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Example of smart goals essay
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Guidelines for smart goals
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In the text, you will find that a Smart goal is one that is specific, measurable, attainable, results-oriented, and has target dates (Kinicki, 2013). Additionally, these type of objectives will allow managers and employees enough time to revamp their operations to successfully complete the mission. GM envisioned that the business could earn $10 billion annual profit. Having high expectations for your organization is a good thing. For the fact that GM is trying to bounce back from a bailout I think they should lower their expectations until a solid plan in created. This can be a realistic goal, but GM executives have to make some changes in the firm's decision-making process so that they will not end up in the same situation as last time (Lee, 2010). GM figures by increasing their profit margins to 10% from its current 6% level the company profit will achieve the $10 billion goal. Due to the fact that other top level automobile makers are projected to reach the 10% margin GM thinks it is possible for them also. …show more content…
This was a specific goal for the organization. Since GM specified, they would lower the number of platforms the company uses to manufacture automobiles. The second SMART goal GM uses is target dates because GM establishes the timeframe in which they want this action to be completed by. GM set the deadlines between 2014 and 2018 to have the number of platforms reduced to 24 and 14 by the year 2014 and 2018 (Lee, 2010). I think that these goals can be attained for GM with the right strategy in place. Because the Ford Company is projected to use only 5 platforms to make 75% of their cars and Ford is already making $300 more than GM per vehicle sold (Kinicki, 2013). So if this strategy will work for the Ford Company, I think it will work for GM as
The financial health of GM has been rocky over the last decade, one remarkable moment being the filing of bankruptcy and the subsequent government bailout. There have been many ups and downs for the corporation but for the last few years (Figure 4) profits again have risen to be the standard. Since the company’s recovery from bankruptcy their status has stabilized financially and in performance. Something is to be said that they have been in business for over 100 years and are still going strong earning them once again the title of top automobile manufacturer of the world.
Despite their benefit, SMART goals are not without their drawbacks which can hinder the obtaining of desired results. One difficulty regarding setting SMART goals is that the words “goals” and “objectives” are often used interchangeably and this can result in major difficulties (MacLeod, 2012, p. 69). Goals are more often general in nature, whereas objectives are tangible targets. This confusion of terms can result in unclear goals which invariably yields weaker results as compared to a clear
Ford has started down that path with its new line of small automobiles. Alternative solutions would be to develop innovative technologies with new fuels, new engines, and lighter composites. Also, buy back older models and recycle them into new vehicles that are environmentally friendly. Still another is to build really compact electric vehicles for large city use and extend its reach by building electric recharging stations. Definitely changes to the current way that it does business, Ford can continue to change for the better.
Having goals is crucial in the journey of eventually reaching the organizations vision. A vision is the destination for the organization, while the goals are more focused (Clark, 2014). The presence of goals within an organization allows leaders to be able to measure their progress. According to Colorado State University-Global Campus (2010) the concept of SMART (specific, measureable, attainable, realistic, timely) goals is frequently used to help measure an organizations success in reaching their goals. Having goals that meet the SMART criteria enable the organization to be able to more efficiently track, measure and ultimately reach their goals. Goals that are missing any of the five facets of the SMART concept will be a liability to the success of the organization.
With the implementation of Ford’s restructuring plan, Ford 2000, the company has set forth goals to compete with the expansion of foreign-based auto manufacturers globally. The goal of Ford 2000 is to continue to improve quality and reduce cycle times by finding ways to improve processes involving all stakeholders within the supply chain and the company itself.
Goal setting is a process; leaders must first fully understand and buy into the vision for the future of the organization. When leaders believe and trust in the direction the company is heading, their employees will as well, this allows them to create a goal path that people will want to follow. The creation of goals can be complicated at times, as mentioned by Clark it is important to keep a couple simple suggestions in mind, “goals should be realistic and attainable, should improve the organization, as many as possible should be involved in the goal-setting process, and the process...
