Corporate Culture, Strategic Objectives, and Business Planning

Understanding Organizational Culture

Organizational culture is a set of values, beliefs, language standards, knowledge, behavioral codes, and forms of action that are known and shared by its members, and which are also unique and identifying characteristics of the organization.

Core Elements of Culture

• Values: These are cultural constructs and convictions that guide choices over others, thereby determining organizational behavior.
• Visions: These are the ideas that organizational leaders have about the future of their business—what to continue, what to grow, what to start, and what to discontinue.
• Drivers: These are phrases that conceptualize the leaders' vision, which are then adopted by the organization's members. They must be genuine, not just slogans, and every member should think and work according to them.
• Beliefs: These are professions of faith where reason and logic have little influence. They are often represented as metaphors, images, or legends.
• Symbols and Slogans: Beliefs are reinforced by using symbols (graphics that imply a meaning) and, frequently, by the phrases themselves.
• Rituals and Ceremonies: These are acts that are repeated invariably in specific contexts.

Key Contextual Factors

Legal and Cultural Framework

An organization's culture is shaped by both its external and internal legal frameworks, including foreign and domestic regulations.

The Importance of Culture in Achieving Objectives

A strong organizational culture is directly related to achieving company objectives. This involves understanding the hierarchy and classification of those objectives.

Planning, Control, and Budgeting

Effective planning and control are crucial. This is managed through programs and budgets, which go through their own lifecycle of creation, development, and crisis management.

The Interrelation of Objectives

Strategic Objectives

These are the highest-level objectives, set by the organization's senior leadership. They are broad and do not include specific details.

Tactical Objectives

These objectives are defined for intermediate levels of the organization. They are specific, concrete goals whose implementation is reflected in programs and budgets.

Verifying and Classifying Objectives

• Quantitative Objectives: These are easily verifiable as they are expressed in numbers.
• Qualitative Objectives: These express qualities and are not always precisely measurable.

The Business Planning Process

A process is a set of successive phases of a phenomenon or activity. Its nature depends on the activity being developed, its size, the resources available, and the organization's internal culture.

A Tool for Building the Organization

The planning process is a fundamental tool for building an organization. When complemented by a control process, it provides managers with clear insight into whether management is meeting the objectives set by senior leadership.

Feasibility of Objectives

Objectives must be feasible, allowing the organization to transit through all its stages (birth, growth, development, survival, and closure) without breaking down.

How the Planning Process Materializes

The planning process is materialized through programs and budgets, such as:

• Commercial Plan: Estimates the organization's results (Profits and Losses).
• Financial Plan: Estimates cash inflows and outflows (receipts and payments).
• Investment Plan: Estimates investments in fixed assets (Assets for Use).