Mission climate measurement: a new validated scale

Abstract

Despite the level of interest surrounding mission statements and their internalization in organizations, there is a lack of a valid construct to measure the sense of mission in organizational climate surveys. The aim of this exploratory study is to define and validate an instrument to assess the perception of the implementation of the mission in everyday routines. A sample of 132 employees from two companies completed the questionnaire to probe the scale’s reliability and validity. A principal components analyses (PCAs) were conducted, taking the three dimensions separately. Later, a confirmatory analysis of the entire scale, which was a factor analysis using structural equation modelling (SEM) techniques, taking into accounts the three aforementioned dimensions. The scale is composed of ten items arranged in three dimensions: sensemaking of the mission, employee mission engagement, and organizational alignment. These scales provide clues to human resources managers about how to define and implement the mission to ensure that it will be interiorized by all members of the company. This new scale provides scholars with a comprehensive way to measure and assess the presence of the mission in the organizational climate and provides human resources managers with a useful kit to apply within their organizations.