Final answer:
Business goals must be SMART, and the measurable part ensures that the achievement of these goals can be quantified, such as the sample size needed for a company survey or the improvement of wait times for customer inquiries.
Step-by-step explanation:
Well-written business goals should be SMART: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. The measurable aspect ensures that progress towards achieving these goals can be quantified.
For instance, if an internet marketing company wants to determine the percentage of customers who click on ads on their smartphones, they must conduct a survey with a statistically significant sample size. To be 90 percent confident that the estimated proportion of customers is within 5 percentage points of the true population proportion, the company should statistically determine the required sample size.
This process typically involves assumed proportions (often 0.50 for maximum sample size) and a desired confidence level, such as 90%.
Similarly, businesses must measure and address issues, such as long wait times for customer inquiries, which in a customer service context could relate to a goal like responding to 98% of online inquiries within five minutes.
In addition, for issues like mental health services on campus, objectives to improve the ratio of staff-to-student can be identified and measured, translating into more effective support for students.
These goals have direct implications on organizational effectiveness, customer satisfaction, and service efficiency. Businesses often employ quantitative methods to analyze and improve operations.
such as in queueing theory, where the effect of single or multiple lines on customer waiting time variation can be tested to see if there is a statistically significant difference in customer service efficiency.