Mission statements readability: an insight into Islamic banks

Mission statements readability:an insight into Islamic banks

Ishfaq AhmedHailey College of Commerce, University of the Punjab,

Lahore, Pakistan andFaculty of Management, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia,

Johor Bahru, Malaysia, and

Muhammad Zeeshan Shaukat and Talat IslamFaculty of Management, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia,

Johor Bahru, Malaysia

Abstract

Purpose – A mission statement is an important tool for organizational communication, as it speaksto all stakeholders. It should be readable and comprehensible. The main objective of this article is todetermine the readability of mission statements from selected Islamic banks.

Design/methodology/approach – This study was conducted using simple counting techniques(total words, total sentences and number of words per sentence) and readability analyses. The missionstatements from 169 Islamic banks were taken from their respective web sites between March andApril 2012.

Findings – The findings reveal that the mission statements of Islamic banks are difficult to read andcomprehend and require 17 years of formal education before they can be fully understood.

Research limitations/implications – Future studies should consider a comparative analysis thatlooks at how the origins of a bank can affect mission statements as well as examining differentdivision of the financial sector such as insurance companies and other financial institutions.

Practical implications – The findings of this study revealed that banks have a great deal of workto do on their mission statements in order to make them readable and understandable to a wide rangeof stakeholders.

Originality/value – This article is first of its kind as it focuses on an area that has not beeninvestigated by earlier researchers.

Keywords Islamic banks, Mission statements, Readability, Organizational communication,Strategic management, Analysis

Paper type Research paper

Introduction and backgroundA mission statement is an essential component of a business entity, as it outlines thereasons for its existence. It covers the ambitions, goals, philosophies, and attitudes of anorganization. Pearce and Robinson (1991) viewed mission statements as indispensablebecause of their strategic significance, as they clarify the direction of a company (Keller,1983) for both internal and external stakeholders. Internally it can articulate thephilosophy of the business to its members and employees (Davies and Glaister, 1997).Externally, a mission statement speaks of the reasons the organization exists, theactivities it performs, the areas of its influence, the products it offers, and the customers ittargets, as well as the services it provides (Sattari et al., 2011; Hartley, 2002; Campbelland Yeung, 1991). In other words, a mission statement is a focused statement directed

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at

www.emeraldinsight.com/1759-0817.htm

Journal of Islamic Accounting andBusiness ResearchVol. 4 No. 2, 2013pp. 132-150q Emerald Group Publishing Limited1759-0817DOI 10.1108/JIABR-04-2012-0019

JIABR4,2

132

to the stakeholders that organizations use as a form of communication. A stakeholderperception is based on the role of the organization and the level of each individual’scommitment and trust in management and the organization as a whole (Fairhurst andJordan, 1997).

Readability is at the heart of understanding a statement, as a readable statementincreases stakeholder comprehension about the ideology of an organization(Godkin et al., 2000). Obtaining the best response from stakeholders is dependentupon the readability of the mission statement (Sattari et al., 2011; Cochran et al., 1985).Bart and Baetz (1998) defined readability “as the extent to which the reader understandsor shares meanings with the writer.” The significance of readability has been realized inmany disciplines, such as public relations (Geary, 2001), marketing (Kover, 2002;Leong et al., 2002; Milne et al., 2006; Mackey and Metz, 2009), accounting, and finance(Blouin, 2010; Li, 2008). Researchers have devised guidelines for developing a missionstatement; for instance, Ehrenberg (1982) stated that:

. it should be brief;

. it should be prepared while considering the reader;

. short words should be used;

. those writing the statement should be prepared to revise it when required; and

. always “start at the end.”

Cochran et al. (1985) also suggested that a statement should be brief and concise, and itshould always be open to revision.

The readability of mission statements is an important but under-investigated area(Sattari et al., 2011), and very little information is available on this topic. Cochran andDavid (1986) conducted research into the readability of mission statements from74 American universities and 61 American organizations. They used the Fog Index andthey found that the mission statements of business organizations were more readablethan those of universities. The mission statements of universities and other educationalinstitutions were also investigated by Stober (1997), Morphew and Hartley (2006) andPitt et al. (2010). Sattari and Fellows (2011) conducted a study on 100 businessorganizations, selected randomly from a list of fortune 500 companies and concludedthat the readability of mission statements is an area that requires further investigation.

Unfortunately, the readability of mission statements of Islamic banks is an area thathas not been investigated. The Islamic banking industry is one of the most rapidlygrowing industries in the world. The Islamic banking industry will surpass 2.8 trilliondollars by the year 2015 (Islamic Development Bank Report, 2010). Islamic banking is asector that was established with the aim of providing sharia-compliant banking and thismessage should be communicated to all stakeholders. This study investigated whetherthe mission statements of Islamic banks were readable and comprehendible. As this isan area that has not been investigated by previous researchers, this study will help to fillexisting gaps in this field of research. The following sections discuss the importance ofmission statements, their readability, and readability analysis techniques.

Significance of mission statementsA mission statement is a short and formal statement that contains guidelines forsetting goals and making decisions (Sattari et al., 2011). Hill and Jones (2008) define it as

Missionstatementsreadability

133

the context or framework that facilitates the formulation of strategies. Missionstatements have been discussed in the literature of strategic management for decades;for instance Jones (1960) highlighted the significance of the mission statement and therole they played in decision making, the response towards the community, and overallorganizational goals. Klemm et al. (1991) was of the view that mission statements are adeclaration of the value system of an organization, providing guidelines for leadershipto follow.

