1' Management By Objectives An Effective Management Tool Used In Intramural sports Administration

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A DESCRIPTION OF MANAGEMENT BY

OBJECTIVES

1 - James R. Pope, Jr. Clemson University

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

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Management by objectives (MBO) is managing by demon- strable, measurable results to- ward pre-determined goals and objectives. The tool MBO pro- vides a viable alternative to intra- mural administration by crisis, fear, charisma or common sense.

MBO has been defined as a set of processes: a generalizable ap- proach that can be adapted to a variety of institutions, including intramurals. (American Associa- tion of School Administration, P. 2)

MBO further has been defined as: "...the management process whereby all work is organized in terms of achieving specified re- sults by set times" (Miller, p. 18); the "...process whereby the superior and subordinate man- agers 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~ults parallel objec- tives and goals.

Although definitions help ex- plain MBO there is much more that should be said about imple- menting the process in intra- mural sports before understand- ing can be approached. How- ever, before initiating the process of MBO, an administrator should fully understand its origins.

BACKGROUND Although MBO has become

popularized in the last two dec- ades, the technique can be traced back to the writings of Frederick Taylor. In Principles of Scien- tific Management (191 I), Taylor stressed the fact that problems of management should be solved by using scientific methods.

It is surprising to find that, un- til Frederick Taylor wrote his book, there had been little or nothing in literary history which concerned itself with principles, theories or techniques of man- agement 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 (1 954). It was from the scientific management foundations of Taylor that the concept of man- agement by objectives evolved.

Drucker proposed the idea of managing by objectives in a sec- tion of his book called "Man- --- aging Managers." Drucker felt that because managers are the basic and most expensive re- source in most businesses, and because increasing demands are made on managers, how well

managers are managed deter- mines whether the goals of an or- ganization 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 begin- nings (about nine pages of Drucker's entire book) that the term "management by objec- tives" became one of the most talked about management con- cepts in the last two decades.

It was up to others to interpret and implement the idea of man- agement 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 con- sider the intramural administra- tor'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 manage- ment includes behavioral sciences such as psychology, so- ciology and anthropology. This school stresses management functions such as problem-analy- sis, decision making, and solu- tion implementation. In contrast to the result-oriented traditiona- lists, the behavioralists place more concern on people and their needs. Organization be- havior is a field of the behavioral school which studies the internal workings and relationships of or- ganizations. Douglas McGregor is one of the more popular mem- bers of the behavioral school. (Doktor and Moses,-1973; p. 24)- -

In The Human Side of Enter- prise (1960), McGregor proposed a new interpretation of manage- ment 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 manage- ment 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 organiza- tional objectives; commitment to objectives is a function of the awards associated with their achievement; men not only ac- cept but seek responsibility; imagination and creativity are widely distributed in the popu- lation; and the intellectual po- tential of humans is only partial- ly 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 adminis- tration can provide all the an- swers 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 actu- - - ally have an increased desire to get results when an objective they helped set is challenging.

3. Ability and results are measured rather than an indi- vidual'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 coor- dinated effort and team work.

5. It helps determine who de- serves a pay raise if you want to base pay raises on quantifiable results.

6 . It has a distinct advantage when used to manage profes- sional and managerial employees because it stresses results.

7. The entire intramural pro- gram will improve because not only are each individual's ob- jectives 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 unders- tand and be able to write meaningful objectives. An objec- tive 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 com- pleted. Although the goals of the intramural department may sometimes be broad and vague, objectives must be specific and unambiguous.

A statement such as 'to im- prove the intramural program' is to some people the idea of an ob- jective. This is not an objective which could be of any use in the management-by-objec t ives technique. The first step an intra- mural administrator should make after deciding to imple- ment 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 meas- urable.

HOW MANAGEMENT BY OBJECTIVES WOULD BE

APPLIED TO AN INTRA- MURAL SETTING

The whole process of manage- ment-by-objectives may be better understood by examing the man- agement-by-objectives process in stages. Before implementation, there should be a full under- standing of the technique and a desire to see the technique in- stalled by the intramural admin- istrator. As mentioned earlier, it is extremely critical to the success of the technique that the staff in- volved be able to write mean- ingful objectives. The intramural

administrator must be absolutely sure of this before proceeding further. Training sessions are recommended.

STEP ONE The first step in the implemen-

tation process is for the intra- mural administrator to identify the common goals of the entire department for the coming year. In implementating this step, in- put for department goals may come from advisory boards, the students, faculty, and staff serv- ed, and the intramural staff. Department goals must be agreed upon and communicated openly between the intramural adminis- trator and staff members. Some typical goals which may be devel- oped for an intramural depart- ment include:

... A meaningful objective would include the following characteristics: written, visible, spe- cific, challenging, realistic and measurable.

1. Establishment of new intra- mural programs

2. Hiring of new personnel 3. Development of new intra-

mural facilities 4. Improvement of existing in-

tramural programs and facilities 5. Public Relations

STEP TWO The second step of the process

is for the intramural adminis- trator to set specific objectives for the coming year with each in- dividual staff member. The in- tramural 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 success- fully practiced. The intramural administrator would set a time for a meeting with each indi- vidual. Before the meeting, the intramural administrator would make some notes as to what he thinks the staff members' objec- tives should be. At the meeting, the staff member should first ex- plain his objectives and briefly outline his means of attaining them. The intramural adminis- trator 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 modifi- cation of some of the overall de- partment goals.

STEP THREE The third step is for the intra-

mural 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 someone- "

remind you periodically of an end you are striving to attain. In addition, if an objective is un- realistic 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 intra- mural administrator to ask staff members to write and briefly analyze how close results are to the previously set objectives. The intramural administrator and se- lected 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 depart- ment 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 man- agement 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 in- creased 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. Fre- quent 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 ad- ministrator.

SUMMARY Management by Objectives in in- tramural~ can be used very

effectively as a management tool. In many cases in the intra- mural sports area objectives are very unclear. Management by objectives helps solve this pro- blem. Moreover, all levels of in- tramural management will have benefited, resulting in a more professional approhch to intra- mural administration. Manage- ment 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 ac- tually achieved. It is a system that, if used properly in in- tramural administration, allows for evaluation of achievements rather than personalities. Man- agement by Objectives could help overcome some of the chronic problems associated with intramural sports management.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

American Association of School Admin- istration, Management by Objectives and Results. Arlington, Virginia, 1973. Doktor, Robert H., and Moses, Michael A., ed. Managerial Insights: Analysis, Decisions and Implementation. Engle- wood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1973 Dmcker, Peter I?. The Practice of Man- dgement. New York: Harper and Brothers, 1954. Mager, Robert F. Preparing Znstruction- a1 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 Stand- ards. American Management Associa- tion, Inc. Research Study #71, 1968. Taylor, F. W. The Princkles of Scienti- fic Management. New York: Harper and Brothers, 191 1. -Varney, Glenn-HSManagement by Ob- . jectives: Makin: IT Work. " Supervisory Management, January, 1372, pp. 24-30.

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