The textbook mission, or reason for being, for an organization is to provide goods and services as efficiently as possible to the satisfaction of the customer. Without a customer the organization will cease to exist. This would seem so obvious that it does not need mentioning. But, in the real world of commerce the overriding demand on the chief executive is to provide up-to-date financial information and the public spotlight is on the share price. The obsession with the share price and its daily movement means in turn that managers' daily concerns are with stock turns, head counts, debtors' days, short-term paybacks on investments and consideration of outsourcing to enhance balance sheet ratios. Value in this sense is represented by profits, return on investment, or in the case of government departments, cost cutting and creative ways of measuring and reporting performance (such as reduction of hospital waiting lists by referral of patients back to local practitioners). Consequently senior management are obliged to focus on short-term financial results ahead of customer satisfaction. In short, customer satisfaction, although colourfully featured in mission statements, has become a secondary objective for senior management.