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Factors Influencing Vision of an Organization

Conference Paper · January 2011

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 Factors Influencing Vision of an Organization

Jamil Anwar
Assistant Professor, Department of Management Sciences, COMSATS
Institute of Information Technology, Abbottabad
jamilanwar@ciit.net.pk

SAF Hasnu
Professor Department of Management Sciences, COMSATS Institute of
Information Technology, Abbottabad
Hasnu@ciit.net.pk
Abstract
Purpose –this paper explores the factors that influence the vision of an organization.
A conceptual framework depicting the relationship of these factors with vision of an
organization and relationships among themselves is developed and explained along
with a set of propositions for future research.
Design/Methodology - Thematic analysis method is used for developing themes
while thematic network is used as a tool for presentation of the relationships and
interpretation of the results.
Findings – Ideology, purpose, core values and leadership are the factors that
influence the vision of an organization. Purpose and core values explain ideology
whereas leadership, as the most influential factor, transcends and transforms the
vision.
Research Limitations - Absence of an empirical analysis is a limitation to this
research.
Practical Implications – This study will guide the organizations to develop their
vision for long term sustainability. Organizations, while articulating their financial
goals will be able to set goals for community, competence, and learning by giving
importance to social, spiritual and ethical factors along with economic and financial
goals.
Originality/Value – The study provides a unique framework to describe the factors
influencing vision of an organization and their inter-relationship as well.

Key Words: Vision, Ideology, Purpose, Core Values, Leadership, Thematic Analysis
and Thematic Network
Introduction
Organizations are living things and they need to be fed and nurtured by knowledge
and experience with the passage of time. They grow and fall against the forces around
and hence, they have to adjust themselves to sustain and remain abreast of the latest
development. Organizations are actually the people, not buildings, who manage,
support, and run it.

Christopher (1994), emphasized that since 1980s, technological, competitive, and

market changes have eroded the effectiveness of the philosophy of strategy, structure
and system. According to Greenleaf, (1998), there is a possibility of continuing
erosion and deterioration of the social fabric in both for profit and not-for-profit
organizations if a shared sense of moral integrity and responsibility is not taken by the
leadership at all levels of society. Christensen (2010) emphasized that it is unfortunate
in conventional thinking where a career in business means only buying, selling, and
investing in companies. Whereas, the deeper rewards come from developing people
and helping in providing the social justice to the people in terms of respect, honor,
and creating work-life balance.

Fry (2003) stated that the prevalent uncertainty in the rapidly changing conditions in
environments invoked the researchers to question the effectiveness of organizational
settings. These researchers suggested that there is a need of fundamental change in the
doctrine of management and leadership. The most recent area of interest in
organizational development is organizational transformation and the focus has been
on meaning, purpose, culture, core values, and spirituality besides financial and social
achievements.

Organizations spend huge amounts and countless hours to come up with vision,
purpose (mission), values and objective statements. These statements, well articulated
and beautifully framed, can be useful, but they are not the essence of a visionary
company. The essence lies in the translation of its core ideology, along with purpose
and values, and the drive for progress into the whole culture of an organization with in
its social environment (Collins, 1996). A faulty or poorly defined vision or mission
statement could promote enterprise failure Abolaji (2010).

Creating a vision is of critical significance to the competitive environment of today.

The urge to create a vision arises from one or more of the arguments: a need to
control an organizational destiny; need for creative strategies, demand of turnaround
and recovery and a need for a change in corporate culture (El-Namaki, 1992).
According to Lipton (1996) managing with a vision can benefit an organization in
five ways: a vision enhances a wide range of performance measure, a vision promotes
change, provides basis for strategic change, it motivates the individuals, and it helps
in keeping decision making in context. O’Brein and Meadows (2000) wrote that
development of vision and vision statements advocates a process of internal and
external analysis.

Awamleh (1999) found that leader’s vision motivate followers to set quality goals and
raise their self-efficacy, which in turn increase their performance. Researchers (eg
Hamel and Pahalad, 1989; Kantrabutra, 2008) have asserted that sustained
competitive advantage, over those organizations lacking such a vision, can only be
achieved by a well articulated vision. Karns (2011) advocates that a new vision for the

2
purpose of business is vitally and urgently needed to replace the contemporary
concept of wealth maximization of shareholders. Therefore, efforts are needed to
promote virtuous personal and corporate behaviors for business paradigm to
contribute to the wellbeing of customers, employees and community with positive
ethics for the common good,

Existing literature, predominantly, take vision as a starting point and discuss the
forward linkages to increase the organizational performance in accordance with stated
strategies, goals and objectives. Very few studies have been done that take vision as
the end point and explore backward linkages. Some studies, however, discussed
values, spirituality or religiosity, purpose and ideology as the driving force for a
vision of an organization. Similarly leadership, with its various dimensions, has been
discussed as the most influential factor for creation of a vision of an organization.

