Organizations use two related types of goals. Official goals are broad aims expressed in public statements, annual reports, or an organization’s charter. A university might state that it aims to be the school of first choice. Such a goal communicates an overall purpose and can help gain acceptance among the organization’s constituencies, but it may be ambiguous about the specific work required.
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Official goals
Broad organizational aims stated publicly to communicate general purpose and gain acceptance from constituencies.
Operational goals
Concrete management intentions that organization members are expected to pursue.
Goal formulation
Goals emerge as managers balance external stakeholder expectations with the interests of internal groups.
Goal hierarchy
A structure linking organizational, divisional, departmental, and job-related goals, with lower-level goals supporting higher-level aims.
Purposes of organizational goals
Goals direct and motivate effort, shape planning, and provide standards for evaluating and controlling activity.
Quiz questions
What is an official organizational goal?Answer: A broad aim publicly stated to communicate the organization’s general purpose.
In the external-environment perspective, how do organizational goals emerge?Answer: Managers balance organizational needs with stakeholder demands and expectations.
How can goals emerge from an organization’s internal environment?Answer: Groups and individuals with different interests bargain and negotiate.
Why might an innovation goal conflict with a production-efficiency goal?Answer: Pursuing new ideas may compete with efforts to make production more efficient.
What makes a goal hierarchy work effectively?Answer: Goals at lower levels contribute to aims at higher organizational levels.
Based on Principles of Management by David S. Bright, Anastasia H. Cortes, Eva Hartmann, K. Praveen Parboteeah, Jon L. Pierce, Monique Reece, Amit Shah, Siri Terjesen, Joseph Weiss, Margaret A. White, Donald G. Gardner, Jason Lambert et al. (OpenStax), licensed CC BY 4.0. Adapted into a summary, flashcards and quizzes.