Some of the seminal management literature such as The Fifth Discipline, Built to Last and Good to Great emphasize the importance and define an approach to having a shared vision in the organization context. Pioneers in the leadership studies, such as Warren Bennis, have also examined this motif and related concepts such as "visionary leadership". In fact the inter-relatedness of two - organizational vision and visionary leadership - has also been discussed by several authors such as Henry Mintzberg. As Bennis says "A great organization has an inspiring purpose and appealing values, and effective leaders use this core ideology as an instrument to move people and organizations forward."
Is visioning exercise a process of discovery? How do organizational values interplay with organizational vision? How does alignment with vision correlate with organizational effectiveness?The construct of a future imagery is known by various names - vision, mission and purpose. As academician Gary McLean points out there is no commonly accepted distinction between these. Based on my own experience of working with various organization settings, I tend to agree with the lack of clarity on this front. Most practitioners that I have come across believe that quibbling over these semantics is only a petty exercise. In fact, one of the leading OD consultant that I worked with strongly believed that the distinction is irrelevant as long as the organization knows the "Why" (why they exist), the "What" (what they intend to do) and the "How" (how they plan to do).
One intriguing aspect for me is whether envisaging a future scenario is fundamentally a creative or discovery process. Second, do people come before a shared vision or vice versa? Jim Collins believes great organizations get right people on the bus, wrong people off the bus and then decide where to take the bus. Third, how do "vision" and "values" interplay? Are organizational values fundamentally to be discovered? If so, what role does it play in the visioning process? According to Collins and Porras the core values and core purpose are the foundations of an effective vision.
The reason for my curiosity on these above aspects also stems from a practical standpoints. I have often seen that during a organizational visioning exercise, there is either some degree of agreement, a total apathy or a vehement disagreement by existing organization members. Is building a consensus towards a shared vision essential for an organization? If so, to what levels in the hierarchy? What correlation, if any, exist between degree of alignment with shared vision and organizational effectiveness?
For now, the paper Effective organizational vision: implications for human resource development by Foster and Akdere is where I have begun to get a better understanding of academic literature on this subject.