Organizations are people joined together to work for a common objective. It is,
therefore, important to find the reasons why an organization should exists at the first
place; for what vision and destiny it should inspire its people to strive for; and what
ultimate objective it wants to achieve. For this, we need to explore some basic
questions. First, what is the concept of life in this world? What is the position of man
on earth? What is the relation of man to this world? And how should a man spend his
time (life) in this world? Second, what is the purpose of man on earth? For whom this
world has been created? What on earth a man should struggle for? Third, what
believes and thoughts are required to build the character of a person? What
characteristics are required to reach to the ultimate purpose of life? Fourth, what
personal traits and ethical basis are required to be developed in a person to achieve his
purpose of life? Fifth, what types of roles a person must play and how they perform to
have a relationship with fellow beings?

This research is carried out to find the answers to these questions to identify the
factors that influence the vision of an organization. A conceptual framework, along
with a set of propositions, is suggested to testify and validate the relationship of these
factors through empirical research in future.

Methodology
The process of development of themes from textual data is well established in
qualitative research. These themes are illustrated with some representational tools.
Thematic analysis is used to explain the themes highlighted in a text at different levels
while thematic networks aim to facilitate the structure of these themes (Stirling,
2001). Thematic analysis focuses on identifiable themes and patterns represented by
texts, document, interview, or behavior. The steps include: to collect the data; to
identify whole data that relate to the already classified patterns; to combine and
catalogue related patterns into sub-themes; and to build a valid argument for choosing
the themes by extensive literature review (Aronson, 1994; Guitian, 2009; Hansen,
1991). Thematic analysis (Clark Hu, 1996; Attride-Stirling, 2001; Ward et al., 2009)
method is used to define the themes for this study whereas thematic network tool
(Stirling, 2001) is used to analyze and interpret the relationships among the factors
that influence the vision of an organization.

3
Discussion and Results
Vision of an organization
Vision is the “ability to think about or plan the future with imagination or wisdom; a
mental image of what a future will or could be like; and a supernatural apparition”
(Oxford Dictionary of English, 2006). Merriam’s Webster Dictionary (on line edition,
2011) defines Vision as a “thought, concept, or object formed by the imagination; a
manifestation to the senses of something immaterial; the act or power of imagination;
mode of seeing or conceiving; unusual discernment or foresight; direct mystical
awareness of the supernatural usually in visible form”. Kotter (1996, p 68) states that
‘‘Vision refers to a picture of the future with some implicit or explicit commentary on
why people should strive to create that future.’’ According to Kirkpatrick and Locke
(1996), vision is a general transcendent ideal that represents shared values, ideological
nature and moral basis. Conger and Kanungo (1987) referred vision to an idealized
goal that leaders want to achieve for organizations in the future.

Visions challenge existing norms, policies and conventional wisdom. Vision conveys
expectations of high performance. It provides confidence to the followers (House,
1977; Tichy & Devanna, 1986; Conger & Kanungo, 1987; House et al., 1991; Shamir
et al., 1993). Vision creates the spark and excitement to stop an organization from
doing ordinary things (Senge, 2006). Coulter (1998) identified four factors important
to organizations’ vision as (i) core beliefs and values as the foundations of an
organization’s vision (ii) vision elaborates a purpose for the organization, (iii) vision
explain what is to be done to fulfill its purpose, and (iv) vision specify broad goals.
According to Covey (2004), leadership endures and changes the world for good when
conscience governs vision, discipline, and passion.

Vision serves three important functions in motivating change. One, it clarifies the
general direction of change; two, vision simplifies detailed decisions; and three, it
helps in coordinating quickly and efficiently the actions of people having diversified
background. Vision describes and explains the organization’s journey. Vision
provides the basic reason why the leaders and their followers are taking specific
organization journey. It must energize people and bring together the commitment of
employees towards organizational goals. This gives meaning to work. It establishes
the standards of excellence. Vision describes and explains the journey and provides
the direction to reach the destination.

Dimensions of Vision
Table 1 below represents the dimensions of vision as themes. These dimensions
explain that vision is conceptual and idealized representation of an organization
having cognitive construction. It is a broad picture that an organization sees of itself
in the future. Vision helps the organizations to conceptualize and understand the
system and guides towards the right course of actions to achieve the goals. It is
vibrant, compelling and comprehensive statement describing what the organization
stands for, what it believes in, and why it exists? It helps in setting idealized goals,
plans, targets and strategies keeping in view the moral and ethical obligations of an
organization for its stakeholders in particular and for society in general. Therefore,
vision, based on strong ideology, is needed to control the destiny of an organization
while keeping its belief system intact.

