PRESENTATION

A CASE STUDY ON SHIFTING DIRECTIONS

What role do you think goals would play in planning the

change in direction for the company? List some goals you think
might be important.
(Make sure these goals have the characteristics of well-written
goals.)
WHAT ROLE DO YOU THINK GOALS WOULD PLAY IN PLANNING THE
CHANGE IN DIRECTION FOR THE COMPANY? LIST SOME GOALS YOU THINK
MIGHT BE IMPORTANT.
(MAKE SURE THESE GOALS HAVE THE CHARACTERISTICS OF WELL-WRITTEN
GOALS.)

• Setting goals is the first step towards shifting direction; it allows the company to move forward in an ever-changing market and make the necessary changes to the environment while still addressing
the needs of their core consumers (Daft, 2008). Goals are the desired outcomes or targets of the managers. Whereas plans are documents that outlines how goals are going to be met. (STEPHEN P.
ROBBINS, MARY COULTER, 14E)Part of the business planning process is writing business objectives that are translated into actionable goals. Goals and Plans should be made up in such a way
that it supports each other. The planning process looks at the goals and determines the necessary steps to get there. Business goals need to be thought through and detailed enough to achieve desired
results. It should also be written to support activities that contributes to the organization’s abilitywhamove forward (Patricia Lotich, 2016). To simplify it more, Goal setting is figuring out what we
want to achieve. Goal planning is figuring out “HOW” to achieve the goal. The output of goal setting is a list of goals, and the output of goal planning is an action plan (J.D. Meier).Now a good thing
about the whole business planning process is that it is very much flexible. The goals and strategies are ever changing and with those, so are the planning. It is clear that goals and plans are very much
interconnected. So, I think goals would play a leading role in planning the change in the company.For instance, Garmin Ltd shifted their focus from personal navigation system to impeding GPS in
car dashboards. This couldn’t be done instantly, first they had to go through
• PLANNING AND GOAL SETTING
• a whole planning process. In the process, first comes Goal setting. And as goals are very much flexible it can be changed easily. Maybe Garmin Ltd simply shifted goals from “Sellingmost devices in
total” to “Increasing marginal revenues this year”. Following this the strategic planning starts. Analysis of different environment is done, which provides groundwork for high level strategy that
support goal achievement.
• Some examples of well written goals that I think might be important are:
• 1. Finalize Partnership with at least 2 more car manufacturers by the end of the year.
• 2. Increase investment in R&D by 10% in next year.
• 3. Cut costs by at least 5% by next year.
• 4. Penetrate the European Car dashboard GPS system by the next 3 years.
WHAT TYPES OF PLANS WOULD BE NEEDED IN AN INDUSTRY
SUCH AS THIS ONE? (FOR INSTANCE, LONG-TERM PLANS OR
SHORT-TERM PLANS, OR BOTH?) EXPLAIN WHY YOU THINK
THESE PLANS WOULD BE IMPORTANT.
• For any organization both short and long-term plans are needed.
• In brief, Short term plans are which cover one year or less of guidelines. Long term plans are defined
as those with a timeframe beyond 3 years (Stephen P. Robbins, Mary Coulter).
• But to understand the full concept and functions of these plans we need to dig deep and analyze what
long and short-term goals are. Long term goals are inherently strategic and that is why long-term
goals shape the overall direction of the organization. Short term goals on the other hand are reflection
of how well the organization’s programs are performing.Short term goals also have an operational
component, with action plans for the immplannin future. They also form the action plan for
achieving each of the long-term goals. That is, short term goal planning actually in overall lead to
fulfillment of long term goal planning.