A Different View: Evaluating Corporations Mission Statements From The Front-Line Employee

Abstract

Mission statements are frequently touted as playing critical roles in driving employee behavior and, by extension, firm performance. Yet, scholars to date have been unable to underpin a clear relationship between mission statements and these outcomes. Prior work is further limited in that it often focuses on corporate executives' assessments of their own missions rather than other important stakeholders. In this thesis, I review the extant literature on corporate mission statements and propose that one reason for the insofar ambiguous effects on firm outcomes is that some critical stakeholders, namely front-line employees, have not been adequately considered. Using a qualitative, grounded-theory approach, I investigate the extent to which front-line employees understand their corporations' overarching mission statements and the extent to which these statements affect several pertinent outcomes, including employees' attraction to their organization and influences to their behaviors at work. Results suggest several implications for scholars and practitioners.