Changes in aims and objectives

• Market conditions and technology can influence changes in business aims and objectives
• Market conditions refer to variables that dictate how competitive a market is for businesses, including the size of the market, competitors, and the proportions of large and small businesses
• In a growing market, a business's aims and objectives may shift towards growth, while in a competitive market, the focus may be on survival to keep day-to-day operations running
• Technological developments like website, manufacturing, software, mobile technology, and contactless payments can prompt businesses to develop new aims and objectives
• For example, in the car industry, many manufacturers are now focusing on green technologies like electric cars, shifting away from traditional petrol or diesel cars
• As a business grows, its aims and objectives change in response to market conditions, technology, performance, legislation, and internal factors
• Business aims are the overall targets or goals of the business, while objectives are the steps needed to meet those aims
• Businesses may create new aims and objectives linked to their performance, such as improving sales revenue, profit, marketing impact, or productivity
• Government legislation, like the Health and Safety at Work Act (1974) or the National Minimum Wage Regulations (2016), can impact a business's aims and objectives, requiring compliance to keep operating
• Internal reasons, like strategic decisions within a company, can also impact a business's aims and objectives, such as entering a new market or developing a new product or service
• Business aims change as businesses evolve in response to market conditions, technology, performance, legislation, and internal factors
• New and existing businesses focus on either survival or growth
• Survival is a focus for new businesses in their first year of operation or established businesses under threat from competitors
• As a business becomes more recognized and achieves a secure position in the market, it may change its aims and objectives to focus on growth
• Established businesses in competitive environments may be forced back into survival mode due to low sales, increasing competition, changes in trends, poor economic performance, or changes in market conditions
• A common growth strategy for businesses is to enter new markets to grow the business overall and develop a new target market
• Businesses may exit markets due to reasons like a shrinking market, poor product performance, a new market opening up, or overall business failure
• When a business is expanding and performing well, some of its aims and objectives may focus on growing its workforce, which can include opening new departments, creating new teams, and recruiting more staff
• By growing its workforce, a business gains more potential for expansion
• Reducing the workforce is usually part of a survival strategy for a business, especially when it is not performing well or is exiting a market to reduce overall business costs
• Occasionally, a reduction in the workforce can be part of a business growth plan involving technology, like in the banking industry where high street branches have closed due to the increase in online banking and automated cash machines
• Businesses often start with a small number of products, but over time they may expand their product range as they grow
• Increasing the product range allows businesses to manage risk, as they can rely on other products if one is not performing well
• Decreasing the product range is common when a product is not generating enough revenue or when a business is failing, allowing the business to focus on existing products or develop a new product range in a different sector