A Comparative Study On English Mission Statementes Of Business Schools Between China And The US

Mission statement is an important strategic tool of organizations and plays an important role in the development of business schools. In order to achieve the goal of internalization and meet the demands of various stakeholders, business schools in China pay close attention to the writing of mission statements. This thesis uses content analysis and the readability test tool to compare the statement quality and readability of English mission statements of 60 business schools in China and the US based on the stakeholder theory, David’s model of mission statement components, and the readability theory.The findings of the thesis contain three points. Firstly, business schools in both China and the US pay attention to the specific stakeholders. Whereas, business schools in China have given less attention to the “employees(teachers)” and “suppliers and investors(alumni)” than business schools in the US. Secondly, in terms of the components of mission statements, both similarities and differences exist. Business schools both in China and the US mention the components of customer, philosophy, and concern for survival/growth/profitability but seldom mention the components of technology and self-concept. In some components, business schools in China contain more than business schools in the US, such as products/service, public image, and market. As for the component of concern for employees, business schools in China give less attention than business schools in the US. Thirdly, as for the readability, mission statements of business schools in China are less readable than those in the US.The implications are presented in three aspects. Firstly, the development of business schools rely on the quality of response to the interest of stakeholders. Therefore, when crafting mission statements, the specific stakeholders need to be clearly included in the mission statements to get the support and recognition from various stakeholders. Secondly, in terms of the inclusion of components of mission statements, it is not the more, the better. Business schools in China need to consider the vision and their own characteristics to define what kind of components should be included in the mission statements. Thirdly, business schools should take the wide range of readers and their different education levels into consideration when crafting mission statements. The writer of mission statements should enhance the readability by avoiding complicated words and long sentences to achieve the successful communication between business schools and the stakeholders. In a word, a clear and effective mission statement should achieve a balance among the stakeholders, the inclusion of components, and the readability.