Publications

Research Summary

Executive Compensation

By: Susanna Gallani

In this line of work, Prof. Gallani explores the influence of external actors on the design and effectiveness of executive compensation. Prominent external actors she has examined in her work include compensation consultants, proxy advisory firms, and institutional... View Details

Keywords: Executive Compensation; Proxy Advisors; Compensation Consultants

March 2017
Teaching Note

Sales Compensation Vignettes

By: Frank V. Cespedes

This Teaching Note supports the case study comprising two vignettes about startup companies considering whether and how to change their sales compensation plans. The case allows students to compare and contrast the objectives, structure, and process of sales incentives... View Details

Keywords: Compensation; Sales; Strategy; Compensation and Benefits

Web

Benefits & Compensation | Employment

Benefits & Compensation Competitive compensation is just the beginning. From health care and unmatched paid time off to an unbeatable package of... View Details

May 2016 (Revised June 2017)
Case

Sales Compensation Vignettes

By: Frank V. Cespedes

This case study is comprised of two vignettes about startup companies considering whether and how to change their sales compensation plans. ElMenus.com is a restaurant app venture in Egypt seeking to lower customer churn while confronting new competition. BigBelly is a... View Details

Keywords: Compensation; Sales; Strategy

April 2018 (Revised June 2020)
Case

Tesla's CEO Compensation Plan

By: Krishna G. Palepu and Sarah Mehta

Tesla’s board of directors proposed an unusual compensation plan for the company’s CEO Elon Musk. The plan payouts were entirely contingent on achieving very ambitious market value, sales, and EBIT targets over the next ten years. If all the targets were achieved,... View Details

Keywords: CEO Compensation; Compensation Committee; Corporate Governance; Executive Compensation; Governing and Advisory Boards; Business and Shareholder Relations; Auto Industry; United States

2017
Working Paper

Equality and Equity in Compensation

By: Jiayi Bao and Andy Wu

Equity compensation is widely used for incentivizing skilled employees, particularly in new technology businesses. Traditional theories explaining why firms offer equity suggest that workers with higher rank should receive compensation packages more heavily weighted in... View Details

Keywords: Inequality Aversion; Compensation; Stock Options; Scarcity; Experiment; Compensation and Benefits; Equity; Equality and Inequality; Perception

April 2021
Article

Today's Surgeon Compensation Models Fall Short: Aligning Incentives to Create More Equitable and Value-based Compensation Models

By: Susanna Gallani, Mary Witkowski, Lauren Haskins, Haley Jeffcoat, Vinita Mujumdar and Frank Opelka

Modern medicine is undergoing a transformation that involves innovative surgical approaches, increased medical treatment options, clinical care pathways that require collaboration beyond hospital walls, and health data captured by electronic health records and other... View Details

Keywords: Physician Compensation; Surgeons; Health Care and Treatment; Business Model; Compensation and Benefits

Web

Benefits & Compensation | Research Associates

Benefits & Compensation Research Associates enjoy a salary that is extremely competitive for the field, a substantial benefits package, and... View Details

12 May 2017
Working Paper Summaries

Equality and Equity in Compensation

Keywords: by Jiayi Bao and Andy Wu

03 Apr 2012
News

Just Compensation

Ferracone: Specializing in executive compensation and performance consulting. Courtesy Robin Ferracone Robin Ferracone (MBA 1980) is the founder (in 2007) and executive chair... View Details

Keywords: executives; executive compensation; Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services; Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services

October 2018 (Revised September 2022)
Case

Stock-Based Compensation at Twitter

By: Jonas Heese, Zeya Yang and Mike Young

Olivia Nash, an analyst at leading hedge fund BlueShark Capital Management, had just finished listening to the hour-long earnings call for Twitter’s Q4 2017 results. Was Twitter doing well? That depended on which numbers she chose to believe. According to Generally... View Details

Keywords: Twitter; Non-GAAP Disclosure; Stock-based Compensation; Earnings Management; Corporate Disclosure; Compensation and Benefits; Stocks; Measurement and Metrics

January 2017 (Revised April 2018)
Background Note

Introduction to Incentive-based Sales Compensation Systems

By: Willy Shih

This background note explains the structure of incentive-based sales compensation systems. View Details

Keywords: Sales Compensation; Sales Force Compensation; Sales Force Management; Sales; Salesforce Management; Compensation and Benefits; Motivation and Incentives; Industrial Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Retail Industry; United States

April 2010
Article

Executive Pay and 'Independent' Compensation Consultants

By: K. J. Murphy and Tatiana Sandino

Executive compensation consultants face potential conflicts of interest that can lead to higher recommended levels of CEO pay, including the desires to "cross-sell" services and to secure "repeat business." We find evidence in both the US and Canada that CEO pay is... View Details

Keywords: Compensation Consultants; Conflicts Of Interest; CEO Pay; Board Of Directors; Director Pay; Disclosure; Conflict of Interests; Governing and Advisory Boards; Corporate Disclosure; Executive Compensation; Corporate Governance; Consulting Industry; Canada; United States

SSRN

Find at Harvard

March 2020 (Revised October 2020)
Module Note

Sales Force Compensation

By: Doug J. Chung

The author developed this note for scholars, educators, and practitioners that are interested in sales force compensation. It is based on the author’s investigations across a variety of organizations in multiple industries and provides a conceptual framework for the... View Details

Keywords: Sales Strategy; Sales Force Management; Sales Compensation; Salary; Commissions; Bonuses; Quota Setting/updating; Quota Frequency; Extrinsic Vs Intrinsic Motivation; Salesforce Management; Compensation and Benefits; Strategy

2021
Working Paper

Time Dependence and Preference: Implications for Compensation Structure and Shift Scheduling

By: Doug J. Chung, Byungyeon Kim and Byoung G. Park

This study jointly examines agents’ time dependence—period effects within instantaneous utility—and time preference—behavior on discounting future utility. The study considers the start- and end-of-period effects for time dependence and exponential and hyperbolic... View Details

Keywords: Time Preferences; Present Bias; Hyperbolic Discounting; Compensation; Dynamic Structural Models; Identification; Time Management; Motivation and Incentives; Behavior; Performance; Compensation and Benefits

SSRN

2016
Working Paper

Executive Compensation and Environmental Harm

By: Dylan Minor

We explore the relationship between managerial incentives and environmental harm. We find that high-powered executive compensation packages can increase the odds of environmental law breaking by 40%–60% and the magnitude of environmental harm by over 100%. We document... View Details

Keywords: Misconduct; Environmental Performance; Accounting Scandal; Sustainable Finance; Crime and Corruption; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Executive Compensation; Environmental Sustainability; Corporate Governance

SSRN

June 2017
Article

Options Compensation as a Commitment Mechanism in Oligopoly Competition

By: Jun Ishii and David Hao Zhang

We analyze how CEO stock options compensation can be used as a commitment device in oligopolistic competition. We develop a two-stage model where shareholders choose managerial compensation to commit their managers to being aggressive in equilibrium. Our results may... View Details

Keywords: CEO Compensation; Ceo Risk-taking; Strategic Delegation; Stock Options; Executive Compensation

Find at Harvard

November 2024 (Revised January 2025)
Case

MiDAS: Automating Unemployment Benefits

By: Shikhar Ghosh and Shweta Bagai

In 2015, the state of Michigan considered whether to nominate its Michigan Integrated Data Automated System (MiDAS) for a prestigious state technology award. Launched in 2013 amid severe budget pressures, the $47 million automated fraud detection system was designed to... View Details