The VMOST Analysis is a tool that allows a business to evaluate its core strategies in terms of whether the supporting activities of that strategy are being carried out. The VMOST analysis tries to answer that by looking at five core elements: vision, mission, objectives, strategies, and tactics.
VMOST Analysis
Description
Analysis
Implications
Applications
Examples
1. Vision
Vision represents a compelling and aspirational statement of the future state or long-term goals that an organization aims to achieve. It serves as a guiding image of success.
– Define the organization’s vision statement, outlining the desired future state and overarching goals. – Ensure that the vision is inspiring and aligns with the organization’s purpose.
– Provides a clear and inspiring picture of the desired future. – Motivates and guides the organization and its stakeholders toward a common goal.
– Developing a visionary statement that inspires employees and stakeholders. – Revisiting and updating the vision as the organization evolves or faces new challenges.
Tesla’s Vision: “To create the most compelling car company of the 21st century by driving the world’s transition to electric vehicles.”
2. Mission
Mission defines the core purpose, values, and identity of an organization, answering the question, “Why do we exist?”
– Define the organization’s mission statement, encompassing its purpose and values. – Ensure that the mission aligns with and supports the vision.
– Provides a sense of direction, purpose, and identity. – Guides decision-making and aligns actions with organizational values.
– Developing a clear mission statement for a startup or established organization. – Revisiting the mission when undergoing strategic changes or growth.
Google’s Mission: “To organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.”
3. Objectives
Objectives are specific, measurable goals derived from the vision and mission that the organization aims to achieve within a defined timeframe.
– Establish clear, specific, and measurable objectives aligned with the vision and mission. – Set a timeline for achieving these objectives.
– Provides clarity and focus by quantifying what the organization aims to achieve in pursuit of its vision. – Enables measurement of progress and success.
– Defining objectives for revenue growth, market expansion, or customer acquisition. – Setting SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound) objectives for project management.
Objective Example: “Achieve a 20% market share in the electric vehicle industry within five years.”
4. Strategies
Strategies are high-level plans outlining how the organization intends to achieve its objectives and vision, involving key decisions about resource allocation and approach.
– Develop strategies that outline the broad approaches and methods to achieve the defined objectives and vision. – Allocate resources effectively to support the chosen strategies.
– Provides a roadmap for achieving objectives and realizing the vision by defining the overarching approach. – Informs resource allocation and decision-making aligned with the vision.
– Creating a market entry strategy for a new product or geographic region in pursuit of the vision. – Developing marketing strategies to increase brand awareness and market share in line with the vision.
Strategy Example: “Leverage sustainable and innovative technologies to become a global leader in eco-friendly transportation.”
5. Tactics
Tactics encompass specific actions, initiatives, and detailed steps for implementing chosen strategies and accomplishing defined objectives and the vision.
– Identify and plan specific tactics, activities, and projects that support the execution of chosen strategies and objectives. – Define timelines and responsibilities for tactics.
– Translate high-level strategies into practical actions and initiatives to progress toward objectives and the vision. – Enable step-by-step execution and progress tracking.
– Implementing a content marketing campaign to support a brand awareness strategy aligned with the vision. – Executing a product launch plan to achieve sales objectives and contribute to the vision. – Organizing training programs to enhance employee skills in line with the vision of becoming an industry leader.
Tactical Action Example: “Launch a nationwide advertising campaign targeting eco-conscious consumers to promote sustainable transportation options.”
The VMOST analysis divides a strategy into five different elements. Each element is analyzed individually based on how well it aligns with the overall business strategy.
In most cases, VMOST analyses are performed so that a business can define current and future strategies, organizational units, projects, and programs.
Employees – as a part of the business or as individuals – can also be assessed using this technique.
Here is a look at each of the five elements that give the VMOST analysis its name.
Vision
Vision encompasses ideas that summarize where a business sees itself in the future.
Where will it operate? Which target audience will it serve? How will it position itself against the competition? What does the business want to be known for?
The answers to these questions should inspire and challenge the business do to better without being completely unattainable.
Mission
Mission is the series of steps that guide a business to carrying out its vision. To change old and outdated ways of operating, missions must be adopted from senior management down to the entry-level employee.
