User:Charlesvonrosenberg5/sandbox

Current Article

The current management by objectives wikipedia page lacks a variety of sources and organized structure.

The article does not discuss the history of management by objectives. As a group, we feel that this is very important to include to know how the practice has evolved to what it is now. It’s important to note how the management practice was creative, and how relatively young it is for readers to understand that it is still evolving. A portion of this is currently included in the introduction of the page, however separating and rounding out the history of the term using a greater number of resources and a more in-depth, year by year historical perspective will aid in the understanding of MBO.

The same lack of sources is apparent in the Advantages section. By providing documentation and plans to back up MBO, the article would have more validity.

The existing Arguments Against section is worded incredibly awkwardly and could be restructured.

After knowing the history of MBO, it is also important to provide some context of where scholars see the management style being practiced and how they see it progressing in the years to come. This will also allow readers to understand that MBO is still developing and that the practice will continue to develop (and the page will need to be updated) in the future.

The existing “see also” section of the article was a good idea on the part of the previous article editor but only includes links to two other articles

A variety of references will be the largest addition to this article.

Section two:

1: Introduction (existing section) - Charles

Management by objectives (MBO), also known as management by results (MBR), was first popularized by Peter Drucker in his 1954 book The Practice of Management.^[1] . Management by objectives is the process of defining specific objectives within an organization that management can convey to organization members and deciding on how to achieve each objective in sequence. This process allows management to take work that needs to be done one step at a time to allow for a calm, yet productive work environment. This process also helps organization members to see their accomplishments as they achieve each objective, which reinforces a positive work environment and a sense of achievement^[1]. An important part of the MBO is the measurement and the comparison of the employee’s actual performance with the standards set. Ideally, when employees themselves have been involved with the goal setting and choosing the course of action to be followed by them, they are more likely to fulfill their responsibilities^[2]^[3].

History (new section) - Tara

Peter Drucker first used the term "management by objectives" in his 1954 book The Practice of Management.[1] While the basic ideas of MBO were not original to Drucker, they pulled from other management practices to create a complete “system”.^[4] The idea draws on the many idea’s presented in Mary Parker Follett’s 1926 essay, “The Giving of Orders”.

After the term and idea were brought up, Drucker’s student, George Odiorne, continued to develop the idea in his book Management Decisions by Objectives, published in the mid-1960s.^[5]^[6] MBO was popularized by companies like Hewlett-Packard, who claimed it led to their success.^[4]

Concept and framework (new section) - Ryan

Management by Objective at its very core is simply the process of employers/supervisors attempting to manage their subordinates by introducing a set of specific goals that both the employee and the company strive to achieve in the near future, and working to meet those goals accordingly. According to Peter Drucker, one of the founding fathers of the Management by Objective (MBO) style, while each member of the enterprise contributes something different, all must contribute toward a common goal. Their efforts must all pull in the same direction, and their contributions must fit together to produce a whole. ^[7]

The framework of the Management by Objective Style is based upon the contention that organization of enterprises, by its very nature, contains four factors that tend to misdirect: the specialized work of most managers, the hierarchical structure of management, the differences in vision and work and the resultant isolation of various levels of management, and the compensation structure of the management group. Therefore, MBO aims to combat these natural obstacles to efficiency and clarity by ensuring that; the performance that is expected of managers must be directed toward the performance goals of the business, that results are measured by the contribution they make to the success of the enterprise, that employees must know and understand what the business goals demand of them in terms of performance, and that their superiors must know what contribution to demand and expect. If these requirements are not met, managers are misdirected and their efforts are wasted. ^[8]

Application in Practice (existing section) - Charles

There are endless ways to exercise management by objectives. One must simply find specific goals to aim for in an organization or business. Many noteworthy companies have used MBO. The management at the computer company Hewlett-Packard, or HP, has said that it considers the policy a huge component of its success. Many other corporations praise the effectiveness of MBO, including Xerox, DuPont, Intel, and countless others^[9]. Companies that use MBO often report greater sales rates and productiveness within the organization. Objectives can be set in all domains of activities, such as production, marketing, services, sales, R&D, human resources, finance, and information systems. Some objectives are collective, and some can be goals for each individual worker. Both make the task at hand seem attainable and enable the workers to visualize what needs to be done and how.

In the MBO paradigm, managers determine the mission and the strategic goals of the enterprise. The goals set by top-level managers are based on an analysis of what can and should be accomplished by the organization within a specific period of time. The functions of these managers can be centralised by appointing a project manager who can monitor and control activities of the various departments^[10]. If this cannot be done or is not desirable, each manager's contributions to the organizational goal should be clearly spelled out^[11].

Objectives need quantifying and monitoring. Reliable management information systems are needed to establish relevant objectives and monitor their "reach ratio" in an objective way^[12].Pay incentives (bonuses) are often linked to results in reaching the objectives.

The mnemonic S.M.A.R.T. is associated with the process of setting objectives in this paradigm. "SMART" objectives are:

Specific
Measurable
Agreed/Achievable/Attainable
Realistic/Responsible/Receivable
Time-bound

The aphorism "what gets measured gets done," is aligned with the MBO philosophy.

Advantages (taken from existing: Features and Advantages) -

Majorly lacks sources throughout the section (section 1)
Provide documentation and plans to back up the “features and advantages” of MBO
#3 needs to be expanded and much more specific
- Instead of “clarity of goals” replace with “Creating clear and realistic goals to accomplish” etc.
I would use these sources to accomplish these goals
Hindle, Tim. Guide to Management Ideas and Gurus. New York: Bloomberg Press, 2008. Print
Raj, Ritu. The Concept of Management By Objectives. Ritu,Inc. Rituinc.com. 12 October 2012. Web. 12 March 2016.

Disadvantages (taken from existing: Arguments Against) - Abby

Citations are much needed when describing the limitations to the assumptive base underlying the impact of managing by objective, many examples are given but few sources are used. I would use the following sources to improve citations:

-Drucker, Peter (1954). Management by Objectives, 2015. Web. 9 March 2016.

-Marlow, Edward and Richard Schilhavy. Expectation Issues in Management by Objectives Programs. Industrial Management: Vol. 33, No.1. 2004.

-Deming, W. Edwards, "Out of the Crisis", The MIT Press, 1994, ISBN 0-262-54116-5

Recent Research (new section) - Tara

Management by Objectives is still practice today, with a focus on planning and development aiding various organizations.^[13] The most recent research focuses on specific industries, specifying the practice of MBO for each.^[14]^[15]

While the practice is used today, it may go by different names - the letters “MBO” have lost their formality, and future planning is a more standard practice.^[5]