Attainable (Achievable)
Realistic
Timed
SMART objectives that could be used to achieve the aims of:
Nike
“To bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world.”
To achieve this, Nike could use the objective:
We plan to market 3 new products to add to our product range, before December, in time for Christmas, to inspire the nation to become more active for the following year.
M&S
“To make aspirational quality accessible to all.”
M&S’s objective could be:
To make our products accessible to all, we are going to lower the free delivery offer from ‘orders over £150’ to ‘orders over £50’, to encourage customers to increasingly buy online and our target is to raise online orders by 25%.
The Body Shop
“To dedicate our business to the pursuit of social and environmental change.”
An example of an objective for the body shop could be:
By 2013 we will have created more of an awareness of the immorality of animal testing and we will support a further 2.5% of international communities by purchasing more natural ingredients to promote fair trade.
Sony
“To commit to developing a wide range of innovative products and multimedia services that challenge the way consumer’s access and enjoy digital entertainment.”
An objective could be:
A new and unique product range will be developed for marketing by 2013, including high tech designs and wireless.
Debenhams is a company I know something about. My mission statement for the company would be,
“To dedicate our business solely in the interest of the customer. We can commit to gaining loyalty and increasing market share by sharing our expertise with our loyal and future customers.”
Debenhams actual Mission Statement: Debenhams has a clear strategy to drive future profitability and grow market share. This is being achieved by increasing our sales to our existing customers, attracting new customers and moving into new markets.
Because I work for the company, I know loyalty is important to the company, as is customer service. Profitability is their main mission; this is different to that of the 4 mentioned earlier. Debenhams main bottom line is the traditional financial bottom line, to make a profit. However they do a lot for charities therefore have a social bottom line, to make a contribution to society.
5 SMART objectives for Debenhams:
- A year on, our profitability will double, due to our customer loyalty and gain of new customers. This will be achieved by promoting accounts and advertising our sales.
- Christmas week, in the Harrogate store, we will target for 10 accounts per day.
- By January 2014, we will open up a further 5 international department stores.
- By putting £1 items on sale near the tills, we can increase profitability of each store, as if 10% of our average 50,000 customers (per store) a week buy a £1 item, then we could be bringing in a further £5,000 a week in each from sales. Over the 125 stores, this could mean a potential extra £250,000 a week for Debenhams.
- We plan to attract a further 10% of customers by raising awareness of our online direct service and free delivery.
3. Vision
An organisation’s vision sets out where the company would hope to be in the future. Remember the mission statement sets out why a firm exists, i.e. its role in life.
4. Stakeholders
For example:
- Customers – important to the company as the source of income
- Pressure Groups – important to the company as bad press is not wanted
- Owners – important to the company for the decision making to take place
- Employees – important to the company as they are the face of the company
- Suppliers – important to the company as they supply what the company sells
- Managers – important to the company as they do the day to day running of a company
- Government – important to the company for legal reasons
Stakeholder conflict could arise:
Between owners and employees, the conflict may be regarding wages of the employees.
Between customers and owners, the customers want to buy a product for a fair price and the company want to sell it for a fair price.
Between government and customers, the government may put a law on rules regarding consumer credit and cause conflict.
5. The triple bottom line
Many companies feel that it is no longer sufficient just to aim to make profits.
- Traditional financial bottom line – to make a profit
- Social bottom line – to make a contribution to society
- Environmental bottom line – to show respect for the community
Does Tesco operate a triple bottom line?
This ‘steering wheel’ is pure evidence that Tesco operates a Triple Bottom Line, as they have financial aims, as well as social, regarding people, and also community aims. It is clear to see from this that Tesco strives to do a lot for the community, compared to their financial aims.
Evidence of an environmental bottom line, showing respect for the community.
“Our most visible contribution to communities is delivered through our shops. We regularly open stores in areas which other businesses, including retailers, have abandoned or neglected. We are particularly proud of our Regeneration Partnership programme in the UK, offering job opportunities to the long-term unemployed.”