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Goal congruence is defined as “aligning the goals of two or more groups.” As used in planning and
budgeting, it refers to the aligning of goals of the individual managers with the goals of the organization as a
whole. Sometimes the performance of an individual manager’s unit will benefit from an action the manager
takes, but the overall performance of the company is either not impacted at all or it may actually be
negatively impacted. An individual division manager may reject a capital investment that would improve the
company’s total profits because the proposed project’s return on investment would cause his own division’s
return on investment to decrease. Situations like these occur because the goals of the individual managers
are not aligned with the goals of the company.
The company’s strategic objectives are communicated to individual managers as part of the planning and
budgeting process. However, there is a hazard in budgeting because it may lead to behaviors on the part of
managers that benefit them or their department but are not congruent with the goals of the company. This is
more likely to occur if managers’ performance will be evaluated according to whether they meet their budget
targets. Managers who develop the budgets they are going to be accountable to meet may build in
budgetary slack in order to make sure their budgets are achievable without any risk of failure. Budgetary
slack is the difference between the amount budgeted and the amount the manager actually expects. It is the
practice of underestimating planned revenues and overestimating planned costs to make the overall
budgeted profit more achievable.
On the positive side, budgetary slack can provide managers with a cushion against unforeseen circumstances.
This can limit managers’ exposure to uncertainty and thereby reduce their risk aversion. The reduced anxiety
about risk may help the managers make decisions that are more closely congruent with the goals of senior
management.
