Atul Mitra

Are Financial Incentives Related to Performance? A Meta-Analytic Review of Empirical Research

The relationship of financial incentives to performance quality and quantity is cumulated over 39 studies containing 47 relationships. Financial incentives were not related to performance quality but had a corrected correlation of.34 with performance quantity. Setting (laboratory, field, experimental simulation) and theoretical framework moderated the relationship, but task type did not.

An under-met and over-met expectations model of employee reactions to merit raises.

The authors developed a model of how raise expectations influence the relationship between merit pay raises and employee reactions and tested it using a sample of hospital employees. Pay-for-performance (PFP) perceptions were consistently related to personal reactions (e.g., pay raise happiness, pay-level satisfaction, and turnover intentions). Merit pay raises were strongly related to reactions only among employees with high raise expectations and high PFP perceptions. The interactive effects of under-met/over-met expectations and PFP perceptions were mediated by the extent to which participants saw the raise as generous and they were happy with the raises they received. The authors discuss the implications of these findings for expectation-fulfillment theories, merit pay research, and the administration of incentives.

Reactions to Merit Pay Increases: A Longitudinal Test of a Signal Sensitivity Perspective

The relationships among merit pay raises, trait positive affectivity (PA), and reactions to merit pay increases (pay attitudes and behavioral intentions) were explored in a longitudinal study of hospital employees. Drawing on signal sensitivity theory, the authors expected that PA would moderate the relationship between merit pay raise size and reactions to the increase such that pay raise size would be more strongly related to pay attitudes and behavioral intentions among those low in PA. Results strongly supported the predictions in the case of reactions to the raise amount (happiness and effort intentions) but not for pay level satisfaction. Implications of the results and directions for future research are identified.

A drop in the bucket: when is a pay raise a pay raise?

Summary Although merit pay continues to receive much theoretical and practical attention, little systematic eAort is devoted to determining how large a pay raise must be before employees see it as a pay raise. This study uses psychophysical reasoning and techniques in a sample of 192 student ‘employees’ to establish the size of pay raise thresholds in a relatively controlled setting. Results indicate that, below about the 7 per cent level, increases in pay amounts are unlikely to evoke positive perceptual and attitudinal reactions among employees. Theoretical, methodological, and practical implications of these results are highlighted. #1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Success and Survival of Skill-Based Pay Plans

Factors related to the success and survival of skill-based pay (SBP) plans are addressed in a longitudinal study of 97 facilities. Results indicate that certain design features and support variables relate to increased workforce flexibility and to SBP survival, and supervisor support also relates strongly to SBP survival. The results also show that SBP plans are more successful and sustainable in manufacturing facilities than in service facilities, and SBP survival is less likely in facilities pursuing a technical innovation strategy. Implications of the research for theory and practice regarding SBP plans, compensation systems, and human resources management innovations are addressed.

The Case of the Invisible Merit Raise How People See Their Pay Raises

Many HR managers assume that any raise can be motivational-but as this study illustrates, very small and very large merit raises may actually obstruct an organizations motivational efforts.

A comparative examination of traditional and skill‐based pay plans

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to make a comparative assessment of the relationship between types of pay plans and several workforce‐level outcomes in 214 organizations. The plans include pay that is skill‐based, job‐based, and market‐based. The types of workforce‐level outcomes include workforce flexibility, attitudes, membership behaviors, and productivity. The paper also assesses the relationship between the success of pay plans and workforce productivity/membership behaviors.Design/methodology/approach – Survey data from 214 organizations are used to test the hypothesized relationships using hierarchical regression analysis and partial least square techniques.Findings – Results support a significant and positive relationship between skill‐based pay plans, workforce flexibility, and workforce attitudes. Skill‐based pay plans, when compared with market‐based pay plans, are found to positively relate to workforce membership behaviors, and workforce attitudes mediate this relationship. Similarly, ...

Identifying sources of competitive advantage for new form organizations

New organizational forms have emerged based on increased levels of horizontal coordination, streamlined organizational structures and processes, and renewed emphasis on customer satisfaction. This paper outlines how various dimensions of group decision support systems might be adapted to suggest sources of competitive advantage in the context of new form organizations.