Objectives
Objectives define whether a mission has been accomplished, usually quantified in the form of key performance indicators (KPIs).
To maximize the chances of meeting certain objectives, businesses can adopt the SMART goal attainment strategy.
A SMART goal is any goal with a carefully planned, concise, and trackable objective. To be such a goal needs to be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-based. Bringing structure and trackability to goal setting increases the chances goals will be achieved, and it helps align the organization around those goals.
In other words, is the objective:
Smart?
Measurable?
Attainable?
Realistic?
Time-sensitive?
Strategies
As objectives guide missions, so too do strategies guide objectives. If the goal of a taxi company was to increase revenue by $10 million annually, a potential strategy may include expanding the service into five new cities by the end of the year.
Tactics
Tactics encompass the specific, low-level actions that are taken for strategies to be fulfilled. If we return to the example of the taxi company, possible tactics for expanding into five new cities might include:
Identifying competition in the form of ride-sharing across the proposed cities.
Identifying areas in smaller cities where there are gaps in taxi coverage.
Acquiring a fleet of new vehicles at a cost-effective price.
Advantages of the VMOST Analysis
Given the somewhat hierarchical nature of the VMOST structure, the analysis is easily understood by various employees and stakeholders.
The VMOST analysis provides clarity, agreement and focuses on the future direction of the company. This discourages the formation of weak and vague strategies which encourage disharmony and malaise within a company.
Disadvantages of the VMOST Analysis
A well-constructed VMOST analysis does not guarantee employee buy-in. Strategies that are created by upper management with little employee involvement may be met with inertia when presented to the whole company. Input must be sought by multiple levels of the organization to counter this.
Some organizations start with a mission or vision that is simply unachievable. Despite perfectly sound objectives and strategies, they will find that they lack the necessary resources to achieve their goals.
VMOST analysis examples
In this section, we will work through a VMOST analysis using The Coca-Cola Company as an example.
Vision
The mission of The Coca-Cola Company is described on its website as follows: “Our vision is to craft the brands and choice of drinks that people love, to refresh them in body & spirit. And done in ways that create a more sustainable business and better shared future that makes a difference in people’s lives, communities and our planet.”
Mission
In recent years, The Coca-Cola Company dropped its mission statement in favor of the vision statement seen above. However, elements of the original mission statement which read “To refresh the world, To inspire moments of happiness, To create value and make a difference” have been retained.
While not exactly equivalent to a mission statement, the company also notes the following purpose statement: “Refresh the world. Make a difference.”
Coca-Cola has various strategies that are described in the context of its vision statement. We have included a few of them from each area of focus below:
Loved brands
Powerful partnerships with its bottling system to bring brands to life.
Maintain a focus on both local and global actions.
Done sustainably
Improve water security where it is needed most.
Reduce the carbon footprint of the company.
Contribute to a circular economy with a focus on recycling all waste.
For a better, shared future
Support local communities, particularly when it is most needed.
Build an inclusive society characterized by equal opportunities.
Invest in the personal growth and unique talents of employees.
Tactics
Tactics in The Coca-Cola Company help it create a culture with a passion to make a difference and refresh the world. The company defines tactics in terms of these behaviors:
Mindset – an expansive, creative, and growth-oriented mindset that believes in continuous learning and values the way work is performed.
Curious – this means never becoming too comfortable and consistently searching for new possibilities or horizons.
Empowered – employees must be accountable for their actions and believe that they can make a difference to the success of the company.
Inclusive – it is also important Coca-Cola leverages its broad employee diversity and global network to facilitate success. What’s more, the company believes that most of the time, two brains are better than one.
Agile – the best way to learn is by doing and there is nothing wrong with iterating until something is perfected. Agility also means acting with a sense of urgency.
Case studies
Online Retail Store:
Vision: To be the top online retail destination for sustainable products by 2030.
Mission: Offer a wide variety of quality sustainable products, ensure a seamless online shopping experience, and promote eco-friendly practices.
Objectives: Increase the number of sustainable products by 50% in two years and achieve a customer satisfaction rate of 95%.
Strategies: Partner with eco-friendly brands, implement a user-friendly interface, and launch a marketing campaign promoting sustainable shopping.
Tactics: Offer discounts on eco-friendly products, optimize the website for mobile use, and collaborate with influencers for sustainable product promotions.
