Harvard Business Review

SEPTEMBER 13, 2018

Management by Objectives (MBO) became the height of corporate fashion in the late 1950s. Later, MBO evolved into strategic planning. Why engage in a slow, painful planning exercise when you’re not even going to follow the plan? The capacity and willingness of managers to plan developed throughout the century.

Agility 15

Agility Planning Fayol MBO 15

Harvard Business Review

OCTOBER 9, 2014

But we’re not quite there yet, according to a new survey conducted for MBO Partners, which provides back-office services to independent workers — which it dubs “solopreneurs.” million estimate, derived from an online poll of 2,017 people, is up from 17.7 What follows are edited excerpts of our conversation.

MBO 10

MBO Survey Human Resources Long-term 10

Harvard Business Review

JUNE 24, 2016

Deming offered up 14 principles that stood in stark contrast to the sorts of practices he thought were eroding the performance of top corporations in the United States in the 1970s and 1980s. Eliminate MBO. Eliminate exhortations for the work force; instead, focus on the system and morale. Eliminate work standard quotas for production.

Deming 15

Deming Management Senge Taylorism 15

Harvard Business Review

MAY 4, 2018

Edited excerpts of that conversation follow: HBR: Why did you write this book? Andy had created this system for goal setting that was deceptively simple, but also the polar opposite of the conventional management by objectives (MBO) systems, which tend to be top down, hierarchical, annual, and linked to compensation.

Goal 8

Goal Objective Venture Capitalist MBO 8