Effective visions: vision component and realization factors

Though vision is emphasized as the starting point of an organization’s transformation, surprisingly little research has been done on what constitutes an “effective” vision. This article addresses this critical gap, and reviews the theoretical literature on what leaders do to realize their visions. Vision components refer to the attributes and content hypothesized to make a vision effective. Vision attributes refer to brevity, clarity, abstractness, challenge, future orientation, stability, and desirability or ability to inspire, while vision content is determined by each leader’s strategy for his organization. Vision realization factors include strategy and planning, acquiring support, communication, organizational alignment, empowerment, and motivation. A set of propositions about relationships between vision components and realization factors, and business performance are developed, and future research directions and implications for managers are discussed.