Evaluation of a U.S. Forest Service Management by Objectives Training Session

The effectiveness of using a management by objectives (MBO) training program to improve U.S. Forest Service administrative functioning is assessed by evaluating such a training session on a California ranger district. Employees on this and a control ranger district were surveyed before and 3 months and 10 months after the MBO session on the test district. The MBO training program's effectiveness was appraised by employees' responses to questionnaire instruments commonly used in business administration professions that measure: job involvement, intrinsic motivation, trust, satisfaction, role conflict, and role ambiguity. Significant differences were noted in the test district, showing a decline in trust over the 0-3 month and 0-10 month time intervals and reduced job satisfaction over the 0-10 month interval. Overall, the MBO training program did not achieve its intended goals of increased employee trust, job satisfaction, and reduced role ambiguity in the 10 month evaluation period. Forest Sci. 29:241-249.