4
Table 1: Dimensions of Vision (Global Theme)
Codes Issues discussed Basic Themes Organizing
Theme
- Thought • Mode of conceiving 1. Statement of strong belief Conceptual and
- Concept • Awareness of future about the right course of action ideological
- Idea reality for the firm
representation
- Design • Act or power of 2. A need to control organizational
- Scheme imagination destiny
• Sense of 3. Idealized goals and moral
- Destiny
Organizational overtones
destiny 4. Ideological in nature
5. Conceptual representation used
to understand system and guide
the actions in the system
6. Idealized goals and meaning in
work of an organization

- Cognitive Cognitive
• Cognitive 7. Mental perception of the
- Mental models construction environment an organizational construction
- Mind’s eye • Mental model and aspires to create and mental
- View conceptual 8. cognitive construction and representation
representation conceptual representation is
• Seeing with the used to understand system and
mind’s eyes guide the actions in the system

- Imagination • Power of imagination 9. Identification and sense of Description of

- Picture • Organization’s future something in the future
organization
- Representation picture 10. Concept of new or desirable
• Description of future reality
journey and
- Description
organization journey 11. Manifestation of creative and destination
applied imagination with hope and
12. Vibrant and compelling idea faith
and unique picture of future
13. Description organization
journey, destination, hope and
faith

- Broad view • Broad view 14. Broad and comprehensive Broad,

- Horizon • Time horizon view of future over the longer comprehensive
- Sight • Discernment of period of time and compelling
foresight 15. Compelling state of picture of
organization to become future

• Material, personal 16. Vision is intrinsic not relative Multifaceted

- Personal
and service facets 17. Multifaceted of vision –
- Shared
• Genuine vision personal, service and material
- Positive • Commonality of 18. Sense of commonality gives
- Negative shared aims, beliefs, coherence, connection, and
and core values bondage for common
• Economic and social aspirations
needs 19. A general transcendent ideal
• Mental and spiritual that represent shared values
need 20. vision is partial if only social
• Synergistic and economic needs are
empowerment catered and mental and
• Common Identity spiritual needs are ignored
21. Shared vision emerged from
personal vision

- Direction • Guide and inspire 22. Direction, Empowerment and Motivating and
- Guidance • Direction of change motivation guiding force
- Spark • Explosion of inner 23. Guiding force for decision
for
- Passion synergy making
• Fire within and deep 24. Process of reinventing and organizations
burning direction setting of
organization’s hope, goals and
plans
25. Visions are exhilarating and
create spark within and
excitement

5
Factors Influencing the Vision of an organization
Four major factors are identified that influence the vision of an organization. These
factors are Ideology, Purpose, Core values and the Leadership. The themes for these
factors are derived using thematic analysis. These factors, along with their own
dimensions, are depicted in Table 2 below.

Table 2: Vision as Global Theme, and Ideology, Purpose, Core Values and
Leadership as Basic Themes
Organizing Global
References Basic Themes Themes Themes
Maududi, 1937; Horton, 1950; 1. Defines the belief system Ideology Vision
Iannaccone, 1990; Smith, 1992; and enduring character of an
El-Namaki, 1992; Collin and organization
Porras, 1996; Webster, 1996; 2. Inspires, controls and guides
Dijk, 1995 & 2004; MacArthur, vision of an organization
1998; Wagner et al, 1999; Neal 3. Is the soul and spirit of an
et al, 1999; Steen, 2001; organization
Hamdani, 2002; Fry, 2003; 4. The source of Sound and
Kathleen, 2007; Kantabutra and authentic Ideology is ethical
Avery, 2010 Monotheism
5. Sound Ideology leads
towards clear vision

Collin and Porras, 1996; Lieder, 1. The reason of being of an

1997; Collin, 2001; Warren, organization Purpose
2001; Handy, 2002; Avery, 2005; 2. Captures the Soul and spirit
Senge, 2006; Mohan, 2006; of an organization
Kathleen, 2007; Kantabutra, 3. Provides the basis for
2008-9; Christensen, 2010 creation of clear vision
4. Real Purpose is Ideology
driven

Rokeach, 1973 & 1979; Hofstede,

1980; Schein, 1984-85; 1. Are the universal system of Core Values
Eisenberg et al, 1989; Collin and belief and behavior of an
Porras, 1996; Anderson, 1997; organization
Kriger and Hanson, 1999; 2. Explain and justify the
Wagner et al, 1999; Steen, 2001; existence of an organization
Buchko, 2007; Becker, 2007 3. Are ideology and purpose
driven and hence clarify
vision