Both mission and vision statements work as a unifying force as they enable differentpeople in an organization to work towards a common objective (Verma, 2009; Irelandand Hitt, 1992), which becomes the prime force behind peak performance (Smith et al.,2001). However, the relationship between mission statements and performance isquestionable, and several authors have mixed opinions about this relationship(Sattari et al., 2011; Bartkus et al., 2000). Baetz and Bart (1996) found that missionstatements were the source of better performance, but these findings were questioned byDavies and Glaister (1997), as they found little evidence to support the claims put forthby Baetz and Bart. Barber (2005) and Meyer (2005) drew similar conclusions. Bartkusand Glassman (2008) noticed that there were behavioral inconsistencies towardsstakeholders and the content of mission statements, which resulted in skepticism aboutsuch statements. Morphew and Hartley (2006) commented that mission statements are acollection of “stock phrases” that are not inspirational or are vague, indicating that thesestatements are not truly readable.

Irrespective of criticism, mission statements are still accepted as an importantinstrument for strategic planning processes. They offer three distinctive benefits:promoting a distinctive image, direction setting and internal and external marketing.Drucker (1973) and Sattari et al. (2011) discuss the importance of mission statementsfor creating a distinct image. The role of direction setting has been identified bynumerous researchers: Pearce and Robinson (1991) and Keller (1983), for example,referred to the importance of the mission statement for direction setting. The missionstatement is important, and combined with a statement of vision, it enables ultimatefuture development for an organization (Nanus, 1992; Martin, 1985).

The role of mission statement as a marketing instrument is also significant (Hartley,2002; Hackley, 1998; Keller, 1983). Mission statements market the guiding vision of anorganization to both internal and external customers (Hartley, 2002; Sattari et al., 2011).Employees are considered to be the most vital internal stakeholders and organizationalideology can be better communicated to them by preparing a readable andcomprehendible mission statement (Hartley, 2002; Hooley et al., 1992; Davies andGlaister, 1997). Islamic banks are no exception as they should also dictate their directionto their stakeholders.

Significance of readability and comprehension of mission statementsReadability is the ease with which a document can be read, while comprehension is theminimum ability level required to understand a document (Pitt et al., 2010). Smith andTaffler (1992) differentiate between both the terms in their usage and measurementapproaches.

To be both readable and comprehensible, a mission statement should address thetarget audience (Sattari et al., 2011). Addressing all stakeholders is a challenging task asstakeholders have many different traits. If the stakeholder can easily grasp a statement,

JIABR4,2

134

it would be considered a good statement or one that can convey its message well (Klare,1963). A good and readable statement should be structured with consideration given towords, sentences, contents layout and legibility (Sattari et al., 2011; Klare, 1963).

A readable statement is one that is “reader centered” (Klare, 1980; Sattari et al.,2011). The readers include all the stakeholders (Sattari et al., 2011). Unfortunately, thecontents of mission statement frequently do not consider the needs of all stakeholders(Bartkus and Glassman, 2008), which effects its significance in the eyes of stakeholders(Morphew and Hartley, 2006). Zakaluk and Samuels (1988) claimed that good writingstyle and efficient syntactic structure impact the readability of a mission statement.

Comprehension of a document is an outcome of its readability (Smith and Taffler,1992). Comprehension is also dependent on reader traits such as reading skills,education, prior knowledge, motivation, and interest. A mission statement should reflectgood writing practices in terms of style, content, structure, design, and it should alsoconsider the traits of the target audience (Sattari et al., 2011). The readability and ease ofcomprehension of a mission statement is judged by testing methods that estimate thereadability of statements by comparing traits of the reader with the traits of thedocument (Pitt et al., 2010). The following section covers various methods currently inuse and the methods selected for this study.

Approaches for estimating text readabilityEarlier works on readability measures concentrated on the readability of text for schoolchildren (Sattari et al., 2011; Zakaluk and Samuels, 1988). With the passage of time, manymeasures have been introduced to determine the difficulty level of a text (Zakaluk andSamuels, 1988). Initially developed by Gunning (1952), the Fog Index is the mostcommonly discussed and adopted method. Its primary aim was to evaluate writtenreports. The Fog factor is calculated by dividing the number of sentences in a document(or part of a document) by the number of long words found in the section of the documentunder review (Ehrenberg, 1982). If the Fog factor score is two or three, the document isconsidered easy to read and a score of four or five indicates that the document is difficultto read. Academic writings are typically attain a Fog factor score that falls between sixand eight and they may even achieve a score of ten (Ehrenberg, 1982).

Another measure that is widely used for evaluating texts and determining thereadability of a document is the Flesch (1948) measure. The Flesch measure is differentthan the methods used to determine children’s text readability measures and Fog Indexas it focuses on only papers and reports. It is useful for categorizing material aimed atadults. Flesch devised two measures which were the Flesch Reading Ease Score (FRES)and the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level (FKGL) score. The FRES is based on averagesentence length (ASL), which is calculated by dividing the total number of words bythe total sentences, and the average number of syllables per word (ANS), which isdetermined by dividing the total number of syllables by the total number of words. Theresults are ranked on a 100 point scale. A high score indicates a more comprehensibledocument. A standard document typically scores between 60 and 70.

The FKGL also uses ASL and ANS but uses different score levels to estimate thereadability of the documents. The FKGL score indicates the level of schooling oreducation required to understand a statement. Here, the results are ranked as anoutcome value. A high outcome value indicates that the document requires a higherlevel of education in order to be understood.


135

Another tool commonly used to analysis readability is the Automated ReadabilityIndex (ARI) developed by Smith and Senter (1967), which uses characters, words andsentences from a passage in a document to determine the grade level needed to understandthe passage. The Coleman-Liau Index (CLI), (Coleman and Liau, 1975) is yet another textreadability measure. It examines a sample of 100 words and finds the average number ofletters and the average number of sentences to judge the grade level needed to understandthe text. The SMOG Index created by McLaughlin (1969) uses poly-syllables (words ofthree or more syllables) to estimate the level of education needed to comprehend a piece ofwriting. Except for the Flesch measure, all these methods point to the average level ofeducation required to comprehend a document or statement.

