Lesson plan 2: Business objectives

 Alignment with Student Book: Chapter 2 (pages 11– 18)

 Resources: Worksheet 2: Business objectives; Student Book. Access to computers would make
this lesson more engaging for the students.

Assessment Objective(s)
 AO1 Recall, select and communicate knowledge and understanding of business terms, concepts
and issues
 AO2 Apply knowledge and understanding using appropriate business terms, concepts, theories
and calculations effectively in specific contexts
 AO3 Select, organise and interpret business information from sources to investigate and analyse
issues
Learning objectives
By the end of the lesson, students should:
 Understand the financial aims and objectives of businesses: survival, sales, profit, market share,
and financial security
 Understand the non-financial aims and objectives of businesses: social objectives, personal
satisfaction, challenge, independence and control
 Understand why business objectives change in response to market conditions, technology,
performance, legislations and internal reasons
Possible misconceptions and barriers
 Students often get confused with the terms objectives and aims. Aims are the overall goals and
objectives are the steps taken to achieve these goals.
 Students struggle with the concept of business aims unless you get them to understand personal
aims and objectives first.
 Students sometimes get confused with the term financial or monetary. They need to know
financial aims or monetary aims are to do with money and non financial aims are to do with other
things that motivate people (not money related), e.g. status
 Students often get confused between aims and objectives and mission statement and values.
Specification alignment
 1.1 business objectives (page 10)

An optional pre-task
1. Students to read chapter 2 of the Student Book.
2. Alternatively, students should do some background research into popular businesses and try to
find out their aims and objectives. Students should bring evidence of this activity to the lesson.

Starter activity
(Estimated time to complete this activity: 5–10 minutes)
1. Get students to write down their personal aim for life.
a) Overall what do they want to be? A footballer or a nurse or just rich or successful.
b) Then students should write how they are going to achieve this.
c) Then, in pursuit of this goal, where will they need to be in 1–2 years’ time and 5 years’ time.

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2. Once this is done students should share their overall goals and their short- and long-term goals
with the person sitting next to them. They should explain why they want to achieve what they
want to achieve and think about how they are going to achieve these goals.

It is important to make sure students remember not to comment negatively on each others’ goals as
they are personal to each and every person.

Differentiation
Opportunity for support: Create a template for the students to complete.
Opportunity for challenge: More able students might be able to set different goals – career
aspirations and personal aspirations (for example, family).

Main teaching activities

Activity 1
(Estimated time to complete this activity: 10–15 minutes)
1. Explain the concept of aims and objectives in business. Make sure you explain that aims are the
overall goals and objectives are the steps to get to the aims. It would be good to link their 1–2-
year goals and 5-year goals as short- and long-term aims and objectives.
2. Explain that aims and objectives should be clear. SMART objectives are one way of making them
clear. This involves reflecting upon whether they are specific, Measureable, Achievable, Realistic
and timed.
3. The next step is for students to turn their personal aims into SMART objectives. Students to
complete worksheet section 1, followed by peer sharing of answers.

Differentiation
Opportunity for support: Students could be given suggestions of SMART objectives for the most
common objectives.
Opportunity for challenge: Students who finish quickly could start to think about how personal aims
and objectives are very similar in design to business aims and objectives.

Activity 2
(Estimated time to complete this activity: 10–15 minutes)
1. Explain that personal aims and objectives work in the same way for people as they do for
businesses. People want to achieve things in life and businesses want to achieve things while
they exist. Having aims and objectives gives everyone that works in the business a purpose and a
direction.
2. Talk through an example business or two and their aims and objectives. It would be ideal to use
contrasting businesses, one ‘for profit’ business and one ‘not for profit’ business like a charity.
a) You should discuss the students thoughts with the students – are the aims and objectives
realistic?
b) Could they have guessed them from knowing about the businesses?
3. In this discussion you should help students to identify which aims are financial aims (to do with
money) and which are non-financial aims.

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Activity 3
(Estimated time to complete this activity: 5–10 minutes)
1. Students to complete worksheet section 2.
2. Explain that students should investigate a variety of businesses and find out their aims and
objectives. Peer assess the answers.

Differentiation
Opportunity for support: This activity will provide time to work one to one with some students who
need support.
Opportunity for challenge: Students who finish quickly could write an example of a SMART aim for
each type listed, for example, for profit the example could be to increase profits by 20% in the next
year.

Activity 4
(Estimated time to complete this activity: 15–20 minutes)
1. Students to complete worksheet section 3. This could be done using a range of pre-prepared
teacher resources or, ideally, students could use ICT to conduct secondary research for
themselves.
2. Students should investigate a variety of businesses and find out their aims and objectives.

Differentiation
Opportunity for support: Students could be supported with one to one help from the teacher.
Opportunity for challenge: Students who are more able should be allocated businesses for which it
will be more challenging to discover the aims and objectives.

Activity 5
(Estimated time to complete this activity: 10–15 minutes)
1. Ask students: ‘Do you have the same aims and objectives now that you had when you were 10?’
Teacher Talk – Explain that business aims and objectives can change over time as businesses evolve.
2. Use a Q&A to draw out their knowledge (see examples below).

Aims and objectives could change over time in response to…

 Market conditions
 Technology
 Performance
 Legislation
 Internal reasons
Examples of questions to ask about each of the above…
 Why do you think this might be?
 Can you give an example of how aims and objectives could change?
 Can you think of an actual business example where their aims and objectives have changed?
 Why did they change?

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3. Students to complete worksheet section 4.

Differentiation
Opportunity for support: Teacher to ask less challenging questions to students who need support.
Opportunity for challenge: Teacher to ask more challenging questions to students who need stretch.

Activity 6
(Estimated time to complete this activity: 25–30 minutes)
1. Students should answer the chapter review questions from the Student Book (page 18)
SuperSkiSwiss.com. This includes reading out loud the case study text as a literature focus.
Students should attempt questions 1 to 6.
This activity is an ideal opportunity for peer assessment if the teacher goes through the answers
with the class and peers can assess the answers.

Differentiation
Opportunity for support: Students could be supported with one to one help from the teacher. Also
set them a smaller target, e.g. complete 3 questions.
Opportunity for challenge: Students who are more able should be expected to complete all the
questions.

Plenary
(Estimated time to complete the activity: 5 minutes)
1. Students to complete worksheet section 5, the pyramid, to identify what they have learned.

Homework
1. Business plan project. Students to create the aims and objectives for their business. Making sure
they include SMART objectives.

Alternative Homework
2. Complete activity 2 on page 15 (questions are on page 16) about DAM (Doha Airline Meals).

Advice for non-specialists

1. Read chapter 2 of the Student Book.
2. Make sure you research some specific company aims and objectives to sound knowledgeable
when telling the students.
3. Key words to understand before you teach this include:
 Aims
 Objectives
 SMART
 Mission statement
 Values

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