Background: Management by objectives is an often applied tool in the public sector where overall objectives occurs at the political level and is broken down into a hierarchy of objectives to be handled at each level. Management by objectives means that objectives are set for an operating part or whole to that stakeholder should work in the same direction. Management by objectives requires that objectives are controlled and therefore require objectives to be measurable so a comparison of planned and accomplished objectives becomes possible. The objectives can be of different importance and it should for clarity indicate whether they intend resources, achievements or results. Problem: How do the managers at various levels in the public sector relate to objectives in management by objectives? Purpose: The study intends to contribute to a deeper understanding and knowledge of the objectives in management by objectives where the delimitation is to discern why managers relate the way they do to the organization's objectives. Method: A qualitative case study of the social services in a municipal in Skaraborg. Theory: Literature and scientific articles about management by objectives and institutional theory have created our theoretical framework. This theoretical framework has also resulted in an analytical model that has been supporting the empirical analysis. Empiricism: Empirical material was collected through interviews with managers at different levels in the operation. Analysis: Empirical data have been analyzed with the aid of the analysis model. We have analyzed various levels of management about their approach to objectives in management by objectives. Conclusion: Our conclusion is that the approach to management by objectives for managers in all levels of operation, are positive although there are deficiencies with management by objectives. The most prominent deficiency is that objectives can be difficult to measure in quantitative terms. This has developed an ability to measure objectives in other ways than in quantity. In management by objectives in this operation, it is important to relate to the values and norms because the objectives are based on these.