Selecting the most suitable test for readability and comprehension analysis raisesquestions and researchers have had mixed results with various tests. For instance,Thomas et al. (1975) tested ARI, FRES, and the Fog Index to determine the mostsuitable measure. Their findings revealed that each technique has something to offerand that none of these methods should be excluded. Sattari et al. (2011) in their researchon mission statements from Fortune 100 companies used the Flesch family of tests, butthey also argued that other tests could also be used. Considering the existing body ofknowledge and the absence of any specialized or preferred techniques, this studyendeavored to apply all the techniques currently available.

Data sourcesA list of 218 Islamic banks was taken from the web site of the Association of IslamicBanking Institutions of Malaysia on March 13, 2012. In order to obtain the missionstatement, each institutions web site was visited between March 15, 2012 and April 7,2012. During the process of inquiry, a few of the banks were found to be in the initialstages of operation and their web sites were under construction. A few banks did notinclude a mission statement on their web site. All in all, 169 mission statements werecollected from the web sites of 218 Islamic banks the details of which are given inAppendix 1. Of these banks, 144 offered full-fledged Islamic banking services while47 were operating with Window (partial Islamic banking) (see Appendix 1). Theirmission statements were analyzed for content (number of sentences, words, and wordsper sentence) and readability using MS Word 2010. The readability tests included theFRES, FKGL score, ARI, CLI, Gunning Fog Index (GFI), and SMOG Index. These testswere applied to judge the degree of difficulty in comprehending a text.

ResultsThe results of this study are presented in Tables I and II. Table I reveals that the AjmanBank (Dubai) had the longest mission statement containing 176 words, while theshortest mission statement was from the PT Bank Maybank and it contained only fivewords (see Appendix 2) The average length of a mission statement was42.28 (SD ¼ 28.82) words. An analysis of the number of sentences and wordsper sentence revealed that the longest mission statement (Social Investment Bank ofBangladesh) contained eight sentences, while the shortest contained only one (PT BankMaybank, Indonesia). The average length of a mission statement was 1.63 (SD ¼ 1.47).The highest number of words in one sentence was 101 (Badr Forte Bank, Russia), whilethe lowest number of words per sentence was five (Social Investment Bankof Bangladesh). The average number of words in a sentence was 41.56 (SD ¼ 36.08).

JIABR4,2

136

Interestingly, Asian banks (banks from Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia and Russia)had both the longest and shortest mission statements in terms of number of words andnumber of sentences.

Measures Results Bank Operation Origin

Longest mission statement(words)

176 Ajman Bank FullyIslamic

Dubai

Shortest mission statement(words)

5 PT Bank Maybank SyariahIndonesia

FullyIslamic

Indonesia

Mean length of missionstatement (words)

42.2828 – – –

SD (words) 28.8198 – – –Most sentences 8 Social Investment Bank Limited Window BangladeshFewest sentences 1 PT Banka Maybank Syariah

IndonesiaFullyIslamic

Indonesia

Mean no. of sentences 1.6381 – – –SD (sentences) 1.4709 – – –Highest (no. of words/sentence)

101 Badr Forte Bank (license revokedin 2006)

Window Russia

Fewest (no. of words/sentence)

5 Social Investment Bank Limited Window Bangladesh

Mean (no. of words/sentence)

41.56 – – –

SD (words/sentence) 36.0898 – – –

Notes: aThere were 111 banks that had one sentence mission statement; PT Bank Maybank SyariahIndonesia was selected because it had least words in that one sentence mission statement

Table I.Contents of mission

statements

Fleschreading easescore

Flesch-Kincaidgrade levelscore

AutomatedReadabilityIndex

Coleman-LiuIndex

GunningFog Index SMOG Index

Mean 18.7188 16.7028 18.1822 17.8933 22.843 16.1583SD 32.9757 7.5704 8.7191 4.4308 8.2551 3.8928Lowest scoreScore 256.4 5.7 5.6 9.4 12.7 10.7Bank Badr Forte

BankBank MuamalatMalaysia

BankMuamalatMalaysia

BankMuamalatMalaysia

BankRefah

PT BankMaybankSyriah

Operation Window Fully Islamic Fully Islamic FullyIslamic

FullyIslamic

Fully Islamic

Origin Russia Malaysia Malaysia Malaysia Qatar IndonesiaHighest scoreScore 66.8 46.2 55.5 27.6 52.3 33Bank Bank

MuamalatMalaysia

Badr ForteBank

Badr ForteBank

Jaiz BankInt. Plc.

BadrForteBank

Badr ForteBank

Operation FullyIslamic

Window Window FullyIslamic

Window Window

Origin Malaysia Russia Russia Nigeria Russia RussiaTable II.

Readability analysis


137

Table I also shows the operational nature of the banks (fully Islamic or Windows).The decision of whether a bank could be defined as fully Islamic or operating withwindows was made on the basis of the contents of their mission statement.

Table II shows results of the readability and comprehension tests. The FRES wasused to determine the readability of the text. A statement is considered readable ifachieves a score of 60 or above (Sattari et al., 2011). In this study, the mean FRES scorewas 18.72 (SD ¼ 32.98). The highest readability score was 66.8 (Bank MuamalatMalaysia) and the lowest readability score was 256.4 (Badr Forte Bank, Russia). Asshown in Table II, the mean score of all mission statements fell below this standardvalue. This indicates that the mission statements of all Islamic banks are difficult to read.

Table II also contains the findings from the comprehensibility tests. In this study,the FKGL Score, ARI, CLI, GFI, and SMOG Index were used to judge the level ofeducation required to understand and comprehend the written statements.

The FKGL mean score was 16.70 (SD ¼ 7.57) for all Islamic banks. The mean scoresfor the remaining tests were as follows: the mean score for ARI, CLI, GFI and the SMOGIndex was 18.18 (SD ¼ 8.72), 17.89 (SD ¼ 4.43), 22.84 (SD ¼ 8.26) and 16.16 (SD ¼ 3.89),respectively. These findings show the average number of years of schooling required tounderstand the content of a mission statement. According to GFL, the number of years ofschooling required to understand the mission statements of Islamic banks is 22.84 years,but looking at the other tests it was determined that the average schooling required wasslightly less at 17 years.

