@ Anja , let me try this: We would like to achieve an increase in sales of 10% by the end of the year.
Zielgrösse = target

Besten Dank für die Antwort!

Ist dies in diesem Zusammenhang ein Target? Anders gefragt, ist Target/Objective/Goal darauf bezogen, dass es SMART sein soll (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, timable). Liegt da der Unterschied? Ist eines der Wörter vielleicht doch eher allgemeiner?

Ich hoffe, ich habe mich verständlich ausgedrückt ;-)

Besten Dank, Anja

Anja, SMART war mir neu - ist aber griffig. Wenn man von Sales spricht, sagt man 'Target' aber 'objective' und 'goal' sind austauschbar.

Schau bitte mal ins Archiv, die Frage wurde schon mehrmals gestellt. :-)

You could look in the archive under "goal", and also here:
  related discussion:goals vs. objectives

The overlap between the three words is quite large, but different words might be preferred in different contexts.

My (BE) impressions are as follows

One talks of "Management by Objectives" (MBO).
Targets tend to be more quantifiable and verifiable than objectives.
Objectives can be measurable but can also be qualitative rather than quantitative -- whatever SMART people who make their money from holding courses on "management" say. If you are talking about missions and things of a grander, less commercial nature, "goal" tends to be more appropriate.

So I might talk of a sales target of 1 billion dollars, but a Marketing objective might be to become the leading supplier in a particular market, and the Marketing Dept. may write "Our goal is to help you create great products".

You could say "Our goal is regime change", but also "Our goal is to raise 10,000 dollars ". You could also say "Our target is 10,000 dollars.". You could probably use "objective" in this sort of context, which, to me, makes it more "objective", rational, and down-to-earth, rather than motivating or inspirational.

When football is in the news, marketing people probably tend more towards "goal".