Management by Objectives: As Developed by Peter Drucker, Assisted by Harold Smiddy

Abstract

In this article, I discuss the early development of the philosophy and concept of management by objectives (MBO) as it has been traditionally defined in the literature. Peter Drucker worked out the philosophic foundations of MBO with the assistance of Harold Smiddy of the General Electric Company, who was already putting the “manager's letter” concept into practice in the late 1940s.