ABSTRACT
With the analysis stage complete the attention of business planners should move to determining the direction of the school or service. In schools, governors may be considered to be the main stakeholder in the presentation and approval of the business plan. Identifying the givens helps the business planners to produce a plan which is likely to be acceptable to decision-makers, in the process developing a shared understanding of the parameters within which the school or service operates. Trying to reflect the individual views of each of the business planning team will tend to result in a long and confusing statement. Objectives make an important contribution to the management of the school, assisting in resource allocation, performance monitoring and future business planning. A common weakness of business plans is the inclusion of numerous secondary objectives, or objectives which are primary but are unmeasurable and/or unrealistic.