One of the best ways to follow a successful path is to set goals for yourself. They are important to keep yourself on task and to get to a desired point of self fulfillment. The issue can be how to achieve goals in a successful manner. The issue is "Although people may desire or intend to attain some outcome, they are not committed to that as a goal until they are willing to invest affect, cognition, and behavior in attaining it" (Traci Mann, 2013). This is why it is important to have a set path on how to accomplish important goals. I have chosen three goals that I want to accomplish to demonstrate a Process known as SMART, to help accomplish them. There goals are that I want to finally earn a college degree(personal), I want to make it into the honor society while earning my degree(academic), and I want to earn my degree in order to contribute to Autism research(professional). All of these goals range in the amount of time it will take to accomplish them. Some are long term, but I can still use the SMART goal process in order to achieve them. The SMART steps to follow are:
“To develop and grow a performance-based, world-class, competitive diversity supply base that will work with General Motors toward its goal of being the market leader in the Automotive industry” (GM,2008). GM is primarily engaged in the production of vehicles. The company designs, manufactures, and markets cars, trucks and other automobile parts in North America, Europe, Latin America, and Asia Pacific regions. GM vision is to be the world leader in transportation products and related services. In order to achieve this vision, GM recognizes that hurdles will block them and they will address them before GM achieves goals to reach this vision (GM, 2008).
The central issue that (Albright, 2008, pp. 1) intends to bring out in the case study is how a company like Mercedes-Benz can overcome problems of a diminishing market share and high production costs to ultimately increase their vehicle sales by developing new vehicle models, that are targeted at emerging market segments and niches while ensuring that the product development costs are minimized. As a result of the great recession of the early 1990s, Mercedes made losses for the first time in its history. There was thus a need to develop a new strategy to overturn the results and get back to its profitability making history.
“Ford Motor Company is a global automaker that has been around for many years” (Wikipedia). Within the past several years Ford has gone through widespread changes to help the company in this time of the United States economic problems. “Some of these changes attempts have been to down-size or layoff the workforce, to focus on the Ford Brand and cut back on other brands under their agency, employee involvement at all levels, and to increase the efficiency in Ford’s four main pillars for their organization: fuel efficiency, quality, safety and value...
Ford’s production plants rely on very high-tech computers and automated assembly. It takes a significant financial investment and time to reconfigure a production plant after a vehicle model is setup for assembly. Ford has made this mistake in the past and surprisingly hasn’t learned the valuable lesson as evidence from the hybrid revolution their missing out on today. Between 1927 and 1928, Ford set in motion their “1928 Plan” of establishing worldwide operations. Unfortunately, the strategic plan didn’t account for economic factors in Europe driving the demand for smaller vehicles. Henry Ford established plants in Europe for the larger North American model A. Their market share in 1929 was 5.7% in England and 7.2% in France (Dassbach, 1988). Economic changes can wreak havoc on a corporation’s bottom line and profitability as well as their brand.
Using the SMART goal setting system will help you maintain focus on your short and long-term goals, which will help to keep you on track (Lewis, 2000, p. 15). Therefore, setting realistic goals is important to achieve realistic and timely outcomes.
Ford Motor Company has been one of the most prominent automobile produces for the last 100 years. In recent years Ford Motor Company has been losing money. In efforts to save the company we will analyze three different plans to realign the company. The first option is to close down older plants. Hoping that closing down older plants would in turn realign production and sales. There is a large cost to buying out the workers, and shutting down the plants. Then on the other hand this leaves a window open that there would be a desire for Ford Automobiles once there is a short supply. This would cause consumers to shop with other competitor’s. Grand strategies are a broad strategic plan used to help and organizations achieve its goals, so three types of strategies are growth, stability, and retrenchment/recovery (Williams, 2010). The first option of closing down older plants is an example of a retrenchment strategy. This option should be considered because after closing down some plants and cutting employees this will save the company a lot of money. This will allow the other plants to make a recovery and balance out. For example Sears saw a large decline in earnings and began reducing cost and cutting jobs (Williams, 2010). A year later Sears retrenchment strategy returned and was successful about a year later (Williams, 2010). Hopefully, the same...
As discussed there are a variety of different considerations that influence how goals are set, and the participants of this exercise are as important as the outcome. In addition, depending on the organization, an assortment of various goals based on its business philosophy is a consideration. Organization Goals are designed to produce a specific outcome. These goals fall into several different categories: official goals; operative goals; and operational goals (Barnat, 2007). Official goals are publically stated and involve a professionally drafted unified message addressed internally and externally. An example is the Whole Food Market S...
During the year 2005, Ford Motor Company brought in Alan Mulally, once a leader at the company Boeing. Mulally decided to implement a strategy called ‘One Ford’; this plan would ultimately lead to the employees becoming one team, using one plan, and looking towards one goal. Because this plan was going to execute a complete overhaul on the company, an aggressive training program needed to be put into place for the company to implement the plan correctly. By following this plan, the company would eventually meet their “One Goal”, which was profitable growth for all. By creating a strong product and producing customer loyalty, Alan Mulally knew the company would begin to see positive results and profitable growth. According to Alex Ta...