General Electric Company’s (GE) vision statement and mission statement are designed to bring the business to the frontline of industrial progress. A corporate vision statement reflects the future aims of the business. In GE’s case, the corporate vision indicates leadership as a digital industrial company. On the other hand, a company’s corporate mission statement ideally shows the kinds of strategies that the business employs and will employ. General Electric’s corporate mission states the company’s aims as a major influencer of industrial development. For example, GE’s aims consider the development of the energy and oil and gas industries, as well as the development of the aviation/aerospace industry. Thus, the company has large-scale influence on other companies in various industries. General Electric must ensure that its mission and vision are always relevant to current industry situations and market dynamics to maintain its position as one of the largest conglomerates in the world.
Managers use General Electric’s corporate mission statement to develop strategies for the various areas of operations throughout the organization. Such strategies provide a general approach for addressing business needs in the different subsidiaries of the business. For example, GE employs general corporate strategies and subsidiary-specific strategies for its operations in the aviation, oil and gas, and electric lighting industries. Also, these strategies influence General Electric’s operations management approaches. In relation, managers use GE’s corporate vision statement, which directs the organization toward desired future business targets.
General Electric’s Vision Statement
General Electric Company’s corporate vision is “to become the world’s premier digital industrial company, transforming industry with software-defined machines and solutions that are connected, responsive and predictive.” In addition to this corporate vision statement, GE specifies that these machines and solutions are for “executing critical outcomes for our customers.” The company caters to the needs of a diverse population of customers. For example, customers in the oil and gas, aerospace/aviation, healthcare, power, transportation, and electric lighting industries are considered. The following components are most notable in General Electric’s vision statement:
- To become the world’s premier digital industrial company
- Transforming industry with software-defined machines and solutions that are connected, responsive and predictive
- Executing critical outcomes for our customers
The first element of the corporate vision statement shows that General Electric aims to be not just any digital industrial company, but the premier one. To achieve and maintain this status, the company continues to evolve to stay ahead of competitors. For example, GE integrates advanced computing technologies in its healthcare and aerospace/aviation products. On the other hand, the second component of the vision statement defines what General Electric Company aims to do in terms of its products. For instance, these products are software-defined machines and solutions that transform industry. The third element of the corporate vision states what GE offers to its customers. Specifically, the company aims to help customers execute critical outcomes. These components of the corporate vision statement are also reflected in General Electric’s corporate mission statement, especially in terms of the company’s contribution to industrial progress.
General Electric’s Mission Statement
General Electric Company’s corporate mission is “to invent the next industrial era, to build, move, power and cure the world.” In this regard, the company accounts for the evolution of industries and markets. For example, large-scale changes in the electric lighting, power, and transportation industries are considered in the development of this current corporate mission statement, showing GE’s aims for long-term success, far into the future. Thus, General Electric’s mission statement has the following major components:
- To invent the next industrial era
- To build, move, power and cure the world
The first element of General Electric’s corporate mission statement describes what the company generally does as its main business activity, which is to invent the next industrial era. To do so, GE ensures that it keeps evolving to introduce new and advanced products that support industrial progress. This aim influences General Electric Company’s generic competitive strategy and intensive growth strategies. The second component of the corporate mission indicates what the company aims to achieve in inventing the next industrial era. For example, GE’s operations build, move, power and cure the world. This component of the corporate mission helps define the products element of General Electric’s marketing mix (4Ps), and shows that the company has operations in the transportation and aerospace, oil and gas, energy, electric lighting, and healthcare industries. Considering that inventing the next industrial era is evident of being a premier digital industrial company, General Electric’s corporate mission statement and corporate vision statement are strongly connected to each other.
Analysis & Recommendations – General Electric Company’s Corporate Mission & Corporate Vision
General Electric’s corporate vision statement has components that satisfy the standards for writing the ideal vision statement. For example, the ideal corporate vision has an abstract description of a future business condition that is specifically suited to the business under consideration. GE’s corporate 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 a digital industrial company. Thus, General Electric Company has a satisfactory vision statement.
General Electric’s corporate mission statement is concise and brief, but satisfies only some of the conventions in writing an ideal mission statement. An ideal mission statement should generally indicate what the company does, while providing general ideas about how the business it to reach its vision. In this case, GE’s corporate mission provides a general description of what the business does, such as inventing the next industrial era, and building, moving, powering, and curing the world. Even though it appropriately represents current business operations, General Electric’s mission statement lacks information about how the company will invent the next industrial era, or how it will achieve and maintain being the premier digital industrial company highlighted in the corporate vision statement. In this regard, it is recommended that General Electric Company add more information into its corporate mission statement to show how the company should reach its corporate vision, to more effectively guide business strategies.
References
- Ekpe, E. O., Eneh, S. I., & Inyang, B. J. (2015). Leveraging Organizational Performance through Effective Mission Statement. International Business Research, 8(9), 135.
- General Electric Company – Annual Report.
- General Electric Company – Form 10-K.
- General Electric Company – Our Strategy.
- King, D. L., Case, C. J., & Premo, K. M. (2014). Does Company Size Affect Mission Statement Content? Academy of Strategic Management Journal, 13(1), 21.
- Kirkpatrick, S. (2016). Build a Better Vision Statement: Extending Research with Practical Advice. Rowman & Littlefield.
- Pace, S. (2017). Shaping Corporate Brands: From Product Features to Corporate Mission. International Studies of Management & Organization, 47(2), 197-205.