Companies are no longer the only organizations that develop mission statements; administrations, hospitals, universities, schools and associations are following. After a phase of euphoria in which true miracles were expected, mission statements have come under increasing critique for their moralizing overtones. By applying new approaches from organizational research, this book shows how the development and dissemination of mission statements can be arranged in such a way that two seemingly contradicting goals are achieved. On the one hand the management of the organization’s “display side” to the outside world can be supported, on the other hand new room can be created for the analysis of the unavoidable structural conflicts that emerge in organizations.