House, 1977; Greenleaf, 1977, 1. Influence the direction,

1998; Bass, 1985; Kouzes and spirit and discipline of an
Leadership
Pozner, 1987; Hamel and organization
Prahalad, 1987; Conger and 2. Instrumental in
Kanungo, 1987; Kotter, 1990; Transcendent and
Bryman, 1992; Shamir et al, transformation of vision of
1993; Covey, 1994; Robins et al, an organization
1998; Goleman, 1998; Conger & 3. True leadership is driven by
Hunt, 1999; Kriger and Hanson, ideology, purpose and core
1999; Awamleh and Gardner, values
1999; Khatri, 2001; Senge,
2006; Kantabutra, 2009; Fry,
2003,2008; Kinjerski, 2006;
Avery, 2004; Kouzes and Pozner,
2009; Gilbert, 2010;Sarros, 2011

These factors give clarity and soundness to the vision. They provide the impetus,
create organizational culture, align people with goals and objectives and transform
them into an organizational force having clear and compelling vision. The relationship
of factors and their influence on the vision of an organization is presented in a

6
thematic network below followed by a brief discussion of their relationship with
vision of an organization.

The source of
Sound and Sound Is the reason
authentic Ideology Ideology of being of
is ethical leads an
Is the soul and Monotheism towards organization
spirit of an clear vision
organization

Captures the
soul and
Inspires, spirit of an
controls and Purpose organization
guides vision Ideology
of an
organization
Provides the
basis for
creation of
clear vision
Defines the
belief
system and
enduring Vision Real purpose
character of id ideology
an driven
organization

Are the
Core universal
system of
True Values belief and
leadership is Leadership behavior of
driven by an
ideology, organization
purpose and
core values
Explain and
justify the
Instrumental in existence of
Transcendent Influences the Are ideology an
and direction, spirit and purpose organization
transformation and discipline of an driven and
of vision of an organization hence clarify
organization vision

Figure 1: Thematic Network where Vision is the Global theme and Ideology, Purpose,
Core Values and Leadership as organizing themes

On the basis of these findings it is proposed that;

Proposition 1: The factors that influence the vision of an organization are ideology,
purpose, core values and leadership.

Ideology and Vision

Ideology is the systematic body of beliefs, philosophy or concepts especially about
human life or culture. It is the systems of fundamental social cognitions. It organizes
the attitudes and other social representations shared by members of groups. Ideology
is the paradigms of thought at organizational level. It defines the character of an
organization. Ideology is the soul and spirit of an organization and it inspires, guides,

7
and controls the vision of an organization. The source of guidance for sound ideology
is God. Ideology derived from human rationalism and collective wisdom, without
divine guidance, is weak ideology having narrow concept of values and purpose.
Sound ideology has universal principles, core values and greater purpose.

Jim Collin & Porras (1996) explained that core ideology is the most significant
contribution to build visionary companies. It provides the glue that holds an
organization together when it grows. For this, core ideology has to be authentic not
fake. The authenticity of the ideology differentiates visionary companies from the
rest.

Dijk (2004), states that ideology defines people's everyday life in the family, at work,
during study, at leisure, and so on. Fry (2003) argued that quest for spiritual survival,
calling and membership reflects a common human search to know and act upon
according to the will of God. The concept of ideology is incomplete, rather irrelevant,
if the concept of God is omitted as the source of knowledge for guidance.

Horton (1950) placed conception of God (Figure 2) as a higher power on a scale. The
scale started from the atheism (there is no God; one has no sense of calling or
membership; all is evil, hopeless, and rooted in sorrow, distress, despair, and
calamity) to complete pantheism (everything is God; all is good and rooted in joy,
peace, serenity). The concept of unity of God converges towards the center on the
Horton’s scale of conception of God where both humanistic and pantheistic
conceptions tend to converge. This conception is called ethical monotheism that takes
nature and man both depend on God. They consider God as the real, true and
purposive source of knowledge against the evil tendencies in the world.

Atheism Humanism Monotheism Theopantism Pantheism

Despair Hopeful Striving All is

Divine
Hopeless Christianity, Judaism (Mother
Nature)
Islam

Figure 2: Conception of God as a Higher Power (Horton, 1950)

Earlier, Maududi (1932) elaborated that the revealed knowledge, pure and absolute, of
Oneness of God was sent to mankind in all ages, through prophets. Man became
guilty by associating others with God or disbelief only because he turned away from
the teachings of the prophets and started depending on his own faulty reasoning and
his inadequate ability to interpret the true facts of life.

