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Management By Objectives
An Effective Management Tool Used
In Intramural sports Administration
by
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James R. Pope, Jr.
Clemson University
A DESCRIPTION OF
MANAGEMENT BY
OBJECTIVES
If you treat an individual as he
is, he will stay as he is, but if you
treat him as if he were what he
ought to be and could be, he will
become what he ought to be and
could be.....Johann Van Goethe
Management by objectives
(MBO) is managing by demonstrable, measurable results toward pre-determined goals and
objectives. The tool MBO provides a viable alternative to intramural administration by crisis,
fear, charisma or common sense.
MBO has been defined as a set
of processes: a generalizable approach that can be adapted to a
variety of institutions, including
intramurals. (American Association of School Administration,
P. 2)
MBO further has been defined
as: "...the management process
whereby all work is organized in
terms of achieving specified results by set times" (Miller, p.
18); the "...process whereby the
superior and subordinate managers of an organization jointly
identify its common goals, define
each individual's major areas of
responsibility in terms of the
results expected of him, and use
these measures as guides for
operating the unit and assessing
the contribution of each of its
members." (Varney, p. 24)
In essence, the foregoing
means that MBO is a process
where there is agreement by an
intramural administrator and
staff members on organizational
goals; mutual agreement on the
staff members' attempts to meet
these goals and objectives; and
then a review to evaluate how
close the re~ultsparallel objectives and goals.
Although definitions help explain MBO there is much more
that should be said about implementing the process in intramural sports before understanding can be approached. However, before initiating the process
of MBO, an administrator
should fully understand its
origins.
BACKGROUND
Although MBO has become
popularized in the last two decades, the technique can be traced
back to the writings of Frederick
Taylor. In Principles of Scientific Management (191 I), Taylor
stressed the fact that problems of
management should be solved by
using scientific methods.
It is surprising to find that, until Frederick Taylor wrote his
book, there had been little or
nothing in literary history which
concerned itself with principles,
theories or techniques of management principles at the shop
level, and time/motion studies,
he intended his remarks to apply
broadly, i.e., intramural sport
administration. Peter Drucker
first used the term 'management
by objectives' in his book, The
Practice of Management (1954).
It was from the scientific
management foundations of
Taylor that the concept of management by objectives evolved.
Drucker proposed the idea of
managing by objectives in a section of his book called "Managing Managers." Drucker felt
that because managers are the
basic and most expensive resource in most businesses, and
because increasing demands are
made on managers, how well
managers are managed determines whether the goals of an organization will be met. In every
enterprise, a manager's effort
and vision is directed toward
something. (This thought can be
easily applied to the intramural
setting.)
It was from these subtle beginnings (about nine pages of
Drucker's entire book) that the
term "management by objectives" became one of the most
talked about management concepts in the last two decades.
It was up to others to interpret
and implement the idea of management by objectives. Drucker's
ideas were expanded and grew in
some cases into a whole system
of operating. The concept was
interpreted and implemented by
not only those of the classical
school of management but also
those of the behavioral school of
management.
In brief, those of the classical
or traditional school would consider the intramural administrator's functions to be planning,
organizing, staffing, directing,
and controlling. The classical
school includes theorists who are
interested in getting things done
through organization, etc. The
behavioral school of management includes behavioral
sciences such as psychology, sociology and anthropology. This
school stresses management
functions such as problem-analysis, decision making, and solution implementation. In contrast
to the result-oriented traditionalists, the behavioralists place
more concern on people and
their needs. Organization behavior is a field of the behavioral
school which studies the internal
workings and relationships of organizations. Douglas McGregor
is one of the more popular members of the behavioral school.
--- (Doktor and Moses,-1973; p. 24)- In The Human Side of Enterprise (1960), McGregor proposed
a new interpretation of management by objectives. He makes a
case for rejecting the traditional
view (Theory X) of management
policy and practices which
assumes that: the average human
being has an inherent dislike of
work and will avoid it if he can;
most people must be coerced,
controlled and threatened with
punishment to get them to strive
to reach organization objectives;
and the average human being
prefers to be directed, has little
ambition and wants security
above all. (McGregor, 1960, pp.
