‘Nobody ever seems to be able to hit our sales targets. Why is that?’ (John Lyons, Chief Accountant of Clocktower Fashions). John Lyons was showing his frustration at the failure of the company’s store managers to meet their specific targets for sales and expenses. He says, ‘We do everything for them; we don’t ask them to contribute at all; our formula for target setting is well known.’

Required
Briefly outline what might be wrong with Clocktower Fashions’ budget process with respect to target setting. What improvements would you suggest?