Question

Explain why an organization needs a strategic vision. What purpose does a strategic vision serve? Do you believe the strategic vision at your company sends the right message? What is the message? Is the message forward-looking? Would you change it and why?

Answer 1

A strategic vision can be considered to be something the business endeavors to be, to do and to achieve and therefore, it sets the foundation for all their future efforts as well as for them to be able to make better use of planning and preparing for the future to be as close to their vision as possible. It can easily be considered as their motive for the business endeavor in the first place and therefore, in ordern for a business to achieve what they plan, they need to have an end goal in mind, something which the strategic vision serves well.

The company I have selected is “Zappos,” and their strategic vision is to “Deliver happiness to the customers, employees, and vendors.” How they plan to achieve it is through their unique business model which is more than well suited for the case. On the one hand, the message is clear and looking forwards, but on the other hand, it is a little vague if we think about how they plan to achieve it. There is no connection to what they do, how they plan to make it and what is the reason for their being.

Even with all the possible shortcomings of their strategic vision, i would not change it. It is because their current vision best represents the company's business model, and therefore, to create a scope of improvement becomes impossible while preserving the tone and direction of their message.