Research Article
Open access
Published on 8 January 2024
Download pdf
Shi,J. (2024). Management by Objectives Theory--- Still Effective for Current Business Management?. Advances in Economics, Management and Political Sciences,69,207-212.
Export citation

Management by Objectives Theory--- Still Effective for Current Business Management?

Jiahe Shi *,1,
  • 1 University of Nottingham, Ningbo, China Adress: Shounan Street, Ningbo City, Zhejiang Province, China

* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

https://doi.org/10.54254/2754-1169/69/20231413

Abstract

Management by objectives (MBO) is a methodology for strategic management which works to improve an organization’s effectiveness by clearly defining goals that both administration and employees agree on. It focuses on transforming the organization’s strategic objectives into individual objectives. In MBO management mode, top-level executives set their goals according to corporate strategic objectives, and people at the next level set their goals in terms of the goals of top management and so down the chain of command. The core is that the managers work through the issue of determining, consulting, and mutual agreement on objectives with their personnel while also evaluating their achievement. However, some argue that MBO is no longer suitable for current business management. This essay will evaluate MBO and argue that MBO may be a helpful theory for management, but it is no longer applicable to current business management. This essay will first explore the arguments in favor of the MBO theory before arguing that MBO’s structure is no longer suitable or efficient for modern administration and management, and its assessment and bonus system, which is considered to motivate employees, is hard to play.

Keywords

MBO, Management, Objectives, Effective, Assessment

[1]. Drucker, P.F. (1954) The practice of management. New York: Harper(Assessed: 10 September 2023)

[2]. Communication Theory.org, (no date) Management by Objectives (Drucker). Available at: https://www.communicationtheory.org/management-by-objectives-drucker/ (Accessed: 11 September 2023).

[3]. Carroll, S.J. and Tosi, H.L. (1973) Management by Objectives. New York: Macmillan

[4]. [Swiss, James E.,1991. Pubic Management Systems. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.(Accessed: 11 September 2023)

[5]. Poister, T.H. and Streib, G. (1995) ‘MBO in Municipal Government: Variations on a Traditional Management Tool’, Public Administration Review, 55 (1), pp. 48-56. doi: 10.2307/976827 (Accessed: 10 September 2023).

[6]. Pringle, C. D., and Longenecker, J. G. (1982) ‘The Ethics of MBO’, The Academy of Management Review, 7(2), pp. 305–312. doi:10.5465/AMR.1982.4285609 (Accessed: 10 September 2023).

[7]. Satyashankar P., Rinkoo, A.V. and Somu G. (2007) ‘Management by Objectives as a Motivational, Appraisal and Effective Management Tool: Experience of a Tertiary Care Teaching Hospital’ Journal of Health Management, 9(3), pp. 459–465. doi: 10.1177/097206340700900310(Accessed: 10 September 2023).

[8]. Weldon, D.J. (1982),’MBO: Success or Failure?’, Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 3(4), pp. 2-8. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/eb053510 (Accessed: 13 September 2023).

[9]. Levinson, H. (2003) ‘Management by Whose Objectives?’, Harvard Business Review, 81(1), 107-116. Available at: https://hbr.org/2003/01/management-by-whose-objectives(Accessed: 10 September 2023).

[10]. Roth, W. F. (2009), ‘Is management by objectives obsolete?’, Global Business Organisation Excellence., 28, pp. 36–43. doi:10.1002/joe.20266(Accessed: 10 September 2023).

[11]. LaFollette, William R.; Fleming, Richard J. (1977-08-01). "The Historical Antecedents of Management by Objectives". Academy of Management Proceedings. 1977 (1): 2–5. doi:10.5465/AMBPP.1977.4976584. ISSN 0065-0668. Archived from the original on 2017-03-09. (Assessed: 15 September 2023)

[12]. Lambert, Bruce (1992-01-23). "George S. Odiorne Is Dead at 71; Developed Theory of Management". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. (Assessed: 15 September 2023)

[13]. Hindle, Tim. Guide to Management Ideas and Gurus. New York: Bloomberg Press, 2008. Print. (Assessed: 15 September 2023)

[14]. Ponisciakova, O.; Kicova, E. (2021) ‘Effective Use of MBO in the Conditions of Slovak Companies’, Sustainability, 13, (9788), pp. 1-16. (Accessed: 10 September 2023)

[15]. Thomson, T.M. (1998) ‘Management by Objectives’, The Pfeiffer Library, 20, 2nd Edition, pp.1-4. Available at: http://home.snu.edu/~jsmith/library/body/v20.pdf (Accessed: 10 September 2023).

[16]. Sudarsan, A. (2009) ‘Employee Performance Appraisal: The (Un) Suitability of Management by Objectives and Key Result Areas’, Curie Journal, 2(2), pp. 47-54.(Accessed: 10 September 2023).

Cite this article

Shi,J. (2024). Management by Objectives Theory--- Still Effective for Current Business Management?. Advances in Economics, Management and Political Sciences,69,207-212.

Data availability

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study will be available from the authors upon reasonable request.

Disclaimer/Publisher's Note

The statements, opinions and data contained in all publications are solely those of the individual author(s) and contributor(s) and not of EWA Publishing and/or the editor(s). EWA Publishing and/or the editor(s) disclaim responsibility for any injury to people or property resulting from any ideas, methods, instructions or products referred to in the content.

About volume

Volume title: Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Financial Technology and Business Analysis

Conference website: https://2023.icftba.org/
ISBN:978-1-83558-269-5(Print) / 978-1-83558-270-1(Online)
Conference date: 8 November 2023
Editor:Javier Cifuentes-Faura
Series: Advances in Economics, Management and Political Sciences
Volume number: Vol.69
ISSN:2754-1169(Print) / 2754-1177(Online)

© 2024 by the author(s). Licensee EWA Publishing, Oxford, UK. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license. Authors who publish this series agree to the following terms:
1. Authors retain copyright and grant the series right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work's authorship and initial publication in this series.
2. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the series's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgment of its initial publication in this series.
3. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See Open access policy for details).