Twitter's Leadership: Ashridge Mission Model Case Study Analysis

This case study examines Twitter through the lens of the Ashridge Mission Model, a framework analyzing an organization's purpose, strategy, values, and behavioral standards. The analysis explores Twitter's mission to provide reliable communication and information sharing, its strategic investments in research and development, and its commitment to independent expression of views. It delves into the company's mission sense, emphasizing sustainable growth and profitability, while also exploring strategic decision-making theory, differentiating between emergent and deliberate strategies. The study highlights how Twitter leverages both deliberate strategies, with pre-defined objectives, and emergent strategies, adapting to market dynamics, to maintain its competitive edge in the social media landscape, considering both social and natural factors.

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The Ashridge Mission Model

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Table of Contents
The Ashridge sense of mission model.............................................................................................3
Purpose........................................................................................................................................3
Strategy........................................................................................................................................3
Values..........................................................................................................................................4
Behavioral standard.....................................................................................................................4
Twitter’s mission sense................................................................................................................4
Strategic decision-making theory....................................................................................................5
Emergent and deliberate strategy.................................................................................................6
References........................................................................................................................................8

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The Ashridge sense of mission model
Ashridge mission model is established by Ashridge strategic management research center. The
companies set their mission which is important to be achieved so that growth can be attained in
the present business world. There are four aspects which involve strategy, purpose, behavioral
standards and values. The aspects determine whether the mission has been made in appropriate
manner or not.
The Ashridge mission model
(Source: Watson, 2016)
The image provides all the aspects and explanation for them is provided below:
Purpose
Every organization is established with some purpose which is covered in this dimension of the
model. The main mission of Twitter is to provide people with the facility to communicate and
share information most reliably (Twitter, 2018). In this service of sharing information, no

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hindrance is faced due to the location and distance. In the growing economy there is the large use
of the internet by which information can be shared by utilizing twitter as the medium. By the
help of this facility large section of the market will be covered and the information will be made
available to all.
Strategy
To attain the mission, it is required that there shall be a proper strategy so that all the activities
are performed accordingly. There are various principles and standards which are specified and
they will be required to be followed so that best results can be attained (Twitter, 2018). The
development will be made in the company to make the service accessible to all in easy manner.
The main investment that is made by Twitter is in the research and development. By this
investment services can be delivered in the best manner and attainment of the efficient results
will be possible. The data is transferred on time and for that proper techniques are being
incorporated in the system.
Values
All the businesses run on certain values which are specified and are to be followed in adequate
manner. In this process of complying with values, there shall be no conflict of interest among the
values of the company and employees. All the values which are set shall be such that the
employees as well as company both are benefitted (Twitter, 2019). The main value which is
involved with Twitter is in respect of the independent expression of the views. Using twitter
information can be delivered to the whole world which helps in changing society. The staff is
provided with such incentives by which they will be performing more effectively by utilizing
their complete potential (Comparably, 2019). This will be helping in attaining the goals of the
company in a better manner and the employees will also be satisfied with the outcomes they are
receiving.
Behavioral standard
The manners in which actions are to be taken by the employees are specified in the behavioral
standards of the model. All the elements which are to be taken into account by the employees

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while performing any activity are specified so that they can be carried in the required manner.
The behavior of the employees will be dependent on the standards which are set under this as
they will be following the set policies and work accordingly. There is the proper monitoring
which is made in this respect to check that all the strategies are followed and they are protecting
the rights of all.
Twitter’s mission sense
In every organization, there is the mission for which the operations are performed. It is required
that they shall be analyzed adequately. This will be accomplished with the help of the technique
known as Ashridge mission model. The main mission that is perceived by Twitter is about the
attainment of sustainable growth. It is looked for that the profitability is maintained which is the
main motive behind any business. It is one of the best social sites which are available and on this,
the information about all the aspects is available across the globe. The promotion of the products
is made on it and in that proper specifications are provided so that decisions by consumers can be
taken effectively. There are proper values, mission and strategies which are formulated by twitter
and they all are followed by the employees in the best possible manner (Twitter, 2016). With the
help of them, all the activities are effectively completed and the set targets are accomplished.
There are various features which are provided by Twitter and with the help of them all the people
across the world can share their views in a free manner. They can share the information in way
of image or videos and with that, the facility of live videos is also provided so that an important
event can be covered appropriately. The number of users involved with the services has
increased continuously and that helped the company to grow at a fast pace. Due to this the
financial position of the company has improved which opened the way for further growth.
The employees in the business are retained properly and for that, they are provided with the
required incentive which helps in motivating them so that they can focus on their tasks and
perform accordingly. With the help of this, the total count of the employees has increased at a
fast pace and this is beneficial for the business as the work will be performed in a faster and
adequate manner.

