Business is basically an organized group of people who work together in order to produce and sell goods or services to others. In a business, individuals work collectively to create and sell goods or services to customers. Others, who are not engaged in the production or sales of the business itself, merely purchase the goods and services sold by the business itself. Thus, a business can make a significant profit for the goods and services that it sells.
Business may also be broken down into different departments, or sections. One example of such departments would be the Finance Department, the Operations Department, the Marketing Department, the Quality Assurance Department, the Engineering Department, the Human Resources Department, and the Administration department. Although most businesses operate as one cohesive unit, in reality there are many variations within each of these departments. Often, in an effort to streamline their businesses and cut costs, companies break their businesses down into departments to be more effective.
There are several objectives day-to-day that each department in a business should accomplish. These objectives typically fall into two categories: functional and managerial. Each department, and especially each individual employee in that department, should have its own set of skills, responsibilities, and limitations. For example, there are certain skills that all employees in a marketing department must have, while there are other skills that only a marketing manager or advertising sales agent may possess. It is important that these departments set their objectives and goals in stone.
Every company, regardless of size, should develop an ultimate mission and purpose for being in business. This includes both long-term and short-term goals. It is important that these objectives and purposes are clearly stated, documented, and agreed upon by all key people in the business. These key points should include both financial and non-financial key takeaways.
All businesses should develop a long-term strategy that will guide them through both an economic and non-economic time frame. In terms of an economic time frame, these strategies should address profitability, expansion, and diversification. A non-economic time frame should also address these same things, but focus on growth. This strategy is extremely helpful to ensure that all stakeholders are moving toward one common goal.
Learning Objectives Day-to-Day: When a company implements learning objectives within their business, they strengthen their ability to learn and adapt, and also increase the depth of their ability to respond to their stakeholders. Within every department in a firm, employees need to know what the market needs and how to better serve their customers. Creating an effective organization means that all employees understand their roles, and how to enhance customer service. Furthermore, all managers must have a clearly defined learning objective in order to facilitate communication between departments and between the business and its consumers or partners.