Healthcare Startup:
Vision: Revolutionize healthcare delivery through technology by 2025.
Mission: Provide affordable and easily accessible telehealth services to patients globally.
Objectives: Serve one million patients and expand operations to five countries in three years.
Strategies: Develop a robust telehealth platform, collaborate with renowned doctors, and offer competitive pricing.
Tactics: Offer free initial consultations, ensure platform security, and engage in targeted online marketing.
Fitness Gym Chain:
Vision: Be the preferred fitness destination for families by 2030.
Mission: Offer diverse fitness programs catering to all age groups in a safe and motivating environment.
Objectives: Open 50 new branches and achieve a member retention rate of 90% in five years.
Strategies: Offer family packages, introduce innovative fitness programs, and maintain high hygiene standards.
Tactics: Organize monthly family fitness events, collaborate with celebrity trainers for special sessions, and implement a strict cleaning schedule.
Eco-friendly Travel Agency:
Vision: Promote sustainable tourism and be the go-to agency for eco-conscious travelers by 2028.
Mission: Offer travel packages that ensure minimal environmental impact and contribute to local communities.
Objectives: Increase bookings by 70% and establish partnerships with 100 eco-resorts in the next four years.
Strategies: Curate unique eco-friendly travel experiences, collaborate with sustainable accommodations, and promote responsible tourism.
Tactics: Offer carbon offset options for flights, provide eco-travel tips to clients, and host webinars on sustainable travel practices.
Educational Tech Platform:
Vision: Bridge the global education gap through technology by 2032.
Mission: Offer quality online educational resources and tools for students and educators worldwide.
Objectives: Reach 10 million users and collaborate with 500 educational institutions in six years.
Strategies: Develop a comprehensive online curriculum, offer multi-language support, and collaborate with renowned educators.
Tactics: Offer free trial periods, integrate AI-driven personalized learning paths, and host international educational webinars.
Organic Food Cafe:
Vision: Be the leading organic cafe chain championing health and wellness by 2030.
Mission: Serve fresh, organic, and tasty meals that contribute to the well-being of customers.
Objectives: Open 20 outlets and maintain an average customer rating of 4.8/5 over the next three years.
Strategies: Source locally produced organic ingredients, introduce diverse menus, and focus on customer feedback.
Tactics: Offer loyalty programs, introduce seasonal specials, and engage with customers on social media for feedback and promotions.
Key takeaways
The VMOST analysis is a strategic planning tool that helps businesses focus on activities that are aligned with their core visions.
The VMOST analysis is comprised of five separate elements that together, deconstruct how a business can align its words with actions.
The VMOST analysis is a simple and effective framework that all key stakeholders can understand. But it is nevertheless vulnerable to a lack of employee buy-in.
Key Highlights
VMOST Analysis: A tool to evaluate business strategies by analyzing the alignment of vision, mission, objectives, strategies, and tactics.
Vision: The future state a business aims to achieve, inspiring and challenging but attainable.
Mission: The steps that guide a business towards its vision, adopted from top management to entry-level employees.
Objectives: Quantifiable goals that determine mission success, often framed using SMART criteria.
Strategies: Guiding plans that lead to objectives’ achievement, driving the mission.
Tactics: Specific actions and low-level steps that support the implementation of strategies.
Advantages: Clarity, agreement, and focus on the company’s future direction, discouraging vague strategies and promoting harmony.
Disadvantages: May lack employee buy-in if not involving multiple levels of the organization, and vision or mission may be unachievable.
VMOST Analysis Example: Applying VMOST analysis to The Coca-Cola Company, examining its vision, mission, objectives, strategies, and tactics.
Importance: VMOST analysis helps businesses align their strategies and actions, ensuring that core elements of the business work together to achieve their goals. It provides a clear roadmap for decision-making and goal attainment.
Related Frameworks
Definition
Focus
Application
VMOST Analysis
A strategic planning tool that evaluates and aligns key elements of an organization’s strategy, including Vision, Mission, Objectives, Strategies, and Tactics. VMOST helps organizations clarify their purpose, set strategic goals, and identify the actions needed to achieve them.
