Vision & Mission Paper

Southwest Airlines and JetBlue Air:

Mission, Vision, Social Responsibility and Strategic Planning

Jerrisha A. Sterling

Management and Organizational Theory

October 19, 2014

Professor Edward Green

University of Maryland University College

Southwest Airlines and JetBlue Air:

Mission, Vision, Social Responsibility and Strategic Planning

A sound detailed mission and a clear vision is what will propel a company to success. There are many successful companies in the world today and some not so successful, one contributing factor for the failing companies could be a lack of direction. If the employees and investors, let alone the chief executive officer (CEO) do not know the path that they want the company to take, failure is imminent. “Write the vision and make it plain upon tablets, that he may run who reads it” (citation from Bible Gateway, NKJV, 2014) though it is a bible verse, it applies to every facet of life, even business.

Though the vision is a brief statement, it is imperative that the CEO casts a vision to their employees and investors that is very clear and exact in manner so that all will know and understand the direction of the company. It is the vision statement of a company that is the driving force, “where do we want to be”, “what is our ultimate destination”, those are the questions that need to be answered in the vision.

After the vision has been cast, then then the mission needs to be addressed. The mission statement of a company should state its reason for existence and the benefits for the stakeholders; it may also include the belief system of the company (Chap 4, pg. 6). This statement should be like an action plan, it should describe what the company is going to do and why they are doing it. The mission statement should be concise, yet broad in nature so as to not limit the company on the goals that it wants to accomplish. The vision and mission of a company should marry up so that they are working hand in hand, they...