Tuesday, April 08, 2008

Mission, Vision and Values

Introduction

Lockheed Martin is a corporation that provides a variety of information technology services and products. They create customized software solutions and integrate software applications and computer systems. Lockheed Martin’s main customer is the United States Department of Defense, but they also create solutions for government entities outside of the United States.


Vision Statement

The following vision statement for Lockheed Martin was compiled from two separate web pages from its external website.


Mission Statement

Our Vision: Powered By Innovation, Guided By Integrity, We Help Our Customers Achieve Their Most Challenging Goals.Our Values: Do What's Right Respect Others Perform With Excellence Business Areas: AeronauticsElectronic SystemsInformation Systems & Global ServicesSpace Systems 2007 Sales: $41.9 Billion Backlog: $76.7 billion Stock ticker symbol: LMT, on the New York Stock Exchange. Ranked 52nd on the 2006 Fortune 500 list of largest industrial corporations Employees: 140,000 employees in the United States and internationally Operations: 1,000 facilities in 500 cities and 46 states throughout the U.S.; Internationally, business locations in 75 nations and territories Headquarters: Lockheed Martin Corporation6801 Rockledge DriveBethesda, MD 20817U.S.A.(301) 897-6000


Community Outreach

As a responsible corporate citizen, Lockheed Martin plays an active role in helping to strengthen the quality of life in our country and the communities we call home. The Corporation contributes generously to initiatives and non-profit organizations nationally, regionally and locally. Our employees also donate countless volunteer hours to advance a wide variety of causes. Lockheed Martin strives to be a valued partner to our neighbors and our nation. To this end, our community relations program reflects the values that are embodied in our employees and intrinsic to the Lockheed Martin culture. Stated simply, our employees care. They are talented professionals, many are leading experts in their fields, but it is their genuine concern for others that helps make Lockheed Martin an exceptional contributor to the public good. Lockheed Martin commits 50 percent of its philanthropic contributions, outreach initiatives and volunteer hours to education, 30 percent to local community programs, and 20 percent to outreach programs that positively impact our customers and constituents. We developed an overarching strategy that helps guide community relations decisions at Lockheed Martin locations across the country. This coordinated approach helps ensure that our efforts are truly making a difference. Our strategy provides philanthropic and volunteer support for initiatives and organizations that: • Improve the quality of education, enhance academic performance, or support teachers and students in the areas of math, science, engineering and technology; • Strengthen our communities through their civic, cultural, environmental, or health and human services programs; • Recognize the achievements of our customers and sponsor educational initiatives that support the next generation of engineers and scientists. At Lockheed Martin, we’re committed to community involvement, because we believe that giving back is the very best way forward.


Customer Outreach

As the nation’s largest systems integrator for defense, aerospace and government customers, Lockheed Martin is keenly aware of the unique importance of its customers’ missions. From our corporate offices through each employee in the field, we have a deep respect for our customers’ contributions to national security and the United States’ scientific and technological leadership — and we show it. We show our appreciation for our military customers through our United in Gratitude initiative, which provides support that improves the quality of their lives and honors their sacrifices. And we show our support for the vital work of our National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) customers through activities that recognize their achievements and by sponsoring educational initiatives that are helping produce the next generation of astronauts, engineers and scientists. Every day, we stand side-by-side with our customers through the products we design and build, through the services we render, and through the product support we provide wherever our products are in use around the world. We believe it is only fitting that we also support their interests. Corporate Wide Focus ProgramsAt Lockheed Martin, we care about our customers. We demonstrate our commitment through our support of initiatives such as: • Lockheed Martin Employees Care — a program that supports Operation USO Care Package, which is approved by the U.S. Department of Defense to provide care packages with a variety of personal items to deployed troops. The packages remind troops that Americans back home support them. • United Through Reading — a Family Literacy Foundation program that brings the comfort of a serviceman’s or woman’s presence back home by enabling troops to read stories aloud on videotape to a son, daughter, grandchild, or younger brother or sister. • Education and Training Support — financial support for organizations that supplement education at the four U.S. military academies, which train America’s future defense force leaders. • Honoring and Remembering — financial support for commemorative ceremonies, museums and memorials such as the National Air Force Memorial and Visitor’s Center in Northern Virginia, National Museum of the Marine Corps and Naval Aviation Museum. These contributions support organizations that help preserve the history of our armed services and tell the story of the remarkable sacrifices that America’s military personnel have made for their country. • The Space Day Education Initiative — a yearlong effort that excites children about math, science, engineering and technology through hands-on activities and interaction with astronauts and other aerospace professionals in partnership with NASA.


Reaching Desired End State

Lockheed Martin’s vision statement aids the organization by emphasizing the importance of the quality of life, education, and community outreach. Lockheed Martin realizes that in order to continue to grow and innovate it will need educated employees who want to continue to support their community. By providing community outreach programs Lockheed Martin sets itself apart from its competition and makes itself highly visible within the community. This visibility will allow Lockheed Martin to recruit highly educated engineers which, in turn, will allow Lockheed Martin to continue to offer new and innovative services and products to its customers.


Components of the Strategic Management Process

The components of the strategic management process that will need to be re-analyzed are the external environment and the internal analysis. The external environment will need to be re-analyzed regarding the industry environment and the operating environment aspects. A new industry-wide scan should be conducted to determine if competitors are attempting to stand up community outreach programs of their own and if they are what types of programs and how far they intend to reach into the community. This analysis will allow Lockheed Martin to evaluate the success of their own outreach programs and if they need to adjust to meet the competition. The operating environment will need to be analyzed to ensure employees recruited via the community outreach programs are meeting the engineering needs of the company and happy with their employment.


Effects of New Strategy

The effects on the leadership and culture of Lockheed Martin regarding its vision statement require leaders to realize the importance employees place on supporting their community and provide reasonable resources to implement support. The culture within Lockheed Martin must be open to change. As new employees join the company they will see the benefits of an evolving company and should not closed off to the community.


Conclusion

Lockheed Martin’s vision statement encompasses the understanding that supporting the community and its customers benefits the company in highly educated employees, satisfied customers and a welcoming community. Lockheed Martin must understand that any changes made in its vision statement will perpetuate an industry scan along with an internal analysis. This could also mean that new data uncovered by normal environmental scans will determine new changes to the vision statement.


References

Pearce, John A, Robinson, Richard B, 2005, Strategic Management: Formulation, Implementation, and Control Chapters 1, 2 and 10, The McGraw-Hill Companies, New York, New York
Lockheed Martin, 2008, http://lockheedmartin.com/aboutus/at_a_glance.html, retrieved April 5, 2008
Lockheed Martin, 2008, http://lockheedmartin.com/aboutus/community/CommunityOutreach.html, retrieved April 5, 2008