← VCE Software Development U4O2

Goals and objectives of medium and large organisations

A measurable target, such as growth, profit, customer trust or compliance, that a medium or large organisation sets to achieve its goals and that its software must support.

Part of: VCE Software Development - U4O2 - Cyber Security: secure software development practices — Module 1

Understanding Goals and objectives of medium and large organisations in VCE Software Development U4O2

What it does: The goal is general. The objective adds a measurable number and a time frame, which is how it turns the goal into something trackable. Trust is hard to measure directly, but a target of zero data breaches is measurable and shows how secure software protects customer trust. Goals set the overall direction (e.g. be the most trusted retailer). Objectives break the goal into targets that can be checked. Medium and large organisations must follow laws and standards. Many set compliance as an objective, and their software must be built to meet it. Measurable objectives allow progress to be tracked and reviewed, and they show what the software needs to support, including security.

Common mistakes: A measurable objective needs a number or clear measure. "soon" cannot be measured. It should be a number of months, such as deadline_months = 12. Profit is revenue minus costs, not plus. Adding them overstates profit, so the profit objective would be checked against the wrong figure. It should be profit = revenue - costs.

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This module's key terms are also in a printable crossword (Modules 1–22) and word search (Modules 1–47).

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Learning

Duo

Which is a measurable organisational objective?

Increase online sales by 15% by DecemberBecome a really successful company

Matches

objective = "Make lots of profit"

↓

This is too vague to be an objective because it has no measurable target or deadline, so nobody can tell if it was achieved.

Applying

Meanings

Term

organisational objective

Meaning

A measurable target, such as growth, profit, customer trust or compliance, that a medium or large organisation sets to achieve its goals and that its software must support.

Practice

goal ← "Grow the business"

Testing

Gaps

= "Grow our customer base"

Check Answer

Spots

2target_users = 5000

3deadline_months = "soon"

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Quick Questions

1. Which is a measurable organisational objective?

A. Increase online sales by 15% by December ✓

B. Become a really successful company

An objective is specific and measurable, with a number and a deadline. 'Really successful' is a broad goal with no way to measure it.

2. A goal is broad and long-term, while an objective is a specific, measurable step towards that goal.

A. True ✓

B. False

Goals set the overall direction (e.g. be the most trusted retailer). Objectives break the goal into targets that can be checked.

3. Which is the best example of an objective linked to customer trust?

A. Make customers happy somehow

B. Have zero customer data breaches this year ✓

Zero data breaches can be counted and checked, and it shows customers their information is safe. 'Happy somehow' cannot be measured.

4. Which statement about profit as an objective is correct?

A. Software supports profit by cutting costs and keeping sales systems running ✓

B. Software has no effect on an organisation's profit

Reliable, efficient software lowers costs and protects revenue. Downtime or an attack can directly reduce profit.

5. Which objective is an example of growth?

A. Keep the same number of users forever

B. Add 50,000 new app users in six months ✓

Growth means getting bigger, such as more customers, users or markets. A measurable growth objective gives a number and a time frame.

Match the Pairs

objective = "Increase online sales by 15% by December" → A measurable objective with a number and a deadline, so the organisation can check whether its software helped it succeed

objective = "Meet all Privacy Act reporting duties" → A compliance objective, where the organisation sets a target to follow laws and standards that its software must support

A goal is a broad aim, while an objective breaks it into a specific, measurable target → goal = "Grow the business" objective = "Gain 5000 new customers this year"

Customer trust can be set as a measurable objective that secure software supports → objective = "Keep data breaches at 0 this year"

objective = "Make lots of profit" → This is too vague to be an objective because it has no measurable target or deadline, so nobody can tell if it was achieved.

objective = "Ignore compliance to grow faster" → Treating compliance as optional is wrong because medium and large organisations must meet legal requirements, and breaking them risks fines and lost trust.

Key Term

organisational objective

A measurable target, such as growth, profit, customer trust or compliance, that a medium or large organisation sets to achieve its goals and that its software must support.

Fill in the Blanks

1. goal = "Grow our customer base" objective = "Gain 10000 new users by June"

Hint: Type the variable name for the broad aim of the organisation, as opposed to the measurable target on the next line.

2. trustScore = 92 trustTarget = 90 objectiveMet = trustScore >= trustTarget

Hint: Type the comparison operator that checks the trust score is at least as high as the target.

3. revenue = 500000 costs = 420000 profit = revenue - costs

Hint: Type the arithmetic operator used to work out profit from revenue and costs.

4. start = 8000 now = 10000 growth = (now - start) / start * 100

Hint: Type the operator that divides the change in customers by the starting number to give a growth percentage.

5. encrypted = True accessLogged = True auditPassed = encrypted and accessLogged

Hint: Type the logical keyword that requires both compliance controls to be true for the audit objective to be met.

Spot the Error

Question 1

A goal = "Grow our customers"

B target_users = 5000

C deadline_months = "soon"

Line C — A measurable objective needs a number or clear measure. "soon" cannot be measured. It should be a number of months, such as deadline_months = 12.

Question 2

A revenue, costs = 90000, 65000

B profit = revenue + costs

C met = profit >= 20000

D print(met)

Line B — Profit is revenue minus costs, not plus. Adding them overstates profit, so the profit objective would be checked against the wrong figure. It should be profit = revenue - costs.

Question 3

A trust_score = 82

B target = 85

C if trust_score <= target:

D print("Objective met")

E else:

F print("Not met yet")

Line C — The customer trust objective is met when the score reaches or exceeds the target, so the test should be >=. Using <= reverses the result.

Question 4

A law = "Privacy Act 1988"

B obj = "Comply with " - law

C print(obj)

Line B — Strings are joined (concatenated) with +, not -. The compliance objective text should be built with obj = "Comply with " + law.

Question 5

A old = 40

B new = 46

C growth = (new-old) / new * 100

D print(growth)

Line C — Percentage growth is the change divided by the old (starting) value, not the new value. It should be growth = (new-old) / old * 100.

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