Narrative and vision.

I spent last summer interning for Northrop Grumman (NG) Corporation, a global security provider. The corporate website states, "Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) is a leading global security company whose 120,000 employees provide innovative systems, products, and solutions in aerospace, electronics, information systems, shipbuilding and technical services to government and commercial customers worldwide" (http://www.northropgrumman.com/).  

NG's major business involves work with military forces, designing and manufacturing missile detection systems, infra-red countermeasures, and large equipment, like aircraft carriers. Such products function to keep our military safe while maintaining an advantage in any war. Simply, war generates large portions of NG's overall profits.

This analysis seeks to identify the purpose in NG's mission statement, and how that purpose is achieved through use of certain elements. The following section quotes the vision/mission found on NG's website:

"Our vision is to be the most trusted provider of systems and technologies that ensure the security and freedom of our nation and its allies. As the technology leader, we will define the future of defense—from undersea to outer space, and in cyberspace.

We will —

·         Conduct ourselves with integrity and live our Company Values

·         Deliver superior program performance

·         Foster an internal environment of innovation, collaboration, and trust

In so doing, Northrop Grumman will become our customers' partner of choice, our industry's employer of choice, and our shareholders' investment of choice.”

Multiple objectives make up NG's narrated vision. Keeping America and its allies safe, leading the defense industry with innovation and superior performance, and gaining society's trust resonate as active events and themes guiding NG's mission. Some societal groups/individuals view war as wreckless, destructive, and irresponsible. The words integrity, trust, choice, security, and freedom support the objective to maintain/restore NG's reputation. Using positive or god-terms helps NG tell a story that says, "No, we're not a company that promotes war because it ensures business and profit. We're a corporation here to protect and secure our nation and its citizens." The company's mission promotes NG, and also invites national support for the war-fighting support NG offers the nation.

Considering coherence (internal consistency) and fidelity (identification or a shared experience/opinion between the audience and narrator), the mission of NG may be effective or inefficient depending on the audience. The coherence between the coporation and its customers or those it supports will probably be on the same page, because they are all working towards the same goal - to fight and eventually finish war(s) as the victor. The story lived by NG is represented in documents like the above vision/mission, and other messaging like the "Statement of Corporate Responsibility" found on their website.

NG's story and fidelity are rely on situation. Ideally, the utopia for the world would be the cease of all wars, eliminating any need for defense contractors. However, that currently isn't the case. Many countries do find themselves involved in wars, making the context of NG's narratives and business appropriate. 

While appropriate and necessary to protect our nation's citizens, opposition to corporations like NG is expected and happens. Society and NG may be living in the same story to a certain degree, but there are and will always be parts of the audience that disagree with NG's corporation-specific story. The situation NG's story currently resides in is contextually appropriate, but worldviews of audience members that both agree and disagree with NG's story will have different views of NG's story's fidelity.