Plans of business entity

I have realized that when one decides to start a company, they will first have to make a plan as to the goal of the company and then put these goals at the forefront whenever an issue of compliance or target schedule is being questioned. One area of an audit which uses this instrument is a Gap Analysis. Based on my understanding of the term, the goal / mission statement of the company will be scrutinized so as to determine whether or not the goals are being reach; by what means this is occuring and if not, why the company has failed to reach its target.