SMART or Not: Are Simple Management Recipes Useful to Improve Performance in a Complex World?
Benedict Wauters, ESF Agency Flanders and University of Antwerp
This paper provides a critical reflection of widely used concept of SMART goals (the idea that for better performance purposes the objectives should be specific, measurable, agreed, realistic and time-related) as required in the EU Financial Regulation. The origin of this concept is investigated and its main features are confronted with relevant research in the area of (i) goal setting theory, (ii) recent evidence and explanation of perverse effects of “target game” like gaming or cheating and implications to measurement and the idea of verifiability, (iii) self-determination theory and links to intrinsic and extrinsic motivation and (iv) complexity theory. The paper concludes that SMART goals are relevant approach, but only when used on the level of individuals and accompanied by proper feed-back and support mechanism. This is in clear contrast with the widespread (mis)use of this concept at the level of organizations.
Benedict Wauters, ESF Agency Flanders and University of Antwerp, benedict.wauters@esf.vlaanderen.be
Wauters, B. (2015) „SMART or Not: Are Simple Management Recipes Useful to Improve Performance in a Complex World?“. Evaluační teorie a praxe 3(1): 61–90