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With the help of the identified aspects and information, it has been noted that the twitter's
mission model is strong and it is following all the dimensions in a required manner which is
beneficial for it in long run.
Strategic decision-making theory
In an organization, there are various decisions which are made and for that appropriate strategy
are taken into use. Out of all one is strategic decision-making theory and in that required
decisions about the strategy of the company is made. In this, there are two types of strategies
which are followed and they include deliberate and emergent strategy (Chari et al., 2014). As
Twitter is operating at a large scale and is covering a wide section of society in social media so it
is important to evaluate the decisions made by it in the best manner. It is identified that the
investments are made by the company and in that, all the profitable businesses shall be chosen.
All the activities and business units which are non-core businesses shall be closed out (Ireland et
al., 2013). The core activities are required to be focused and there shall be an incorporation of the
new technologies and applications which will be providing the users with additional benefits.
This will be helping the company in surviving in the competitive market and the same is being
accomplished by twitter which makes it most preferable among all the social sites which are
performing in the market.
Emergent and deliberate strategy
There are various steps and actions which are performed and when with time they become
consistent and are followed continuously, they are identified as emergent strategies. It is not
intentional and is developed with the undertaking of any process over time. With time it is
understood by an organization that which aspect works in the market and so the strategy emerges
with time and that is considered as an emergent strategy in which no planning is required
(Neugebauer et al., 2016). There is no intention which is involved from before and it becomes
consistent a point of time when it will be recognized by the company.
In addition to emergent strategies, there are various others which are developed with the proper
intentions and planning and they are recognized to be deliberate ones (Waddock & Steckler,
2016). They are formulated in such a manner that the goals and objectives of the business will be

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attained. There is the formal plan which is made in their relationship and then the steps for the
execution of the same are performed (Twitter, 2018). They will be implemented in such manner
that the required targets which are specified in them are attained and there is the determination of
the best strategy. They help in covering all the aspects of the business and with the use of them,
it is possible to include all the factors in the strategies which are formulated. Proper analyzation
is performed for the same and with that, the company can identify the areas in which changes or
new policies are required and then the complete process is undertaken accordingly.
With the help of the strategies which will be followed, there will be scope for the attainment of
the required results. In the competitive market, it is then possible for Twitter to deal with the
present competitors and they can take the additional advantage of the competition. To manage
and control all the activities, there is the need for the deliberate strategies and for undertaking the
actions in the required manner there is the consideration of the emergent strategy which is
planned.
In the case of Twitter, there are various factors which are focused and they are following the
appropriate strategy for the same. There is the consideration of the social as well as natural
factors as they will be affected the most by the actions of the company (Twitter, 2018). The
company is having its pre-decided objectives and for the achievement of them, they are
following the strategies which are planned. Due to this, it can be said that the company is
following the deliberate strategies. In this strategy, they decide all the aspects in advance and in
that how operations are to be performed by the members is specified and the results are then
attained according to the requirements. Twitter takes into consideration all the factors by which
the performance will be affected in the competitive market and then takes the decisions by taking
all of them into consideration. There is the attainment of the additional benefit by the company
due to the competition because social media is gaining hike (Twitter, 2017). There are various
other sites but Twitter is more famous as it provides additional services than others which are in
the interest of the users. The users are attracted as they are provided with such benefits which are
not available to them from any other social media sites. They are given the facility to share any
information including their views and they are posted socially so that can be reached to all the
parts of the world. All the people are involved on this site and it has maximum users which help
in reaching to the large population and expand the market share. They will be the leaders in the

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market and for that, it is necessary that they shall make the proper plan and strategies which
helps in gaining the benefits due to the available competition in the market. There is the proper
implementation of the formulated strategies and by that, the company is gaining various
advantages and is attaining the required growth.

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References
Chari, S., Katsikeas, C. S., Balabanis, G., & Robson, M. J. (2014). Emergent marketing
strategies and performance: the effects of market uncertainty and strategic feedback
systems. British Journal of Management, 25(2), 145-165.
Comparably. (2019). Twitter Mission, Vision & Values. Retrieved from:
https://www.comparably.com/companies/twitter/mission [Accessed 8 July 2019]
Ireland, R.D., Hoskisson, R. E., & Hitt, M.A. (2013) The Management of Strategy: Concepts and
Cases, 10th International Edition, South-Western, Cengage Learning, 371-377
Neugebauer, F., Figge, F., & Hahn, T. (2016). Planned or emergent strategy making? Exploring
the formation of corporate sustainability strategies. Business strategy and the
environment, 25(5), 323-336.
Twitter. (2016). Annual Report 2015. Retrieved from https://investor.twitterinc.com/annuals-
proxies.cfm [Accessed 8 July 2019]
Twitter. (2017). Annual Report 2016. Retrieved from https://investor.twitterinc.com/annuals-
proxies.cfm [Accessed 8 July 2019]
Twitter. (2018). Annual Report 2017. Retrieved from https://investor.twitterinc.com/annuals-
proxies.cfm [Accessed 8 July 2019]
Twitter. (2019). Our Values. Retrieved from: https://about.twitter.com/en_us/values.html
[Accessed 8 July 2019]
Waddock, S., & Steckler, E. (2016). Visionaries and wayfinders: Deliberate and emergent
pathways to vision in social entrepreneurship. Journal of Business Ethics, 133(4), 719-
734.
Watson, C. (2016). Ashridge Mission Model. Retrieved from
https://twitter.com/clarissajwatson/status/719123251570569218 [Accessed 20 July 2019]

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