BACAWAT, Jimson

FONTANILLA, Clyde Cedrick

CIANO, Cristi Lisa
CUYOPAN, Miriam
KIDLONGAN, Kristine

SLU Vision Statement:

"We envision Saint Louis University as an excellent missionary and transformative educational
institution zealous in developing human resources imbued with the Christian Spirit and who are
creative, competent and socially involved."
If we are going to analyze Saint Louis Universitys vision statement using the nine (9)
essential components or criteria of Vision-Mission Statements first thing to consider is the
customers. The only phrase stated in Saint Louis Universitys vision statement that has a
connection with the customers is human resources, which is too broad. What are we trying to
refer with this phrase, is it the students only or is it the entire SLU community? Because
technically human resources are the people who work for the organization; human resource
management is really employee management with an emphasis on those employees as assets of
the business. In this context, employees are sometimes referred to as human capital.
Next to consider is the product or services, what are the firms major products or services?
Based on Saint Luis Universitys vision statement, their major services are to provide excellent
missionary and transformative educational institution zealous in developing human resources.
This statement is very clear. If I were the student or the parents looking for a university for my
child by looking at this statement I will definitely grasp what this institution can provide to me as
a student or to my child if ever I choose to enroll or the parents decided to put their child in SLU.
Third will be the markets, does it identify geographically where does the firm compete?
Competition is the rivalry among sellers trying to achieve such goals as increasing profits, market
share, and sales volume by varying the elements of the marketing mix: price, product,
distribution, and promotion. This part in Saint Louis Universitys vision statement is lacking. It
didnt identified the specific competition it has it terms of its geographical location. Competition
is dynamic and rests on innovation and the search for strategic differences. Close linkages with
buyers, suppliers, and other institutions are important, not only to efficiency but also to the rate
of improvement and innovation. Location affects competitive advantage through its influence on
productivity and especially on productivity growth. Generic factor inputs themselves usually are
abundant and readily accessed. Prosperity depends on the productivity with which factors are
used and upgraded in a particular location. Thus, it is very vital to identify your markets in your
vision statement in order for your target market to identify how strong and competitive SLU is
given the fact that it has more than three competitors in Baguio City.

BACAWAT, Jimson
FONTANILLA, Clyde Cedrick
CIANO, Cristi Lisa
CUYOPAN, Miriam
KIDLONGAN, Kristine
Fourth is technology, is the firm technologically current? Given the fact that Saint Louis
University was established year 1910 way back more than a hundred years ago technological
aspects were not included in the vision statement. Knowing that way back 1910 was a common
year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar and a common year starting on Friday of the
Julian calendar, the 1910th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the
910th year of the 2nd millennium, the 10th year of the 20th century, and the 1st year of the
1910s decade. Note that the Julian day for 1910 is 13 calendar days difference, which continued
to be used from 1582 until the complete conversion of the Gregorian calendar was entirely done
in 1929. So development of technology during this time is not as rapid as of todays generation.
Fifth is concern for survival, growth and profitability, is the firm committed to growth and
financial soundness? The phrase imbued with the Christian Spirit and who are creative,
competent and socially involved. For us implies the commitment of SLU towards its
stakeholders, its concern on their survival on the outside world, their growth as an individual and
as a human being and their profitability to the society as being its shepherd towards its
improvement and greater good.
Philosophy, what are the basic beliefs, values, aspirations, and ethical priorities of the
firm? The entire vision-mission statement of Saint Louis University summarizes its philosophy to
itself as an institutions and to its stakeholders. It understands academic interests are as diverse
as its students. So it provide choices to give its students flexibility in their learning process. In
addition to an extensive menu of interdisciplinary majors, minors and concentrations, its
innovative

curriculum allows students to focus their undergraduate studies on what most

excites them intellectually. It empower students to plan their own degree program and work
across disciplines to foster a diverse and individual learning experience. In SLU, each student has
the primary responsibility for his or her program of study and course selection.
In terms of self-concept or on what is the firms distinctive competence or major
competitive advantage. A competitive advantage can be gained by offering the consumer a
greater value than the competitors, such as by offering lower prices or providing quality services
or other benefits that justify a higher price. The strongest competitive advantage is a strategy
that that cannot be imitated by other companies.
Competitive advantage can be also viewed as any activity that creates superior value
above its rivals. A company wants the gap between perceived value and cost of the product to
be greater than the competition. Michael Porter defines three generic strategies that firm's may

BACAWAT, Jimson
FONTANILLA, Clyde Cedrick
CIANO, Cristi Lisa
CUYOPAN, Miriam
KIDLONGAN, Kristine
use to gain competitive advantage: cost leadership, differentiation, and focus. A firm utilizing a
cost leadership strategy seeks to be the low-cost producer relative to its competitors. A
differentiation strategy requires that the firm possess a "non-price" attribute that distinguishes
the firm as superior to its peers. Firms following a focus approach direct their attention to narrow
product lines, buyer segments, or geographic markets. "Focused" firms will use cost or
differentiation to gain advantage, but only within a narrow target market. The four core values of
SLU always serve as its major competitive advantage towards its competitors. Being included in
the vision statement would definitely let the target market understand the difference or the
benefits they can get when they enroll in SLU.

Concern for public image and Concern for employees. Corporate image, or reputation,
describes the manner in which a company, its activities, and its products or services are
perceived by outsiders. In a competitive business climate, many businesses actively work to
create and communicate a positive image to their customers, shareholders, the financial
community, and the general public. A company that mismanages or ignores its image is likely to
encounter a variety of problems. "Reputation problems grow like weeds in a garden," Davis
Young wrote in his book Building Your Company's Good Name. "Direct and indirect costs escalate
geometrically."
Some of the warning signs that a business might have an image problem include high
employee turnover, the disappearance of major customers, a drop in stock value, and poor
relationships with vendors or government officials. If an image problem is left unaddressed, a
company might find many of its costs of doing business rising dramatically, including the costs of
product development, sales support, employee wages, and shareholder dividends. In addition,
since the majority of consumers base their purchase decisions at least partly on trust, current
and future sales levels are likely to suffer as well.
For our understanding on the vision statement of SLU its concern is not mainly on the
institution itself but on its human resources or its stakeholders. SLU wants its human resources to
be good citizen and of to have a great positive impact on the society they belong may be it local
or international. That its human resources can be the source of the positive change that this
world is looking for. That its human resources will in the future, respond to the call of the society,
community and to our environment.