What do airline mission statements reveal about value and strategy?

A proper mission statement enriched with specific values and culture is essential for effective communications in this industry field. This paper explores the key values embedded in the mission statements of airline companies, and how values are correlated to their strategies. Content analysis and consequently network analysis among the obtained keywords were carried out in this study. Six content dimensions in the mission statements of airline companies were identified as: ‘service’, ‘customer’, ‘concern for stakeholders’, ‘concern for strategy’, ‘competitive advantage’ and ‘development’. In addition, the method of islands on airline networks offers a viewpoint from another perspective. Six core values are identified and reported: ‘tourism’, ‘excellence’, embrace’, ‘transport and continuity’, ‘growth’ and ‘low-fare’. The findings confirm that by employing content analysis advanced network techniques can serve to study mission statements and other similar texts. Moreover, applied text analytic tools through visualization of data represents a new approach in the field of organization study. This research adds to the existing knowledge of the role that mission statements play in airline management.

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