A vision statement is an inspirational statement of an idealistic emotional future of a company or group. Vision describes the basic human emotion that a founder intends to be experienced by the people the organization interacts with. Vision statements may fill the following functions for a company: Serve as foundations for a broader strategic plan. Motivate existing employees and attract potential employees by clearly categorizing the company's goals and attracting like-minded individuals. Focus company efforts and facilitate the creation of core competencies by directing the company to only focus on strategic opportunities that advance the company's vision. Help companies differentiate from competitors. A consensus does not exist on the characteristics of a "good" or "bad" vision statement. Commonly cited traits include: concise: able to be easily remembered and repeated clear: defines a prime goal Time horizon: defines a time horizon future-oriented: describes where the company is going rather than the current state stable: offers a long-term perspective and is unlikely to be impacted by market or technology changes challenging: not something that can be easily met and discarded abstract: general enough to encompass all of the organization's interests and strategic direction inspiring: motivates employees and is something that employees view as desirable See also Strategic planning Mission statement Strategy Markup Language References Business terms Statements Strategic management