Table II also shows that Bank Muamalat Malaysia had the most readable statementwith the highest FRES and lowest level of education required to understand its missionstatement. On the other hand, the mission statement of the Badr Forte Bank (Russian)was the most difficult to read as all grade level tests show that it required the highestlevel of education to understand the statement. The results from the FRES, whichreturned a score of 256.4, supports this claim.

Conclusion and discussionThis paper attempted to unveil the levels of readability and comprehensibility of missionstatements from selected Islamic banks. Overall, our findings showed that the missionstatements examined in this study were not very readable. An analysis was made on thegrounds of a mission statement’s length and through various readability tests. The BankMuamalat Malaysia had the most readable statement while the mission statement fromthe Badr Forte Bank (Russia) was the most difficult to read and understand.

Successful authors such as Stephen King are of the view that a document should bewritten at “Flesch-Kincaid grade level of seven” (Doak et al., 1996). Our studydemonstrated that the mission statements required, on average, 17 years of educationto be understandable indicating that it is not possible that all stakeholders could easilyread and understand these statements. These findings are useful for those who developmission statements.

One anticipated obstacles to implementing our findings is that some organizationalmembers, such as top management who are educated enough to understand thesestatements, may not appreciate the lower educational levels of their fellow stakeholders.Yet, it stands to reason that a statement must not only be readable but should also becomprehensible to the majority of readers. Making statements easy and understandablewill not only benefit readers with lower reading levels, but it will work towards creating

JIABR4,2

138

ear-catching statements that will be better remembered by other stakeholders(Sattari et al., 2011). It was the hope of this study to begin exploring new horizons ofchange in that direction.

Limitation and future directionsThis study analyzed an important communication tool used by businesses. Thoughthese results do not represent a final authority, they do communicate changes thatmust be made by the Islamic banks investigated. The results of the study were limitedto the time when mission statements were downloaded (March 15 to April 7, 2012) andthere may have been some changes made to the statements after these dates. A list ofIslamic banks was taken from the web site of Association of Islamic BankingInstitutions Malaysia, but there are numerous other sources such as “The Banker”,a banking reporter digest, which contains the top 500 Islamic Institutions. This reportis useful, as it contains list of banking, insurance and other financial institutions. Thisstudy only covered banks from 29 countries; other countries should also be considered.

From these results, other future directions can be suggested. Future research should beextended to investigate the top 500 Islamic banks. Future studies should also investigateother types of financial institutions including insurance and takaful companies.A comparison should also be made on a country-by-country basis as it was found thatbanks from specific countries had common traits. For example, banks from Bahrain hadmission statements with an average length of 40 words and one sentence. Similarly, mostIranian banks were found to have no mission statement posted to their web sites. Thesevariations may lead to differences in mission statements and their contents. A comparisoncould also be made between state-owned and privately-owned banks.

References

Baetz, M.C. and Bart, C.K. (1996), “Developing mission statements which work”, Long RangePlanning, Vol. 29 No. 4, pp. 526-533.

Barber, M.P. (2005), The Money Tree and How to Grow One: Creating Success in Your Business,2nd ed., Barberbooks.com.

Bart, C.K. and Baetz, M.C. (1998), “The relationship between mission statements and firmperformance: an exploratory study”, Journal ofManagement Studies, Vol. 35 No. 6, pp. 823-853.

Bartkus, B.R. and Glassman, M. (2008), “Do firms practice what they preach? The relationshipbetween mission statements and stakeholder management”, Journal of Business Ethics,Vol. 83, pp. 207-216.

Bartkus, B.R., Glassman, M. and McAfee, R.B. (2000), “Mission statements: are they smoke andmirrors?”, Business Horizons, Vol. 43 No. 6, pp. 23-29.

Blouin, M.C. (2010), “What types of firms send a clear signal in the MD and A? Determinants ofannual report readability”, Journal of the Academy of Business and Economics, Vol. 10No. 1, pp. 24-38.

Campbell, A. and Yeung, S. (1991), “Creating a sense of mission”, Long Range Planning, Vol. 42No. 4, pp. 10-20.

Cochran, D.S. and David, F.R. (1986), “Communication effectiveness of organizational missionstatements”, Journal of Applied Communication Research, Vol. 14 No. 2, pp. 108-118.

Cochran, D.S., David, F.R. and Gibsons, C.K. (1985), “A framework for developing an effectivemission statement”, Journal of Business Strategies, Vol. 2, pp. 4-17.


139

Coleman, M. and Liau, T.L. (1975), “A computer readability formula designed for machinescoring”, Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol. 60, pp. 283-284.

Davies, S.W. and Glaister, K.W. (1997), “Business school statements the bland leading the bland”,Long Range Planning, Vol. 30 No. 4, pp. 594-604.

Doak, C.C., Doak, L.G. and Root, J.H. (1996), Teaching Patients with Low Literacy Skills,J.P. Lippincott Company, Philadelphia, PA.

Drucker, P. (1973),Management: Tasks, Responsibilities, Practices, Harper & Row, New York, NY.

Ehrenberg, A.S.C. (1982), “Writing technical papers or reports”, The American Statistician,Vol. 36 No. 4, pp. 326-329.

Fairhurst, G. and Jordan, J. (1997), “Why are we here? Managing the meaning of an organizationalmission statement”, Journal of Applied Communication Research, Vol. 25 No. 4, pp. 243-264.

Flesch, R. (1948), “A new readability yardstick”, Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol. 32,pp. 221-233.

Geary, D.L. (2001), “The readability challenge in public relations”, Public Relations Quarterly,Vol. 46 No. 4, pp. 37-39.

