This document contains summaries of mission statements from several companies, including DHL, Caterpillar, Volvo, AT&T, and the International Red Cross. It also discusses a case study about aligning goals between forming and selecting departments in a company to improve quality and customer performance. Finally, it contrasts three example vision statements in terms of their usefulness to an organization.

1. IEM 5113
Strategic Quality Leadership
Team Project 1
14 September 2010
Team 4A
Daniel Aular-Duran
Brian Grissom
Christy Kenaga
MD Rahaman
Oklahoma State University

2. IEM 5113 – Strategic Quality Leadership
DHL’s Mission Statement
• “Making the most of scale and experience - and passion -
DHL’s mission is to be the first choice worldwide”. Mission
statement taken from www.dhl.com and from article on
www.scribd.com/doc/DHL-STRATEGIC-MANAGEMENT on
11 September 2010
• DHL developed their own organizational structure to serve the
global market, which reinforces its mission statement
• Significant shift from the textbook
– Now (web version); emphasizes the goal of being first choice worldwide
– Then (textbook); emphasized making everyone a winner
• Needs more emphasis on the customer
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3. IEM 5113 – Strategic Quality Leadership
Caterpillar’s Mission Statement
• Caterpillar‟s current mission statement, taken from www.company-
statements-slogans.info/list-of-companies-c/caterpillar on 11
September 2010, states “Caterpillar will be the leader in providing the
best value in machines, engines and support services for customers
dedicated to building the world's infrastructure and developing and
transporting its resources. We provide the best value to customers”
• Previous version focused on understanding & fulfilling customer
needs, on reliability, and customer service
• Current version is clearer, but wordy and redundant
• Suggestion; shorten to only the underlined text
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4. IEM 5113 - Strategic Quality Leadership
Volvo’s Mission Statement
• Textbook[1] version - “[Volvo] creates value by providing transportation-
related products and services with superior quality, safety, and
environmental care to demanding customers in selected segments”.
• Volvo‟s current mission statement as of 10 Sept 2010, taken from
www.volvogroup.com, is slightly different from the textbook; “By creating
value for our customers we create value for our shareholders. We use our
expertise to create transportation-related hard and soft products of superior
quality, safety and environmental care for demanding customer in selected
segments. We work with energy, passion and respect for the individual”
• This change shows Volvo‟s continual refinement of their mission
statement, and is much clearer than, for example “make them winners”
• Team consensus is that the new mission statements is much better
[1] Evans,
James R., and William M. Lindsey. 2011. Managing for Quality and Performance
Excellence, Florence, KY: Cengage.
Oklahoma State University

5. IEM 5113 – Strategic Quality Leadership
AT&T Mission Statement
• AT&T‟s current mission statement, taken from the corporate website,
www.att.com, on 11 September 2010: “We aspire to be the most
admired and valuable company in the world. Our goal is to enrich our
customers‟ personal lives and to make their businesses more successful
by bringing to market exciting and useful communications services,
building shareowner value in the process”
• The current mission statement states AT&T is the world‟s most
important voice and data communications company, they also have the
world‟s largest and also most sophisticated network and the largest
digital wireless network in the US, which also reinforces its mission
statement bringing people together
• Alternate mission statement; “To be the leader in communications,
both personal and business, to provide the best technology, and above
all, to provide unrivaled customer service.”
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6. IEM 5113 - Strategic Quality Leadership
International Red Cross Mission Statement
• Textbook version; “To serve the most vulnerable”
– True and inspiring
– Makes a great bumper sticker!
• IRC‟s mission statement, taken from www.icrc.org on 11
September 2010, “… is an impartial, neutral and
independent organization whose exclusively humanitarian
mission is to protect the lives and dignity of victims of
armed conflict and other situations of violence and to
provide them with assistance”
• The current version elaborates and clarifies the original
– Better? More or less inspiring?
• Not merely a cosmetic device or „window dressing‟
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7. IEM 5113 - Strategic Quality Leadership
Case Study – A Strategic Bottleneck
Question: To achieve its strategic goals of lower costs and improved
customer performance, what could this company do to align the goals
of forming and selecting departments?
• Communicate the need to consistently provide high quality products to
all departments
• Management responsibility
• Break down the barriers between Forming and Selecting departments
• Ideally even merge the two functions
• Eliminate departmental metrics
• Creates division, animosity, morale issues
• Focuses on short term gains
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8. IEM 5113 - Strategic Quality Leadership
Case Study – A Strategic Bottleneck
(continued)
• Develop new metrics that benefit the company as a whole
• Long term
• Measurable
• Equitable
• Differentiate products from competitors
• Figure out why the forming process doesn‟t produce quality
products consistently
• Maybe as simple as the wrong goal (e.g. total output instead of total defect
free output)
• Poor quality raw materials?
• Poor processes?
• Old equipment?
• Other?
• Combination of factors
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9. IEM 5113 - Strategic Quality Leadership
Case Study – A Strategic Bottleneck
(continued)
• Develop solutions using
• Teams approach – involve all stakeholders
• Systems Engineering principles
• Focus on Root Cause, not symptoms
• Implement & monitor selected solutions
• Ensure original problems were fixed
• And… that any new problems are corrected
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10. IEM 5113 - Strategic Quality Leadership
4) Contrast the following vision statements in terms of their usefulness to an organization
From Wikipedia, “A Vision statement outlines what the organization wants to be, or how it
wants the world in which it operates to be. It concentrates on the future. It is a source of
inspiration. It provides clear decision-making criteria”
a. To become the industry leader and achieve superior growth and market share.
b. To become the best-managed electric utility in the United States and an excellent company
overall and be recognized as such.
c. Being the best at everything we do, exceeding customer expectations; growing our business to
increase its value to customers, employees, shareowners, and communities in which we work.
Each of these vision statements tell what the company wants to be and are forward looking; both
qualities of a good vision statement. However, each is progressively better, and clearer
(a) gives you no idea of how to achieve industry leadership, superior growth, or market share
(b) brings more focus by mentioning best-managed
(c) lists specific areas and sets goals for each.
C covers all the aspects that a quality organization should cover and is clearly the best
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