Author Abstract
Using data from a retail chain, this paper studies the effects of a preferential plan providing incentives only to exemplary employees. Such plans incorporate elements of tournaments (through the selection of employees chosen largely on the basis of past performance but incorporating some managerial discretion) and linear incentives, to align employees with company goals and values. We find that, on average, the implementation of the preferential incentive plan was associated with improvements in sales. Also, we find that this plan was associated with greater improvements in sales and gross profits as well as reductions in the incidence of bad audits in stores where employees were initially less likely to be aligned with company goals. However, the plan was associated with lower sales and gross profits and higher incidence of bad audits, absenteeism, and turnover in some situations where employees could have perceived the plan to be unattainable or unfair. Our study sheds light on the impact of preferential incentive plans and the conditions under which these plans are more or less effective.
Paper Information
- Full Working Paper Text
- Working Paper Publication Date: February 2016
- HBS Working Paper Number: 16-087
- Faculty Unit(s): Accounting and Management
