This investigation examines the management concept of corporate vision in organisations. The study includes an investigation of the etymology and definitions of vision, and considers existing views of its application in management theory. Research was carried out into the foundation of independent voluntary hospices in Britain, using case studies, interviews, hospice histories, and a questionnaire survey. Information was obtained from 11 case studies and from questionnaires responses of 140 founders of seventy-two separate hospices. The principal finding is that corporate vision is a valid concept in organisations, and a definition of successful corporate vision is derived from the evidence obtained. The content of successful vision was shown to admit detailed analysis, and a feasibility test was devised which was then applied to a number of projects. The feasibility test showed a clear correlation between feasibility scoring and project time to completion. It is also shown that there are several common elements between hospice visions and the activity of a small number of successful visionary individuals both in business and charitable work. A relationship is demonstrated between leadership and corporate vision which shows that the leader is subordinate to the vision. Team structure and behaviour in hospice founding groups is shown to be at variance with those commonly found in business organisations. Hospice founders do not appear to use relative measures either for progress or success, and accept substantial changes to financial targets largely without concern. The only common factor related to failure of hospice projects is shown to be visions that were defective at the outset, in that they were not shared. The context of corporate vision is considered, and it is concluded that corporate vision as a concept is not necessarily applicable to all types of organisation.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:633184 |
| Date | January 1998 |
| Creators | Johnson, Martin |
| Publisher | University of Bedfordshire |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://hdl.handle.net/10547/337176 |
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