creative,

2:33because you have no choice.

2:34You've got to do something.

2:36And that's where we made a

2:40strategic decision that to keep us

2:42afloat in the short term,

2:44we've got to jump right back

2:45into doing animal control

2:48and actually expand our reach

2:50in animal control, where before

2:52we'd only been doing housing.

2:53We really need to, you know,

2:56be going out and bidding on, you know,

2:59contracts for also having

3:01the officers on the streets as

3:04well as just doing the housing.

3:05So it took us about six months,

3:08but we went out and were able to garner

3:11contracts from nine different cities

3:13for animal control and housing,

3:16and that kept us afloat until we

3:19could kind of sort ourselves out.

3:20- Uh-huh. Uh-huh.

3:21What were some of the other strategic

3:22changes that you had to make?

3:24That's a big one.

3:25What were some of the others

3:26that you faced at the time?

3:28- Pretty much a complete turnover

3:31in management so - you know,

3:36my predecessor was one who had a lot

3:39of personal problems, so the

3:42organization had sort of been

3:43left to go its own way in a

3:46variety of different ways.

3:47And oftentimes organizations attract

3:49the wrong people in those cases.

3:51So we had to make a complete

3:55management change.

3:58Because there was so much

4:00distrust for our organization

4:03with the community, that also

4:04elicited concern from certain

4:09community members.

4:12So there was - you know,

4:13there was a lot of turmoil

4:15that first year in trying to get

4:17things settled out.

4:18People make all the difference

4:19in the world.

4:20You just - if you can get the right people

4:23within the organization, you know,

4:25sharing a common - a common goal

4:29and a common mission,

4:30it's amazing what you can do.

4:31And that made all the difference

1. Christine Benninger as President of the Humane Society is facing many challenges. To be successful she will need to use her influence and power in directing others. What term from the text is used to describe this skill?

creating an effective mission

realizing a strategy

dominant strategic plan

strategic leadership

upper-echelons theory

2. In the face of employees dealing drugs on site and illegally selling animals, and with limited community support, the organization was in real trouble. However, true to the examples in our text, when Ms. Benninger joined the team, what was one of the biggest positives she inherited?

a large endowment

the board of directors

support from local vets

a new building and grounds

an amazing mission

3. The flexibility the organization showed by entering animal control and policing rather than remaining only a shelter for stray animals is an indication of what?

leveraging a large strategic commitment

Level-5 leadership

having ethical standards and norms

having a product-oriented vision

having a customer-oriented vision

4. Besides the financial problems, the organizational challenges were enormous. The entire management team was replaced and community trust needed to be rebuilt in the first year. Ms. Benninger noted that "people make all the difference." What did she find instrumental in attracting the right people to the organization?

the adorable animals

good pay and benefits package

her personal charisma

a common goal and mission

support from board of directors