Godkin, L., Valentine, S., Boler, H. and Lambert, T. (2000), “An analysis of mission statements fortop companies: content and style”, Academy of Managerial Communications Journal,Vol. 4, pp. 76-84.

Gunning, R. (1952), The Technique of Clear Writing, McGraw-Hill, New York, NY.

Hackley, C. (1998), “Mission statements as corporate communications: the consequences of socialconstructionism”, Corporate Communications: An International Journal, Vol. 3 No. 3,pp. 92-98.

Hartley, M. (2002), A Call to Purpose: Mission-Centered Change at Three Liberal Arts Colleges,RoutledgeFalmer, New York, NY.

Hill, C. and Jones, G. (2008), Strategic Management, Houghton Mifflin Company, New York, NY.

Hooley, G.J., Cox, A.J. and Adams, A. (1992), “Our five year mission – to boldly go where no manhas been before”, Journal of Marketing Management, Vol. 8, pp. 35-48.

Ireland, R. and Hitt, M. (1992), “Mission statements: importance, challenge and recommendationsfor development”, Business Horizons, Vol. 35 No. 3, pp. 34-42.

Islamic Development Bank Report (2010), available at: www.isdb.org/irj/go/km/docs/documents/IDBDevelopments/Internet/English/IDB/CM/Publications/Annual_Reports/36th/AnnualReport36.pdf (accessed 23 March 2011).

Jones, M.H. (1960), “Evolving a business philosophy”, Journal of the Academy of Management,Vol. 3 No. 2, pp. 93-98.

Keller, G. (1983), Academic Strategy: The Management Revolution in American HigherEducation, John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, MD.

Klare, G.R. (1963), The Measurement of Reliability, Iowa State University Press, Ames, IA.

Klare, G.R. (1980), A Manual for Readable Writing, 4th ed., REM, Glen Burrnie, MD.

Klemm, M., Sanderson, S. and Luffman, G. (1991), “Mission statements: selling corporate valuesto employees”, Long Range Planning, Vol. 24 No. 3, pp. 73-78.

Kover, A.J. (2002), “Readability”, Journal of Advertising Research, Vol. 42 No. 2, pp. 5-6.

Leong, E.K.F., Ewing, M.T. and Pitt, L.F. (2002), “E-comprehension evaluating B2B websitesusing readability formulate”, Industrial Marketing Management, Vol. 31 No. 2, pp. 125-131.

Li, F. (2008), “Annual report readability, current earnings, and earnings persistence”, Journal ofAccounting and Economics, Vol. 45 Nos 2/3, pp. 221-247.

JIABR4,2

140

McLaughlin, G.H. (1969), “SMOG grading – a new readability formula”, Journal of Reading,Vol. 12 No. 8, pp. 639-646.

Mackey, M.A. and Metz, M. (2009), “Ease of reading of mandatory information on Canadian foodproduct labels”, International Journal of Consumer Studies, Vol. 33 No. 4, pp. 369-381.

Martin, W.B. (1985), “Mission: a statement of identity and direction”, in Green, J.S. andLevine, A. (Eds), Opportunity in Adversity, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, CA.

Meyer, N.D. (2005), “Mission, vision and values statements”, CIO Magazine, July.

Milne, G.R., Culnan, M.J. and Greene, H.A. (2006), “Longitudinal assessment of online privacynotice readability”, Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, Vol. 25 No. 2, pp. 238-249.

Morphew, C.C. and Hartley, M. (2006), “Mission statements: a thematic analysis of rhetoricacross institutional type”, The Journal of Higher Education, Vol. 77 No. 3, pp. 456-471.

Nanus, B. (1992), Visionary Leadership: Creating a Compelling Sense of Direction for YourOrganization, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, CA.

Pearce, J. and Robinson, R. (1991), Formulation, Implementation and Control of CompetitiveStrategy, Richard D. Irwin, Boston, MA.

Pitt, L.F., Sattari, S. and Bevelander, D. (2010), “Are business school mission statements readable?Evidence from the top 100”, Journal of StrategicManagementEducation, Vol. 6 No. 4, pp. 1-16.

Sattari, S., Pitt, L.F. and Caruana, A. (2011), “How readable are mission statements?An exploratory study”, Corporate Communication: An International Journal, Vol. 16No. 4, pp. 282-292.

Smith, E.A. and Senter, R.J. (1967), Automated Readability Index, AMRL-TR-6620,Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Dayton, OH, p. iii.

Smith, M. and Taffler, R. (1992), “Understandability: different measures of the textual complexityof accounting narrative”, Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Vol. 5 No. 4,pp. 84-98.

Smith, M., Heady, R., Carson, K. and Carson, P. (2001), “Do missions accomplish their missions?An exploratory analysis of mission statement content and organizational longevity”,The Journal of Applied Management and Entrepreneurship, Vol. 6 No. 1, pp. 75-96.

Stober, S.S. (1997), “A content analysis of college and university missionstatements”, EdD dissertation, AAT 9813554, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA.

Thomas, G., Hartley, R.D. and Kincaid, J.P. (1975), “Test-retest and inter-analyst reliability of theAutomated Readability Index, Flesch reading ease score, and the Fog Index”, Journal ofLiteracy Research, Vol. 7, pp. 149-154.

Verma, H. (2009), “Mission statements – a study of intent and influence”, Journal of ServicesResearch, Vol. 9 No. 2, pp. 153-172.

Zakaluk, B.L. and Samuels, S.J. (1988), Readability: Its Past, Present and Future,International Reading Association, Newark, NJ.

Further reading

Dastmalchian, A., Lee, S. and Ng, I. (2000), “The interplay between organizational and nationalcultures: a comparison of organizational practices in Canada and South Korea using thecompeting values framework”, International Journal of Human Resource Management,Vol. 11 No. 2, pp. 388-412.

