Kraft Foods Group, Inc

Kraft Foods Group, Inc. has a mission and vision statement that accurately reflects the strategic business plan and encompasses their brand. These statements have been effectively written to be mutually supporting and provide the roadmap for continued success. Based upon Kraft’s mission and vision statement, the company has developed a well-rounded set of values centered upon a “Responsibility” approach. The company has also identified and pursued incremental goal subsets that are moving the company in the direction of the vision statement via following the mission statement parameters. I ascertain Kraft Foods Group, Inc. is and will continue to be a successful business in the near and long term.

Kraft Foods Group, Inc. Mission, Vision, Values and Goals Kraft Foods Group, Inc. has developed an effective business plan strategy that includes concise mission statement, vision statement, values and goals. The original company was established over 100 years ago; however, it has undergone significant restructuring in October, 2012 by splitting into two separate companies (Forbes, 2013). The resultant Kraft Foods Group, Inc. manufactures and markets packaged food products, including beverages, cheeses, convenient meals and various grocery products primarily marketed within the North American markets with the majority of its sales coming from the U.S. and Canadian markets.

The company has embraced both its long standing heritage and this recent restructure through its mission and vision statements. These statements along with the company’s rich history provide the framework for its values and goals. This paper provides a critical analysis of all four of these characteristics to determine the effectiveness of its overall business strategy.

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Mission Statement

“Our Mission is to be North America’s best food & beverage company. Our company has a great heritage that we’re building into an even greater future.” (Kraft Foods Group, ND).

Kraft Foods Group mission statement is clearly and succinctly communicated with the vital components of a successful and effective statement (Kraft Foods Group Website, ND). Kraft’s mission statement explains what the business does, who the target market is and how it accomplishes this. These are vital criteria identified in an article written by Ms. Jennell Evans, President and CEO of Strategic Interactions, Inc., a workplace performance improvement firm (Evans, 2010).

Kraft Foods Group clearly manufactures food and beverage products for the North American market place through tried and proven methods developed over many years that constitute its heritage. Additionally, their mission statement meets criteria I’ve developed (Expressive, Concise, Possible, Inspirational and Memorable) through analysis I’ve conducted using a variety of sources in my paper “Mission & Vision Statement Criterion and Comparison.” Kraft’s mission statement is clearly Expressive with the company’s goal to become the best in North America, describes what they produce and how they draw upon years of experience. It is Concise in length and the deliberate use of words to communicate.

Their goal to become North America’s largest company in its market is Possible and plausible within the scope of their business. Kraft Foods Group is already the fourth largest packaged food and beverage company in North America (Kraft Foods Group, ND). The mission statement is Inspirational and Memorable with the incredible goal to become the market’s largest company and the longevity displayed in its one hundred and ten year heritage. Every imaginable stakeholder is directly addressed through Kraft’s mission statement. Consumers realize the proven quality through longevity. Shareholders and employees understand the desire of the company to become the largest within the market. The mission statement has something for all of them.

Vision Statement

“Make a legacy.”

Kraft’s vision statement was not as intuitive as the mission statement; however, it became abundantly clear with the way it was displayed on the website directly above the mission statement. The mission statement supports the vision statement and encapsulates the company’s heritage and future direction. The vision statement includes a vivid description of the organization as it effectively carries out its operations (McNamara, 2009). Despite the simplicity of Kraft’s vision statement, it definitely provides a vivid description of its long standing heritage and their intention of continuing operations into the distant future. Additionally, the vision statement defines the optimal desired future state, provides guidance and inspiration, functions as the “north star” and is written succinctly (Evans, 2010).

These are the criteria for a successful vision statement as determined by Ms. Jennell Evans. Descriptive, Daring, Purposeful, Inspirational and Memorable and criteria I’ve developed after conducting extensive analysis. The vision statement is Descriptive in its profound, simple statement communicating Kraft Foods Group has been successful and intends to be successful for at least another hundred years. Their vision is also very Daring and bold. They are bragging on the success they’ve achieved and throwing the gauntlet down saying they’ll be around as long as imaginable. At the same time, their statement is very Purposeful with determination in staying in business and becoming the largest in North America. I think the vision statement is Inspirational to employees too. It infers a job security commitment and company growth looking towards the future. Read also about heritage of operations management

Finally, Kraft’s vision statement is memorable. It’s short, to the point, bold and inspires everyone who reads it. It removes any doubt to the direction the company is being led and how long it has been around. The primary stakeholders addressed in the vision statement are the employees. It provides them direction and inspires them to follow the mission statement as closely as possible to eventually realize Kraft Foods Group vision.

Values

“Responsibility.”

Kraft Foods Group has taken a multi-tiered approach to responsibility as their values approach (Kraft Foods Group, ND). They’ve implemented a responsible value ideal from packaging improvements to promoting healthy lifestyles through evolving the way they do business. Through Kraft’s website stakeholders can access information regarding their responsibility approach in community involvement, compliance and integrity, corporate governance, food safety and quality, nutrition and well-being, sustainability and workplace culture.

Kraft has combated hunger, promoted healthy lifestyles, assisted during disasters and encouraged volunteer service amongst its organization. They’ve also contributed through social media for recipes and community involvement (Kraft Facebook, ND). Kraft’s compliance and integrity program ensure legal compliance, a code of conduct set of policies for employees and human rights inwardly through the company and outwardly in communities. Kraft’s corporate governance focuses on full disclosure, shareholders’ rights and compliance with legislation and regulations.

They’ve put in place strong food safety and quality systems for their ingredients and products to reinforce and strengthen consumer trust. And Kraft has provided multifaceted training and education resources to promote nutrition and well-being. Kraft Foods Group is also concerned about environmental sustainability through responsible use of land, air, water and people in a “green” approach to operations. Lastly, through the recent restructuring of the company Kraft is dedicated to a responsible approach in its workplace and culture by continuing to respect employees. This multi-tiered approach to Kraft’s responsible values provides an effective program within its strategic business plan.

Goals

“Become the best consumer packaged food and beverage company in North America.”

Kraft Foods Group has many goals that ultimately contribute to the above stated goal to become the best consumer packaged food and beverage company in North America. Supporting goals such as the multiple tiers to their Responsibility values approach is a method of breaking the longest termed goal into smaller attainable goals. Additionally, Kraft Foods Group has set milestone goals in establishing and/or maintaining its work culture while it is amidst the massive restructuring plan (Reuters, 2012). This has included a focus on the North American market and employee benefit plans and severance pay outs.

However, the ultimate goal of the restructure has been to deliver profitable top-line growth, consistent bottom-line growth and superior dividend payout. It’s easy to see; however, all these goals ultimately support their goal to become the best packaged food and beverage company in North America. Furthermore, they all contribute and support Kraft Foods Group vision statement to “Make a Legacy” come to fruition.

Conclusion

Mission and vision statements provide the strategic planning process its future direction and the present means to achieve success. Considering the significant impact they play, it’s crucial to define each and identify the important criteria before developing each statement. Kraft Foods Group has done a good job in developing effective mission and vision statements that provide the foundational framework for their strategic business plan. Their mission statement focuses on present state of the business while the vision statement acts as the “north star” guiding management decisions.

Kraft’s mission statement is the mechanism used to reach their vision statement. Both of these statements are fully reinforced by their “Responsibility” values and underlining goals to achieve milestones leading to their vision statement. I anticipate Kraft Foods Group, Inc. is and will continue to be one of the leading packaged food and beverage leaders in North America.

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