The development and applications of a goal management system
R.V. Williams · 1995
The coherence of any organisation's operations and activities is likely to be enhanced by a clearly-defined and well documented set of goals. If information about the corporate goals is absent, incoherent or inaccessible, then different parts of the organisation are likely to pursue locally derived and possibly conflicting objectives. In the absence of the strategic framework provided by a clear statement of corporate goals, no degree of technical excellence applied to specific functions, projects and operations will be sufficient to guarantee the success of the whole. My work concentrates upon the management of goals as a task in its own right. Effective goal-management is a necessary condition for effective planning and action. My approach emphasises the management of broad long-term, strategic goals as opposed to the management of specific, short-term, tactical goals. The justification for this emphasis is that, for both individuals and organisations, confusion about ends is a more serious defect than is confusion about means. If the ends are not defined then the relevance and effectiveness of the means cannot be evaluated. (2 pages)