The Difference Between Goals, Objectives, Strategies, and Tactics

Updated Apr 17, 2023.
Difference Between Goals, Objectives, Strategies, and Tactics

Many business leaders can’t differentiate between goals, objectives, strategies, and tactics (GOST). They easily confuse objectives with goals and tactics with strategy.

Does knowing the difference between these four components matter? Yes, and for good reasons.

Businesses can trace the root cause of many failed plans to the lack of understanding of the different GOST framework components.

Whether you are writing a business plan, a company strategy, or a communications strategy, mastering the differences between the GOST terms is crucial for effective strategic planning.

Let’s dive right in.

Key Differences Between Goals, Objectives, Strategies, and Tactics (Table)

Features GoalsObjectivesStrategiesTactics
Meaning Goals are outcomes you aim to achieve. Objectives are measurable steps taken to achieve goals. Strategies are plans or approaches designed for the successful execution of objectives. Tactics are small actionable tasks within strategies.
PurposeGoals help companies to accomplish their overall vision and values.Objectives help to simplify the process of achieving a desired outcome. Strategies promote the successful execution of objectives. Tactics solve present problems which may affect the overall outcome.
Examples Increase the sales of our newly designed software tools for blog writers.Through digital marketing campaigns, get 10,000+ subscribers every month.Convince customers that the new software tools are better than the old ones.Collaborate with popular and successful blog writers with many followers on social media to market the new product.

What is the GOST Model?

What comes to mind when you hear the word GOST? If your first guess is the spirit of a deceased person, “Ghost,” you aren’t wrong. “GOST” and “Ghost” have similar pronunciations.

Let’s look at what GOST means in the business world.

The GOST model is a business model that ensures businesses achieve their strategic plans. GOST stands for goals, objectives, strategies, and tactics.

Peter Gollwitzer developed the GOST model to show how these components (goals, objectives, strategies, and tactics) combine to benefit any organization.

The GOST model shows you the differences between outcomes and actions. Goals are the outcomes that organizations or individuals aim to achieve. On the other hand, objectives, strategies, and tactics are steps required to achieve the desired results (goals).

Goals, objectives, strategies, and tactics are inseparable in strategic business planning. You won’t achieve the desired outcome without knowing the specific actions (objectives, strategies, and tactics) to take and how to execute them.

Image of the GOST Model

Image of the GOST Model
Source: Sketchbubble

What is a Goal?

There are many goal definitions, but here’s a simple explanation, a goal is what you aim to achieve.

Setting unattainable goals is a total waste of time, effort, and resources. Use the SMART goal framework to set specific, measurable, attainable, and time-bound goals.

A SMART Goal
Source: Stratechi

For example, you can set goals from a marketing perspective to improve employee satisfaction, increase revenue, boost market share, and bring in new customers. However, they are vague and don’t pass the criteria for SMART goals.

Here’s an example of a SMART goal to increase business revenue.

Bad Goal: The company wants to increase revenue.

Good SMART Goal: The company wants to grow revenue by 30% within 9 months by adding 100 more clients and getting existing customers to buy and refer others for loyalty rewards.

Can you spot the difference between these goals? Which goal do you think is better? I bet you pick the good SMART goal example because of how specific, measurable, and attainable it is.

Businesses with goals that are not in line with their unique values and vision are in for a major shipwreck. Every goal set by an organization must portray its vision and values.

Without measurable objectives, your company’s overall goals are not achievable. That's why setting SMART goals will make things easier for your team.

Smart Goal Example on Blog Traffic
Source: Blog-hubspot

Types of Goals

Not all goals go in the same direction and purpose. Knowing the different goal types is vital for accomplishing the desired outcomes.

With this knowledge, you can seamlessly structure and label your goals so your employees and team members can understand and act on them.

Beyond the usual kinds like business, career, and financial goals, there are other goal types you need to know.

Let's check out some goal types.

  1. Time-Based Goals

Time-based goals have a specific time frame. Two types of time-based goals exist.

  • Long-Term Goals: They represent the overall direction of your organization, teams, or specific project. You can’t accomplish long-term goals within a short time frame. It runs for lengthy periods (for months or even years).
  • Short-Term Goals: They are portions of the overall long-term goals of a company that would require less time, like weeks or months, to accomplish.
  1. Process-Oriented Goals

Process-oriented goals focus primarily on the process. Compared to the other goal types, they are not very common.

When a company seeks to make changes, like implementing a new communication workflow for staff members, it falls under process-oriented goals.

These goals help the organization handle transitional periods such as business location or leadership changes. For example, training employees to adjust to a new business software tool.

  1. Outcome-Oriented Goals

Outcome-oriented goals focus on the desired outcome. They go beyond short-term achievements but dive deeper into areas like your organization’s values and vision.

With outcome-oriented goals, the results are not immediate. There are various processes required to get the desired result. They may lack a specific time frame, but they always focus on the big picture the organization aims to achieve.

Examples of outcome-oriented goals are increasing customer loyalty and boosting customer retention. Apart from businesses, individuals can also set outcome-oriented career goals. A professional actor's goal involves losing weight and learning a new language for a movie role.

