Organizational Goals Strategies and Tactics

Organizational Goals, Strategies and Tactics

To measure their viability as well as remain relevant in a highly competitive marketplace, businesses routinely draft both long-term and short-term goals. This text highlights the importance of strategies, goals as well as tactics for business entities. In addition to discussing how they can be measured, the interrelationship between business strategies and tactics will also be discussed.

Strategies, Goals and Tactics: Discussion

A strategy according to Plunkett, Attner and Allen (2011) can be defined as "a course of action created to achieve a long-term goal." The authors on the other hand define a tactic as "a course of action designed to achieve a short-term goal; an objective" (Plunkett, Attner and Allen, 2011). In basic terms, a goal can be termed the end result an entity commits or desires to achieve. More specifically, Hill and Jones (2012) define a goal as "a precise and measurable desired future state that a company attempts to realize." Goals are in most cases divided into two i.e. short-term goals and long-term goals. While short-term goals are meant to be accomplished within a relatively short period of time i.e. In less than one year; long-term goals ordinarily take a longer period of time to accomplish i.e. more than one year.

The relevance of strategies, goals as well as tactics cannot be overstated. In a way, a business that defines its strategies, goals as well as tactics in a clear and concise way is able to develop a culture of strategic thinking. Strategic thinking benefits an enterprise both in the short-run and in the long-run. In the opinion of Daft and Marcic (2012), "research has shown that strategic thinking and planning positively affect a firm's performance and financial success." Most successful companies have a formalized strategic planning process. This allows such companies to regularly update both their strategies and tactics in the light of the prevailing changes in the marketplace. Thus in the final analysis, a business entity that clearly defines its tactics, goals as well as strategies has a better chance of succeeding than an entity which does not attach significant importance to this critical area.

It can also be noted that a firm that has well defined tactics and strategies differentiates itself from the competition by following its own unique path towards goals accomplishment. By differentiating itself and standing out in a crowded marketplace such a business entity enhances the success of its undertakings. Strategies, goals and tactics also help in performance evaluation. In this case, organizations can measure the progress made over time against their tactics and strategies for that period of time.

Well defined strategies, goals as well tactics also give an organization direction. In such a case, businesses are often in a better position than their counterparts to execute their mission as they pursue their vision. In addition to giving an organization direction, well defined strategies, goals as well as tactics also ensure that organizational resources are not wasted. When there is no clear strategy, organizational executives may not have a well defined understanding of what the organization wants to accomplish. For instance, in the absence of clear and well outlined goals, tactics as well as strategies, we could have the sales team pursuing opportunities that are not in line with the core strategic objectives of an entity. In such a case, an entity's performance could end up being suboptimal when compared to that of its peers in the market.

When it comes to the interrelationship between strategies and tactics, it is important to note that one of the key differences between the two has got to do with the type of goal each is meant to achieve. While strategies are designed with an entity's long-term goals in mind, tactics are meant to facilitate the achievement of the short-term goals of a business. However, tactics and strategies are related in that one is often influenced by the other. As Plunkett, Attner and Allen (2011) point out; the choice of tactics is in most cases influenced by strategies.

Regarding measurement, a number of measurement approaches can be utilized to determine the effectiveness of strategies as well as tactics adopted by a business entity. One measurement tool in this case is feedback. The same can be utilized when it comes to evaluating customer satisfaction. In such a case, the company can put in place a system that allows the collection as well as evaluation of real time feedback.