Strategic Management: Vision (Definitions)

"A written summary describing why an organization exists." (Timothy J  Kloppenborg et al, "Project Leadership", 2003)

"A brief declaration of why the organization, group, or department exists. It provides the foundation on which the entity will build its products and services and identifies to whom it will offer them." (Teri Lund & Susan Barksdale, "10 Steps to Successful Strategic Planning", 2006)

"The envisioned end state or optimal future situation. A product leader envisions a product's position in the market at a point in the future. The product leader's vision provides essential guidance to a team as strategies are formulated." (Steven Haines, "The Product Manager's Desk Reference", 2008)

"A statement about an organization that presents an aspiring view of the future and asserts what the organization is best at or seeks to achieve." (Bettina M Davis & Wendy L Combsand, "Demystifying Technical Training: Partnership, Strategy, and Execution", 2009)

"A statement that describes an organization's purpose or reason for existence." (Bettina M Davis & Wendy L Combsand, "Demystifying Technical Training: Partnership, Strategy, and Execution", 2009)

"A description of a desired future state of the enterprise, without regard to how it is to be achieved." (David C Hay, "Data Model Patterns: A Metadata Map", 2010)

"An organization's picture of where it wants to be in the future." (Linda Volonino & Efraim Turban, "Information Technology for Management" 8th Ed, 2011)

"High-level declaration of the organization's purpose." (Leslie G Eldenburg & Susan K Wolcott, "Cost Management 2nd Ed", 2011)

"Defines why an organization exists." (Linda Volonino & Efraim Turban, "Information Technology for Management 8th Ed", 2011)

"Theoretical description of what the organization should become." (Leslie G Eldenburg & Susan K Wolcott, "Cost Management" 2nd Ed, 2011)

"a company document that takes a mission statement to the next level by outlining what the organization wants to be; it focuses on the future and serves as a source of inspiration for employees." (Bill Holtsnider & Brian D Jaffe, "IT Manager's Handbook" 3rd Ed, 2012)

"explains the fundamental purpose of the company or organization." (Bill Holtsnider & Brian D Jaffe, "IT Manager's Handbook, 3rd Ed", 2012)

"A statement that defines where an organization wants to be in the future." (Sally-Anne Pitt, "Internal Audit Quality", 2014)

"A statement that describes where an organization wants to be or what it wants to achieve at some point in the future. It is normally a single sentence and provides inspiration to employees to help the organization achieve it. In contrast, a mission statement focuses on the present." (Darril Gibson, "Effective Help Desk Specialist Skills", 2014)

"A brief description of a company’s fundamental purpose that articulates the company’s purpose both for those in the organization and for the public." (Jeffrey Magee, "The Managerial Leadership Bible", 2015)

"An aspirational description of the achievements an organization aims to accomplish in the mid-to-long term." (Andrew Pham et al, "From Business Strategy to Information Technology Roadmap", 2016)

"A description of an organization or function’s business, its objectives, and its approach to reach those objectives." (Jonathan Ferrar et al, "The Power of People: Learn How Successful Organizations Use Workforce Analytics To Improve Business Performance", 2017)

"A description of the desired future impact of your function on the organization." (Jonathan Ferrar et al, "The Power of People", 2017)

"The stated reason for the existence of the organization. It is usually prepared by the CEO and key members of the executive team and succinctly states what they will achieve or accomplish. It typically is changed only when the organization decides to pursue a completely new market." (H James Harrington & William S Ruggles, "Project Management for Performance Improvement Teams", 2018)

"The Vision is a description of the future state of the Solution under development. It reflects Customer and stakeholder needs, as well as the Feature and Capabilities proposed to meet those needs." (Dean Leffingwell, "SAFe 4.5 Reference Guide: Scaled Agile Framework for Lean Enterprises" 2nd Ed, 2018)

 "A concise statement defining an organization’s long-term direction, the vision is a summary statement of what the organization ultimately intends to become five, 10 or even 15 years into the future. It is the organization’s long-term 'dream' , what it constantly strives to achieve. A powerful vision provides everyone in the organization with a shared mental framework that helps give shape to its abstract future." (Intrafocus)