33-44) McGregor outlined some
new assumptions which management should make (Theory Y):
expending effort in work is as
natural as play or rest; control
and punishment are not the only
means for achieving organizational objectives; commitment to
objectives is a function of the
awards associated with their
achievement; men not only accept but seek responsibility;
imagination and creativity are
widely distributed in the population; and the intellectual potential of humans is only partially realized in modern industrial
life. (McGregor, 1960, pp. 47-48)
REQUIREMENTS FOR
UTILIZING MANAGEMENT
BY OBJECTIVES
No management system in
business, industry or more
specifically intramural administration can provide all the answers to efficient management.
The followirig are some advan-tages which seem valid of using
management by objectives in an
intramural setting:
1. It increases individual
morale because staff members
know what they have to do to
succeed. There is no question
about what needs to be done
since they helped formulate
tasks.
2. For the same reason as the
aforementioned (#I), motivation
" is-iamarsd~Stzff
members actually have an increased desire to
get results when an objective they
helped set is challenging.
3. Ability and results are
measured rather than an individual's personality at annual
--
performance review time.
4. Because individual's jobs
often overlap each other, these
individuals frequently will have
common objectives. As a result,
there will be an increase in coordinated effort and team work.
5. It helps determine who deserves a pay raise if you want to
base pay raises on quantifiable
results.
6 . It has a distinct advantage
when used to manage professional and managerial employees
because it stresses results.
7. The entire intramural program will improve because not
only are each individual's objectives defined, but also the
goals of the organization for the
next year are expressed.
8. The organization will also
improve because individuals are
rewarded for achieving creative
and challenging objectives.
SETTING OBJECTIVES
Probably the most challenging
requirement of implementing
management by objectives is for
the people involved to understand and be able to write
meaningful objectives. An objective is a statement that succeeds
in communicating your intent; it
describes an intended outcome
(Mager, 1962, p. 24). It describes
the results or changes which will
prevail when the action is completed. Although the goals of the
intramural department may
sometimes be broad and vague,
objectives must be specific and
unambiguous.
A statement such as 'to improve the intramural program' is
to some people the idea of an objective. This is not an objective
which could be of any use in the
management-by-objectives
technique. The first step an intramural administrator should
make after deciding to implement management by objectives
should be to practice how to
write a meaningful objective.
This objective should then be
passed on to staff members.
A meaningful objective would
include the following characteris-
tics: written, visible, specific,
challenging, realistic, and measurable.
HOW MANAGEMENT BY
OBJECTIVES WOULD BE
APPLIED TO AN INTRAMURAL SETTING
The whole process of management-by-objectives may be better
understood by examing the management-by-objectives process in
stages. Before implementation,
there should be a full understanding of the technique and a
desire to see the technique installed by the intramural administrator. As mentioned earlier, it
is extremely critical to the success
of the technique that the staff involved be able to write meaningful objectives. The intramural
administrator must be absolutely
sure of this before proceeding
further. Training sessions are
recommended.
STEP ONE
The first step in the implementation process is for the intramural administrator to identify
the common goals of the entire
department for the coming year.
In implementating this step, input for department goals may
come from advisory boards, the
students, faculty, and staff served, and the intramural staff.
Department goals must be agreed
upon and communicated openly
between the intramural administrator and staff members. Some
typical goals which may be developed for an intramural department include:
...A meaningful objective would include the following characteristics: written, visible, specific, challenging, realistic and measurable.
