Mission Statements in Medium Sized Listed Firms: A Content Analysis

Consistent with extant management literature, mission statements are crucial communication instruments for any firms and have been considered as elements of the strategic management process. Despite the considerable attention awarded to this theme, most of the studies are focused on large firms, while the role of mission statements in the strategic management of small and medium sized firms has not been sufficiently highlighted. The present paper tries to bridge this literature gap aiming at: i) analyzing specific content characteristics of medium sized listed firms’ mission statements; ii) identifying differences among medium sized firms belonging to different cultural clusters; iii) investigating the stakeholder orientation and the prioritization 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, the results suggest that it is possible to identify differences in the content and role of the mission statements of firms belonging to diverse cultural clusters and, as regards stakeholder orientation, firms tends to mention few stakeholders groups in their mission statements, with subgroups prioritizing different stakeholders. This contribution presents some valuable research implications mainly useful for researchers and academics, but professionals and investors could benefit from this knowledge.