CVS Caremark Mission and Vision: An Analysis

Mission and Vision Statements of CVS Caremark

CVS Caremark is among the biggest healthcare brands in US. Founded more than 50 years ago (1964), it has grown fast through acquisitions and by diversifying its business model. Apart from being the biggest operator of healthcare clinics in US, it is also the largest dispenser of prescription drugs.  It employs more than 199,000 people. The main focus of CVS has remained on making healthcare affordable and accessible.  The brand provides a broad array of product and services. CVS is in a financially healthy position and ready for all kind of challenges and policy changes that might affect its business. Here is more about its business through an analysis of its mission and vision statements:

Mission Statement:

Above all else … our mission is to improve the lives of those we serve by making innovative and high-quality health and pharmacy services safe, affordable and easy to access.

The mission statement of CVS begins with three words “Above all else”. It implies that the mission statement of CVS expresses its top priority. As a brand CVS is not here just to make money or to generate financial returns for its shareholders. However, that is also an important purpose of any business.  For CVS, the patients it serves are a first priority and for whom its broad array of products and services are meant. There are three things which are the focus of this mission statement – the people the brand serves, the quality of its services and the last – affordability and accessibility. Its mission is to improve the lives of the patients by providing them with innovative and high quality heath and pharmacy services for better care of their health and all that at an affordable rate. It is basically making high quality healthcare affordable and accessible. This can be understood as a customer oriented missions statement where most focus is on the customer and how the brand’s products or services can help them. Mission statements must be specific enough to help the managers with decision making and resource allocation in their day to day business. CVS’s mission could be more specific and it could include some more factors like its target market, its competition and its financial position. Still, to an extent the mission is specific in the sense that it provides a clear orientation of the brand. However, some critical factors like employees, culture and CSR seem to be left out of its ambit.

 Vision Statement:

Vision Statements are like a simple view of the future any brand wants for itself. They are neither too narrow or specific and not too broad either, to give a glimpse of the expected future and how the brand can reach there. The vision statement of CVS is “We strive to improve the quality of human life”. As a vision statement, it is very short and not so precise. Raising the quality of human life is possible in several ways and how CVS expects to fulfill its vision is not clear. This vision statement must be made clearer in terms of what kind of improvements it wishes to bring to people lives or how it will help them find better lives. Apart from it, the vision statement must clearly express what kind of financial future as a health brand CVS imagines for itself. It can include more on competition, employees and CSR too. This vision statement falls somewhat short on the parameters. It must guide the managers and help them understand if their actions and decisions are taking the organization in the right direction.

Sources:

https://main.nationalmssociety.org/site/PageNavigator/company_splash_CVS.html