a) Mission statement refers to the avowal of an organisation's overall purpose, such as Nokia's "Connecting people..." It outlines the basis for setting the objectives of a business.

b) The role of mission and vision statements in a business organisation includes:

• to have a clear purpose, i.e. what the business is trying to get
• outlines the organisation's values
• states the underlying purpose of an organisation's existence
• serve to unify all corporate and people cultures within the workforce