Publications

01 Aug 2023
What Do You Think?

As Leaders, Why Do We Continue to Reward A, While Hoping for B?

(iStockphoto/mikkelwilliam) Often the incentives we put in place to stimulate and reward performance produce unexpected behaviors. Causes vary from one individual to another, depending on what each of us values and what we are willing to... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

Brian J. Hall

Brian J. Hall is the Albert H. Gordon Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School. He served as the Unit Head for the Negotiation, Organizations and Markets (NOM) Unit for 14 years. Previously, he was an assistant professor of economics in the... View Details

Keywords: accounting industry; consulting; consumer products; executive search; financial services; high technology; investment banking industry; management consulting; private equity (LBO funds); restaurant; sports; venture capital industry

30 Jan 2024
Research & Ideas

‘Intrinsic Joy’ Sparks Ideas Better than Cash

Columbia University. When AI, open source, and incentives collide The findings have implications for any kind of innovation drive stemming from crowdsourcing, a method of gathering information from large groups that has been around for... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Technology

19 Feb 2019
News

Bank Boards: What Has Changed Since the Financial Crisis?

December 2012 (Revised August 2020)
Case

Rodan + Fields Dermatologists

By: Das Narayandas, Michael Roberts and Liz Kind

The case focuses on issues involved in managing the direct multilevel marketing sales consultants who sell R+F skin care products. The company is trying to better manage the inconsistent and highly variable recruitment behavior of the sales force i.e., the degree to... View Details

Keywords: Marketing; Salesforce Management; Recruitment; Compensation and Benefits; Consumer Products Industry; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; California

October 1988 (Revised December 1989)
Case

Siemens Electric Motor Works (B): Pricing Interdivisional Sales

Examines Siemens' policy for pricing products transferred between the manufacturing and sales divisions of their Electric Motor Works, where both are profit centers. It is unique in that the organizational linkage between the product costing system and the transfer... View Details

Keywords: Production; Price; Organizational Structure; Profit; Business Processes; Manufacturing Industry

September 2003 (Revised October 2005)
Case

Performance Pay for MGOA Physicians (A)

Examines the transition of an orthopedic surgical group at a premier teaching and research hospital from a system in which the surgeons are compensated with flat salaries to a system where they are compensated based on profitability. Allows for an examination of... View Details

Keywords: Value Creation; Motivation and Incentives; Nonprofit Organizations; Health Care and Treatment; Compensation and Benefits; Health Industry

TeachingInterests

Harnessing Employee Talent: The Diversity Advantage

This course offers a comprehensive examination of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) within organizational contexts, focusing on practical strategies for fostering inclusive environments and driving positive change. Furthermore, this course... View Details

November 2013
Case

GlaxoSmithKline in China (A)

By: John A. Quelch and Margaret L. Rodriguez

Four GlaxoSmithKline employees were accused of bribing Chinese health care workers to prescribe the company's drugs. The accusations brought to light the questionable incentive structures of the Chinese health care system and the pressure on companies to adhere to... View Details

While chronic disease management (CDM) apps have had some initial success, they have not yet lived up to their potential. This shortcoming is not due to the technologies, which are quite impressive; the problem is the incentives and institutions of the delivery system... View Details

29 Nov 2021
Research & Ideas

How Bonuses Get Employees to Choose Work Over Family

work over their personal lives are less happy." The findings have professional and personal implications for workers at a time when many business leaders are embracing performance-based pay. About 75 percent of organizations in the United States use View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Kim Raczka

November 2005 (Revised July 2006)
Background Note

Understanding Economic Value Added

By: Mihir A. Desai, Fabrizio Ferri and Steve Treadwell

Explores the concept of economic value added (EVA) and its practical applications as a management control system for performance measurement and incentive compensation. Explains how EVA is measured and explores some of the adjustments to financial statements that are... View Details

Keywords: Value

07 Nov 2014
News

Pounds for Pounds: Britain takes on obesity, by paying people to lose weight

24 Jul 2012
First Look

First Look: July 24

an Experiment with Commercial Bank Loan Officers Authors:Shawn Cole, Martin Kanz, and Leora Klapper Abstract This paper uses a series of experiments with commercial bank loan officers to test the effect of performance incentives on... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

August 2005
Background Note

Note on International Tax Regimes

By: Mihir A. Desai, Mark Veblen and Kathleen Luchs

Provides a framework for understanding different types of international tax regimes. Examines how alternative tax regimes tax the foreign income of their citizens (including corporate citizens); how tax regimes define foreign and domestic income; and how foreign tax... View Details

Keywords: Motivation and Incentives; Earnings Management; Nationality; Framework; Taxation; Profit; Globalization; Credit; United States

01 Nov 2022
Research & Ideas

A Penny for Your Thoughts? For Big-Picture Ideas, the Right Pay Structure Matters

workers, key issues such as how employees are paid and how they view the scope of their jobs can be crucial to their willingness to contribute ideas that help the company thrive, says Susanna Gallani, assistant professor at Harvard Business School. Companies that... View Details

Keywords: by Scott Van Voorhis

Article

Is It Time for Auditor Independence Yet?

By: M. H. Bazerman and D. A. Moore

Well before the collapse of Enron and Arthur Andersen, we argued that the auditing system had been corrupted by the incentives auditors face to please their clients. We stated that even honest auditors were incapable of independence within the current regulatory... View Details

Keywords: Accounting Audits; Change; Crime and Corruption; Customer Satisfaction; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Failure; Motivation and Incentives

Find at Harvard

October 2024 (Revised February 2025)
Case

Lanco Medical Group: Fostering Happiness for Growth

By: Susanna Gallani, Jenyfeer Martínez Buitrago and Katherine Sonnefeldt

This case describes how Lanco Medical Group, a fast-growing pharmaceutical distributor serving Latin America, approached the design of their employee benefits and incentives program. After learning about gaps between what leadership believed motivated employees and... View Details

Keywords: Fairness; Compensation and Benefits; Retention; Growth Management; Motivation and Incentives; Expansion; Pharmaceutical Industry; Latin America