Matt Bloom

Relationships Among Risk, Incentive Pay, and Organizational Performance

In this study, we extended agency-based research by examining the role of risk in the structure of managerial compensation and its relationship to organization performance. Our results suggest that...

The Relationships Among Organizational Context, Pay Dispersion, and Among Managerial Turnover

Relatively little research explores observed differences in pay dispersion across organizations and whether those observed differences have consequences for employee behaviors. Using data from two ...

An Integration and Extension of Intrinsic Motivation Theories: The Role of Core Affect

Intrinsic motivation occurs due to positive reactions that arise directly from engagement in work activities. Scholars have asserted that intrinsic motivation plays an important role in organizational phenomena such as creativity (George, 2007), leadership (Piccolo & Colquitt, 2006), and performance (Gagne & Deci, 2005). We review the research literature on intrinsic motivation and provide an overview and integration of the leading theories. We then develop a conceptual model in which positive affect serves as a primary cause of intrinsic motivation. We discuss how affect alone may induce intrinsic motivation, how affect may lead to nonconscious experiences of intrinsic motivation, and how affect and cognitions may work in concert to produce the strongest and most persistent intrinsic motivation experiences. We conclude by suggesting new avenues for research that might be pursued using this cognitive–affective model of intrinsic motivation.

The Art and Context of the Deal: A Balanced View of Executive Incentives

Over the past several years critics have charged that incentive awards are excessive, bear little relationship to organizational performance, and often prove detreimental to a companys success. This article argues for the importance of considering contextual factors before making judegments about the eeficacy of perfoance-based compensation. Analysis of one factor-the degree of business risk-uncoves a relationship taht chanllenges predications based on economics theroy. We might well assume that pay pakcages rich in stock options and other incentives help copanies respond to a high-risk business environment. Not so. Statistical analysis of 536 large U.S. companies shows that the more sucessful firms used higher salaries and lower level of incentive than their less succesful counterparts. This suggest we need to give great consideration to the whole ”employment deal”-incentives, salary, benefits, job security and the like-in relationship to the business enviornment.

Teams: Design and Implementation

The decision to use work teams should be placed in the broader context of the organization’s competitive and manufacturing strategies. The overall premise is that, for work teams to be truly effective within the organization, they must be geared to provide capabilities or outcomes that are valued by the firm as a whole. In other words, teams should add value to the firm’s products and services in ways that are meaningful to the marketplace. This implies an outward-looking view of team design: teams should be empowered to take actions that, either directly or indirectly, support the organization’s sources of competitive advantage.