Organisational objectives 3 On completing this chapter you should be able to: Know and understand

Aims, objectives, strategies and tactics
Figure 1.3.1
shows the links between the di
ff
erent stages in the setting of aims and 
objectives.
Corporate aims
The core of a business’s activity is expressed in its 
corporate aims
and plans. A typical 
corporate aim is: ‘To increase shareholder returns each year through business expansion’. 
This example demonstrates a typical corporate aim. It tells 
us that the company aims to give shareholders maximum 
returns on their investment by expanding the business. Other 
corporate aims tend to concentrate on customer-based goals, 
such as ‘meeting customers’ needs’, or market-based goals, 
such as ‘becoming the world leader’. Corporate aims are 
all-embracing, and are designed to provide guidance to the 
whole organisation, not just a part of it.
Establishing corporate aims has several bene
fi
ts. They:
• become the starting point for 
divisional/operational 
objectives
on which e
ff
ective management is based; 
this is shown by the position of
‘aim’ at the top of the 
hierarchy of objectives in 
Figure 1.3.1
corporate aims:
the long-
term goals which a business 
hopes to achieve
divisional/operational 
objectives:
short- or 
medium-term goals or 
targets – usually specific 
in nature – which must be 
achieved for an organisation 
to attain its corporate aims
AIM
MISSION
CORPORATE OBJECTIVES
DIVISIONAL OBJECTIVES
DEPARTMENTAL OBJECTIVES
INDIVIDUAL TARGETS
Figure 1.3.1 
The hierarchy of objectives
ACTIVITY 1.3.1
1.
Use the website 
www.samples-help.org.uk/mission-statements
 to look up more 
mission statements for well-known corporations.