Answer below questions.
1. Without MBO, would it have been harder for Ingalls to detect and correct the problem the
supervisor was having with cash application errors? Why or why not?
2. The examples of objectives for credit analysts and collectors include objectives for personal
development through training. Why do you think Ingalls includes this category of goals? How, if at all, might they help Ingalls achieve his objectives for the credit department or contribute to the company’s overall performance?
3. Write a personal development objective for yourself. Make sure it meets the criteria for
effective objectives shown in Figure 6.1. Show your objective to a friend or classmate, and
discuss with that person how you plan to achieve your objective.
4. How might a supervisor use the documented results of an employee’s MBO performance to
justify a promotion, raise or disciplinary action?
————————————-
At Edward Don & Company, a distributor of supplies and equipment for the food service industry,
employees in the credit department know what they are supposed to achieve. The reason is that the company’s corporate credit manager, Jeff Ingalls, set up a management by objectives (MBO) program; during this collaborative goal-setting, both Ingalls and his employees know how the goals will be measured.
Ingalls meets with each staff member once a year to evaluate how well he or she met the previous year’s objectives and set objectives for the coming year. He and the employee set five to seven objectives for the year. They may change the next year’s goals based on past performance or new technology that will affect performance. Every three to six months, Ingalls meets again with employees to discuss whether they are making progress toward their goals. Even when employees can meet their objectives without Ingalls’s help, meeting with them reminds the department that the objectives are important.
Objectives for credit department employees include quality, efficiency, and professional development. For example, the objectives for a credit analyst might involve keeping bad debt low relative to total loans made, approving at least a minimum number of new accounts, and learning
computer skills. For collectors, objectives might include achieving a given increase in the percentage of accounts that are current (payments up-to date), reducing the percentage for which payments are 90 days past due, and learning a new skill.
When an employee is failing to meet an objective, Ingalls and the employee discuss the problem and look for a way to resolve it. For example, an accounts receivable supervisor was
having trouble with a goal that involved the accuracy with which the supervisor’s employees
recorded information. In an average month, the supervisor’s employees made 40 to 50 errors for
a transaction known as cash applications. The supervisor’s objective called for a much lower
error rate.
Ingalls and the supervisor set up a form on which the supervisor would record every cash
application error. The supervisor recorded errors and identified the cause of each error. Most
errors involved the employee receiving incorrect information or the employee receiving correct
information but recording it incorrectly. To fix these basic problems, the supervisor met with
each employee who made an error, discussed the source of the problem, and asked the employee
to be more careful. This process demonstrated to the employees that their errors mattered. They
responded by recording entries more carefully. Before long, cash application errors dropped to
the range of 7 to 10 a month. As the department spent less time correcting errors, productivity
improved, helping Ingalls meet his own objectives.
Ingalls says he prefers working for organizations that use MBO. He says MBO makes managing
employees easier. Employees know what they are supposed to achieve, so Ingalls can let them focus on how to reach those objectives while he focuses on broader issues facing the credit department. There is greater efficiency, greater employee motivation and commitment, and better
planning for results rather than just planning for work.
Papers are written from scratch We have molded our writers to develop content for all assignments from scratch. This way, we promote originality and reduce cases of plagiarism that might affect your grades and hinder you from realizing your academic goals. We encourage our clients to indicate the deliverables that should be featured in the final paper. Our online help services allow one to make a clarification and even interact with the writer directly to help them understand the needs of the assignment. Many of our writers are professional tutors who understand the approaches that should be used to fulfill the specified instructions. Every time a client places an order on our system, we link them with the most qualified writer in the subject of interest.
YUnlike other writing companies, we encourage clients to draw back their money at any stage of the writing process if they experience any uncertainties with the quality of generated content. However, you will hardly have to make this decision because of our business approach that suits your needs.
We have an advanced plagiarism-detection system that flags any work that fails to meet the required academic expectations. Our company thrives in honesty, and as such, you will be guaranteed to achieve a paper that meets your expectations.
We encourage our clients to return papers for revision seven days after the last submission for free. Depending on the proposed changes, we will work on your article to achieve the desired expectations.
We uphold confidentiality and privacy through our interactions with clients, an aspect that has enhanced our relationship with prospective customers seeking for assignment help. We do not disclose your information with third-parties
We boast of a diverse pool of ENL and ESL professionals who respond with a personal touch to the needs of every client. Our focus is to become the best platform that offers specialized services to individuals to accomplish their academic goals.