1. Establishment of new intramural programs
2. Hiring of new personnel
3. Development of new intramural facilities
4. Improvement of existing intramural programs and facilities
5. Public Relations
STEP TWO
The second step of the process
is for the intramural administrator to set specific objectives
for the coming year with each individual staff member. The intramural administrator may
either outline for his staff what
he thinks the objectives should
be, or ask each staff member to
write his own objectives for the
coming year. The latter approach
is the more widely and successfully practiced. The intramural
administrator would set a time
for a meeting with each individual. Before the meeting, the
intramural administrator would
make some notes as to what he
thinks the staff members' objectives should be. At the meeting,
the staff member should first explain his objectives and briefly
outline his means of attaining
them. The intramural administrator would outline what he
thinks should also be included.
The two then agree on a list of
objectives and put them in
writing. It is during this step that
discussion of specific objectives
may cause a change or modification of some of the overall department goals.
STEP THREE
The third step is for the intramural administrator to check
with staff members throughout
the year to see if target dates and
milestones are being met. The
reasons for this step are pretty
obvious. First, regardless of how
visible you make an objective, it
-is always good to have someoneremind you periodically of an
end you are striving to attain. In
addition, if an objective is unrealistic or inappropriate, it
should become known to the
staff member and intramural ad-
ministrator as early in the year as
possible so that adjustments can
be made.
STEP FOUR
Step Four occurs at or toward
the end of the school year. This
would be the time for the intramural administrator to ask staff
members to write and briefly
analyze how close results are to
the previously set objectives. The
intramural administrator and selected staff members should set
up another meeting to evaluate
what has occurred in relationship
to objectives and discuss why
some were realized and others
were not. In addition, a meeting
of the entire intramural staff
should be held to establish how
final results compared to department goals. This would also be
the time to establish groundwork
for the coming year's objectives.
As can be recognized from
these stages, the process of management by objectives can be
time consuming. This is one
point which is stressed by those
people in industry who have tried
it and are critical. Proponents of
the technique say that the increased results and motivation
which are achieved is worth the
time invested.
A final area of concern in
management by objectives is that
it is obviously result-oriented.
How staff members who reach or
do not reach their objectives are
handled is largely a question of
the background and style of the
intramural administrator. Some
intramural administrators will
choose to replace those staff
members who do not reach their
obj~ctives.Others will use failure
to reach an objective as a rallying
point for increased effort. Frequent failure to reach objectives
may indicate a need for in-service
training for some staff member.
" This--should--be- recognized and
arranged by the intramural administrator.
SUMMARY
Management by Objectives in intramural~ can be used very
effectively as a management
tool. In many cases in the intramural sports area objectives are
very unclear. Management by
objectives helps solve this problem. Moreover, all levels of intramural management will have
benefited, resulting in a more
professional approhch to intramural administration. Management by Objectives provides for
maintenance, orderly growth,
and innovative breakthroughs in
intramurals by enabling everyone
to know what is expected of him
and measurement of what is actually achieved. It is a system
that, if used properly in intramural administration, allows
for evaluation of achievements
rather than personalities. Management by Objectives could
help overcome some of the
chronic problems associated with
intramural sports management.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
American Association of School Administration, Management by Objectives
and Results. Arlington, Virginia, 1973.
Doktor, Robert H., and Moses, Michael
A., ed. Managerial Insights: Analysis,
Decisions and Implementation. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall,
Inc., 1973
Dmcker, Peter I?. The Practice of Mandgement. New York: Harper and
Brothers, 1954.
Mager, Robert F. Preparing Znstructiona1 Objectives. Belmont, California: Lear
Siegler, Inc./Fearon Publishers, 1962.
McGregor, Douglas. The Human Side
of Enterprise. New York: McGraw-tiall
Book Company, Inc., 1960.
Miller, Ernest C. Objectives and Standards. American Management Association, Inc. Research Study #71, 1968.
Taylor, F. W. The Princkles of Scientific Management. New York: Harper and
Brothers, 1911.
-Varney, Glenn-HSManagement by Objectives: Makin: IT Work. " Supervisory
Management, January, 1372, pp. 24-30.
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