Stephen Covey (1999) believes that God is the true source of ultimate moral authority
in the universe and His revealed words is the single most important and powerful
discipline in life because it points our lives, like a compass, to our divine destiny.
Maslow (1998) states that enlightened management mean taking religion deeply and
seriously. This is the new style of management of those organizations who define
religion (and spirituality) in terms of deep concern for humanity, ethics, future of

8
man, and work life etc. The above discussion is also reflected in the lines from T.S
Eliot’s Chorus from “The Rock” as under

“The endless cycle of idea and action,

Endless invention, endless experiment,
Brings knowledge of motion, but not of stillness;
Knowledge of speech, but not of silence;
Knowledge of words, and ignorance of the Word.
All our knowledge brings us nearer to death,
But nearness to death no nearer to God.

Where is the Life we have lost in living?

Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge?
Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?
The cycles of heaven in twenty centuries
Brings us farther from God and nearer to the Dust”

Fry (2003) concluded that the nature of God is referred in terms of ethical character,
values, and purpose and is represented by principles of justice and love. The concept
of God as ultimate source of power and guidance is the basis for religiosity and the
role of religiosity in organizations’ sustainability and profitability has been the topic
of research over the time. According to Hackney and Sanders (2003) researchers (e.g.,
Jung 1933; Allport, 1950) see religion as a source of meaning and stability in an
uncertain world. Koenig and Larson (2001) reviewed 850 studies systematically and
found that 80 percent of the respondents showed a positive relationship between
religiosity and performance of the people working in any organizational setting.

From the above discussion it can be summarized that a strong belief about the right
course of action is a necessary source and component for creating the vision of an
organization. Therefore, ideology should be the starting point for an organization’s
ultimate purpose of existence and hence its vision. For a vision to be clear and
compelling, the ideology of an organization must be sound and authentic. And for
authenticity of ideology it is important that the source of knowledge must be
authentic. Based on this argument it is proposed that;

Proposition 2: Ideology derived from Ethical Monotheism is sound and authentic and
any other source of knowledge for ideology is weak and non-authentic.

Proposition 3: Vision based on sound and authentic ideology is sound, clear and
compelling while vision based on weak ideology is blurred and unconducive

Purpose and Vision

Purpose is the reason of being or existence of an organization. It provides the basis
for creation of vision, strategies, and all other course of action to realize the vision.
Purpose captures soul and spirit of an organization and hence influences the vision of
an organization. Collins (2001) elaborated that purpose is broad, fundamental, and
enduring when properly conceived. The purpose serves to guide and inspire the
organization for years, even a century or more. Purpose creates vision whereas vision
clarifies purpose.

9
According to Avery (2005) businesses need a purpose. Handy (2002) argues that the
purpose of a business goes beyond making a profit. The purpose is the reason for
existence and it provides a basis for creating the vision of an organization (Schein,
1990). Senge (2006) concludes that real vision cannot be understood in isolation from
the idea of purpose. With no underlying purpose or calling, vision is just a good idea
without signifying anything. The most basic level of commonality in organizations is
established by shared sense of purpose, vision and operating values.

Summarizing the writings of Peter Drucker, Fletcher (2007), identifies four

characteristics of purpose driven corporation: (i) Purpose driven corporations focus on
long-term survival; (ii) Profit is not the ultimate purpose of such organization but it is
the measure of its efficiency; (iii) Purpose gives primacy to human beings who, as
customers, as knowledge workers and as managers, form a human community in
which each and every person is necessary and valued; and (iv) Purpose recognizes the
existence of social relationships having duties and responsibilities to the state,
community, and organizations.

Kinjerski (2006) concludes that higher purpose promotes organizational integrity. It

increases employee commitment and decreases their intention to leave the
organization. Purpose helps the employees to identify their personal mission and
values. It helps to align their work with the organizations’ mission for high intrinsic
reward, and motivation. The more one experiences personal purpose and meaning in
one’s work, the more they experience intrinsic satisfaction. (Brandt, 1996) suggested
that integration of spirituality with corporate programs facilitate to find ultimate
meaning and purpose in one’s life. Similarly (Cacioppe, 2000a) argues that
organizations’ focus on values and meaningful work gives employees a sense of
higher purpose.

