Mission, Vision & Values - Alameda County Community Food Bank

Introduction

The mission, vision, and values contribute to an organization’s ability to reach its desired end state by clearly stating the fundamental principals that will guide the firm’s actions and defines a clear set of values that encourages staff to work towards accomplishing the desired end state. The Alameda County Community Food Bank was chosen for completing a strategic plan. This paper will discuss the strategic plan for the Alameda Community Food Bank, components of the strategic management process that will be analyzed, and how the outcomes will affect the leadership and culture of the organization.

Background

The Alameda County Community Food Bank has been in existence helping people since 1985 and serves as the central clearinghouse for donated food in Alameda County (Alameda County Food Bank, 2007). The Food Bank provides assistance to the low-income, working poor adults, the elderly, people with disabilities, abuse survivors, people living with AIDS, and the homeless (Alameda County Food Bank, 2007). Assistance is provided through numerous community based organizations and conducts community education on topics of hunger and poverty.

Mission Statement

The Alameda County Community Food Bank aims to alleviate hunger and address its root causes in Alameda County through nutrition education and public policies while providing nutritious food to people in need and advocating for their rights to fresh healthy food.

The mission statement must be clearly defined to determine the basic goals and philosophies that will shape the Food Bank’s strategic position. The purpose that identifies the scope of its operations in product and market terms and sets it apart from other firms in the same industry is the company’s mission (Pearce & Robinson, 2004). The statement of the Food Bank’s intent encompasses the firm’s strategic decision makers, the image they want to project, the firm’s self concept, the principle product or service areas, and customer needs the firm will strive to satisfy (Pearce & Robinson, 2004).

Reaching the Desired End State

The mission, vision, and values for the Food Bank will help the organization in reaching its desired end state by ensuring that the planning process is focused and moving in the direction intended by the organization and it stakeholders. The mission statement provides a unifying purpose for the organization that sets a foundation for developing objectives, decision making, and encapsulates the organization’s business activity. By promoting a sense of shared expectations among all levels and projecting a sense of worth that can be assimilated by outside stakeholders, the mission statement can inspire the organization to reach its desired end state.

Components of the Strategic Management Process

Strategic planning are the decisions and actions that lead to the formulation and implementation of plans designed to achieve the company’s objectives (Pearce & Robinson, 2004). Strategic planning encompasses long-range planning, new-venture management, planning, programming, budgeting, and business policy, with an increased emphasis on environmental forecasting and external considerations in formulating and implementing plans.

The components of the strategic management process that need to be analyzed in light of the new strategy is how technology can be incorporated into the Food Bank’s strategic planning process to gather data and statistics on the climate of hunger in Alameda County, long –range planning and new-venture management to fill the gap for record breaking requests for food, and a formal evaluation to see what is working an not working to serve the clients of Alameda County.

Leadership and Culture

Numerous affects on the Alameda County Community Food Bank’s leadership, organizational culture, and stakeholders result after implementing the new outcomes. Leadership will have to devise an effective method of getting the work done effectively and efficiently to make the new strategy work