Goals vs. Objectives

Here is a table that shows the differences between goals and objectives.

Differences GoalsObjectives
PurposeGoals are designed to help companies achieve their overall vision and values. This factor makes goals higher than objectives. Objectives help achieve the company’s goals.
TimeGoals are broader and may take a longer time to achieve. Objectives are straightforward and are described in terms of specific tasks, which take a shorter time to accomplish.
OriginGoals are based on ideas.Objectives are based on facts.
PresentationThe languages used in communication goals are more on the conceptual side. Objectives can only be effectively communicated by being creative and innovative.
ExamplesGrow the company’s customer base by 20% in 6 months.Make 100 sales calls per week.

Best Tips for Developing Goals

  • Use a Goal Framework: A framework is a reliable guide for setting goals. Most businesses struggle to set goals that bring the desired outcome. Goal frameworks like Objectives and Key Results (OKRs), CLEAR and SMART goals can help them develop achievable goals.
  • Set a Realistic Time Frame: Having a time frame or due date attached to your goals will help speed things up. Employees will struggle to give the set goals the attention it needs without a specific time frame. Set a realistic time frame to help you achieve your goals.
  • Establish a Clear Connection Between Your Goals, Vision, or Values: If your employees know their actions in achieving goals are connected with the overall vision, they will get more excited. They will develop a sense of responsibility which pushes them to do more and ensure every objective is met before the given time frame.
  • Use the Right Key Metrics to Measure Success or Failure: The right KPI metrics can help you track broad goals and actionable objectives. These metrics include quantitative data like a statistical report on a particular action and qualitative data like customer feedback.

Ensuring your goals are heading in the right direction is not difficult. You will develop strategic goals that work if you follow these tips.

What Is an Objective?

Objectives are more specific and actionable segments of the overall company’s goal. Think of objectives as measurable steps that lead to the desired outcome.

Objectives Hierarchy
Source: Tutor2u

Objectives are linked to goals. You will achieve your desired outcome if you execute the clearly defined objectives. Specific objectives can be the responsibility of an individual, like the customer rep, or a department, like the sales team.

Examples of business objectives include:

  • Increasing productivity.
  • Increasing market share.
  • Earning a profit.
  • Providing goods and services at a reasonable price.
  • Reaching out to potential customers in a new marketplace.

Objectives vs. Strategies

Here are the differences between objectives and strategies.

Features Objectives Strategies
Meaning The objective focuses on achieving specific tasks to get a particular outcome. Strategies are plans designed to help achieve objectives.
Time-spanObjectives are straight-to-the-point tasks that require a short time to accomplish. The time required to get your strategies in motion is longer than that of objectives.
ScopeThe scope covers an array of components. Limited scope.

Best Tips for Developing Objectives

Without clear objectives, companies will be ignorant of the steps required to achieve their ambitious goals.

Let's take a quick look at some actionable tips you can use when developing objectives to reach the overall goal.

  • Identify the Specific Goal the Objective will Support: Objectives don't function independently of the goal. There's no objective without a goal. The first step when developing objectives is to identify and understand the overall goal to have the maximum impact.
  • Use the SMART Framework: Start by creating them on the foundation of specific frameworks to ensure your objectives do not lead you astray. Use the SMART framework (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound) to develop a good objective.
  • Create Numerous Objectives: Since your objectives are the stepping stone to achieving your goals, it is natural for you to have multiple for each goal. Companies have various departments performing different functions. These departments and teams should have unique objectives assigned to them.
  • Consult Employees and Stakeholders: Don’t create business objectives alone. Consult your employees and stakeholders who are experts and have experience in these fields to develop better objectives. This action increases the chances of your employees properly executing the objectives.
  • Highlight its Connection to Goals: Motivate your employees by showing them how the common objectives connect with the company’s goals and desires. Show where and how these factors meet to get them working towards achieving the goal.

Through quantitative measurements, you can get insight into how well you are achieving your tasks within your objective.

What is a Strategy?

“If you fail to plan, then you plan to fail.” This quote is one of my favorites of all time. Strategies are essential to the success of any business.

A strategy is a path an organization takes to achieve its objectives and goals.

Similar to objectives, they are specific but are loaded with in-depth information on how best your team will carry out the required actions. A company will remain in the same spot or get a different outcome from the desired one without a well-crafted strategy.

For example, if your company’s goal is growth and expansion, develop a well-crafted growth strategy to increase its market influence and create new internal processes.

Strategies fall under the “how” category in the GOST model. People mistake plans and strategies to mean the same thing when they are different. The difference is that strategy is broad and long-term, while a plan is more specific and short-term.

Another popular term in the business sphere is strategic objective. What is a strategic objective? Is it the combination of strategy and objective? Does it have a different meaning?

Strategic objectives are broad, clearly defined, high-level goal statements that outline what an organization aims to achieve within a specific time frame.

Companies use strategic objectives to align their business goals with their core values and convert these values into precise and actionable steps and plans.

The best strategic objectives are a sentence long, measurable, and have a specific timeline. Here are some examples of strategic objectives.

