Management by Objective: A Tool for Ensuring Teachers' Effectiveness
By
Dr. Sofoluwe, A.O.
Department of Educational Management, University of llorin, llorin.
Abstract
This paper examines Management by Objectives as a way of ensuring teachers
effectiveness. There is no household in this country that is not concerned about
the state of our educational system; particularly the primary school system. The
structure is in deplorable condition. Teachers are demoralized and disenchanted.
The primary education system is criticized as dysfunctional, cosmetic and
nonsensical. The appraisal of personnel is one of the single most crucial and
complex managerial functions in any organization. The annual evaluation
exercise of employees has caused more controversies and resistance in most of
our organizations than any other single managerial activity. It has been a central
theoretical issue. The objective of this paper is to highlight the concept of
management by objectives. Theories of effectiveness, what to be measured,
MBO. procedure, relevance of MBO and. problems involved. Finally, the paper
makes recommendations for teachers' effectiveness.
Introduction
The appraisal of personnel is one of the most crucial and complex managerial functions
in any organization. The annual exercise of evaluation of employees has caused more
controversies and resistance in most of our organizations than any other managerial activity. It
has been a central theoretical issue.
Appraisal is one of the most important aspects of human activities. Without appraisal,
there would be little improvement. Progress is based on constant appraisal of the results of our
efforts in all fields of human endeavours. Appraisal involves value judgments as to what extent
the objectives are achieved.
There are a number of different ways of measuring the excellence of employees'
performance. These are:
1.
Rarity Scale
(a)
Personal trait and behaviour scale
(b)
Job dimension scales
(c)
Behaviorally anchored rating scale
1. Interpersonal comparisons
(a)
Ranking
(b)
Forced description.
2.
Checklist
(a)
Weighted checklist
(b)
Forced choice method
3. Essay
4. Critical Incident
5. Management By Objectives (MBO)
This paper therefore focuses on the last system, Management by Objectives, a ay of
ensuring teasers effectiveness.
Concept of Management by Objectives
Management by Objective approach is the setting of objectives and targets by individual
managers. The basis of the system is that every manager is given a clear ideal of the results
expected. A detailed job description and targets required are targets. Ordioms (1979) described
MBO as a process whereby the superior and subordinate managers in an organisation jointly
identify the 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 (p. 310).
MBO is a phrase used to describe a style or system of management, which attempts to
relate organizational goals to individual performance 'and development through the involvement
of all levels of management. The basis of the system is the setting of objectives and targets,
participation by individual managers in unit objectives and criteria of performance, and review
appraisal of results.
Redding (1971) defined this as the new interpretation stressing achievement and output
results rather than input behaviour. Udoji (1971) sees MBO as "a process of identifying goal and
objectives, defining managerial responsibility in terms of expected results, and measuring
performance and achievement against goals and objectives". It unites' the goals and targets of
the organization with those of its targets.
McGregor (1960) stressed the value of MBO on the aspects of performance appraisal.
McGregor set up two assumptions about individuals and their reactions to work. He postulated
Theory X and Theory Y. (1960) Theory X assumes that people work to survive' and need
therefore a; strict authoritarian approach to dealing with subordinates while theory Y assumes
that people do not dislike work and derive satisfactions. Theory Y is to help subordinates to
achieve their fullest capabilities and not to control them. It is these assumptions which are the
basis of MBO system.
Concept of Effectiveness
The concept of effectiveness has received wide attention in organizational behaviour
literature (Richman & Farmer 1976; Ogunsaju 1990; Famro, 1992; and Harman, 1995). The
impressive arrays of literature on effectiveness as well as its acclaimed central importance of the
concept, however, belie the problems faced by theorists in developing a clear definition of the
concept.
