Before beginning work on this week’s discussion forum, please review the link “Doing Discussion Questions Right,” the expanded grading rubric for the forum, and any specific instructions for this week’s topic.

By the due date assigned, respond to the assigned discussion questions and submit your responses to the appropriate topic in this Discussion Area.

Respond to the assigned questions using the lessons and vocabulary found in the reading.

Mission and Vision

Organizations in start-up mode need to formulate their mission and vision statements early on to ensure that every critical step in the initial phase is on point. Often, it is easier to see the mission and vision than it is to clearly and concisely capture them in writing. This discussion exercise is designed to help you formulate and write a clear, focused mission and vision statement using a fictitious company.

Occulari Optique is a new, privately held eyewear company offering the finest eyeglass and sunglass frames from around the world as well as in-store optical (lens) services. Headquartered in San Francisco, the company plans to open fifty stores in the next twelve months in key market cities, including Los Angeles; San Diego; Dallas; Chicago; Miami; New York; Cincinnati; Boston; Washington, D.C.; and Atlanta. Its competitors include Optical Shop of Aspen and Paris Optique.

The company wants to set itself apart with its customer service, one-of-a-kind frames, superior lens crafting, and ninety-day money-back satisfaction guarantee. Additionally, the CEO is passionate about creating an organizational culture that respects and values employees. It has been decided that team members will receive, in addition to a comprehensive benefits package, two free pairs of glasses per year, profit sharing, ongoing training and education, 100 percent tuition reimbursement, and three weeks of vacation per year.

One of the company’s primary goals is an initial public offering (IPO) within fourteen to sixteen months.

Based on the above information, write both a compelling mission and vision statement for Occulari Optique. The mission and vision statements should be presented at the beginning of your posting.
After you compose vision and mission statements, evaluate your statements and the organization by addressing any one of the following bullet point sets of questions.

• What makes the organization different from its competitors? What is the organization’s greatest value proposition? Beyond just constructing simple mission and vision statements, how should the organization leverage its uniqueness for competitive advantage?
• What keywords best summarize what this company stands for? How might the keywords provide both prescriptive and descriptive potential for communicating organizational values? What behaviors might be expected in the organization if the selected keywords actually reflect values-in-use?
• If you could change details or characteristics of the organization (as presented in the case description), what would you change and why? Evaluate the strategic purpose and possible effect of making such changes.
• What additional information or resources might be needed if this was a real situation and you needed to create mission and vision statements for an organization? How would you gather that information? How would that information influence the way you would construct the mission and vision statements?

The final paragraph (three or four sentences) of your initial post should summarize the one or two key points that you are making in your initial response.