A Voice from the Past

Abstract

Too often, academic definitions of organizations describe what the firm is rather than why the firm is. Also, corporate mission statments and other publications often describe what the firm does in static terms, without answering the deeper question of why the firm exists at all. These attempts at describing the organization are good tools for explaining their structure, but are inadequate for understanding the purpose of organizations. In this article, a method of analysis first described by Aristotle is applied to corporations in an attempt to define the mission of business. Using an end oriented, or teleological, framework, Aristotle's theory of causation can provide deeper understanding and broader perspectives on the role of the corporation in the modern world. Mission statements are intended to communicate the on-going purpose of an organization to its constituencies. They are public declara tions that guide planning and operational decision-making within the organization. However, decision-making within organizations frequently pays only lip-service to the declared mission. For example, during recent interview sessions,2 several top executives were asked to describe their decision process when faced with an organizational restructuring. Many of these executives commented on the importance of the mission statement in guiding the restructuring process. This wisdom is consistent with re cent summary research of successful restructuring strategies,3 which