business aims and objectives

• what aims can a business have?

  • survival
  • maximise profit
  • growth
  • increase shareholder value
• what are some business aims that are not financial?


  Social responsibility, environmental sustainability, employee well-being.
• how can firms measure how happy customers are?

  customer opinion serveys
• what are objectives?


  a specific target that the business can directly work towards
• what are aims?


  overall goal a business wants to achieve
• what can objectives be related to?

  • survival
  • profit
  • growth
  • shareholder value
  • market share
  • social and ethical issues
  • customer satisfaction
• true or false. objectives are more specific than aims

  true, they’re measure able steps on the way to the aim
• true or false. maximising profit is never a financial aim of a business when it first starts up


  false. majority of businesses will aim to maximise profit when starting up but it may take a few years to make any profit at all
• what is the term used to describe when a business achieves a point where it can depend on its own revenue to fund its activities?

  financial security
• what are some factors which affect the objectives of a business?

  • the size of a business - larger business may aim to act ethically as they already have a lot of attention
  • the level of competition - focuses on customer satisfaction so it can win over customers
  • the type of business - not for profit businesses are more likely to focus on social and ethical objectives
• why might a businesses objectives change?


  they become more established and objectives may be more centred around growth and maximising profits for reinvestment
• how can the business environment change objectives?

  • new legalisation
  • changes in economy
  • changes in technology
  • environmental expectations
• how can changes in the economy affect a businesses objectives?


  eg if there is a recession a company’s growth might be put on hold whilst it concentrates on survival
• how can new legalisation affect a businesses objectives?

  eg a new living wage was introduced, affected many companies profits as they had to pay higher wages
• what are short term objectives?


  immediate objectives, eg to survive, to establish a reputation
• what is a medium term objective?


  goals that have to be achieved later on into the businesses life eg achieve growth or opening other branches
• what is a long term objective?

  eg to be an ethical business or make a contribution to society