Reinvigorating the mission statement through top management commitment

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to propose that top management commitment to its organization's mission statement moderates the mission's effect of firm performance. The proposed model combines numerous aspects of top management commitment to give depth to the moderating effect. Design/methodology/approach – The paper provides a conceptual overview of the mission statement literature toward a theoretical model. Findings – The impact of mission statements on firm performance long has been studied and debated, without consistent results. This paper proposes that this is due to the presence of moderating influences, specifically the commitment of top management, that, if not properly studied, will affect empirical results. Practical implications – Practicing managers can unlock the power of the mission statement by involving the entire organization in the mission statement process, clearly and consistently communicating the mission's tenets, setting measurable operational targets from the mission statement, and periodically revising the mission to ensure it is current. Originality/value – The concept of a moderator is original in the mission-performance debate. Concepts from several key articles have been combined in a unique manner to develop the model.