Theoretical frameworks for project goal‐setting: A qualitative case study of an organisational practice in Nigeria

Introduction Goal‐setting in any practice context is vague unless the process is based on a framework that produces good goals. Popular goal‐setting frameworks construct Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time‐bound (SMART) goal statements. Yet, research of how healthcare goals that are foundational to health plans are formulated is scanty. This case study explored the goal‐setting practice of an organisation in Nigeria to discover the theoretical frameworks for setting the goals of their leprosy projects. Methods The study triangulated individual semi‐structured interviews of 10 leprosy managers with a review of their project plans and a participant observation of the organisation's annual planning event. A five‐stage thematic analysis was used to serially identify, code, and integrate goal‐setting themes from the data collected. Findings This produced three final emergent themes: stakeholders, strategy, and goal statements, with 11 associated conceptual frameworks. All were further theoretically integrated into one general framework that illustrates the organisational goal‐setting practice at the time of study. This revealed a practice with a four‐staged linear centre‐driven process that led to a top‐down, problem‐based goal formulation, and produced assigned project plans based on hierarchical non‐SMART goal statements. Conclusion Collaborative goal‐setting process is proposed for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Timed, and Agreeable statements of project objectives and aims written with Change, Beneficiaries, Indicator, Target, Timeframe and Change, Beneficiaries, Location, and Timeframe models respectively.