Key Concepts

Setting objectives can involve many factors. You can set a single objective for your organization or multiple objectives. You set target deadlines for the accomplishment of objectives. Other critical factors include who controls the decisions that will affect objective achievement. The decision-makers must be committed to the objectives.

Organizational politics will come into play, with differing interests supporting the advance of objectives that are best for them. This usually results in bargaining between various interest groups in the organization, which results in objectives that are satisfactory to the key organizational groups, such as sales, research and development, marketing, and production. Finally, you must take into account factors that can hinder setting and achieving objectives, such as time, institutional, financial, and environmental constraints.