children.
Background: The ABC Day Care Center is being developed in response to a perceived need in the community for a high quality, licensed day care facility. Amy Andrews and Barbara Baker were working mothers who found that their choices for day care in this city were limited. At one point, each of them was forced to consider the possibility of placing their child in an unlicensed day care facility because of lack of space in licensed facilities. As a result, they began to develop the idea for the ABC Day Care Center. Andrews and Baker have been able to attract investors, and have studied demand carefully to make certain that demand for quality day care services still exceeds supply.
Vision Statement: Vicki Jayne writing in New Zealand Management (2003) comments that vision statements can inspire, motivate, and provide direction to a company that seems lost. A strong image of where you want to be closes the gap between the present and your ideal future outcome. Jayne adds that without a vision statement, it is difficult to get agreement on direction and impossible to measure progress in a particular direction (Jayne, 2003, 39). An article in Futurist (2002) suggests that vision statements can contribute to the long-term survival of organizations. They bring focus and direction to an organization by means of an effective, clear statement of purpose. The article suggests that a good statement will always distinguish a company from its competitors (Preparing a Vision Statement, 2002, 59).
The founders' vision of the ABC Day Care Center involves operating a 5,000 square foot licensed day care facility located on the western side of Smallville. This center should have annual gross revenues of at least $660,000 and be profitable within three months. The number of employees will be dictated by state regulation which requires an employee to enrollee ratio of no more than 15 to 1 for children over three and a ratio of no mo...