Q.Discuss any four advantages and any three limitations of Management by Objectives.

MBO offers real benefits in planning, motivation and objective appraisal, but it also has genuine practical drawbacks that a manager must plan around.

Advantages:

1. Improved planning — the discipline of setting specific, measurable objectives at every level sharpens the quality of planning throughout the organisation.
2. Clarity of goals — every employee knows precisely, in measurable terms, what is expected of them.
3. Higher motivation — participation in setting one's own targets builds a genuine sense of ownership and commitment.
4. Effective, objective control — clearly stated, measurable standards make it far easier to compare actual performance against the plan without relying on subjective judgement.

Limitations:

1. Time-consuming — joint goal-setting and periodic review at every level takes considerable managerial time.
2. Overemphasis on quantifiable objectives — MBO struggles to give proper weight to important but hard-to-measure contributions, such as building team morale or exercising sound judgement. …

Presenting MBO as having no real drawbacks — examiners specifically expect a balanced answer naming genuine, sylla …