Greenacre, M. (1993), Correspondence Analysis in Practice, Academic Press, New York, NY.

Hofstede, G. (1985), “The interaction between national and organizational value system”, Journalof Management Studies, Vol. 22, pp. 347-357.


141

Morris, R. (1994), “Computerized content analysis in management research: a demonstration ofadvantages and limitations”, Journal of Management, Vol. 20 No. 4, pp. 903-931.

Ralston, D.A., Holt, D.H., Terpstra, R.H. and Cheng, Y.K. (1997), “The impact of national cultureand the economic ideology on managerial values: a study of the United States, Russia,Japan and China”, Journal of International Business, Vol. 28 No. 1, pp. 177-207.

Whelan, J. and Hunger, J. (1989), Strategic Management and Business Policy, Addison-Wesley,Reading, MA.

Appendix 1

Bank Country Operation

Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank Abu Dhabi FullyIslamic

Abu Dhabi National Islamic Finance (ADNIF) – subsidiary of NationalBank of Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi FullyIslamic

Al Hilal Bank (AKA Crescent Bank) Abu Dhabi WindowAl Salam Bank (Algeria) Algeria Fully

IslamicBanque Al-Baraka d’Algerie Algeria Fully

IslamicGulf Bank Algeria Algeria WindowKauthar Bank Azerbaijan Fully

IslamicABC Islamic Bank (EC) Bahrain Fully

IslamicAl Baraka Islamic Bank (formerly Al Baraka Islamic Investment Bankand merged with Al Amin Bank)

Bahrain FullyIslamic

Al Salam Bank (Bahrain) Bahrain FullyIslamic

Albaraka Banking Group (Bahrain) Bahrain FullyIslamic

Arcapita Bank BSC(c) (formerly First Islamic Investment Bank) Bahrain FullyIslamic

Bahrain Islamic Bank Bahrain FullyIslamic

Bank Alkhair BSC(C) (formerly Unicorn Investment Bank) Bahrain FullyIslamic

Capinnova Investment Bank BSC(c) Bahrain FullyIslamic

Capital Management House BSC(c) Bahrain FullyIslamic

Capivest BSC(c) (formerly Khaleej Finance and Investment) Bahrain FullyIslamic

Citi Islamic Investment Bank EC (CIIB) Bahrain FullyIslamic

Elaf Bank BS(c) – (formerly Sokouk Exchange Center – Tadawul) Bahrain FullyIslamic

Family Bank Bahrain FullyIslamic

(continued )Table AI.List of banks

JIABR4,2

142


First Energy Bank BSC(c) Bahrain FullyIslamic

First Investment Bank BSC(c) – dissolved Bahrain –Global Banking Corporation BSC(c) Bahrain WindowGulf Finance House (GFH) Bahrain Fully

IslamicGulf One Investment Bank Bahrain WindowInternational Investment Bank BSC(c), Manama Bahrain Fully

IslamicInvestment Dar Bank (BSC)(c) Bahrain Fully

IslamicInvestors Bank BSC(C) Bahrain Fully

IslamicIthmaar Bank (formerly Faysal Investment Bank of Bahrain ECand merged with Shamil Bank of Bahrain)

Bahrain FullyIslamic

Khaleeji Commercial Bank BSC(EC) (formerly GFH Commercial Bank) Bahrain FullyIslamic

Kuwait Finance House (Bahrain) BSC(c) Bahrain FullyIslamic

Seera Investment Bank BSC(c) (formerly United International Bank) Bahrain FullyIslamic

Venture Capital Bank BSC (c) Bahrain FullyIslamic

Al-Arafah Islami Bank Limited Bangladesh FullyIslamic

Export Import Bank of Bangladesh (Exim Bank) BangladeshFirst Security Islami Bank Ltd Bangladesh Fully

IslamicICB Islamic Bank Ltd (formerly The Oriental Bank Ltd) Bangladesh Fully

IslamicIslami Bank Bangladesh Limited Bangladesh Fully

IslamicShahjalal Islami Bank Limited Bangladesh Fully

IslamicSocial Investment Bank Limited Bangladesh WindowBosna Bank International Bosnia Fully

IslamicBank Islam Brunei Darussalam Berhad (merged Islamic DevelopmentBank of Brunei)

Brunei FullyIslamic

Faisal Islamic Bank of Kibris Ltd Cyprus FullyIslamic

Ajman Bank Dubai FullyIslamic

Dubai Bank Dubai FullyIslamic

Dubai Islamic Bank Dubai FullyIslamic

Emirates Islamic Bank (formerly Middle East Bank) Dubai FullyIslamic

(continued ) Table AI.


143


Noor Islamic Bank Dubai FullyIslamic

Rasameel Investment Bank Dubai FullyIslamic

YUSR Islamic Investment Bank – web site under construction Dubai –AlBaraka Bank Egypt (formerly The Egyptian Saudi Finance Bank) Egypt Fully

IslamicFaisal Islamic Bank of Egypt Egypt Fully

IslamicZamZam Bank SC Ethiopia WindowArab Gambian Islamic Bank Gambia Fully

IslamicBanque Islamique de Guinee Guinea Fully

IslamicPT Bank BCA Syariah (formerly Bank Utama Internasional Bank) Indonesia Fully

IslamicPT Bank BRI Syariah Indonesia WindowPT Bank Maybank Syariah Indonesia (formerly PT Bank MaybankIndocorp (BMI))

Indonesia FullyIslamic

PT Bank Muamalat Indonesia, Tbk Indonesia FullyIslamic

PT Bank Panin Syariah (formerly Bank Harfa) – no web site Indonesia –PT Bank Syariah Bukopin (formerly PT Bank Persyarikatan Indonesia) Indonesia Fully

IslamicPT Bank Syariah Mandiri Indonesia WindowPT Bank Syariah Mega Indonesia Indonesia Fully

IslamicPT Bank Victoria Syariah (formerly PT Bank Swaguna) – no web site Indonesia –Ansar Bank Iran WindowBank Day Iran WindowBank Eghtesad Novin (EN Bank) Iran WindowBank Maskan Iran WindowBank Mellat Iran WindowBank Melli Iran WindowBank Pasargad Iran WindowBank Qarzolhasane Mehr Iran Iran WindowBank Refah Iran WindowBank Saderat Iran (BSI) Iran WindowCity Bank Iran WindowKarafarin Bank Iran WindowParsian Bank (not accessible) Iran –Post Bank of Iran Iran WindowSaman Bank Iran WindowSarmayeh Bank Iran WindowSepah Bank Iran Fully

IslamicSina Bank Iran WindowTat Bank Iran WindowTejarat Bank Iran Window

(continued )Table AI.

