What is vision and mission statement?

A Vision Statement:

A vision statement is a company's road map, indicating both what the company wants to become and guiding transformation initiatives by setting a defined direction. A vision statement has more to do with the future and really describes what an organization plans or hopes to be in the future. Thus, it has no relation with present. In fact, a vision statement shouldn't discuss the present state of the organization but should really discuss what the organisation wants to be in future. This is more of an inspirational or motivational statement. To be effective the message should be clear, optimistic, and of course realistic. An unrealistic vision statement, i.e. a local store owner saying that in five years the company will be bigger than Walmart will not be termed as comical or inspirational.

Mission Statement

A mission statement is concerned with 'present day' focus and really describes how a company plans on achieving its objectives. This is really a statement to employees, shareholders, and stake holders in the organization that clearly articulates what an organization is doing, how it's going to do it, and ultimately why it's doing it.

The mission statement is very important for a large organization and therefore it should be very effective. Changing a company's mission statement can be a major undertaking with numerous consultations and even external advisers being hired.
The key questions to answer in a mission statement are the activities of the organization, its aim and the benefits that it intends to provide to its customers.