Missions of Russian cheese producers: Principal components and relevance for rural communities

Abstract

Russia is one of the largest cheese producers in the world, which requires the well-balanced strategic management of all organizations involved. The content of ten mission statements of Russian cheese producers is analyzed by means of identification of the principal components according to the ’standard’ Pearce–David scheme. The analysis shows that the statements tend to deal with a variety of aspects, include, on average, 3.5 components; the most common components are philosophy (higher tasks of business) and product. These strategic declarations should be judged as modern and reflecting the strength of the Russian food industry and agriculture. Although it might be expected that the mission statements of Russian cheese producers should refer to rural communities, particularly since some of the enterprises are located in nationally important areas of milk agriculture, this expectation is only partly correct. The statements often deal with environmental issues, but ignore local social aspects. Cheese production opens perspectives for joint eco-and rural tourism development, which requires that cheese be considered as a kind of heritage. This is not the case in the mission statements under study, however, even though ideas about heritage value are implicitly present. The outcomes of the present study may have practical implications for Russian cheese producers, and emphasize the need for strategic management studies concerning cheese-producing organizations.