M plc is an IT company that bids for large contracts to sell computer systems and also to service existing systems. M plc's senior management has always set budgets which are hard to achieve and have made no allowances for the recession.

The economy has improved and M plc's senior managers have made the budget even more optimistic. The budgeted sales target has been increased by 40%.

In the past, sales staff have not tried to achieve the budget sales because it was generally believed that the targets were impossible to reach.

M plc has recently appointed a new Sales Director who has decided that sales staff will be dismissed if they fail to meet sales targets for three successive months. He is also looking for higher sales margins than were achieved before.

What are the likely consequences of the new Sales Director's policy?