General Electric Company’s (GE) mission statement and vision statement require industry leadership and focus on aerospace business. Doing business as GE Aerospace, the company has a mission statement that shows the purpose of the strategies that the business employs. General Electric’s mission states business aims as a major influencer in the aerospace industry. On the other hand, the vision statement reflects the future aims of the business. GE’s vision indicates leadership as a developer and manufacturer of aerospace products. Consequently, GE’s strategic goals include leadership in the industry. General Electric ensures that its mission statement and vision statement are always relevant to current industry situations and market dynamics to maintain its competitive position.
General Electric’s corporate mission statement is used in developing strategies for all operations throughout the organization. Through such strategies, this mission statement provides a general approach for addressing GE’s business needs in the aviation/aerospace market. These strategies influence General Electric’s operations management approaches. On the other hand, GE’s corporate vision statement directs the organization toward desired future business targets in the aerospace industry.
General Electric’s Mission Statement
General Electric’s mission statement is “We rise to the challenge of building a world that works.” According to GE, this corporate mission is the same as its business purpose. The following are the main components of General Electric’s mission statement:
- Rising to the challenge
- Building a world that works
The first component of this mission statement shows General Electric’s philosophy of developing its business and capabilities to address challenges. Thus, GE’s purpose extends beyond its current operations, such as in the aerospace industry. Developing capabilities to rise to the challenge, as this corporate mission states, requires innovation and continuous improvement integrated into the implementation of General Electric’s generic competitive strategy and intensive growth strategies. In the second component, this mission statement shows that GE’s goals include providing solutions that contribute to global development and improvement. In terms of these solutions, the mission gives an idea about the types and characteristics of products included in General Electric’s marketing mix (4Ps). The components of this mission statement illustrate the nature of GE’s business purpose and its strategic goals.
General Electric’s Vision Statement
General Electric’s vision is “to be the company that defines flight for today, tomorrow and the future.” This vision statement represents the current focus of General Electric Company (now doing business as GE Aerospace) on its operations in the aerospace industry. The following are the main components of GE’s vision statement:
- The company that defines (Primary or leading role in the industry)
- Flight
- Today, tomorrow, and the future
The first component of this vision statement shows that General Electric aims to be the global leader as the premier company that defines the industry. To achieve this leadership, the company needs to stay ahead of competitors, like Rolls-Royce and Pratt & Whitney. This component of the corporate vision statement highlights the importance of strategies for the competitive challenges shown in the Five Forces analysis of General Electric Company. On the other hand, the second component of this corporate vision focuses on products in the aerospace industry. This factor indicates GE’s role as an influential firm in the aerospace industry. The third component states the permanence of GE as an industry leader. To satisfy the goals and objectives of this vision statement, strategies need to utilize the competitive advantages shown in the SWOT analysis of General Electric Company to exploit business opportunities and support the company’s leadership in the global aerospace industry.
Assessment & Recommendations – GE’s Mission & Vision
General Electric’s mission statement is concise and brief but satisfies only some of the conventions in writing an ideal mission statement. An ideal mission statement should indicate what the company does, while providing general ideas about the business related to its vision. GE’s mission provides a general idea about the nature of the business and its purpose. Even though it represents current business operations, General Electric’s mission statement lacks information about organizational activities in relation to the aerospace industry leadership goal of the corporate vision statement. In this regard, it is recommended that General Electric Company add more information to its corporate mission statement to show activities in the aerospace industry, in relation to its vision statement, to guide business strategies.
General Electric’s vision statement has components that satisfy the standards for writing the ideal vision statement. The ideal vision provides an abstract description of a future business condition that suits the company. GE’s vision statement satisfies these ideal conventions because it is specific enough to describe the company’s products, and abstract enough to encompass the entire organization and its operations as an aerospace company. Thus, General Electric Company has a satisfactory vision statement.
References
- Ezekari, M., Lhassan, I. A., Bazarouj, R., & Ouhnine, I. (2024). The impact of collaboration on supply chain performance in the aerospace industry: Exploring the mediating role of knowledge sharing. Multidisciplinary Science Journal, 6(12), 2024276-2024276.
- GE Aerospace History.
- General Electric Company Form 10-K.
- Lasley, J. (2024). Elevating aerospace safety: Uniting stakeholders for a safer, more efficient aviation industry. Quality, 63(7), 29-29.
- Märk, S., & Situm, M. (2024). Long-term guidance in flux: The evolving significance of mission and vision in strategic management. Family Business Transformation: Strategic Orientation and Business Modelling, 1, 1.