In business, describing a problem means that it has already been solved and this is mostly done with the use of SMART goals. In this kind of setting, SMART acronym stands for S pecific M easurable A ttainable R elevant and T emporal, which is a practical rule of how businesses are to set their goals. The goals being set will be clear to all business stakeholders and thus, gives them a direction. Specific will look at answering the questions “ W ” that relate to Who, What, Why, Where, and Which because it is looking at something that is unique. Measurable will look at answering the ‘ how questions’ relating to the business because the objective can be ascertained in an objective way. The third component, Achievable and Ambitious , looks at how the goal in question can be accomplished. The fourth component concerns Relevant and Realistic goals of the business, which answers the question of whether the goal seems worthwhile and if it matches the company’s goals. Time-bound is the last element looking at when and the due dates of the main milestones (Bagad, 2009).
Akidas is a small sports apparel shop that deals with designer sportswear for the young people aged between 15 and 34 years of age. The gear is intended to serve both men and women, but a problem has been identified by the sales department and hence, SMART objectives need to be ascertained. With respect to the specific feature of Akidas, the sales personnel decided to increase their sales margins by introducing Akidas to their target market and thus, the 4 stores located in malls will be the best place to start their promotion. The city has a sports festival and it is the best place for Akidas to introduce their products to the public.
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Specific : Selling of more high quality sports apparel in the 4 stores located in malls will take advantage of the effect of a sports festival that is happening in the city .
The second component will ensure that the measurement is well defined so as to objectively ascertain the objective of the sales department.
Measurable: At the end of the sports fair, we would like to have sold 45% of our high quality sports apparel, as compared to the sales made last year. This will look at the 4 stores located in the malls, which will be taking advantage of the effects brought about by the sports festival that is happening in the city .
The third component looks at how he goal can be attained putting into consideration the business objectives of Akidas. The 45% that has been raised in the measurable component is more achievable because it is a goal that is believable in nature. This goal does not discourage employees, but rather motivates them because the image of Akidas will be changed and more customers will visit the shops even after the sports festival ends.
Fourth is the relevance of the goal in terms of having practical meaning by ensuring that he company grows.
Attainable: Increase the market share of Akidas by 15% through the opening of 2 new stores in the 2 main malls located in the central business district of the city by the end of the year. This will be taking advantage of the sports fair that has resulted in an increase in consumption, which has been generated by the event in the city.
By having such an attainable goal, it is relevant for the sales department at Akidas in terms of meeting their goals and objectives at the end of the sports fair.
Lastly, we have the time-bound component and this is evident in the case of Akidas because they intend to have reached their goal(s) at the end of the year.
The ‘Balanced Scorecard’ is essential when it comes to the planning process at Akidas because it provides the executives of the company with a comprehensive framework, which translates the strategic objectives of the company into a coherent set of performance measures (Kaplan & Norton, 1993). It is through this balanced scorecard that the management system at Akidas has motivated breakthrough improvements in areas like product, market development, customer and the whole process of business operations in the company. It is through the use of this balanced scorecard that managers at Akidas managed to select a limited number of the most critical indicators as pertains to the company’s strategic objectives and competitive demands. Hence, focus of Akidas has been on measures like customer performance, innovation, internal processes, and improvement activities all which are directed on the company’s strategic vision.
The application of the ‘Balanced Scorecard’ in the planning process at Akidas has been so effective because it has seen the financial perspective attain profitability of the project they are undertaking. Hence, the profit forecast conducted by the sales department is reliable. Customer perspective has considered the customer satisfaction index and market share projected in a positive way. As for the internal business perspective, the project performance index was enhanced and this meant that the success rate was tendered to the concerned personnel. Lastly, the innovation and learning perspectives saw the improvement of staff attitude with regard to customer satisfaction and this encouraged employee to give more suggestions on what can be done to increase future sales at Akidas. It is in this area that situational analysis of the company and SWOT ( S trengths W eaknesses O pportunities and T hreats) analysis are performed by the company to understand the environment of their business before undertaking any new project.
When it comes to helping employees meet objectives, Akidas has realized that the reward system works best because all stakeholders contribute to achieving the best results at any given point. The reward system is built in such a way that all employees of the company help in developing, implanting and revising the rewards programs in meeting organizational goals. In addition, the rewards are viewed by employees as a worth effort because managers value the input of their employees. As such, it has motivated employees to work even harder so as to achieve intended business objectives. Furthermore, the incentive applied at Akidas has set reasonable and transparent standards of performance for their reward systems. Such system makes employees access their own performance through the use of a dashboard and this helps them make realistic expectations. In other instances, employees are also given shopping coupons that has seen many save on their budget through the use of coupons for things like clothes and toys for their children. All in all, true engagement by employees entails an understanding of how their roles fit within the company’s outlook. As such, they should feel that they are part of the corporate culture, their contributions matter; they are well-compensated when it comes to their efforts; and that they are a big part of what constitutes the greatness of the company. Therefore, many of the employees will want to feel appreciated and recognized for their hard work in meeting the company’s objectives. Pitfalls of employee turnover can be avoided by driving retention through the use of different incentives and needs to be part of employee engagement (Adkins, 2016).
References
Adkins, A. (2016). U.S. employee engagement reaches new high in March. Gallup. Retrieved
from https://news.gallup.com/poll/190622/employee-engagement-reaches-new-high-
march.aspx
Bagad, V. S. (2009). Principles of management . Pune, India: Technical Publications.
Kaplan, R.S. & Norton, D. P. (1993, September-October). Putting the balanced scorecard to
work. Harvard Business Review . Retrieved from https://hbr.org/1993/09/putting-the-
balanced-scorecard-to-work
