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5 Business objectives and
stakeholder objectives
Introduction
Objectives
The things you want to do and achieve are your personal objectives. They provide
In this chapter you will
you with a target – something to aim for. How you achieve your personal objectives
learn about:
will not happen by accident. They require careful planning. Even careful planning
■ business objectives and how will not guarantee that you will be successful. The future is uncertain and unforeseen
the importance of these may events may cause you to change your plans.
change
Just as you have things that you want to do and achieve in the short term, medium
■ the role of stakeholders in term and long term, so do businesses. They have their own objectives. These are
business statements of what a business wants to achieve through its activities. However,
■ the diff erences between these activities may affect individuals or groups who are internal and external to
private sector and public the business. These individuals or groups are known as business stakeholders, for
sector aims and objectives. example owners and suppliers – they also have objectives.
In this chapter you will learn about the objectives of businesses and how these may
conflict with the objectives of stakeholder groups.
ACTIVITY 5.1
57
Think about the things that you want to do in the next year, five years and ten years. How are you going to achieve them?
Business objectives and how their importance
can change
Need for business objectives
KEY TERM Every aspect of a business needs objectives. From these objectives the business can
produce a plan, or strategy, which sets out how the objectives will be achieved. Th e
Objective: a statement of a plan needs to be reviewed regularly to make sure that the business is on target to
specific target to be achieved.
achieve its objectives. If the business looks as if it will not achieve its objectives then
They should be SMART.
it might need to change its plan, or even change the objectives themselves.
Objectives need to be SMART
Businesses need to set clear and effective objectives. Th ey often use SMART criteria
to help them do this. Objectives must be:
■ Specific – for example, an airline may set an objective about the level of seat
occupancy on its planes.
■ Measurable – the airline may set an objective of achieving an average 85% seat
occupancy across all of its flights.