JIABR4,2

144


Al Bilad Islamic Bank for Investment and Funding Iraq FullyIslamic

Cihan Bank for Islamic Investment and Finance Iraq FullyIslamic

Dijlah and Furat (Tigris and Euphrates) Bank for Development andInvestment

Iraq FullyIslamic

Elaf Islamic Bank (formerly Barakaat Bank for Investment and Funding) Iraq FullyIslamic

Iraqi Islamic Bank for Investment and Development Iraq FullyIslamic

National Islamic Bank – no web site Iraq FullyIslamic

Islamic International Arab Bank Jordan FullyIslamic

Jordan Dubai Islamic Bank Jordan FullyIslamic

Jordan Islamic Bank (Al Baraka Banking Group) Jordan FullyIslamic

Al Hilal Islamic Bank JSC Kazakhstan FullyIslamic

AsiaCredit Bank (formerly Lariba Bank) Kazakhstan WindowFirst Community Bank Limited Kenya Fully

IslamicGulf African Bank Kenya Fully

IslamicAhli United Bank (formerly Bank of Kuwait and the Middle East) KSC Kuwait Fully

IslamicBoubyan Bank (KSC) Kuwait Fully

IslamicKuwait Finance House Kuwait Fully

IslamicKuwait International Bank (formerly Kuwait Real Estate Bank) Kuwait Fully

IslamicWarba Bank Kuwait Fully

IslamicFirst Islamic Investment Bank Ltd Labuan Fully

IslamicAl Baraka Bank Lebanon SAL Lebanon Fully

IslamicArab Finance House SAL LebanonBlom Development Bank LebanonLebanese Islamic Bank (LIB) Lebanon Fully

IslamicAffin Islamic Bank Berhad Malaysia Fully

IslamicAl-Hidayah Investment Bank (Labuan) Ltd Malaysia –Al-Rajhi Banking and Investment Corpn (Malaysia) Berhad Malaysia Fully

IslamicAlkhair International Islamic Bank Malaysia Berhad (formerly UnicornInternational Islamic Bank Malaysia Berhad)

Malaysia FullyIslamic



145


Alliance Islamic Bank Malaysia Berhad Malaysia FullyIslamic

AmIslamic Bank Berhad Malaysia FullyIslamic

Asian Finance Bank Berhad Malaysia FullyIslamic

Bank Islam Malaysia Berhad Malaysia FullyIslamic

Bank Kerjasama Rakyat Malaysia Berhad Malaysia FullyIslamic

Bank Muamalat Malaysia Berhad Malaysia FullyIslamic

Bank Persatuan Malaysia Berhad Malaysia WindowCIMB Islamic Bank Berhad Malaysia Fully

IslamicEONCAP Islamic Bank Berhad Malaysia –Hong Leong Islamic Bank Berhad Malaysia Fully

IslamicHSBC Amanah Malaysia Berhad Malaysia Fully

IslamicKuwait Finance House (Labuan) Berhad – no web site Malaysia –Kuwait Finance House (Malaysia) Berhad Malaysia Fully

IslamicMaybank Islamic Behad Malaysia Fully

IslamicOCBC Al-Amin Bank Berhad Malaysia WindowPT Bank Muamalat Indonesia, Kuala Lumpur Branch Malaysia Fully

IslamicPublic Islamic Bank Berhad Malaysia Fully

IslamicRHB Islamic Bank Berhad Malaysia WindowRUSD Investment Bank, Inc., Labuan Malaysia WindowStandard Chartered Saadiq Berhad Malaysia WindowMaldives Islamic Bank Pvt Ltd Maldives Fully

IslamicBanque Al Wava Mauritanienne Islamique (BAMIS) (formerly BanqueAl Baraka Mauritanienne Islamique)

Mauritania FullyIslamic

Banque Islamique de Mauritanie – no web site Mauritania FullyIslamic

Century Banking Corporation Ltd MauritiusBanque Islamique du Niger – no web site Niger Fully

IslamicJaiz Bank International Plc. Nigeria Fully

IslamicAl Izz International Bank (Bank Al Izz) – new and not in operations yet Oman –Bank Nizwa – new and not in operations yet Oman –Al Baraka Bank (Pakistan) Limited (merger of Al Baraka IslamicBank and Emirates Global Islamic Bank)

Pakistan FullyIslamic

BankIslami Pakistan Limited Pakistan FullyIslamic


JIABR4,2

146


Burj Bank Limited (formerly Dawood Islamic Bank Limited) Pakistan FullyIslamic

Dubai Islamic Bank Pakistan Limited Pakistan FullyIslamic

Meezan Bank Limited Pakistan FullyIslamic

Al Aqsa Islamic Bank (liquidated and licence revoked April 2010) Palestine FullyIslamic

Arab Islamic Bank Palestine FullyIslamic

National Islamic Bank – no web site Palestine –Palestine Islamic Bank Palestine Fully