Focuses on assessing and aligning the vision, mission, objectives, strategies, and tactics of an organization to ensure coherence and direction in strategic planning and execution.
A strategic planning tool used to identify Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats related to a business venture or project. SWOT analysis helps organizations assess internal capabilities and external factors to formulate strategies and make informed decisions.
Focuses on analyzing internal strengths and weaknesses and external opportunities and threats to develop strategies that leverage strengths, mitigate weaknesses, capitalize on opportunities, and address threats effectively.
Strategic Planning, Business Analysis, Decision-making
Balanced Scorecard (BSC)
A strategic performance management framework developed by Robert Kaplan and David Norton. The Balanced Scorecard translates an organization’s strategy into a set of balanced performance measures across four perspectives: Financial, Customer, Internal Processes, and Learning & Growth.
Focuses on aligning strategic objectives and performance measures across multiple dimensions to monitor and manage organizational performance effectively.
A goal-setting framework popularized by John Doerr and widely used in organizations, including Google. OKR involves setting ambitious yet achievable objectives and defining measurable key results to track progress and ensure alignment towards strategic goals.
Focuses on setting clear and measurable objectives and key results to align teams and individuals, drive focus and accountability, and track progress towards strategic goals and priorities.
Goal Setting, Performance Management, Alignment
PESTLE Analysis
A strategic tool used to analyze and understand the external macro-environmental factors that impact an organization or market. PESTLE stands for Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal, and Environmental factors, providing insights into the broader context of business operations.
Focuses on identifying and evaluating external factors and trends in the business environment to anticipate opportunities, threats, and regulatory challenges, guiding strategic planning and decision-making.
A framework developed by Michael Porter to analyze the competitive forces within an industry. Porter identified five forces: Threat of New Entrants, Bargaining Power of Buyers, Bargaining Power of Suppliers, Threat of Substitute Products, and Intensity of Competitive Rivalry.
Focuses on assessing the competitive dynamics and attractiveness of an industry by analyzing the forces that shape competition, helping organizations understand their competitive position and formulate strategies for sustainable competitive advantage.
Industry Analysis, Competitive Strategy, Market Positioning
McKinsey 7S Framework
A management model developed by McKinsey & Company that identifies seven internal elements critical to organizational effectiveness: Strategy, Structure, Systems, Shared Values, Skills, Style, and Staff. The 7S Framework helps organizations diagnose alignment issues and drive change.
Focuses on analyzing the interrelationships between strategy, structure, systems, shared values, skills, style, and staff within an organization to diagnose alignment issues and drive organizational change and performance improvement.
A strategic planning approach that emphasizes creating uncontested market space by innovating and offering unique value propositions. Blue ocean strategy focuses on simultaneously reducing costs and increasing value for customers to create new demand and unlock new market opportunities.
Focuses on identifying and tapping into new market spaces with limited competition, allowing companies to differentiate themselves and capture uncontested market share, driving sustainable growth and profitability.
A management philosophy developed by Eliyahu Goldratt that focuses on identifying and mitigating constraints (bottlenecks) in processes to improve overall performance. TOC emphasizes the importance of focusing efforts on resolving the most critical constraints to achieve organizational goals.
Focuses on identifying and addressing constraints that limit organizational performance, enabling organizations to optimize processes, improve throughput, and achieve strategic objectives more effectively.
Process Improvement, Performance Optimization, Constraint Management
A failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) is a structured approach to identifying design failures in a product or process. Developed in the 1950s, the failure mode and effects analysis is one the earliest methodologies of its kind. It enables organizations to anticipate a range of potential failures during the design stage.
Agile Business Analysis (AgileBA) is certification in the form of guidance and training for business analysts seeking to work in agile environments. To support this shift, AgileBA also helps the business analyst relate Agile projects to a wider organizational mission or strategy. To ensure that analysts have the necessary skills and expertise, AgileBA certification was developed.
Business valuations involve a formal analysis of the key operational aspects of a business. A business valuation is an analysis used to determine the economic value of a business or company unit. It’s important to note that valuations are one part science and one part art. Analysts use professional judgment to consider the financial performance of a business with respect to local, national, or global economic conditions. They will also consider the total value of assets and liabilities, in addition to patented or proprietary technology.
