Business Objectives: Purpose, Types, and Conflicts | 企业目标：目的、类型与冲突

📚 Business Objectives: Purpose, Types, and Conflicts | 企业目标：目的、类型与冲突

Business objectives are the specific, measurable targets that organisations set to guide their operations and strategic decisions. They provide direction, motivate employees, and serve as benchmarks for evaluating performance. Without clear objectives, a business would struggle to coordinate activities or measure success.

企业目标是组织为指导其运营和战略决策而设定的具体、可衡量的目标。它们提供方向，激励员工，并作为评估绩效的基准。没有明确的目标，企业将难以协调活动或衡量成功。

1. What Are Business Objectives? | 什么是企业目标？

Business objectives are the aims or targets that a business sets out to achieve over a specific period. They give a clear sense of purpose and direction, helping managers to plan and control activities effectively. Objectives can range from financial goals, such as earning a 10% return on investment, to non-financial goals like improving customer satisfaction or reducing environmental impact.

企业目标是企业设定在特定时期内实现的宗旨或指标。它们提供明确的目的感和方向，帮助管理者有效地规划和控制活动。目标可以是财务目标，例如实现10%的投资回报率，也可以是非财务目标，如提高客户满意度或减少环境影响。

In contrast to the mission statement, which describes the overarching purpose and values of the business, objectives are more precise and often quantified with deadlines. For example, “to become a responsible global leader” is a mission, but “to reduce carbon emissions by 20% within five years” is a clear objective.

与描述企业总体宗旨和价值观的使命陈述不同，目标更为精确，通常量化和设定截止期限。例如，”成为负责任的全球领导者”是使命，而”在五年内将碳排放量减少20%”则是一个明确的目标。

2. The Hierarchy of Objectives: Mission, Corporate, Functional | 目标层级：使命、公司目标、职能目标

The hierarchy of objectives starts with the corporate mission, followed by corporate objectives, then functional objectives set by departments like marketing, finance, and operations. The mission statement is a brief expression of the organisation’s core purpose. For example, a hospital’s mission might be “to provide quality healthcare to all”.

目标层级始于企业使命，随后是公司目标，然后是营销、财务和运营等部门设定的职能目标。使命陈述是组织核心目的的简要表述。例如，医院的使命可能是”为所有人提供优质医疗服务”。

Corporate objectives are the long-term goals that the whole business aims to achieve, such as becoming the market leader or expanding internationally. These are set by the board of directors and provide a framework for lower-level targets. Functional objectives are the specific targets for each department that contribute to achieving the corporate objectives. For instance, the marketing department might aim to increase brand awareness by 5% in one year.

公司目标是整个企业旨在实现的长期目标，例如成为市场领导者或进行国际扩张。这些由董事会设定，并为下级指标提供框架。职能目标是各职能部门的具体指标，有助于实现公司目标。例如，营销部门可能目标在一年内将品牌知名度提高5%。

Aligning these levels ensures that every part of the organisation works towards the same overarching goals. If functional objectives contradict corporate ones, resources may be wasted and conflict may arise.

使这些层级保持一致可确保组织的每个部分都朝着相同的总体目标努力。如果职能目标与公司目标相矛盾，可能会浪费资源并引发冲突。

3. SMART Objectives | SMART目标

The acronym SMART reminds managers that objectives should be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. Specific means the objective is clear and detailed, avoiding vague statements like “improve customer service”. Instead, a specific objective would be “reduce customer complaint response time to under 2 hours”.

缩写词SMART提醒管理者，目标应是具体的、可衡量的、可实现的、相关的和有时限的。具体的意味着目标清晰详细，避免像”改善客户服务”这样的模糊表述。一个具体的目标应该是”将客户投诉响应时间缩短至2小时以内”。

Measurable implies there is a way to quantify success, such as increasing sales by 10% or reducing costs by £50,000. Achievable means the target is realistic given available resources; impossible goals demotivate staff. Relevant requires that the objective aligns with the overall mission and other goals. Time-bound means there is a clear deadline for completion, creating a sense of urgency.

可衡量的意味着有办法量化成功，例如使销售额增长10%或降低成本5万英镑。可实现的意味着在可用资源下目标是现实的；不切实际的目标会挫伤员工积极性。相关的则要求目标与总体使命和其他目标保持一致。有时限的意味着有明确的完成截止期限，产生紧迫感。

For example, “Increase online sales by 15% in the next 12 months” is a SMART objective for an e-commerce business. It guides actions and allows progress to be tracked.

例如，”在未来12个月内将线上销售额提高15%”就是一个电子商务企业的SMART目标。它指导行动，并允许跟踪进展。

4. Profit Maximisation | 利润最大化

Profit maximisation is the traditional assumption of neo-classical economics, which states that businesses make decisions to achieve the highest possible profit. In pure theory, the profit-maximising output occurs where marginal revenue (MR) equals marginal cost (MC). At this point, producing any additional unit would add more to costs than to revenue, reducing total profit.

利润最大化是新古典经济学的传统假设，认为企业决策是为了实现尽可能高的利润。在纯理论中，利润最大化的产出水平发生在边际收益(MR)等于边际成本(MC)处。在这一点，生产任何额外单位增加的成本将超过增加的收益，从而降低总利润。

Profit Maximisation: MR = MC

However, in practice, firms may not always pursue maximum profit because of uncertainty, competition, and other stakeholders’ interests. Public limited companies (PLCs) face pressure from shareholders for dividends, but managers might priorit

Published by TutorHao | A-Level 商务 Revision Series | aleveler.com

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