Bernard (1967) defined effectiveness as - oriented having to do with the achievement of
cooperative and organizational goals. It indicates how proactive or active, somebody is Lexically,
Oxford Dictionary (1980 Rev) defines effectiveness as "causing 'or capable of doing things”. An
effective organization must have clearly defined 'goals and purpose, which bind its members
together Dictionary of Business and Management (1985 Rev) giving meaning to, effectiveness
as the management process, the optimal organization relationship among five determinantproduction, efficiency, satisfaction, adaptiveness and development from some other
perspectives, effectiveness involves the ability to do something or carry out a programme or
ability to achieve a goal (with minimum effort and use of scarce resource that is very crucial to the
rapid development of any economy.
Musaazi (1982) defined effectiveness in terms of system linkages. He conceived
effectiveness as involving ah output to the society. This implies that effectiveness requires
awareness and successful interactions with environmental constituencies.
Kane & Freeman (1993) conceptualized effectiveness as the ability to acquire inputs,
process these inputs, channel the outputs and maintain stability. Andrew & Szillagyi (1981) also
conceptualized effectiveness as task accomplishment and an act by which employees carry out
their assigned duties in accordance with laid down procedures. Kellaroghm (1989) explained that
effectiveness is an accomplishment of goals. According to him, efforts alone do not yield
effectiveness, as individuals must possess abilities, needs and other personal traits.
Robbins (1990) concluded that effectiveness is the degree to which employee attains
short and long term goals, the selection of which reflects strategic constituencies, self interest of
the evaluator and the life stage of the organization. Sergivanni (1991) stated that high teacher
motivation to work and strong commitment to work are essential ingredients for effective
schooling. When these characteristics are absent, teachers are likely to consider their
commitment as being a "fair day's work, for a fair day's pay - instead of exceeding minimum and
giving their best*. (235).
Federal Government of Nigeria (1981) described the goals of higher institutions as
teaching, dissemination of existing and new information and the pursuit of service to the
community or external constituencies and organizing workshops and seminars. Sofoluwe (1999)
discovered that academic staff in Nigerian Universities maintained good rapport and present the
good image of the school to the community. It was further buttressed that the Nigerian
educational activity centered on the learner for maximum development and fulfillment. Learning
for maximum development and fulfillment of national consciousness.
Management by Objectives Procedure
Effective MBO techniques require an understanding of the procedure to be followed from
the identification of the purpose or mission of an organization to the specific objectives and action
plan. Fagbemi (1992) illustrates the procedure as shown below
Organization Role
Situation Analysis
* Basic Purpose
* Goals/Key
Results
* Areas/Key
object
* Measurement
* Workload
* Inhibiting Factors to
performance
* Enhancing Factors
to Performance
* Future Factors
Specific Objective &
Action Plans
Progress Review
* Documentation of
specific objectives
and action
* Review & Agreement
on specific
* Progress Report
* Review of Progress
* Report
Source; Fagbemi, A O. (1992) Management by objective (MBO). Badagry; Ascon Management.
1.
Organization Role
The basic purpose is the essential reason for an organization. It is brief, comprehensive
and descriptive of result. The second point is the identification of goals or objectives as defined by
the organization. This process (step 1) normally starts at the top management level with the
development of a set of organizational goals and objectives. Goal setting should be seen as an
on-going process whereby modification required may be made from time to time. Measurement
within the first set is the listing of measures by which the attainment of goals can be assessed.
This implies identifying landmarks in the process of achieving goals that would indicate that
progress is being made towards the attainment of the goals. The importance of this is that an
effective manager should develop short term and long-term feedback loops so that that they can
get quick indications of the effects of their actions.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
The following techniques can be used to assess the employee's performance.
Rating scales - personal trait and behaviour scale
—
job dimension scale
—
behaviourally anchored
Interpersonal comparisons
Checklist - Weighted checklist
Essay
Critical incident
2.
Situation Analysis
Situation analysis is an assessment of current performance effectiveness and related
problems and condition affecting the manager This type of assessment cannot be done in a
vacuum: it requires, the superior, society at large, co-workers, government, subordinates, his own
organization, other institutions, and technology. Fagbemi (1992) emphasized that situation
analysis includes collective effects from a situation analysis, determining causes of situational
effects, finding eliminators of causes in the situation and choosing; the eliminator.