According to Leider (1997), purpose is the deepest dimension within us. It is our
central core or essence where we have a profound sense of who we are, where we
came from, and where we’re going. It is a source of energy and direction. Without
purpose, people eventually lose their way and they live without the true joy in life and
work. Until people make peace with their purpose, they will never discover
fulfillment in their work or contentment with what they have. Warren (2001) sees
purpose of life is far greater than personal fulfillment, peace of mind, or even
happiness. Purpose is above family, career, dreams and ambitions. To know why man
was placed on this planet, one must begin with God. Man was born by His purpose
and is for His purpose. Without this understanding, life does not make sense.
Therefore, our origin, identity, meaning, purpose, and destiny is in believing God and
His purpose. In a purpose driven organization settings, it can be achieved by aligning
higher purpose and vision to move towards the ultimate destiny.

Proposition 4: The companies with sound ideology and higher purpose assign more
importance to the normative aspects of life and are likely to be more sustainable and
profitable in the long run than those having weak ideology and purpose based on
week ideology

Proposition 5: The employees of the companies with sound ideology and higher
purpose are more satisfied than the employees of those companies having weak
ideology and purpose based on week ideology

10
Core values and Vision
Core values represent the behavior and belief system of an organization. They are set
of universal principles, and standards for choosing right course of action in day-to-day
life of an organization. Values are not the exclusive property of any one group or
institution. Core values explain and justify what people do and what organizations
stand for. Since core values are ideology and purpose driven, they influence the vision
of an organization. Therefore, working on core values and practicing on them in the
organization setting is of profound importance for creating and clarifying the vision of
an organization.

According to Collin and Porras (1996) core values are the essential, enduring and
guiding principles for organizations. Peters and Waterman (1982) concluded that
excellent companies have strong system of beliefs and values. Corporate culture has
often been defined as ‘shared beliefs’ or as ‘shared values’ by sociological and
management literature (Schein 1984; Schein 1985; Kotter and Heskett 1992). Steen
(2001) stressed that the behavioral norms are interpreted as a reflection of underlying
beliefs or values of an organization. Anderson (1997) argued that Managers neither
can find nor invent new principles. Principles are prescriptive, universal, overriding
and they provide truth on which to base attitudes and actions. They compel for doing
one thing rather than another and they cannot be abandoned because of competing
analysis.

Honesty with self and others, articulation of the firm’s spiritual philosophy, mutual
trust, commitment, truthfulness, humility, forgiveness, compassion, thankfulness,
service and peace, creativity, dedication, initiative, motivation, respect, teamwork,
avoiding harm to others, respecting the autonomy of others, avoiding lying, honoring
agreements, charity, veracity, compassion, justice, and generosity are some of the core
values for organizations (Quinn and Jones, 1995 ; Wagner et al,1999; Kriger and
Hanson,1999; Anderson, 1997; Fry, 2003; Buchko, 2007) etc).

Kinjerski (2006) concludes that employee values and higher purpose promotes
organizational integrity. Clarity of personal and organizational values (Kouzes and
Posner, 2002) and alignment between the two (Milliman et al., 2003) is associated
with increased employee commitment and decreased intention to quit the
organization. Organizations which help employees to identify their personal mission
and values, and then align them with the organizations’ mission to give them
meaning, are expected to be able to engage their employees in their work. The sense
of community and culture of caring is expected to help employees increased
commitment at work. A workplace culture where employees are supported and
respected creates an atmosphere where they are able to focus on their work and feel
satisfaction. Greater emphasis on values, social responsibility and meaningful work
(Cacioppe, 2000a) give employees a sense of higher purpose of an organization.
According to Anderson (1997), people keep their work and materialistic lives and
their religious and moral lives together. Business decision making without values is
incomplete. Therefore, business leaders should encourage employees to be morally
strong, socially conscious, creative, and loyal.

Thus, based on the arguments cited above, the following propositions are proposed;

11
Proposition 6: Purpose and Core Values increase the organizational commitment by
engaging, aligning and creating common and shared workplace culture and hence the
efficiency and performance of an organization improve in the long-run

Proposition 7: Purpose and Core Values increase the likelihood that the employees of
an organization will be satisfied and committed and decrease the likelihood of burnout
and employee turnover

Leadership and Vision

Leadership influences the direction, spirit, and discipline of an organization. It is
perhaps the most important factor that influences the vision of an organization.
Leaders transcend and transform the vision of the followers, groups, and
organizations. Contemporary leadership theories focus on transcendent,
transformational, spiritual, servant, visionary and authentic leadership. The future
vision of the organizations will be based on spirituality, ideology, and purpose driven
leadership. According to Hamel and Prahalad (1989), the challenge for leadership is
to develop faith in the organization’s ability to deliver on tough goals. They have to
motivate the organizations to achieve goals and to focus their attention in the long run
to internalize new capabilities. Fry (2003) identified five basic practices that enable
leaders to get extraordinary things. These fundamental practices include inspiring a
shared vision, challenging the process, enabling fellow beings to act, guiding the way,
and setting the example by behaving in manners consistent with shared values.

