Philip Kotler: Company

“Good companies will meet needs; great companies will create markets.”

Philip Kotler, cited in: Stuart Crainer (2002), The 75 Greatest Management Decisions Ever Made, p. 37

“Good mission statements focus on a limited number of goals, stress the company’s major policies and values, and define the company’s major competitive scopes. These include:”

Philip Kotler

Industry scope: The industry or range of industries in which a company will operate. For example, DuPont operates in the industrial market... and 3M will go into almost any industry where it can make money.
Products and applications scope: The range of products and applications that a company will supply. St. Jude Medical aims to “serve physicians worldwide with high-quality products for cardiovascular care.”
Competence scope: The range of technological and other core competencies that a company will master and leverage. Japan’s NEC has built its core competencies in computing, communications, and components to support production of laptop computers, televisions, and other electronics items.
Market-segment scope: The type of market or customers a company will serve. For example, Porsche makes only expensive cars for the upscale market and licenses its name for high-quality accessories.
Vertical scope : The number of channel levels from raw material to final product and distribution in which a company will participate... [or] may outsource design, manufacture, marketing, and physical distribution.
Geographical scope: The range of regions or countries in which a company will operate. At one extreme are companies that operate in a specific city or state...
A company must redefine its mission if that mission has lost credibility or no longer defines an optimal course for the company
Source: Marketing Management, Millenium Edition, 2001, p. 41 ; Chapter 3. Corporate and Division Strategic Planning

“Companies pay too much attention to the cost of doing something. They should worry more about the cost of not doing it.”

Philip Kotler

Source: Marketing Insights from A to Z: 80 Concepts Every Manager Needs to Know, 2011, p. 127; Quote in the context of new product development.

“The sales department isn't the whole company, but the whole company had better be the sales department.”

Philip Kotler

Philip Kotler cited in: Michael R. Czinkota (1999), Marketing: Best Practices. p. 11

“No company in its right mind tries to sell to everyone. Gillette does not try to sell razor blades to preteens, and Kimberly-Clark doesn't try to sell its Huggies to childless families. A savvy steel company doesn't try to sell steel to every steel-using company.”

Philip Kotler

Philip Kotler (2012). Kotler On Marketing, p. 125: About defining the Target Market