Monday 17 September 2012

5. Setting Business Aims and Objectives


What are AIMS and OBJECTIVES?

Starter - Rememeber the BTEC last year click here

Read the five minute interview with the owner of Carluccio's

They are TYPES of  TARGETS so a business needs to be able to distinguish between them.

The AIM is usually its LONG TERM TARGET - 'excellent service' or 'the beverage of choice' and are difficult to measure

The AIMS may be stated as 'MISSION STATEMENTS' and although not achievable in the short term give a good steer for the business in terms of direction.

The OBJECTIVES of the business are the shorter term targets that it HITS on its way to its AIMS.

These TARGETS should be SMART:
  • Specific - as definite as possible
  • Measurable - should have figures or percentages to assess it
  • Attainable - it should be a target that is possible to reach
  • Relevant - it should form a logical part of the overall strategy of the business
  • Time -Related - there should be a set time for the achievement of the target
TYPES of OBJECTIVES
  • BEING SATISFIED
  • Wanting to reach a MAXIMUM - this often refers to PROFIT
  • Wanting to reach a MINIMUM - this may refer to 'LABOUR TURNOVER'
The most common targets are:
  • Profit usually represented as a percentage of TURNOVER
  • Growth - for those businesses that want to EXPAND into their current or into NEW MARKETS
  • MARKET SHARE - the bigger the market share the more POWER they have in that market
  • CUSTOMER SATISFACTION - do customers return, are complaints at a minimum, is customer feedback good?
  • ENVIRONMENT & ETHICAL - is the company seen to be ETHICAL and does it care about the responsibility it has to the environment in which it operates?  Companies that have the best CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY are those that have the best REPUTATION in the community
Aims & Objectives - questions to answer
  1. What is a business aim?
  2. What is a business objective?
  3. What is a mission statement?
  4. What does SMART stand for?
  5. Why should a business always have SMART targets?
  6. Name the three broad type of business objectives
  7. List three things that a business might aim to maximise
  8. List three things that a business might aim to minimise
  9. List one objective of a small business that may not be appropriate for a large business
  10. List one objective of a large business that may not be appropriate for a small business
  11. What do we mean by 'SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY'?
Still don't get it click here

Homework
Choose a company from the new programme 'be your own boss' here and set their aims and objectives for the first year of trading

Worksheet

Extension 9 mark question exercise click here

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