Management by objectives

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Management by Objectives ( MBO ) (to German : leadership / Management by Objectives ) is a management technique from the Business Administration , the 1954 Peter Ferdinand printer was developed. From a work and organizational psychological point of view, MbO is a form of transactional leadership .

target

The aim of this process is to implement the strategic goals of the entire company and the employees by setting goals for each organizational unit and also for the employees. These objectives are SMART (originally the English acronym for: s pecific = "specific" m easurable = "measurable", a ttainable = "accessible" or more rarely a s if now = "as already achieved," r ealistic = "realistic "Or r elevant =" relevant "and t imed =" terminated "):

  • S - specific (concrete criteria),
  • M - measurable (clear guidelines),
  • A - can be actively influenced (achievable, feasible; also: appropriate, attractive, accepted or demanding),
  • R - relevant (motivating, understandable, realistic, important) and
  • T - terminated (clear time limit).

The corporate goals should then be composed of the sum of the individual goals . The employees should align their daily operational work with their goals and thus work in accordance with the strategy of the entire company. When managers assess the performance of their employees, they check to what extent the employees have achieved their agreed goals. This theory was largely developed by the Austrian-American management theorist Peter F. Drucker, who developed the MbO approach during the 1960s and 1970s.

Action

The common procedure for leading with goals is the goal agreement discussion:

At the beginning of the conversation, the temporal effect (long, medium, short term), the content (strategic / operational goals), the scope (overall goals, divisional goals, personal goals) and the degree of concreteness (general / specific goals) are presented. This also communicates the intentions behind the goals for the period mentioned. This preparatory phase forms the entry into the individualized target agreement and thus the:

  • Presentation of future demands on the workplace and the resulting tasks by the employee,
  • Commentary and continuation of the employee's representations by the supervisor,
  • Agreement on content between the supervisor and employee on specific goals, focal points and priorities,
  • Discussion of foreseeable problems and difficulties in achieving goals,
  • Agreement of the framework conditions: standards for checking the achievement of objectives (quantity, quality, costs, etc.), dates for interim checks, binding time span or final date,
  • Clarifying and securing the availability of the resources that are required to achieve the goal,
  • Review of the employee's resources: Does the employee have necessary and sufficient knowledge and / or skills?
  • Possibility of offering additional qualification measures,
  • Review of skills in order to be able to make necessary decisions,
  • Review of the employee's temporal capacities,
  • Clarification of the financial framework (premiums, etc.) as well as the
  • written documentation of the goals and agreements.

At the end of the agreed term for target achievement, employees and managers come together again to discuss the level of results and usually also the targets for the coming period.

requirements

An essential prerequisite for the effectiveness of the MbO management method is to see it as a management task. This consists of making sure that there are goals at all. The management by objectives works properly only when it is regarded not only as a method of running a business as a whole (which it also is), but as a task of each manager on the same principle . Since there are different types of goals in organizations , defined by their temporal effect, content, area of ​​validity and degree of concreteness, it is urgently necessary in every company to clarify what is meant by "leadership with goals".

The successful implementation of target agreements is then dependent on a mutually agreed target system in such a way that the sum of the individual goals of all employees corresponds to the strategic goals of the overall organization. Contradictions should be resolved. The prerequisite for this is a good corporate culture and a functioning information and communication system in order to be able to determine measurable, undisputed goals. Goals must be realistic and agreed in such a way that they can be achieved by employees with the appropriate effort and lead to the desired result. Labor law : Management by Objectives requires that the interests of employees and the works council are taken seriously and that they are given adequate scope for decision-making and action.

Leadership by target agreement is an iterative process in which a target / actual comparison is regularly carried out for performance evaluation so that the work processes can be continuously improved ( continuous improvement ).

rating

As a management task, the basic principle of "leading with goals" is largely undisputed and easy to understand as a principle. It is very likely that there is no organization that has not dealt with this leadership model . It is often the only type of management in many companies, especially those that are highly decentralized. Despite the steadily increasing importance - according to current surveys - the implementation in practice is more bad than right. Accordingly, the reasons for this are varied:

  • It is not sufficiently clarified what is meant by leading with goals (temporal effect, content, scope and degree of concreteness, see above!).
  • It is extremely time-consuming and labor-intensive to think through, plan, develop, discuss and specify goals until they are really realistic and feasible.
  • A complex bureaucratic system or program arises from a principle that is simple in itself , combined with a high expenditure of time and administration for managers.
  • The basic intentions behind the goals are not sufficiently communicated for the upcoming period.
  • Too many goals are often named and agreed, and the really important ones get out of focus.
  • Information or agreements about the availability of the resources that are required to achieve the goals are not clearly formulated or are missing entirely: What you need for arts is irrelevant, the emperor wants everything to be ready .
  • Leadership with goals is not applied individually.
  • The goals are only imposed on the employee in an authoritarian manner, without being involved in the decision-making process.
  • The goals are not understood as a means of self-control, but as a means of control by the superior. Peter Drucker carefully calls his theory "Management by Objectives and Self-Control", not just Management by Objectives.

If these reasons are largely eliminated, "leading with goals" becomes an effective and efficient management tool, the advantages of which are obvious:

Through joint decision-making, the goals are wanted by everyone. Goals are implemented by everyone together and in a mutually supportive manner. This increases the success. Target agreement then increases employee satisfaction significantly despite the high personal and organizational effort .

advantages

This list is only valid under the conditions mentioned in the first paragraph .

  • Corresponds to the needs of modern employees for more co-determination and creative freedom
  • Includes personal goals, wishes and ideas of the employees
  • Individual goals are (ideally) linked to the goals of the company
  • This increases the employee's commitment to the company
  • Promotion of motivation
  • Promotion of team spirit
  • Possibly. fair remuneration through bonuses
  • Identification with the goals
  • Independent achievement of goals
  • Relief for executives

disadvantage

  • Increased time
  • Control of the employee
  • increased pressure to perform for the employee
  • Risk of more quantity than quality
  • Employee refrains from desirable behavior as soon as the financial incentive disappears
  • Employee is only dedicated to achieving his goals

literature

  • Peter Ferdinand Drucker : The Practice of Management . Econ Verlag, Düsseldorf 1998. Original edition in English: The Practice of Management. Harper & Row, New York 1954
  • Fredmund Malik: Leading, performing, living. Effective management for a new era . Heyne Verlag, Munich 2001, ISBN 978-3-453-19684-1

Web links

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Goethe : Faust II , V. 6317 (The emperor expects Mephistopheles and Faust to cast a ghostly spell.)