Productivity Incentives - Publications - Faculty & Research

25 Jul 2006
First Look

First Look: July 25, 2006

developed countries. Large emerging economies with little inward FDI include India and Turkey, despite the relaxation over the last two decades of the restrictions imposed on foreign firms between 1950 and 1980. This working paper explores why Unilever, the Anglo-Dutch... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

14 Jun 2011
First Look

First Look: June 14

PublicationsThe Paradox of Excellence Authors:Thomas J. DeLong and Sara DeLong Publication:Harvard Business Review 89, no. 6 (June 2011) Abstract Why is it that so many smart, ambitious professionals are less productive and satisfied... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

06 Jul 2016
What Do You Think?

How Do We Pay for the Costs of Globalization?

result in mounting and ultimately unsustainable costs over the long term.” Nello set forth the simplest and most direct form of incentive to address the issue, saying “How about reducing corporate taxes to 15% for companies that have 70%... View Details

Keywords: by James L. Heskett; Manufacturing

04 Feb 2014
First Look

First Look: February 4

traditional organizations for coordinating the collective efforts of creative workers. However, it is surprising that they result in any productive output as individuals often work without direct monetary View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthlorne

27 Jun 2011
Research & Ideas

Recovering from the Need to Achieve

productivity and only creates cynicism. "The evidence is clear that individuals who are highly engaged make more money for their organizations," he says. "My only hope is that professionals [will no longer] waste so much... View Details

Keywords: by Kim Girard

10 Apr 2014
Research & Ideas

John Kotter’s Plan to Accelerate Your Business

sorting work into departments, product divisions, and regions. Trouble is, managers in hierarchical organizations don't promote or reward risk and innovation—they rely on routine, and turn to the same trusted people to run key... View Details

Keywords: by Kim Girard

04 May 2011
Research & Ideas

Is Web Surfing Distracting Your Workers?

according to new research. The researchers found that the students facing temptation were more apt to make mistakes and were less productive By banning web surfing, employers are essentially asking their workers to resist temptation until... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

April 2008
Supplement

Chunghwa Telecom Co., Ltd. (B)

By: Paul W. Marshall, Michael Shih-ta Chen and Keith Chi-ho Wong

In late November 2000, Chung Telecom Co., Ltd., the once-monopolized telecom operator owned by the Taiwanese government, was on its way to privatization. Mr. C.K. Mao, Chairman of the company, was headed the job only three months earlier, after its prior chairman... View Details

Keywords: State Ownership; Jobs and Positions; Monopoly; Privatization; Competition; Decisions; Motivation and Incentives; Labor and Management Relations; Resignation and Termination; Compensation and Benefits; Price; Status and Position; Telecommunications Industry; Public Administration Industry; Taiwan

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Blog

Leading Successful Digital Transformation

transformation in large organizations for three main reasons: Focus on optimization and efficiency: Many companies use technology to cut costs, improve efficiency, or enhance the productivity of their current operations. Artificial... View Details

07 May 2020
Research & Ideas

The One Good Thing Caused by COVID-19: Innovation

pandemic. An increase in risk perception makes consumers more willing to pay for safety features, which, in turn, provides producers greater incentives to develop and commercialize technologies that address consumers' demands for safety.... View Details

Keywords: by Hong Luo and Alberto Galasso

16 Mar 2020
Research & Ideas

How the Coronavirus Is Already Rewriting the Future of Business

experiences are enhanced for everyone involved. There are three barriers that can prevent us from productively engaging: 1) not being able to help, 2) not knowing how to help, and, 3) not believing our help is important. Organizations... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

2017
Working Paper

Seeking to Belong: How the Words of Internal and External Beneficiaries Influence Performance

By: Paul Green, Francesca Gino and Bradley R. Staats

In this paper, we examine how connecting to beneficiaries of one’s work increases performance and argue that beneficiaries internal to an organization (i.e., one’s own colleagues) can serve as an important source of motivation, even in jobs that—on the surface—may seem... View Details

Keywords: Prosocial Motivation; Belongingness; Motivation; Job Design; Field Experiment; Motivation and Incentives; Strategy; Job Design and Levels

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1990
Article

Social Influences on Creativity: Evaluation, Coaction, and Surveillance

By: T. M. Amabile, P. Goldfarb and S. C. Brackfield

Two experiments examined the effects of evaluation expectation and the presence of others on creativity. In both experiments, some subjects expected that their work would be evaluated by experts, and others expected no evaluation. Evaluation expectation was crossed, in... View Details

Keywords: Creativity; Social Psychology; Situation or Environment; Motivation and Incentives; Performance Evaluation

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15 Jun 2021
News

Keeping Hourly Workers Focused on the Stock, Not the Clock

constant tension between employees and management. “We lived through a lot of strikes,” Stavros says. One of the changes the union was advocating for was profit sharing with hourly employees. “Can you believe I have no incentive to care... View Details

Keywords: April White; Management of Companies and Enterprises; Management

16 Jan 2006
Research & Ideas

Adam Smith, Behavioral Economist?

human decision making, motivation, and interaction, which of course have strong implications for what drives consumption and savings decisions, worker productivity and effort, and market exchange. Only rarely did he make deep links to... View Details

Keywords: by Ann Cullen

31 Jul 2019
Research & Ideas

Distressed Employees? Try Resilience Training

Every year depression affects one in every five employees and costs American businesses $210 billion in medical bills and lost productivity. In fact, for every worker with a depressive disorder, a company loses an average of 32 productive... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Health

April 2019
Case

Barber Cardiosystems

By: Ranjay Gulati and Paul S. Myers

Barber Cardiosystems, based in Melbourne, Australia, designs and manufactures therapeutic devices used for treatment of coronary conditions. Over four decades, it has grown to be among the top 200 medical device companies in the world. It competes against much larger... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Behavior; Strategic Alignment; Cost Management; Performance Productivity; Organizational Culture; Motivation and Incentives; Organizational Design; Strategy; Leadership; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; Australia

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28 Apr 2015
First Look

First Look: April 28

Management: Can a Balanced Scorecard Change a Culture? By: Gibbons, Robert, and Robert S. Kaplan Abstract—Agency theorists, historically, have analyzed what kinds of performance measures should be used in formal incentive contracts. For... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

04 Dec 2012
First Look

First Look: December 4

Business Review 90, no. 12 (December 2012) Abstract An abstract is unavailable at this time. Read the article: http://hbr.org/2012/12/the-microwork-solution/ar/1 Are There Too Many Safe Securities? Securitization and the Incentives for... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

April 1999 (Revised December 2003)
Case

Al Dunlap at Sunbeam

By: Brian J. Hall, Rakesh Khurana and Carleen Madigan

Al Dunlap was one of the best-known corporate turnaround artists of the 1990s. In 1996, he was hired at Sunbeam to effect a restructuring, but was fired almost two years later when the company's financial performance and stock price began to decline. Many of the... View Details