Strategic Planning in the Small Business

Unit 4

HO 4-1

Benefits of Specific Goals

Suppose a couple

is leisurely driving around the city some Sunday afternoon

and they

discover that they

have no idea where they are. Are they lost? The answer-no.

Now suppose

one of them suddenly says, "It's 4:00 o'clock! We should have

picked the kids up at the YWCA

fifteen minutes

ago!" Now they are lost.

The leisurely

Sunday afternoon drive was fine as long as the only goal was

to have a

good time. But once the couple

needed to be somewhere in particular, they coxicluded that there

was a problem. Then, they looked around for

landmarks and asked directions in order to find

the YWCA. Only

when they had a specific goal to strive for did they take the actions

necessary

to achieve it. The Sunday

afternoon driver was lost until a destination became evident.

The

destination

became the specific goal.

Once a goal is set, performance

can be measured in terms of that goal. Therefore, a goal

is simultaneously a planning tool and a control device. It is a planning

tool because it must

precede the actual development

of a plan. it is a control device because one can measure per­

formance compared

to preset standards. If the goals have not been achieved, corrective

steps

may be taken to improve performance.

A second major value of logical business goals is that they

can serve as a motivating

force

for employees. If goals are carefully set to be achievable

with effort, and are communi­

cated to the employees, they can become the rallying point for

the entire company. For exam­

ple, in March of 1984 Sam Walton,

the head of Wal-Mart discount stores, danced the hula in

a grass skirt at high

noon on Wall Street. He had set some rather hefty goals for his

discount

chain and promised the above bizarre behavior if the goals

were achieved. His 65,000 employ­

ees obliged, and

so did he. Walton's leadership, strategic planning, and goal-setting

have

apparently paid off handsomely

as he topped the list of the Forbes 400 richest persons

in the

United States in late 1986.

If goals are to have meaning and be effective,

certain basic guidelines must be noted.

In general, these guidelines

apply to all types of goals. Goal statements should be written for

each desired goal. They

should be phrased in terms of outcomes or results rather than

actions.

We must

focus on desired accomplishments, not the series of activities undertaken

to achieve

these accomplishments.

There is a world of difference between saying,

"this week we'll work

on the budget" and, "by the end of this week, the ",dget will

be zompleted." The second state­

ment tends to enhance both motivation and commiL

,ent because a final accomplishment or result

is expected.

It suggests that merely going through the process or activity

of work is not suf­

ficient because

work must be oriented toward the attainment of pre-stated goals.

Thus, the

second

statement indicates a means of evaluating the work that is done.

Goal statements should be clear, specific and, Zo

the extent possible, quantifiable or mea­

surable. The clearer and more precise the goal,

the greater the likelihood that it will be pursued

and attained.

Stoner, C. R. and Fry, F. L. Strategic Planning
in the Small Bu.ness. South Western Publishing Co., 1987,

pp. 124-128. Translated and
published with permission.

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