Marquise Jewelers is a national chain of value jewelry stores with locations throughout North America. "Luxury service at affordable prices" is the crux of Marquise's business model, and executive management is always looking for ways to ensure that the high standards in this area are maintained. Recently, several of their stores in New England have had an uptick in customer service complaints, and they received an average Yelp rating of three stars, down from four stars during the last financial year. Marlee, the regional manager for New England, meets with Deray and Kiki, local store managers, and Tarquin, the top salesperson in their area, to discuss strategies for improving their customer service rating. Each employee writes down several goals. Given what you know about management by

Question

objectives, which one of these goals do you consider the best option?

A) within the next six months, reduce the rate of customer service complaints by half
B) make sure sales staff provide customer service that goes above and beyond
C) by month's end, implement a checklist of ten goals for each customer interaction
D) implement a mystery shopper program, which will file periodic reports with management
E) have sales staff follow up with every customer personally by phone or email

Answer 1

C) by month's end, implement a checklist of ten goals for each customer interaction
Explanation: One approach to results appraisals—management by objectives (MBO)—involves a subordinate and a supervisor agreeing in advance on specific performance goals (objectives). They then develop a plan that describes the time frame and criteria for determining whether the objectives have been reached. The aim is to agree on a set of objectives that are clear, specific, and reachable. For example, an objective for a salesperson might be "add three big new customers during the following year." While option A does specify a time frame, it is not specific about how to accomplish the goal. Option C is both specific and achievable.