The workload requires a description of the current organizational outputs into activities
and manpower requirements. In the case of educational sector, the workload analysis includes
the number of ministries, number of personnel system and duration.
Inhibiting and enhancing factors to performance include shortage of teachers,
inaccessibility to computer facilities, frustration from lack of training, indiscipline, inadequate
funding. These problems could be theorized in terms of causes and possible actions to be -taken
to - ameliorate them. The conceivable action plan, realistic objectives could be set. The future
factors involve the identification and analysis of future changes and issues external to the
organization or positions that are likely to affect it. These changes might be due to cultural,
sociological, legislative, economic and political climates.
3.
Specific Objectives and Action Plan
Specific objectives determine the priorities and key activities of the organizational units
and sub units. Once specific objectives have been formulated and accepted by organizational
units and individuals, they become the basis for activities and action plans required for their
attainment. Continuous attention should then he paid to methods of achieving the objectives, the
use of required method. A good specific objective should be acceptable, congruent and liable to
comparison with alternatives. Reading (1971) identified three types of objectives as: regular or
routine objectives, problem-solving objectives and innovative or improvement objectives.
Progress Review
The step is designed to measure progress and performance in the attainment of stated
objective. The review normally requires making accurate information available and acts as a
means of providing feedback to managers. The focus of progress review is a problem-solving and
corrective action. Raia (1974) identified the following review format:
(a) Superior-Subordinate Reviews The supervisor and the subordinate sit in a, session of one or
two meetings, during which the subordinate reviews progress .towards the achievement of
his previously set goals. A third part acting as adviser may be present to act as observer and
guide, this could be used at all levels of management,
(b) Commitment Reviews: This kind generally involves the manager, his immediate superior and
a number of other interested , parties. Members of this committee could be members of staff
from other departments in the organization or higher levels of management. This .type of
review is, however, generally reserved* for middle and upper levels of management.
(c) Management Team Reviews: These generally involve a work group consisting of the
manager and his subordinates. The review is aimed at measuring the progress made by a
management team towards the attainment of the goal. This type of review is important to
project management or organization where task forces are utilized in solving problems. The
focus is generally on joint problem solving and improving working relationships.
4.
Relevance of management by Objectives to Teacher's Effectiveness
No area of school administration is more fraught with perils than personal appraisal. The
appraisal process is quite properly viewed as an integral part of the development of people in the
organization. Systematic performance appraisal has been adopted by many organizations as a
means of helping supervisors to evaluate the work of the employees. These appraisals have
been used most frequently as a basis for selection of candidates for promotion to better jobs, and
for making "merit" increase in hourly rates or salaries. They are also useful as a check on the
success of recruitment, selection, placement and training procedures.
Appraisal of current performance helps to motivate employees. Raia (1974) emphasized
that for managerial control, activities should be continuously evaluated in the tight of planned
behaviour and results so that corrective action can be taken when required.
Based on a
review of specific organizational MBO programmes, Carol and. Tosi (1993) emphasized that the
adoption of this approach can improve managerial performance, managerial attitudes and
organizational planning. Mullins (1990) itemized the advantages of MBO thus:
1.
it concentrates attention on main areas
2.
it makes organization to be effective;
3.
it identifies problem areas in progress towards achievement of objectives;
4.
it improves management control information and performance standards;
5.
it leads to a sound organizational structure clarifies responsibilities and skills delegation and
coordination
6.
it identifies where changes are needed and seeks continua improvement in result.