A paired comparison analysis is used to rate or rank options where evaluation criteria are subjective by nature. The analysis is particularly useful when there is a lack of clear priorities or objective data to base decisions on. A paired comparison analysis evaluates a range of options by comparing them against each other.
The Monte Carlo analysis is a quantitative risk management technique. The Monte Carlo analysis was developed by nuclear scientist Stanislaw Ulam in 1940 as work progressed on the atom bomb. The analysis first considers the impact of certain risks on project management such as time or budgetary constraints. Then, a computerized mathematical output gives businesses a range of possible outcomes and their probability of occurrence.
A cost-benefit analysis is a process a business can use to analyze decisions according to the costs associated with making that decision. For a cost analysis to be effective it’s important to articulate the project in the simplest terms possible, identify the costs, determine the benefits of project implementation, assess the alternatives.
The CATWOE analysis is a problem-solving strategy that asks businesses to look at an issue from six different perspectives. The CATWOE analysis is an in-depth and holistic approach to problem-solving because it enables businesses to consider all perspectives. This often forces management out of habitual ways of thinking that would otherwise hinder growth and profitability. Most importantly, the CATWOE analysis allows businesses to combine multiple perspectives into a single, unifying solution.
It’s possible to identify the key players that overlap with a company’s business model with a competitor analysis. This overlapping can be analyzed in terms of key customers, technologies, distribution, and financial models. When all those elements are analyzed, it is possible to map all the facets of competition for a tech business model to understand better where a business stands in the marketplace and its possible future developments.
The Pareto Analysis is a statistical analysis used in business decision making that identifies a certain number of input factors that have the greatest impact on income. It is based on the similarly named Pareto Principle, which states that 80% of the effect of something can be attributed to just 20% of the drivers.
A comparable company analysis is a process that enables the identification of similar organizations to be used as a comparison to understand the business and financial performance of the target company. To find comparables you can look at two key profiles: the business and financial profile. From the comparable company analysis it is possible to understand the competitive landscape of the target organization.
A SWOT Analysis is a framework used for evaluating the business’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. It can aid in identifying the problematic areas of your business so that you can maximize your opportunities. It will also alert you to the challenges your organization might face in the future.
The PESTEL analysis is a framework that can help marketers assess whether macro-economic factors are affecting an organization. This is a critical step that helps organizations identify potential threats and weaknesses that can be used in other frameworks such as SWOT or to gain a broader and better understanding of the overall marketing environment.
Business analysis is a research discipline that helps driving change within an organization by identifying the key elements and processes that drive value. Business analysis can also be used in Identifying new business opportunities or how to take advantage of existing business opportunities to grow your business in the marketplace.
In corporate finance, the financial structure is how corporations finance their assets (usually either through debt or equity). For the sake of reverse engineering businesses, we want to look at three critical elements to determine the model used to sustain its assets: cost structure, profitability, and cash flow generation.
Financial modeling involves the analysis of accounting, finance, and business data to predict future financial performance. Financial modeling is often used in valuation, which consists of estimating the value in dollar terms of a company based on several parameters. Some of the most common financial models comprise discounted cash flows, the M&A model, and the CCA model.
Value investing is an investment philosophy that looks at companies’ fundamentals, to discover those companies whose intrinsic value is higher than what the market is currently pricing, in short value investing tries to evaluate a business by starting by its fundamentals.
The Buffet Indicator is a measure of the total value of all publicly-traded stocks in a country divided by that country’s GDP. It’s a measure and ratio to evaluate whether a market is undervalued or overvalued. It’s one of Warren Buffet’s favorite measures as a warning that financial markets might be overvalued and riskier.
Financial accounting is a subdiscipline within accounting that helps organizations provide reporting related to three critical areas of a business: its assets and liabilities (balance sheet), its revenues and expenses (income statement), and its cash flows (cash flow statement). Together those areas can be used for internal and external purposes.
Post-mortem analyses review projects from start to finish to determine process improvements and ensure that inefficiencies are not repeated in the future. In the Project Management Book of Knowledge (PMBOK), this process is referred to as “lessons learned”.
Retrospective analyses are held after a project to determine what worked well and what did not. They are also conducted at the end of an iteration in Agile project management. Agile practitioners call these meetings retrospectives or retros. They are an effective way to check the pulse of a project team, reflect on the work performed to date, and reach a consensus on how to tackle the next sprint cycle.