IslamicAl-Amanah Islamic Investment Bank of the Philippines Philippines Fully

IslamicAl Rayan Investment LLC Qatar Fully

IslamicBarwa Bank Qatar Fully

IslamicMasraf Al Rayan Bank Qatar –Qatar First Investment Bank Qatar Fully

IslamicQatar International Islamic Bank Qatar Fully

IslamicQatar Islamic Bank Qatar Fully

IslamicQinvest Plc. Qatar WindowBadr Forte Bank (license revoked in 2006) Russia WindowAl Rajhi Banking and Investment Corp. (Saudi Arabia) Saudi

ArabiaFullyIslamic

Al-Khabeer Merchant Finance Corporation SaudiArabia

–

Alinma Bank SaudiArabia

Window

Bank Al Jazira SaudiArabia

FullyIslamic

Bank Albilad SaudiArabia

FullyIslamic

Banque Islamique du Senegal Senegal FullyIslamic

Sharjah Islamic Bank (formerly National Bank of Sharjah) Sharjah,UAE

FullyIslamic

The Islamic Bank of Asia (IBA) Singapore FullyIslamic

Dahabshil Bank International Somalia FullyIslamic

Dayax Islamic Bank Somalia FullyIslamic



147


Salaam African Bank Somalia FullyIslamic

Al-Baraka Bank Ltd (South Africa) SouthAfrica

FullyIslamic

Amana Bank Ltd Sri Lanka WindowAl Jazeera Sudanese Jordanian Bank Sudan Fully

IslamicAl Salam Bank (Sudan) Sudan –Al Shamal Islamic Bank – no web site Sudan –AlBaraka Bank Sudan Sudan Fully

IslamicAnimal Resources Bank (ARB) Sudan WindowArab Sudanese Bank (subsidiary of Arab Bank) – no web site Sudan –Bank of Khartoum (BoK) Sudan WindowBlue Nile Mashreq Bank Sudan –Byblos Bank Africa ltd Sudan WindowEmirates and Sudan Bank Sudan WindowFaisal Islamic Bank (Sudan) Sudan Fully

IslamicFinancial Investment Bank Sudan –National Bank of Sudan Sudan Fully

IslamicOmdurman National Bank Sudan WindowReal Estate Commercial Bank Sudan WindowSaudi Sudanese Bank Sudan Fully

IslamicSudanese Egyptian Bank SudanSudanese French Bank Sudan WindowSudanese Islamic Bank – no web site Sudan –Tadamon Islamic Bank Sudan Fully

IslamicUnited Capital Bank (UCB) Sudan –Workers National Bank Sudan –Faisal Private Bank (Switzerland) SA Switzerland Fully

IslamicAl Baraka Bank (Syria) Syria Fully

IslamicCham Bank (Al-Sham Islamic Bank) Syria Fully

IslamicSyria International Islamic Bank (SIIB) Syria Fully

IslamicAmana Bank Limited Tanzania Fully

IslamicIslamic Bank of Thailand Thailand Fully

IslamicBanque Zitouna Tunisia Fully

IslamicAl Baraka Bank Tunisia (formerly Bank Ettamouil Tounsi Saoudi(BEST Bank))

Tunisia FullyIslamic


JIABR4,2

148

Appendix 2Longest mission statement (on the basis of words)

We provide banking services of the highest quality to individuals and businesses.Our foundation and inspiration are based on the Shariah values. We demonstrate that wehave brought the human touch back to banking and we realise our vision through: designinginnovative products and services: identifying and understanding our customers’ financialneeds and responding with highly personalised and efficient service; building state-of-the-arttechnology systems: keeping up-to-date with technology advancements to continually delivera service that responds to the demands of modern lifestyles; delivering success: ensuringmanagement awareness of local and worldwide markets, reviewing business plans anddepartmental strategies aiming to maximise success and deliver results to our shareholdersand investors; contributing towards the economic development of the UAE: employing andadvancing the careers of skilled professionals and helping businesses realise their visions;caring for our society and our environment: actively identifying specific areas in need of


Albaraka Turk Participation Bank (formerly Al-Baraka TurkishFinance House)

Turkey FullyIslamic

Bank Asya (Asya Katilim Bankasi Anonim Sirketi) (formerly AsyaFinans Kurumu AS)

Turkey Window

Kuveyt Turk Participation Bank (Kuwait Turk) Turkey WindowTurkiye Finans Katilim Bankasi AS (formerly Anadolu Finans Kurumu) Turkey WindowCyprus Islamic (offshore) Bank Ltd Turkish

CyprusFullyIslamic

The National Islamic Bank of Uganda – no web site Uganda FullyIslamic

Bank of London and the Middle East Plc. (BLME) UK FullyIslamic

European Islamic Investment Bank Plc. (EIIB) UK FullyIslamic

Gatehouse Bank UK FullyIslamic

Islamic Bank of Britain (IBB) UK FullyIslamic

QIB (UK) Plc. (formerly European Finance House) UK FullyIslamic

American Finance House (LARIBA) USA WindowUniversity Islamic Financial Corporation, Ann Arbor USA Fully

IslamicInternational Islamic Union Bank – no web site Yemen –Islamic Bank of Yemen for Finance and Investment Yemen Fully

IslamicSaba Islamic Bank (Yemen) Yemen Fully

IslamicShamil Bank of Yemen and Bahrain Yemen Fully

IslamicTadhamon International Islamic Bank Yemen Fully

Islamic

Note: Nature of operation of each bank is based on the operations presented on the respective web site Table AI.


149

welfare improvement and participating in “social responsibility” projects; and being people’speople: creating friendly and long-lasting relationships with our customers being willing tohear about their concerns and ever-changing needs.

Shortest mission statement (on the basis of words)

Humanizing Financial Services across Asia.

Corresponding authorIshfaq Ahmed can be contacted at: [email protected]

To purchase reprints of this article please e-mail: [email protected] visit our web site for further details: www.emeraldinsight.com/reprints

JIABR4,2

150

Documents

Mission statements readability: an insight into Islamic banks