Employee incentives

Employers have a rare opportunity to recruit from the ranks of the world’s leading digital companies.

To spur innovation, businesses have spent billions on internal venture capital, incubators, and accelerators. Yet survey after survey indicates these...

With generative AI, anyone can code. Here’s how to help your enterprise embrace this change.

Performance compensation for policy-level executives is interdependent with company policy. Survey data show that most companies use cash bonuses and...

It has to do with job insecurity.

Passive-aggressive organizations are friendly places to work: People are congenial, conflict is rare, and consensus is easy to reach. But, at the end...

Don't forget to test the test itself.

A new method to make sure employees are evaluated fairly.

Executives have developed tunnel vision in their pursuit of shareholder value, focusing on short-term performance at the expense of investing in long-term...

How to align goals across functions

In this tight labor market, cost cutting is out. Championing employee concerns is in.

Myth #1: School and childcare are back to normal.

A case study examines the history of McDonald's compensation schemes for managers. The initial plans, managers complained, based compensation on sales...

Business can't thrive in an environment of unhealthy employees, customers, and communities, an at-risk planet, and a fractured society. To transition...

Economic incentives become counterproductive when they undermine what Adam Smith called "the moral sentiments," such as the desire to be esteemed by others...

No one can say for certain how many millionaires have been created by Wall Street's long boom. But this new breed of employee certainly creates a whole...

Despite their popularity, pay-for-performance incentives haven't worked as well as proponents had expected. Research by Alexander Pepper, of the London...

A roadmap for leaders in the hybrid era.

How unsung heroes ensure a company’s impact

Plus guidance on what to do when some employees prefer a pet-free workplace.

CEO Kelly Browne wrestles with the design of a new compensation system to promote the collaboration and cross-selling necessary for supporting her firm's...

Retailing requires attention to detail and customer and employee loyalty. Wawa is a 50-year old food retailer with almost a cult-like following. With...

The Arck Systems series of cases describes the dilemmas faced by a senior sales manager in determining a sales compensation plan at an enterprise software...

The Arck Systems series of cases describes the dilemmas faced by a senior sales manager in determining a sales compensation plan at an enterprise software...

In 2008, the US consumer payments landscape was characterized by the ongoing prevalence of credit and debit card networks, the decline of checks, the...

This three-page case is the second update to Henkel: Building a Winning Culture (A). In this supplement, dated 2015, managers discuss the problems that...

In March 2018, an analyst at an investment management firm in Toronto, Ontario, had to decide whether or not to recommend that his firm establish a position...

Describes a company's changing of its compensation and incentive plan. In particular, it shows how a change from hourly pay to piece rate pay (for windshield...

The co-founder of a geological consulting start-up was taking an unconventional approach to employee motivation by using non-salary enticements (e.g....

Describes life on a product development team, the behaviors that are rewarded, and the difficult tradeoffs members often have to make as a result. This...

In recent years, Au Bon Pain (ABP), a chain of upscale French bakeries/sandwich cafes based in Boston, confronted a set of human resource problems endemic...

Details the design and implementation of an incentive bonus plan for video store managers. The problem for top management of the chain is to induce the...

Porcini's Inc. operates a chain of 23 full-service restaurants located near shopping malls and downtown areas in the northeastern United States. Known...

Focuses on the three-way interaction among internal controls, employee behavior, and incentives. Salesmen are illegally providing kickbacks to customers...

A rather complex case that calls for a report that gives providers a breakdown of why they are (or are not) achieving their budgeted levels of performance....

Barber Cardiosystems, based in Melbourne, Australia, designs and manufactures therapeutic devices used for treatment of coronary conditions. Over four...

Second of a two-part case on the development and use of a Balanced Scorecard (BSC) at Mobil's US Marketing and Refining Division. This case describes...

Lincoln Electric, a 100-year-old manufacturer of welding equipment and consumables based in Cleveland, Ohio, motivates its U.S. employees through a culture...

The recent economic crisis and the collapse of many financial institutions stand as living proof of the dangers of overly ambitious targets coupled with...

Without realizing it, managers delegate unethical behavior to people in their organizations on a regular basis. This occurs whenever someone tells their...

Getting sales right nowadays requires a balance of science, creativity, efficiency, and empathy. This issue of Harvard Business Review OnPoint will help...

CEO Kelly Browne wrestles with the design of a new compensation system to promote the collaboration and cross-selling necessary for supporting her firm's...

Retailing requires attention to detail and customer and employee loyalty. Wawa is a 50-year old food retailer with almost a cult-like following. With...

The Arck Systems series of cases describes the dilemmas faced by a senior sales manager in determining a sales compensation plan at an enterprise software...

Employers have a rare opportunity to recruit from the ranks of the world’s leading digital companies.

Goals help us get important work done. The sense of purpose they provide focuses our energy. Consistently setting and hitting objectives takes more than...

The Arck Systems series of cases describes the dilemmas faced by a senior sales manager in determining a sales compensation plan at an enterprise software...