Since 1980s, the emphasis on leadership, particularly in organizations which are

undergoing major change, has took a shift from traits and leader behaviors to the
requirements for leaders to create and articulate visions for their followers
(Kantabutra, 2009). Bryman (1992) terms this shift in approaches collectively as ‘new
leadership.’ House and Shamir (1993) and Shamir et al. (1993) call them as ‘new
genre’ of theories. Unlike traditional leadership theories, which emphasize rational
processes, ‘the new leadership’ theories emphasize emotions and values (Bryman,
1992; Yukl, 1999). The ‘new leadership’ scholars contend that earlier leadership
theories studied a limited aspect of leadership because of their focus on transactional
processes of leadership (Bryman, 1992). They further argue that the ‘new leadership,’
addresses deeper effects than superficial compliance, and examines core leadership
issues rather than supervision or management (Hunt, 1997; Conger, 1999).

Weber (1968) focused on God-given and divine traits of leaders that set them apart
from ordinary men. House’s (1977) theory is based on traits, behaviors, and effects of
charismatic leaders on their followers. The idealized influence or charisma is central
to Bass’s (1985) theory of transformational leadership. Servant leaders view every
problem as originating inside, rather than outside and initiate the process of change
through serving the world rather than looking at the world (Lee and Zemke, 1993).
Covey (1994), emphasized that leaders think about their thoughts; create awareness of
the social and psychic programs that are within them; and they enlarge the separation
between stimulus and response. Khatri (2001) found that the new leadership research
consists of charismatic, visionary, and transformational leadership theories.

The success of vision-based leaders depends on emotionally committed followers.

They accept and help to execute their leaders’ vision. According to Daft (2005), the
source of followers' commitment is influenced by the charisma and shared vision of

12
the leaders. Followers of a vision-based leader are not expected to be passive. Rather,
they have a responsibility to participate in the group, work towards the vision and
make their voices heard in influencing what is accomplished (Avery, 2004).
Followers get aspiration and inspiration from the vision of their leaders for guidance
(Conger and Kanungo, 1988; Senge, 1990; Sergiovanni, 1990; Shamir et al.,
1993; Lipton, 1996). According to Kouzes and Pozner (2009), the best way to lead
people into the future is to connect with them deeply in the present.

Vision is widely accepted as a tool for leaders. Many studies (e.g. Kotter, 1988; Bass,
1990) found that effective leaders were consistently viewed as credible and
trustworthy. The integrity of leaders, therefore, is critical to organizational
performance because followers appreciate the extent to which a leader really stands
behind the vision, not only within their mind, but also with their hearts. Conversely,
the leader's integrity can be questioned by followers when leaders express an unstable
vision. When followers doubt the seriousness of the leader toward implementing the
vision, they loose the trust as a consequence (Parikh and Neubauer, 1993). This brings
deterioration and decline in organizational performance. Alternatively, when
followers are satisfied, the customers are also satisfied. This will enhance
organizational performance (Bass, 1985, 1998; Shamir et al., 1993; Collins and
Porras, 1994; Lipton, 1996; Heskett et al., 1997; Kantrabutra, 2009).

According to Fry (2003) people, who perceive their leaders to be credible, are
committed and productive for organizations. Kinjerski (2006) found that leadership
was identified as the most important organizational component and was seen to be
instrumental in all of the organizational settings. They cultivate a strong
organizational foundation with a compelling vision and clear purpose. They influence,
by exemplifying personal integrity, and set the tone and direction of the organization.
They demonstrate and foster a culture of caring that contributes to a sense of
community among employees. They support and create opportunities for personal
development and fulfillment through the provision of opportunities for engaging
work, creativity, initiative, flexibility, autonomy, and life-long learning. Leaders are
in a position to inspire, appreciate, and reward those who contribute to the intention of
the organization. Kouzes & Pozner (1993) suggested that the essential leadership
characteristics and values that followers admire are honesty, forward-looking,
inspiring in pursuit of a shared vision, and competence.

Leadership has a key role in facilitating wisdom and spirituality in the workplace.
Leadership and organization development need to help people get rid of the self-
interest and self ego. They are required to respond to the need of the moment
(Cacioppe, 1999). From value-based and ethical perspective, leaders have an
influencing power in establishing and reinforcing personal, group, and organizational
values (Northouse, 2001). For this, ethics is central to leadership practices because of
the nature of the leadership process. This is necessary to engage followers for
accomplishment of goals through mutual and shared vision.

