business-objectives as

The relationship between mission and objectives

• Missions, aims and objectives serve as a direction for an organisation and its overall strategy, helping it to focus efforts and resources towards a common purpose

Mission statements

• A mission statement outlines the fundamental purpose and reason for an organisation’s existence

  • It describes what the company does, who it serves and how it provides value to its customers or stakeholders

  • It may also include the business’s non-financial and community goals

Examples of Mission Statements

• Mission statements are sometimes dismissed as marketing tactics that say little about the real-world impact of a business

• They are most useful when

  • everyone connected with the business is united behind their message

  • they are realistic and flexible enough to remain relevant, even when the external business environment changes

Objectives

• Corporate objectives are the specific performance goals set by senior management for a business to achieve over time, usually in the short- to medium-term

  • They are quantifiable, allowing a business to determine when and to what extent they have been achieved

  • Achieving objectives contributes towards meeting the overall business aim

  • Objectives may focus on achieving specified levels of market share, profit, sales growth or new product/market development

Examples of Business Objectives

SMART objectives

• Corporate and functional objectives should be

  • Specific

  • Measurable

  • Agreed

  • Realistic

  • Time-specific

An example of a SMART objective 

Why businesses set objectives

• Businesses set objectives for a range of reasons, including

Clarify the business’s direction

• Everyone in the business knows which way it is heading and can work towards the same goal

  • E.g. Tesco’s aim is to “help customers’ lives be easier”, and objectives such as “open 50 new Metro stores in urban areas by March 2026” focus the expansion to achieve this aim in key locations

Guide decisions

• Setting and pursuing objectives prevents the business from wasting time or money on activities that do not move it closer to its goals

  • E.g. British Airways might decide to order more fuel-efficient planes because its objective is to “cut CO₂ emissions per passenger kilometre by 10% by 2027”

Motivate and focus employees

• Clear targets show staff exactly what success looks like

• Teams may feel involved, can track their own progress and are more driven to hit targets

  • E.g. John Lewis Partnership may set teams the objective to “increase online click-and-collect orders by 20% over the next six months”, so everyone from warehouse to store floor knows what to aim for

Measure progress and improve

• SMART objectives give clear numbers to track, helping managers and staff to check their progress

• Regular reviews against these targets show what is working, what is not and where to make changes

  • Greggs may track the objective “sell ten million sausage rolls in the year to December 2025” and adjust marketing or production plans if sales fall below target

Financial objectives

• Financial objectives are specifics goal related to the financial performance, resources or structure of a business

  • They are particularly important in the private sector, as owners are likely to want to make money

Examples of Financial Objectives

Social and ethical objectives

• Social and ethical objectives are targets that are not directly connected to making money

  • Achieving these objectives is often the main focus of businesses in the public sector and the third sector

  • Many profit-making businesses also set social and ethical objectives that compliment their key financial objectives

Examples of non-financial objectives

• Providing a reliable, high-quality service to a particular community is the focus of many public sector organisations and small businesses

  • E.g. Former schoolteacher and keen environmentalist Laura Coniam established Little Greens in 2022 as a pre-schoolers’ forest activity centre in Kent

• Charities and cooperatives are often focused on improving human well-being or the environment

  • E.g. After being made redundant in 2021, sound engineer Vinay Patel set up a music society in Manchester, focused on encouraging disadvantaged young people to engage in meaningful social activity

• Businesses often aim to meet the needs of a range of stakeholders by providing employment opportunities, being eco-friendly or contributing to the local community

  • After visiting Argentina in 2006, Blake Mycoskie set up TOMS Shoes, pledging to donate one pair of shoes for every one sold