This article discusses some general weaknesses of rationally-based management techniques. To make the discussion more concrete, examples of the weaknesses in one management technology, MBO, are discusses with a recognition that similar weaknesses are present in other rationally-based systems. his article is intended neither to review all of the literature on the advantages and disadvantages of MBO (let alone all rationally-based techniques) nor to present the management technique which will resolve the problems of management. Rather this article looks at rationally-based techniques and seeks to address the questions, 'How can we deal with them given their sometimes obvious problems?'
We first review MBO in relation to a number of concept in the organizational literature, and then suggest some possible changes in the implementation of MBO.NPS Foundatio
