Consider the following: in a high-risk business we are raising our lending-effectiveness goal to 75%, meaning that we will lend less (or not lend) where the economic or institutional framework is unsatisfactory.

ECONOMIST: World Bank reform

So, I am not arguing with the effectiveness of goal-setting, but I would say it should come with a health warning.

FORBES: 'Stretch goals' tend to stretch all the way into fraud

When Schering-Plough and Merck announced Nov. 19 they had been advised to change the scientific goal of a long-delayed clinical trial comparing the effectiveness of their blockbuster cholesterol Vytorin to a generic, the decision drew press scrutiny, criticism and a Congressional investigation.

FORBES: Magazine Article