In essence, a root cause analysis involves the identification of problem root causes to devise the most effective solutions. Note that the root cause is an underlying factor that sets the problem in motion or causes a particular situation such as non-conformance.
A break-even analysis is commonly used to determine the point at which a new product or service will become profitable. The analysis is a financial calculation that tells the business how many products it must sell to cover its production costs. A break-even analysis is a small business accounting process that tells the business what it needs to do to break even or recoup its initial investment.
Stanford University Professor Ronald A. Howard first defined decision analysis as a profession in 1964. Over the ensuing decades, Howard has supervised many doctoral theses on the subject across topics including nuclear waste disposal, investment planning, hurricane seeding, and research strategy. Decision analysis (DA) is a systematic, visual, and quantitative decision-making approach where all aspects of a decision are evaluated before making an optimal choice.
A DESTEP analysis is a framework used by businesses to understand their external environment and the issues which may impact them. The DESTEP analysis is an extension of the popular PEST analysis created by Harvard Business School professor Francis J. Aguilar. The DESTEP analysis groups external factors into six categories: demographic, economic, socio-cultural, technological, ecological, and political.
The STEEP analysis is a tool used to map the external factors that impact an organization. STEEP stands for the five key areas on which the analysis focuses: socio-cultural, technological, economic, environmental/ecological, and political. Usually, the STEEP analysis is complementary or alternative to other methods such as SWOT or PESTEL analyses.
The STEEPLE analysis is a variation of the STEEP analysis. Where the step analysis comprises socio-cultural, technological, economic, environmental/ecological, and political factors as the base of the analysis. The STEEPLE analysis adds other two factors such as Legal and Ethical.
Activity-based management (ABM) is a framework for determining the profitability of every aspect of a business. The end goal is to maximize organizational strengths while minimizing or eliminating weaknesses. Activity-based management can be described in the following steps: identification and analysis, evaluation and identification of areas of improvement.
PMESII-PT is a tool that helps users organize large amounts of operations information. PMESII-PT is an environmental scanning and monitoring technique, like the SWOT, PESTLE, and QUEST analysis. Developed by the United States Army, used as a way to execute a more complex strategy in foreign countries with a complex and uncertain context to map.
The SPACE (Strategic Position and Action Evaluation) analysis was developed by strategy academics Alan Rowe, Richard Mason, Karl Dickel, Richard Mann, and Robert Mockler. The particular focus of this framework is strategy formation as it relates to the competitive position of an organization. The SPACE analysis is a technique used in strategic management and planning.
A lotus diagram is a creative tool for ideation and brainstorming. The diagram identifies the key concepts from a broad topic for simple analysis or prioritization.
Functional decomposition is an analysis method where complex processes are examined by dividing them into their constituent parts. According to the Business Analysis Body of Knowledge (BABOK), functional decomposition “helps manage complexity and reduce uncertainty by breaking down processes, systems, functional areas, or deliverables into their simpler constituent parts and allowing each part to be analyzed independently.”
The multi-criteria analysis provides a systematic approach for ranking adaptation options against multiple decision criteria. These criteria are weighted to reflect their importance relative to other criteria. A multi-criteria analysis (MCA) is a decision-making framework suited to solving problems with many alternative courses of action.
A stakeholder analysis is a process where the participation, interest, and influence level of key project stakeholders is identified. A stakeholder analysis is used to leverage the support of key personnel and purposefully align project teams with wider organizational goals. The analysis can also be used to resolve potential sources of conflict before project commencement.
Strategic analysis is a process to understand the organization’s environment and competitive landscape to formulate informed business decisions, to plan for the organizational structure and long-term direction. Strategic planning is also useful to experiment with business model design and assess the fit with the long-term vision of the business.
Gennaro is the creator of FourWeekMBA, which reached about four million business people, comprising C-level executives, investors, analysts, product managers, and aspiring digital entrepreneurs in 2022 alone | He is also Director of Sales for a high-tech scaleup in the AI Industry | In 2012, Gennaro earned an International MBA with emphasis on Corporate Finance and Business Strategy.
Discover more from FourWeekMBA
Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.
