Q.Define Management by Objectives (MBO). Who is credited with popularising this concept?

MBO's definition centres on the joint, participative setting of results-based objectives, and the concept is closely associated with one particular management thinker.

Management by Objectives (MBO) is a systematic, results-oriented approach to management in which the superior and subordinate jointly identify common goals, define each individual's expected area of results, and use these agreed measures both to guide day-to-day work and as the basis for assessing each individual's contribution.

The concept was popularised by Peter F. Drucker, in his 1954 book The Practice of Management, and was subsequently developed further by later writers such as George Odiorne and Douglas McGregor.

Describing MBO as objectives simply handed down by a superior — the defining feature is that they are set JOINTLY, through participation, not unilaterally imposed.