- governing boards that are more invloved in strategic planning as well as policy making

- smaller and composed of individuals who possess expertise that will aid the organization in accomplishing its strategic goals

- membership diversity is important but not as much as experience of members

- those things that organizations must accomplish it it is to achieve high performance

- similar for all members of a service group

- factors: ability to serve entire market, strong information systems, lowest cost structure, ability to replicate services in other geographical markets, ability to accept near-term risks

- entering a new market first

- pioneering

- greater uncertianty because the demand for services has not been proven

- patient and client needs may change especially with large technological investments (may be left with big investment and little demand)

- visionary demand balanced with realistic knowledge of the market, consumer and other factors

- rewards often go to the first mover but risks are great

- visionary change when directed toward early entry into markets

- disadvantage of liability of newness

- often experience pioneering costs

- attempts to capture the organizations distinctive purpose or reason for being

- general but more concrete than vision

broadly defined and enduring statement of purpose that distinguishes a health care organization from other organizations of its type and identifies the scope of its operations in product, service and market terms
- solely for public relations

- service oriented and concerned primarily with fundraising

- larger and more diverse to obtain as much community represenatation as possible

- inclusion of different types of stakeholders: busiiness leaders, physicians, local polititions, consumers

- seek frist-mover advantage

- more easily established with few or no competitors

- sometimes expensive to change service providers for the clients both financially and emotionally when trust has been developed elsewhere

- make mistakes and learn from them

- overarching end results that the organization pursues to accomplish its mission and achieve its vision

- well written mission statements are the beginning point for strategic goal setting

- should relate to critical sucess factor activities, provide specific direction to accomplish mission and vision, broad enough to allow considerable discretion for manages to formulate their objectives for individual units

- relate specifically to activities that are critical to accomplish the mission

- focus on activities that are mission critical have the potential to divert leadership attention and employee energy

- link between critical sucess factors and strategic momentum

- few in number focusing on the "critical few" and not "trivial many"

- formulated by leaders but written to be understood by all

- principles that are held dear by members of the organization

- guiding principles the managers and employees will not compromise while they are in the process of achieving the mission and pursuing the vision and strategic goals

- creates a mental image of what leaders want the organization to achieve when it is accomplishing its purpose and mission

- hope for the future

- compelling images of the future and produces a map of what could be and what the leaders want to be

- idealism, uniqueness, future orientation and imagery

- about ideals, standards, desitred future status

- dynamic and collaborative

- hopes for higher levels of performance that are inspiritng although cannot yet be achieved

- management should clarify goals and priorities and ensure that they are understood and accepted by employees

- mission, vision, values and strategic goals

- guide strategists when they make key organizational decisions