Monday, 26 November 2012

Business aims and objectives.

An aim is where the business wants to go in the future, its goals. It is a statement of purpose, e.g. we want to grow the business into Europe.

Business objectives are the stated, measurable targets of how to achieve business aims. For instance, we want to achieve sales of €10 million in European markets in 2004.


Objectives give the business a clearly defined target. Plans can then be made to achieve these targets. This can motivate the employees. It also enables the business to measure the progress towards to its stated aims.
The most effective business objectives meet the following criteria:
S – Specific – objectives are aimed at what the business does, e.g. a hotel might have an objective of filling 60% of its beds a night during October, an objective specific to that business.
M - Measurable – the business can put a value to the objective, e.g. €10,000 in sales in the next half year of trading.
A - Agreed by all those concerned in trying to achieve the objective.
R - Realistic – the objective should be challenging, but it should also be able to be achieved by the resources available.
T- Time specific – they have a time limit of when the objective should be achieved, e.g. by the end of the year.


The main objectives that a business might have are:
Survival – a short term objective, probably for small business just starting out, or when a new firm enters the market or at a time of crisis.
Profit maximisation – try to make the most profit possible – most like to be the aim of the owners and shareholders.
Profit satisficing – try to make enough profit to keep the owners comfortable – probably the aim of smaller businesses whose owners do not want to work longer hours.
Sales growth – where the business tries to make as many sales as possible. This may be because the managers believe that the survival of the business depends on being large. Large businesses can also benefit from economies of scale.

The possible objectives for marketing promotions may include the following:


  • Build Awareness
  • Create Interest
  • Provide Information
  • Stimulate Demand
  • Reinforce the Brand

The main apparent promotional aim for John Lewis seems to be building awareness and stimulating demand. This is because throughout the year, John Lewis doesn't gather a fraction of the customers compared to Christmas time. The given time of year hugely boosts their sales and awareness due to how they usually make more in the month of december than all other months of the year, combined. This is a result of excellent advertising and sales promotion within the festive month, attracting more customers with appealing offers and discounts. Doing so, it also affects other promotional objectives such as reinforcing the brand.


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