  • Increase our Facebook sales by 12% in the next 6 months.
  • Hire and onboard 30 new employees before the next quarter.
  • Grow our accounting team by 5 before the end of this month.
  • Improve our customer experience from a rating of 70% to 80% in a year.

Types of Strategies

Three main types of business strategies are relevant to every organization.

  1. Corporate-Level Strategies

The company’s executives are responsible for creating corporate-level strategies. This strategy addresses multiple departments (if not the whole company) and is more comprehensive than other strategy types.

Corporate-level strategies guide business decisions and activities. They work best with goals to deal with the company’s growth, like investment opportunities, business expansion, and change in management.

Corporate Level Strategy
Source: Sketchbubble
  1. Business-Level Strategies

A business-level strategy is a strategic planning activity that focuses on delivering value to customers and gaining a competitive advantage over competitors. This strategy level addresses the question, “How does your company compete in its niche market?”

Examples of business-level strategies include:

  • Lowering production costs.
  • Improving inventory control.
  • Charging lower prices than your competitors.
  • Focusing on a profitable market subset.
  1. Functional-Level Strategies

Functional-level strategies are specific to departments or teams. These strategies focus on using resources to achieve the overall company goal.

Since they are specific to departments or teams, departmental managers largely influence them. For example, the strategies created by marketing teams to achieve the goal of increasing sales by 20% by the end of the fiscal year.

Strategies vs. Tactics

Strategy and tactics are two terms used by businesses, and many get confused over their differences.

Features Strategies Tactics
PurposeStrategies promote the success of the overall business goal and objectives. Tactics solve present problems.
Level Formulated Strategies are formulated at the middle level.Tactics are formulated at the top level.
ApproachThe strategic approach is proactive.Tactics are reactive.
RiskThe risk involved in executing strategies is high since there is much at stake if it fails.The risk level with tactics is low. There are contingencies in place if issues arise.

Best Tips for Developing Strategies

Creating workable strategies for your team is not as difficult as it sounds. Follow these tips to create the best business strategy tailored to your objectives and goals.

  • Clearly Define Your Vision: If your team fully understands your company's vision, half of the work is done. Every strategy you develop should center around this vision. The company's vision includes core values, an ideal customer profile, and a core market.
  • Apply Strategic Themes: Strategic themes help companies properly structure and arrange strategies in an orderly and comprehensive format. You will find the concept helpful when dealing with multiple teams with unique roles. Some common themes include growth, finance, safety, and quality.
  • Establish Various Teams: Order is essential for the successful execution of a specific strategy. The best way to achieve this is by combining multiple teams with similar roles and jobs. You avoid clashes due to a lack of communication and experience smooth sailing during execution once you have established such unique teams.
  • Develop Different Strategies: Developing several strategies ensures you leave no stone unturned when executing your goals and objectives. With various goals and objectives, it is natural to require more than one strategy to implement them.
  • Evaluate the Success Rate of the Strategy: Developing a strategy is one thing, and getting the desired outcome from it is another. Test your strategy against performance metrics, such as how well it overcame challenges, and sync with your initial timeline. Evaluation helps detect ineffective strategies or areas that require adjustments.

Effective strategy development is easy with proper information and strategic planning. These factors deliver a quality strategy that gives you the desired outcome. By following these tips, you will get your money's worth.

What is a Tactic?

Tactics have a strong connection with strategies because they represent the small but significant actionable tasks within the strategies. In other words, they are specific actions required to meet your business objectives and requirements.

In the GOST model, tactics are specific tasks with due dates and have individuals or teams accountable for their successful execution. Tactics offer a day-to-day perspective on the overall goal, unlike the futuristic strategy.

For example, if your strategy is to increase production, your tactics may involve adding more employees and powerful machines.

Best Tips for Developing Tactics

With well-developed tactics in play, executing your business strategy is like a walk in the park. You can't achieve your company’s strategies, objectives, and overall goals without the right tactics.

Let's check out some tips that help in the tactic development phase and ensure you get your desired results.

  • Explain the Value: Communicate to teams and departments how vital tactics are for producing the desired results. Tactics influence the success of strategies, objectives, and goals. Teams will prioritize developing the best tactics with this knowledge.
  • Consider Strengths and Weaknesses: Do a proper assessment of your workforce to determine if the required skills are available to execute the tactics. Additionally, identify the teams or departments who are up to the task and assign the right roles to them.
  • Know Your Competition and their Tactics: Conduct a study on other businesses within the same industry. There is a high chance you have the same target audience since you are in the same industry. Learn the tactics they use and adjust them to make them more effective.
  • Create a Document that Serves as a Compass: Within this document, you will highlight all the tactics and how they integrate with your strategies. This document should contain information on their ultimate influence on the company’s objectives, goals, and the unique roles of each team and department.

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Anastasia Belyh

Editor at FounderJar

Anastasia has been a professional blogger and researcher since 2014. She loves to perform in-depth software reviews to help software buyers make informed decisions when choosing project management software, CRM tools, website builders, and everything around growing a startup business.

Anastasia worked in management consulting and tech startups, so she has lots of experience in helping professionals choosing the right business software.