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Finding a Company's Mission and/or Value Statement

Many companies make their mission or vision statements available on the company website. However, finding this information can be tricky.

Trick #1

Make sure you have the right company site.
One business may have separate websites for different products. Large conglomerates and international companies can have many sites for each of their holding interests or branches in different regions. Companies with similar names or products may have similar websites.

Answer #1

Use Hoover’s database to find the profile of the company you are interested in. The profile will link to the official company website. Searching in Hoover’s will also show related companies and international branches, so you can compare and selected the correct organization. Example: Try a search on “Pepsi” in Hoover’s. Note that there are over 3 dozen Pepsi companies!

Hint: The search result with the NYSE symbol (in this example PepsiCO Inc, NYSE: PEP) is the headquarters or main holding company and a good place to start your search.

Trick #2

Where’s the Mission?

There are no rules on how a company will organize its website, or where the mission statement will be posted.

Answer #2a:

Look for a link to “Corporate Information”, “Investor Relations”, “Company Information” or similar terms. Information about the corporation is usually in a separate section from the main company site. Links to these may not be obvious – check the very tops and bottoms of the page, look for smaller print, and explore menus to find these links.

Answer#2b:

Explore the site. Some companies will have both “Company Info” and “Investor Info” sections to their website. The mission/vision may be in either, both or neither or these places. You may have to click in a few places to find it. Check for drop down menus or links to further pages.

Answer# 2c:

Try Searching the site. If you see a search box at the top or bottom of the screen, try searching for either “mission” or “vision”. Even better, see if you can click to the Investor’s section of Corporate information of the site, and search from that section.

Trick #3

It may not be there.
Sorry, but there’s no guarantee that every company will put its mission or vision on the web.

Answer #3

Try asking for it. Most companies will post an email address or phone number you can call to get more information. A polite request for a copy of the mission or vision statement may be the easiest way to acquire this information.

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Monday March 29, 2010