A Vision Statement Taxonomy: Linking Strategic Management, Strategic Communication, and Organizational Culture

Organizational vision statements have typically been studied as part of strategic management. This paper shows they are also part of strategic communication and develops a hierarchical taxonomy. The methodology used includes using text mining and analytics to discover the taxonomy based on natural language rather than predetermined classifications that may contain researcher bias and error. This novel approach created the taxonomy based on characteristics of the statements and, consequently, led to the development of propositions that link vision statements to organizational culture. Thus, this paper extends theory in strategic management, strategic communication, and organizational culture while utilizing a research methodology that is relatively new and less subject to researcher bias.