A mission statement is a short statement that highlights the organization's purpose, identity, and scope of operations, as well as the type of product and service that l the organization supplies to its core customers and, by extension to the other various segmentations of the market in general (Caruthers, 2013). A mission statement involves a brief description of an organization's core issues such as the company's values, vision, philosophies, and competitive advantages. Therefore, the purpose of the mission statement of any business entity is to focus and direct the vision of the organization and communicate primarily to its target audience so as to provide a shared understanding of the organization's intended direction (Wallace, 2012). Therefore, this paper seeks to review and evaluate the mission statements of Home Depot and Nike. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay An effective mission statement is one that clearly defines who the target audience or customers are and what services and products the organization intends to provide (Caruthers, 2013). Furthermore, it should provide clear guidelines, principles and procedures for the day-to-day operations of the business entity. As a result, Home Depot and Nike's mission statement is effective in terms of clarity and precise definition of what products and services they provide to their customers. Therefore, Nike's mission statement meets the criteria outlined in the article on mission statements as it clearly defines the intended services to the target audience, to inspire and innovate every athlete in the world (Carbasho, 2010). Furthermore, an effective mission statement should focus more on meeting the needs of its customers rather than focusing on the product (Wallace, 2012). This is because, just like technologies, products also tend to become obsolete over a certain period of time, but consumer needs can last forever. Consequently, a market-oriented mission statement of any organization must define the corporate entity in terms of satisfying the basic needs of the consumer (Caruthers, 2013). Therefore, Home Depot's mission statement meets the standard mission statement evaluation criteria because it explains consumers' needs and seeks to satisfy them. The mission goal is to provide the highest level of service and the widest selection of products intends to meet the needs of its customers. Additionally, providing competitive pricing and conducting business operations guided by Home Depot's core values, such as providing excellent customer service and caring and respecting all people, are aimed at meeting customer needs (The Home Depot: Annual Report, 2014 ). Similarly, Nike's mission statement focuses primarily on the needs of the target audience, to ensure that every athlete in the world is inspired (Carbasho, 2010). An effective mission statement should be specific, short and well-focused and, therefore, vague. mission statements lack resonance and meaningful purpose (Caruthers, 2013). As a result, generic mission statements are likely to be missed and often dismissed as too complex and therefore difficult to understand. Nonetheless, Nike's mission statement meets the criteria as it is short, to the point, memorable, and can be easily understood. In contrast, Home Depot's mission statement is quite longer as it contains specific and actionable guidelines..