Proposition 8: Among the factors influencing the vision of an organization,

Leadership is the most important factor that influence the vision of an organization

13
Proposition 9: If leadership of an organization is deriving their vision from sound
ideology having higher purpose and core values, the vision of that organization will
be sound, clear and compelling

Proposition 10: Companies whose leadership’s vision is driven from sound ideology
are more likely to have committed, satisfied and productive employees and hence
those organizations are sustainable in profitability and reputation.

Conceptual Framework
The conceptual framework for above discussion is presented below (Figure 3). It
summarizes the whole concept of how these factors influence the vision of an
organization.

Purpose L
E
A
D
Vision of an
Ideology E
Organization
• Sound R
• Weak S
H
Core I
values P

Continuous reinforcement
Figure 3: Conceptual framework of factors influencing the vision of an organization

The conceptual framework portrays the fact that purpose and core values get direct
influence from ideology and hence explain the ideology. They also influence each
others simultaneously. Leadership is influenced by ideology, purpose and core values
and is, therefore, the most influential factors for creation of vision of an organization.
Leadership transcends and transforms the personal visions based on ideology,
purpose, and core values into the shared vision which is practiced and pursued at
organizational level.

The soundness and clarity of the vision is based on the soundness of the ideology.
Alternatively, vision will be blurred and unconducive. Clear and compelling vision
attracts the people whose personal visions are aligned with the vision of an
organization. These people are committed and satisfied. And when such a group of
people join together, they make organizations productive and sustainable. To keep
vision clear and sound, continuous reinforcement from the ideology is necessary. This
is vital and important to keep the organizations abreast in the ever changing global
and technological challenges.

14
Conclusion
Vision is conceptual and ideological representation of an organization. It is cognitive
construction and mental representation or model. It describes the organizational
journey and its destination with hope and faith. Vision is broad, comprehensive and is
multifaceted. It acts as a guiding force for an organization. Vision, driven by
ideology, purpose and core values and transformed by true leadership, must be seen in
goals, job design, strategies, tactics, pay systems, cultural practices, building layouts
and all other organization settings.

Ideology is the basic beliefs system of an organization or society. It provides the

judgment scale to choose a right code of conduct. Ideology defines the character of an
organization. It inspires, control and guide an organization’s vision. It is the soul and
spirit of an organization. The source of sound ideology is divine. Therefore, ideology
influence and clarify the vision of an organization.

Purpose is the aim, mission and ultimate objective. It is the reason of being of an
organization and therefore captures the soul and spirit of an organization. Purpose
provides the basis for creation of vision of an organization. Core purpose is ideology
driven. Hence, vision without underlying purpose signifies nothing. Purpose,
therefore, creates the vision of an organization whereas vision clarifies the purpose.

Core values represent the behavior and belief system of an organization. They are set
of universal principles, and standards for choosing right course of action in day-to-day
life of an organization. Since core values are ideology and purpose driven, they
influence the vision of an organization. Without values, business decision making is
incomplete. Therefore, working on core values and practicing on them in the
organization setting is of profound importance for creating the vision of an
organization.

Leadership is the most important factor that influences the vision of an organization.
Leadership takes its power and moral authority from ideology, purpose and core
values and influences the direction, spirit and discipline of an organization.
Leadership transcends and transforms the vision of an organization through common
understanding.

People do not separate their work and materialistic lives from their religious and
moral lives. Therefore, business leaders must be both strategists and philosophers.
While articulating the organizations’ financial goals they must set goals for
community, competence, and learning. This will encourage employees to be morally
strong, socially conscious, creative, and loyal. Therefore, organizations must hire
those people whose personal visions, purpose and values are in align with the
organizational ones. Such employees will remain committed and hence the
organizations are likely to be financially, socially and morally sustainable over the
time.

Future Research
Following are some of the recommendations for future research
• Development of a construct and questionnaires for empirical research to
justify the findings of this research.

15
• Factor analysis, based on empirical data, can be done to show the influence of
each factors on vision and also to know the inter-relationships among the
factors

• More research is needed to explore the factors influencing the vision of an

organization to validate, refine and/or modify the proposed framework

• The criteria for judging the basis of sound and authentic ideology should be
explored and/or developed.

• Taking vision as the starting point, a conceptual framework identifying the

process for forward linkages such as development of strategies, goals,
objectives, structure, HR policies, and performance measures needs to be
improved and refined based on this conceptual framework

• Research should be done on the integration of personal, organizational and

societal vision.

• Some case studies can also be done to verify and validate the conceptual
framework

16
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