Single correct option
The passage below is followed by four summaries. Choose the one that best captures its essence.
Corporate mission statements routinely proclaim commitments to sustainability, diversity and community, yet these declarations rarely specify measurable targets or consequences for failing to meet them. Organizational researchers have found that such vague commitments can function less as genuine constraints on behaviour and more as a kind of reputational insurance, allowing companies to claim credit for good intentions while facing little accountability for outcomes. This is not to say every mission statement is cynical; some organizations do follow through with concrete policies and report progress transparently. But without external verification or enforceable metrics, a mission statement alone provides scant evidence of an organization's actual conduct.
Corporate mission statements routinely proclaim commitments to sustainability, diversity and community, yet these declarations rarely specify measurable targets or consequences for failing to meet them. Organizational researchers have found that such vague commitments can function less as genuine constraints on behaviour and more as a kind of reputational insurance, allowing companies to claim credit for good intentions while facing little accountability for outcomes. This is not to say every mission statement is cynical; some organizations do follow through with concrete policies and report progress transparently. But without external verification or enforceable metrics, a mission statement alone provides scant evidence of an organization's actual conduct.
- A. All corporate mission statements are deliberately dishonest attempts to mislead the public.
- B. Vague, unmeasurable mission statements often serve as reputational cover rather than real accountability, though some organizations do back their statements with verifiable action.
- C. Sustainability and diversity are unimportant corporate goals that should be abandoned entirely.
- D. External verification of corporate claims is impossible to achieve under current regulations.
Show answer and solution
Answer: (B) Vague, unmeasurable mission statements often serve as reputational cover rather than real accountability, though some organizations do back their statements with verifiable action.
The passage argues vague mission statements often serve as 'reputational insurance' without real accountability, while explicitly allowing that some organizations do follow through — this balanced claim is captured by B. A overstates 'every' statement as deliberately dishonest, which the passage denies; C and D introduce claims not made in the passage.
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