Custom «Specifying Objectives» Essay Paper Sample

The setting of strategies is in response to the change in the environment of the industry in which you operate in, including socio-economic factors, that aid in achieving goals and objectives. In addition to indication and selection, all strategies are given specific value so as to attract the attention of the company to the core and sensitive issues so as to convince the company for modifying strategies in their areas of weakness in future. The setting of functional, corporate and competitive strategies is usually determined after analysis business environment. 

GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

A goal is something the organization is designing or expecting to achieve in the future. Organization goals are more specific as compared to the function of an organization. Therefore, organizational goals determines the nature of its inputs and outputs and how it interacts with the external environment to achieve tits output.

Objectives are derived from organizational goals. This are specifically set out goals of the organization, how they should be achieved and the expected and results. The setting of a goal out of objectives is basically the process of management and it’s important to every organization. For an organization to achieve its objectives and satisfy overall goals there must be proper decision making and proper coordination within the organization function. Since the achievement of this goals involves the interaction with the external environment which is very dynamic.

According to David (2007), the techniques for formulating strategies can be integrated into two stages, which are the Input stage and the Matching stage. The Input stage includes the External Factor Evaluation (EFE) Matrix, the Competitive Profile Matrix (CPM) and the Internal Factor Evaluation (IFE) Matrix. Besides these stages, various levels of strategy will be involved, which are functional, competitive and corporate strategies. According to Wheelen and Hunger (2007),

‘Functional strategy is the approach a functional area takes to achieve corporate and business unit objectives and strategies by maximizing resource productivity. It is concerned with developing and nurturing a distinctive competence to provide a company or business unit with a competitive advantage. Each company or business unit has its own set of functional departments, each with its own functional strategy. Because the orientation of each functional strategy is dictated by its parent unit's business strategy, functional strategies must interrelate if they are to be successful’.

Functional strategies are objective-oriented decisions and actions of various functional departments of the organization and Competitive strategies inform about the competition tactics of the organization for keeping pace with other competitive organizations. Corporate strategies are mainly concerned with the business-level strategies and usually designed by the board of directors. Coulter (2002) has defined corporate strategy in such words,  

‘that strategy concerned with the broad and long-term questions of what business(es) the organization is in or wants to be in, and what it wants to do with those businesses... Corporate strategy establishes the overall direction that the organization hopes to go. The other organizational strategies—functional and competitive—provide the means or mechanisms for making sure the organization gets there’.

According to David (2007), ‘..... the critical success factors in a CPM are broader. These factors are also not grouped into opportunities and threats as in the EFE. In a CPM, the ratings and weighted scores can be compared to rival firms’. As far as internal analysis is concerned, Coulter (2002) has defined it in such words,

‘...an internal analysis is the process of identifying and evaluating an organization's specific characteristics including its resources, capabilities, and core competencies.... The whole reason for doing an internal analysis is to assess what the organization has or doesn't have (resources) and what it can and can't do (capabilities)—in other words, its strengths and its weaknesses’.

Employees- the good performance of the organization shows that the objectives of the organization have been achieved. They can make the setting of objectives and goals difficult because they are the once to ensure that these objectives are achieved. The interaction between the employees and the organization is very crucial as the quality of their working life will motivate them and improve their performance objectives should be explicit statement so as improves coordination and misunderstanding.

Improve motivation can be enhanced by allowing them to participate in decision making, training them new skills and technologies, designing properly the work and providing them with social and leisure facilities.

Consumers- they affect the setting of goals and objectives as they are the final recipient of the product or output. These people can influence the input because they dedicate what they want and they can do only consume the product if they like it or they do not have an alternative.

Competitors- they also affect the setting of goals and objectives because they exist in the dynamic external environment. Competitors affect the total cycle of input- conversion-output of an organization the alternative products this competitors are producing are a threat to the organization as the consumer will divide between the products in the market and this will influence the total sand profitability of the company will be determined by this profitability.