Overview
The ability to measure and reward the performance of managers and business units is critical to organizations of all kinds. There is scanty academic literature, however, about how these systems actually function in companies today. To address these issues, a colloquium was held at the Harvard Business School in June 1990 to discuss the results of field research conducted by a group of academics working in these areas. Performance Measurement, Evaluation, and Incentives presents their findings. These field studies will greatly enrich both managers' and academics' understanding of the problems managers encounter as they attempt to measure and evaluate performance. In Part I, contributors discuss procedures and systems for evaluating performance and providing incentives. Bruns and McKinnon look at one effect of performance evaluation schemes in twelve corporations in the United States and Canada; Murphy analyzes the much-admired Merck Performance Appraisal Program as it evolved since its inception in 1978; Merchant and Riccaboni look at the implementation of incentive compensation by the Fiat Group in Italy; Otley concentrates on the introduction of incentive compensation to the branch network major British bank; Baker and Wruck discuss change in incentives that were introduced after a leveraged buyout; and Bento and Ferreira appraise the importance of organizational culture to evaluation and incentive schemes. Part II focuses on issues that arise from the ways in which work is organized. Lazear considers the provocative question of "what is a job?" in his study of data from one firm over a 13-year period; Mohrman, Mohrman, and Lawler present a contrasting view in their study of three organizations that redesigned systems for group performance. These two papers provide a comprehensive summary of issues that are of particular interest today as companies reorganize, downsize, and restructure work to make better use of new technologies or adapt to changing conditionsSynopsis
The ability to measure and reward the performance of managers and business units is critical to organizations of all kinds. There is scanty academic literature, however, about how these systems actually function in companies today. To address these issues, a colloquium was held at the Harvard Business School in June 1990 to discuss the results of field research conducted by a group of academics working in these areas. Performance Measurement, Evaluation, and Incentives presents their findings. These field studies will greatly enrich both managers' and academics' understanding of the problems managers encounter as they attempt to measure and evaluate performance. In Part I, contributors discuss procedures and systems for evaluating performance and providing incentives. Bruns and McKinnon look at one effect of performance evaluation schemes in twelve corporations in the United States and Canada; Murphy analyzes the much-admired Merck Performance Appraisal Program as it evolved since its inception in 1978; Merchant and Riccaboni look at the implementation of incentive compensation by the Fiat Group in Italy; Otley concentrates on the introduction of incentive compensation to the branch network major British bank; Baker and Wruck discuss change in incentives that were introduced after a leveraged buyout; and Bento and Ferreira appraise the importance of organizational culture to evaluation and incentive schemes. Part II focuses on issues that arise from the ways in which work is organized. Lazear considers the provocative question of "what is a job?" in his study of data from one firm over a 13-year period; Mohrman, Mohrman, and Lawler present a contrasting view in their study of three organizations that redesigned systems for group performance. These two papers provide a comprehensive summary of issues that are of particular interest today as companies reorganize, downsize, and restructure work to make better use of new technologies or adapt to changing conditions
Booknews
Presents the findings of field research conducted by a group of academics and originally reported at a colloquium held at the Harvard Business School in June 1990. This volume includes ten field studies which focus on three key issues: alternative methods of rewarding managers; reward mechanisms across organizations and cultures; and implementing performance evaluation schemes. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)