MANAGEMENT BY OBJECTIVES(MBO)
Ronnie Timpuza Mvula (PhD)
Lilongwe University of Agriculture & Natural
Resources: Ronnie Mvula
MANAGEMENT BY
OBJECTIVES(MBO)
• It is a systematic process by which the superior
and the subordinate jointly set objectives in
order to achieve desired results of a task.
• It is a means of motivating staff to achieve the
desired results. This is done by involving the
subordinate in determining objectives required
to achieve the results. The subordinate are self
directed and thus motivated.
• It involves parties: The superior (Manager):The
subordinate (Employee)
Lilongwe University of Agriculture & Natural
Resources: Ronnie Mvula
MANAGEMENT BY OBJECTIVES
is an HR management technique where
managers and employees work together to set,
record and monitor goals for a specific period of
time
•It increases organizational performance by
aligning goals and subordinate objectives
throughout the organization.
•Ideally, employees get strong input to identify
their objectives, time lines for completion,
etc. MBO includes
Lilongweongoing
University of tracking and
feedback in the process
Agriculture to reach objectives
& Natural
Resources: Ronnie Mvula
MANAGEMENT BY OBJECTIVES
• The process allows management to focus on
achievable goals and attain the best possible results
• The principle behind MBO is that people should:
– Know what the organisation is trying to achieve (goals
and objectives)
– Know what their part of the organisation (dept/section)
must do to attain these goals/objectives
– Know how individuals can help to attain those
goals/objectives.
– There should be joint evaluation of job performance.
NB. MBO is like farming: each animal or plant is allowed
to produce its own product. The farmers only give
guidance, to control and support the process. Whatever a
farmer can do wrong applies to a Manager applying MBO
: MBO works if you know the goals/objectives of the
organisation, but 90% of the time we don’t!
Lilongwe University of Agriculture & Natural
Resources: Ronnie Mvula
MANAGEMENT BY OBJECTIVES
The principle behind Management by
Objectives (MBO) is to make sure that
everybody within the organization has
a clear understanding of the aims, or
objectives, of that organization,
as well as awareness of their own roles
and responsibilities in achieving those
aims.
MANAGEMENT BY OBJECTIVES
• The complete MBO system is to get managers
and empowered employees acting to implement
and achieve their plans, which automatically
achieve those of the organization.
• The MBO style is appropriate for knowledge
based enterprise when your staff is competent.
• It is appropriate in situations where you wish to
build employees' management and self-
leadership skills and tap
their entrepreneurialcreativity,tacit
knowledge and initiative.
Management by Objectives illustration
Lilongwe University of Agriculture & Natural
Resources: Ronnie Mvula
MBO MERITS
• Emphasizes on what has to be done in
order to achieve the goals of the organisation.
• Secures employees commitment in
achieving organizational goals because they
feel owning the objectives since they were
part of the objectives formation.
• Employees can evaluate their own
performance as they are undertaking the
activity.
Lilongwe University of Agriculture & Natural
Resources: Ronnie Mvula
MBO MERITS
It provides a means to identify and plan for
the achievement of goals.
If you don't know what your goals are, you
will not be able to achieve them.
Planning permits proactive behavior and a
disciplined approach to goal achievement.
It also allows you to prepare for
contingencies and roadblocks that may
hinder the plan
Lilongwe University of Agriculture & Natural
Resources: Ronnie Mvula
MBO MERITS
Goals are measurable and so they can be
assessed and adjusted easily
Organizations become more efficient, save
resources and increase organisational
morale when goals are properly set,
managed and achieved.
Lilongwe University of Agriculture & Natural
Resources: Ronnie Mvula
MBO MERITS
Gain greater commitment and desire to contribute
from subordinates by
allowing them to feel that the objectives they are
working toward were not just handed to them but
they played a part in formulating them,
giving subordinates a better sense of where they fit
in the organization by making clear how the
subordinates’ objectives fit into the overall picture,
and
injecting a vitality into organizational life that comes
with the energy produced as a worker strives to
achieve a goal to which he or she has taken the
psychological and (sometimes economic) risk to
commit. Lilongwe University of Agriculture & Natural
Resources: Ronnie Mvula
MBO MERITS
Gain better control and coordination toward
goal accomplishment by
Having a clearer picture of who is doing what
and how the parts all fit together,
Having subordinates who are more likely to
control and coordinate their own activities
because they know what will help and what
will hinder their goal achievement,
Being able to see which subordinates
consistently produce and which do not.
Lilongwe University of Agriculture & Natural
Resources: Ronnie Mvula
MBO MERITS
Gain an increased ability to help subordinates
develop by
Being better able to see their strengths and
weakness in operation on a specific objective and
Using a management approach that teaches the
subordinates (and the manager, for that matter)
to think in terms of results in the future—an
approach that teaches them to try to anticipate
change, to define clear and specific objectives,
and to delineate concrete measurements that
will tell them when they have achieved their
goals.
Lilongwe University of Agriculture & Natural
Resources: Ronnie Mvula
MBO MERITS
allows for dialogue and growth between boss
and subordinate with a view to achieving
results
Lilongwe University of Agriculture & Natural
Resources: Ronnie Mvula
MBO MERITS
degenerates into a system in which the boss
puts constant pressure on the subordinate to
produce results and forgets about using MBO
for commitment, desire to contribute, and
management development
MBO takes concerted effort
Some tasks are so simple so that setting
goals makes little sense and becomes a silly
ritual (practice) e.g Putting packets of sugar
in a bale (does this require setting goals)
Lilongwe University of Agriculture & Natural
Resources: Ronnie Mvula
MBO MERITS
Sometimes even well intentioned managers misuse
MBO
They do not have the interpersonal skills or knowledge
of human needs to keep their appraisal sessions from
becoming critical, chewing-out (quarrelling) periods.
Many managers have a tendency to see MBO as a total
system that, once installed, can handle all
management problems.
This has led to forcing issues on the MBO system that
it is not equipped to handle and that frustrate
whatever good effects it might have on the issues with
which it is designed to deal.
Lilongwe University of Agriculture & Natural
Resources: Ronnie Mvula
MBO DEMERITS
• Can be time consuming in discussing and agreeing
the objectives. This may leave little time for
implementing
• It only increases the amount of paperwork in the
organisation e.g. the written goals/objectives and
performance evaluation.
• It suffocates innovation by the subordinate
bringing in rigidity and inflexibility
• There is likelihood that the superior will champion
his/her objectives
• The problem of status differences is not ironed out
as such the subordinate will still feel inferior and
fail to argue his/her point(s)
Lilongwe University of Agriculture & Natural
Resources: Ronnie Mvula
