Weber, J. (No Date). A Leader\'s Guide

Weber, J. (no date). A leader's guide to understanding complex organizations: An expanded 7-S perspective. SSRN.

This article discusses the concept of the superordinate goal within the 7-S framework. The superordinate goal, the author notes, is akin to the vision that many organizations work with. Wal-Mart does not have a stated vision so its superordinate goals need to be inferred. The company clearly wants to "save people money" and this goal appears to factor into a wide range of managerial decision-making at Wal-Mart. Supplier relations, employee relations and marketing all convey the superordinate goal of competing via offering the lowest prices. The company's actions and managerial decisions typically can be traced to a desire to increase efficiency and decrease costs.

The author notes that there should be a dynamic relationship among the superordinate goal, strategy, structure, systems, style, staff, skills and shared values. With a goal of lowering costs, Wal-Mart has a clear strategy to pursue cost leadership, invests heavily on systems and structures that encourage cost-cutting, and make the pursuit of lower costs a shared value throughout the organization. Staff are encouraged to seek lower costs through a policy of grass roots processes, where management takes ideas from the staff. The ideas that Weber puts forth in this article help to put the different elements of Wal-Mart's business into perspective of its superordinate goal to save people money.

Smith, C. (2013). Types of management goals. eHow Retrieved March 22, 2013 from http://www.ehow.com/list_6692121_types-management-goals.html

In this article, Smith outlines different types of goals that organizations have. The superordinate goals are used to motivate people across different departments in the organization. This idea comes from sociology, where the superordinate goal concept reflects a means by which different people can be motivated to the same actions or objectives. In an organization, the superordinate goal performs much the same purpose. There are many different parts to an organization, and the superordinate goal helps to orient the workers in each area towards a specific objective.