Browse the Web site at www.microsoft.com/mscorp/mission/ to read about Microsoft's goals (corporate mission). For an additional sample of a for-profit firm's goals, browse the Web sites of General Foods, Boeing, FedEx, or Unilever. Look through these sites to identify each company's goals. Many firms list their goals in a mission statement. (Search the site using the keywords "mission statement.") Some firms label their mission statement as the vision statement; others simply include a section entitled "corporate goals."

Required:

a. According to its Web site, what is Microsoft's mission? Why do you believe that Microsoft makes no explicit reference to profit maximization in its corporate mission statement?

b. Browse the Web site www.metmuseum.org/visitor/faq_hist.htm and read about the Metropolitan Museum of Art's mission statement. For an additional sample of a not-for-profit organization's objectives, browse the Web sites of the National Geographic Society or Doctors without Borders.