Organization Goal

Organization Goals record an organization's business architecture goal for a domain: how important the domain is relative to others, how large a coverage gap is acceptable, and by when the goal should be met. A goal can apply to the whole organization or to one organizational unit.

Schema: organization-goal.schema.json
Specification: JSON Schema Draft-07

Overview

What is an Organization Goal?

An Organization Goal captures:

• Who it applies to (the organization and, optionally, an organizational unit)
• What domain is targeted
• How much the domain matters (weighting)
• How close coverage must come to the target (gap tolerance)
• When it should be achieved (maturity target date)

Relationship to Other Coverage Records

The goal does not set a coverage level itself; the level comes from the coverage expectation for the domain. The goal's weighting ranks domains when gaps are prioritized, and its coverageGapTolerance decides whether a gap reported in coverage status needs action.

Goal Attributes

Attribute	Type	Required	Description
goalID	String	✓	Unique identifier for the goal
organization	String	✓	The organization this goal applies to
orgUnit	String or null		Organizational unit the goal is targeted at; null for organization-wide goals
domain	String	✓	The business architecture domain targeted by this goal (e.g. "Performance")
weighting	Number	✓	Relative importance of this domain, typically between 0.0 and 1.0
coverageGapTolerance	Number	✓	Acceptable gap between target and actual domain coverage (e.g. 0.1 = 10% gap)
maturityTargetDate	Date or null		Date by which the organization aims to achieve the coverage goal
notes	String or null		Additional context or commentary
createdBy	String	✓	User or system that created this record
createdAt	Date-time	✓	Timestamp of creation

Examples

Organization Unit Goal

{
  "goalID": "goal-001",
  "organization": "Org-Alpha",
  "orgUnit": "OU-Finance",
  "domain": "performance",
  "weighting": 0.3,
  "coverageGapTolerance": 0.1,
  "maturityTargetDate": "2025-12-31",
  "notes": "Performance visibility is essential for our annual reporting cycle",
  "createdBy": "coo@org-alpha.com",
  "createdAt": "2025-07-01T11:15:00Z"
}

Organization-Wide Goal

{
  "goalID": "goal-002",
  "organization": "Org-Alpha",
  "orgUnit": null,
  "domain": "risk",
  "weighting": 0.4,
  "coverageGapTolerance": 0.05,
  "maturityTargetDate": "2026-06-30",
  "notes": "Regulatory commitments require near-complete risk coverage across all units",
  "createdBy": "cro@org-alpha.com",
  "createdAt": "2025-07-01T11:30:00Z"
}

Goal Tracking Visualization

Usage Guidelines

Setting Effective Goals

1. Align with strategy — Weight the domains that matter most to business objectives
2. Be specific — One goal per domain (and unit, where needed)
3. Set achievable tolerances — A zero tolerance is rarely realistic
4. Set a target date — Use maturityTargetDate to create urgency
5. Assign accountability — Record who set the goal in createdBy and explain it in notes

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Mistake	Problem	Solution
Equal weighting everywhere	No basis for prioritizing gaps	Weight the few domains that matter most
Zero gap tolerance	Unrealistic and demotivating	Allow a small, explicit tolerance
Missing timeline	No urgency	Set maturityTargetDate
No context	Others cannot see why the goal matters	Explain the driver in notes
Too many goals	Dilutes focus	Prioritize 3-5 key domains

Related Documentation

• Coverage Template — Typical coverage levels by sector and size
• Coverage Status — Compare achieved coverage with expectations
• Coverage Expectation — Set the target level for a domain