Final answer:
Goal congruence is the alignment of the goals of business segment managers with those of top management to ensure all members of an organization are working towards the same objectives, including both financial and nonfinancial goals.
Step-by-step explanation:
The term goal congruence refers to the alignment of the goals of business segment managers with the goals of top management. This ensures that all individuals within an organization are working towards common objectives, which in turn benefits the company as a whole. Achieving goal congruence can help to prevent conflict and inefficiency, leading to a more effective and unified approach to meeting organizational targets.
While goal congruence typically addresses financial objectives, it is also important to ensure that these are aligned with nonfinancial goals. Nonfinancial goals may include customer satisfaction, product quality, corporate social responsibility, and employee engagement. Ensuring that both sets of goals are in harmony promotes a balanced approach to business success.
In contrast, options A and D, which discuss matching financial and nonfinancial goals or duplication of costs due to decentralization, and option C, which talks about achieving management's goals by utilizing resources, do not fully capture the essence of goal congruence.