Examination of the Vision and Mission Statements of the Public Benefit Associaitions within the Context of Impression Management Strategies

Abstract

Purpose - The purpose of this research is to determine to what extent public benefit associations reflect their impression management strategies in their vision and mission statements. Design/methodology/approach - In this research, a deductive approach was taken, using content analysis, one of the qualitative research methods. The universe of the research consists of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) operating in Turkey, and the sample consists of public benefit associations operating as an NGO in Turkey. Data for the public benefit associations, obtained from the website of the T.C. Interior Ministry, Directorate General for Relations with Civil Society. According to the data obtained on 25.08.2021, the total number of public benefit associations is 364. Associations that do not have a website and do not include their vision and mission statements on the website were excluded from the research. Findings - At the result of the research, it was determined that 27% (62 associations) included vision statements and 28% (66 associations) included mission statements of the examined associations. When evaluated according to the frequency of use of the expressions used in the statements, the number of frequently used expressions in the category of “leadership” for the vision statement and “providing support to its members and those in need in the society” for the mission statement is ahead compared to other categories. The most obvious impression management strategy; It has been determined that there is a strategy of "exemplification" according to the vision statements and "ingratiation" according to the mission statements. It was determined that 59.26% (32 associations) of the associations used the "illustrative" impression management strategy in their vision statements, and 63.79% (37 associations) of the associations used the "demonstrative" impression management strategy in their mission statements. Discussion - The result of the research supports the literature. According to the vision statements, the strategy of " exemplification" is the most prominent strategy. The reason for this may be that public benefit associations were established with the aim of serving the society and performing beneficial activities for the society. According to the mission statements, the strategy of “ingratiation” is the most prominent strategy. The reason for this may be the sympathetic behavior of the public benefit associations towards the society in order to increase the number of people and/or institutions that follow and cooperate with them and of their members.