HVB Notes on Objectives of Marconi Instruments Ltd (produced from handwritten Draft)

The objectives of any company in a Group of companies should be:-

1)  To provide an acceptable financial return to the owners of the company - in both the short-term and long term.

The acceptable return depends on the raison d'etre of the Company, prevailing economic conditions, performance of other companies and divisions in the Group, whether or not long-term plans are justifiably interfering with short-term results etc.

A reasonable set of M.I. financial objectives for 1970 seem to me to be as follows (based on natural growth rather than growth by acquisition).

Turnover £5.5M ± £0.5M Profit 10% ± 2% Return on Capital 20% ± 2%

2)  To provide satisfactory employment for as many of the employees as possible.

This should be stated as an objective rather than just a means of achieving the economic ends. Implications are good pay, conditions etc. and also development of inate abilities to the fullest extent.

3)  To meet national, regional and local social and economic needs as far as possible.

Thus for example 1970 objectives could be

Export 60±5%    Productivity £3300 ± £300 per employee    Training budget?

4)  To assist the Group of companies in meeting its overall objectives.

This may mean limiting product objectives to particular fields, or taking on unprofitable projects, general cooperation etc. Again a definite objective and not just a means to the end of 1). The danger is that our fighting spirit may thereby be undermined but this would be offset by a greater certainty of what to fight for and what not.

To meet the general objectives above, M.I. should have some specific objectives, based on the premises:-

a)  that the kind of business we are at present in, electronic measuring instruments, will over a long period support those objectives

b)  that the best way of achieving them is first to strengthen existing resources (knowledge, facilities, outlets) and then supplement them.

Prime Objective

To design , make and sell first-rate electronic measuring instruments ie meeting customers needs and profitable.

1)  To strengthen our knowledge in the fields of electronics, measurements and instruments and particularly the combination of all three so that we are looking in the same general direction.

We need to understand what we mean by these terms and train our staff accordingly.

2)  To develop skills in design in accordance with the latest enquiries!

3)  To consolidate our position in the fields of telecommunications measuring instruments and to improve considerably our position in the universal purpose instrument field.

4)  To develop skills in assessing users' needs for telecommunications and universal measuring instruments.

5)  To develop skills and facilities in the manufacture of instruments and their parts, components, devices, etc.

6)  To obtain maximum return for a given (instrument?) by sales or manufacture or ? Or manufacturing licence, according to territory.

7)  To carry out such systems, standards, military and exploratory work as may be desirable - as seeds for the future, strengthening our knowledge or to satisfactorily employing staff.