Mission statements in medium-sized listed firms: a content analysis Online publication date: Tue, 01-Sep-2020
by Lara Penco; Giorgia Profumo; Roberta Scarsi
International Journal of Globalisation and Small Business (IJGSB), Vol. 11, No. 2, 2020
Abstract: Despite the considerable attention awarded to mission statements, most of the studies are focused on large firms, while the role of mission statements in the strategic management of small and medium-sized companies has not been sufficiently highlighted. The present paper tries to bridge this literature gap aiming at: 1) analysing specific content characteristics of medium-sized listed firms' mission statements; 2) identifying differences among medium-sized firms belonging to different cultural clusters; 3) investigating the stakeholder orientation and the prioritisation versus particular stakeholders' groups. Applying a content analysis method to a sample of 150 continental European medium-sized listed firms, we document that a 'typical' mission statement does not exist. Moreover, differences in the content and role of the mission statements of firms belonging to diverse cultural clusters are present and firms tend to mention few stakeholders groups in their mission statements, with subgroups prioritising different stakeholders.
Existing subscribers:
Go to Inderscience Online Journals to access the Full Text of this article.
If you are not a subscriber and you just want to read the full contents of this article, buy online access here.Complimentary Subscribers, Editors or Members of the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Globalisation and Small Business (IJGSB):
Login with your Inderscience username and password:
Want to subscribe?
A subscription gives you complete access to all articles in the current issue, as well as to all articles in the previous three years (where applicable). See our Orders page to subscribe.
If you still need assistance, please email subs@inderscience.com
Our Blog 
Follow us on Twitter 
Visit us on Facebook