Strategic Management Short-term objectives

Strategic management tends to focus on long-term goals that can take several years, but managers need to be aware of the importance of short-term goals in corporate strategy. Short-term strategies can fall into one of four categories. Managers should understand what these goals are and how they can benefit a company.

Financial goals

Short-term financial goals address monetary objectives for the near future. Examples of short-term financial goals include increasing monthly profits or decreasing quarterly expenses. Short-term financial goals are often part of a longer-term goal. For example, increasing monthly revenue can be part of a long-term business strategy for growth.

Employee goals

A company can have a long-term development strategy for its employees, but to achieve long-term goals it is first necessary to achieve short-term goals. Employees' short-term goals could include increasing personal monthly production levels or increasing weekly personal sales, among others.

Production objectives

Production objectives are generally short-term goals. Common short-term production targets increase monthly production levels, decreasing daily error rates and increasing quarterly production efficiency. Normally, these short-term goals are part of a long-term strategy. For example, the increase in monthly production could be part of a long-term strategy for regular sales growth and a long-term plan to increase profits may require an increase in short-term sales targets.

Sales objectives

Sales targets can be long-term goals, but they are usually focused on the short term - often with daily goals or even schedules. Short-term sales can be measured in both sales value and sales number. In general, short-term sales targets are adequate to react to a company's long-term strategies.