7.
it aids management succession
8.
it identifies where training needs and provides an environment which encourages persona)
growth and self discipline;
9.
it improves appraisal system and provides a more equitable procedure for determining
rewards and promotion plans;
10. it improves communication and interpersonal relationships; and encourages motivation to
improve individual performance, (pp. 257 258)
Sofoluwe (1999), writing on the reasons for MBO. emphasized that each manager has a
clear idea of the important areas of his work and standards required, the performance of staff can
be assessed and their needs for improvement highlighted; greater participation may be got
through improved communication and this makes individuals more aware of organizational goals
and the peed to clarify objectives stressed. Suggestions far improvement are obtained from
management levels. The appraisal of staff provides continued opportunities for each personnel to
grow in competence
Appraisal assists professional personnel to improve their services to the organization and
stresses areas of improvement at all management levels". This provides evidence for the
selection and retention of new and permanent (employees^ Stephen (19993) on the relevance of
appraisal, suggested that:
Rating will always be subject to justify" the retention or termination of employee
the principal constructive use, of evaluation should be the improvement of
individuals in their chosen fields. Appraisal therefore, should be the most
effective instrument to diagnose strengths and weaknesses. (p 30)
Appraisal minimizes defensive feeling because the superior is not a judge but an helper.
Emphasis is on performance and not personality traits. Hunts 1992) on the issue of performance,
identifies two major reasons as:
1.
improving the management of staff resources by helping employees, realize and fully utilize
'their potential while striving to achieve organizational goals;
2.
providing managers the information necessary for decision making in several areas of
personnel management, promotion, straining, discipline etc) MBO provides assurance to the
public that the utmost c is being taken to obtain and retain the best employees? provides
information to individuals in making 'comparisons also provides a clear cut strategic plan and
the translate into departmental and personal goals, which are reviewed when results are
obtained.
Measures to Ensure Teachers Effectiveness
Management should work out procedures by which employees could fill out evaluation
forms to rate their employees, on those aspects of the work that can be directly observed by the
subordinates.
Managers should try to capitalize upon person's and skills. If a person is poor at doing
detail work, but good at assignments where breadth and vision are demanded, then it makes little
sense
to
try
to
be
effective
at
detail
work.
Hence
efforts should be concentrated at results rather than personality traits.
Teachers should be motivated in terms of reward for excellence and
outstanding;
performance. Development of technical competence in corporate programme planning goal or
target, setting, project design, analysis and evaluation should be encouraged.
There must be an atmosphere of confidence and trust! The subordinate must ensure that
his boss is for him that he approves of him and supports him.
Meetings should be organized for the raters so that common agreement on job
performance appraisal. Appraisal therefore must be reliable, accurate and consistent. Age, sex,
marital status, religion and other personal matters that do not affect employees' performance of
their duties should not be considered.
Each employee should be given a copy of evaluation policies when newly employed, the
evaluator should demonstrate impartiality to all employees. Genuinely, democratic procedures
should be applied. The application of MBO is a difficult and lengthy task. It requires all levels of
management to understand and accept the step by step procedure. The senior management
steam should approach MBO carelessly, unaware of the need to attend briefing, seminars and
thorough understanding of what the programme will involve.
Government (Federal, State and Local) should be committed to work with individual
philanthropic organizations and other stakeholders for the development of education. Efforts
should be made to support all programmes and projects aimed at improving the quality of life of
the people particularly the rural populace. Any amount allocated for a specific project must be
judiciously used. Federal Government should continue teacher’s condition of service attractive.
If an MBO is to be successful, it requires the commitment and support of top
management, specialist advice on implementation of the system and a thorough understanding
by all the staff concerned. Avoidance of excessive paper work and forms which lead to a
mechanistic approach; the right spirit and interest from staff concerned and effective team work
are also required.
Conclusion
In this paper, an attempt has been made to look at the facets of performance appraisal
through the use of MBO. Organizations need more adequate measures of appraisal than they are
now employing. Progress in the social sciences now makes these measurements possible. As a
consequence, new resources are available to assist employers in their responsibility for
successful management.
The employee's responsibility require that he builds on organization whose structure,
goals, level of loyalty, motivation, interaction skills and competence are' such that achieve its
objectives effectively.
As a tool to assist management, an employee needs a constant flow of measurements
reporting on the state of organization. This is due to the fact that no organization can function
effectively without setting key and specific objectives. MBO cannot "operate in a vacuum. Good
human relations, effective communication, and leadership ability are essential ingredients, which
must never be overlooked.
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