Difference Between Goals
Goals are often the main fundamental end point towards which organizations work. Goals define the aims and objectives of organizations that are set to be achieved in the due course of time. The different types of goals in an organization are for different purposes and reasons. Fundamentally there exist two categories of goals: official goals and operative goals. (Daft, 2001) The difference between these goals is quite obvious and can be explained easily.
Official goals exist to define the organization’s overall legitimate objectives i. e. the stage it will reach during the course of its existence. Operative goals, on the other hand are in place to provide the momentum and motivation to employees in a particular direction. These seek to establish decision guidelines and are basically the means to achieve the fundamental objectives. In other words, operative goals define the goals of performance and employee productivity in order to meet the official goals. (Daft, 2001)
There should be a high degree of consistency and congruency between the official and the operative goals for the organization to benefit from it. At Google, the official goals are defined to being able to provide the world with all the information in and about the world in as many different languages as possible. Clearly speaking, it is a very broad, timeless and fundamental goals which Google is aiming at.
There will hardly be any point in time when Google can claim that it has met its official goals. The operative goals of Google include the harbouring of individualism as well as collective group work: a goal that will motivate both strata of workers because it has been found out that many superb individuals may not gel into groups well and many average performers may perform exceptionally in groups. It also has provision for creativity and innovation.
The operative goals of Google are clearly different and more specific towards performance and operations, while the official goals depict what the operative goals will one day lead to. (Google search engine) Thus, it should be borne in mind when considering the difference between operational and operative goals that these are highly related to each other and yet distinct. The example of Google as an organization highlighting the differences between these two types of goals exmplifies this fact aptly.
