Employee incentives

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

Talking about fair compensation shouldn't be a taboo.

Every day, at almost every company, strategy is being hijacked by numbers. Because strategy is abstract, employees often mentally replace it with the...

Corporate budgeting is a joke, and everyone knows it. It consumes a huge amount of executives' time, forcing them into endless rounds of dull meetings...

When reward systems fail, don’t blame the program—look at the premise behind it.

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

Businesses make all kinds of mistakes when it comes to recruiting, hiring, benefits, and job design. In fact, many common U.S. HR practices are downright...

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

How to align goals across functions

In this article, Jeffrey Pfeffer (Thomas D. Dee Professor of Organizational Behavior at Stanford Business School) identifies widely accepted "fictions"...

Anyone in sales will tell you that social networks are critical. The more contacts you have, the more leads you'll generate and, ultimately, the more...

For hourly workers, commute time is a big - and often underestimated - factor.

Leaders' pay should be tied to corporate mission, not strategy.

In this article, Jeffrey Pfeffer (Thomas D. Dee Professor of Organizational Behavior at Stanford Business School) identifies widely accepted "fictions"...

It depends whether you're trying to encourage or discourage action.

Principles for designing executive pay

It’s easier than you think.

While the executive in charge of the sustainability function plays the starring role in any social or environmental initiative, its success often depends...

An investor in the electric car company Tesla recently issued a friendly challenge to HBS professor Clayton Christensen, the father of the theory of disruptive...

Bonuses and incentive compensation encourage management's preoccupation with short-term financial results. This emphasis is an important contribution...

Kjell & Company was a Swedish retail electronics chain. The company's products consisted of home electronics and accessories. The company was noted for...

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

A private company is considering an introduction of a long-run incentive compensation system in which payoffs to managers are determined by the economic...

The executive team at Affinity Plus Federal Credit Union has pushed the concept of members first deeply throughout the organization, empowering employees...

Summarizes the accounting principles governing employee stock options, including the recently issued accounting standard SFAS 123, Accounting for Stock-Based...

In 2016, the new CEO of Vyaderm Pharmaceuticals introduces an Economic Value Added (EVA) program to focus the company on long-term shareholder value....

Supplements the (A) case.

Logan Airport is facing mounting delays for flights landings and takeoffs, especially in inclement weather. An additional runway and peak-period pricing...

Multiasistencia, a major Spanish BPO of insurance repairs, is changing the relational contract with its service professionals from a referral model to...

Supplements the (A) case.

Supplements the (A) case.

Reveals the system changes that IBM adopted. Designed as an in-class handout after discussion of the (A) case.

Sales leadership essentials for an era of rapidly advancing digital technology. Managing an effective sales organization is key to revenue generation,...

Describes a corporation that switches its philosophy of budgeting from "stretch" targets to "minimum performance standard" targets. The change has implications...

Serves as a brief introduction to incentive design and implementation. The analysis first locates incentive strategy within the larger structure of organizations...

Describes the innovative retail model of the Brazilian firm Magazine Luiza. Magazine Luiza enables low-income consumer credit by applying a flexible and...

Describes a large-volume automotive parts contract in a high-quality machine work company. Quality and delivery problems arise when one of the four men...

The history, current dynamics, and future trends of the $10 billion home video rental industry provides a platform to discuss revenue-sharing contracts...

Bonuses are an important part of any CEO's toolkit. This white paper outlines specific steps to follow in establishing or revamping a company's bonus...

Making the leap to management and leadership. In your career, or anyone's, there is one transition that stands out as the most crucial--going from individual...

Kjell & Company was a Swedish retail electronics chain. The company's products consisted of home electronics and accessories. The company was noted for...

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

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

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

A private company is considering an introduction of a long-run incentive compensation system in which payoffs to managers are determined by the economic...

The executive team at Affinity Plus Federal Credit Union has pushed the concept of members first deeply throughout the organization, empowering employees...

Summarizes the accounting principles governing employee stock options, including the recently issued accounting standard SFAS 123, Accounting for Stock-Based...

In 2016, the new CEO of Vyaderm Pharmaceuticals introduces an Economic Value Added (EVA) program to focus the company on long-term shareholder value....

Supplements the (A) case.

Logan Airport is facing mounting delays for flights landings and takeoffs, especially in inclement weather. An additional runway and peak-period pricing...