MANAGEMENT FADS
Only novel, not practical

HasanKazmi

Many organizations are in a constant search for a simple solution that can maximize employee productivity in congruence with greater profits and happy customers. In search for the ‘quick fix’, popular administrative ideas and trends of one organization are embraced religiously by others – becoming a fad. Like fashion trends, fads also have a life cycle where it enjoys a period of fame and subsequently becomes supplanted. To figure out, a characteristic study of 2 fads, old and recent has been conducted that details performance trajectory. MBO – Management by Objective – first outlined by Peter Drucker in his book “The Practice of Management” became popular in the 1970’s and 1980’s. The process outlines setting objectives for the employees so as to get involved in their tasks; achieve targets and deliver the level best performance in a given time frame. MBO received a boost when it was declared to be an integral part of ‘The HP Way’, the widely acclaimed management style of Hewlett-Packard. At every level within Hewlett-Packard, managers had to develop objectives and integrate them with those of other managers and of the company as a whole. This was done by producing written plans showing what people needed to achieve if they were to reach those objectives. The plans were then shared with others in the corporation and coordinated. The widespread adoption and popularity of MBO was because it was antonymous of ‘management by control’ – an autocratic and military style controlled system of management. MBO urged the planning process to be delegated to all the members of the organization instead of the handful of high-level corporate executives. One of the founders of Hewlett-Packard, Bill Packard, credited MBO as the most successful operating policy for the company and expanded the policy to all its other