final week 5

What are some examples of contingency planning in our personal lives?

Class, Identify and discuss at least one characteristic of effective strategy evaluation.  Please cite your sources.

When an organization is waiting for a change that does not happen, it can be demotivating to employees. What steps should leadership have taken if they changed their approach?

Reward systems specify who gets rewarded and why. They can have a powerful influence on individual performance and overall firm outcomes. Reward systems need to be closely linked to culture since they "put the money where the mouth is" of the organization. If rewards don't match up to the espoused values and beliefs, reward systems can also be a powerful de-motivator. A Massachusetts restaurant chain, Not Your Average Joes, uses a sophisticated system to reward its best servers with more tables and a preferred schedule. Class - Are you familiar with other firms that have different incentives and rewards for individuals at different hierarchical levels? Is the reward system effective? Why? Why not?

While rewards can be powerful tools to get employees to work for the benefit of the firm, they can also have some negative outcomes.  First, if the incentive criteria seem out of the control of workers (e.g., stock incentives for lower level employees) or the goals unreachable, they can be demotivating. Second, incentive can sometimes lead to perverse outcomes.  For example, if workers are incented to maximize the rate of production or the speed of a process, it can easily lead to quality problems.  Rewards and incentive systems can trigger unexpected or unwanted behaviors if the incentives lead to sub-cultures within an organization or perceived competition between organizational units. These issues can lead to a deterioration in the cohesion of the workforce and damage the organization.

Class - What are some examples of companies that have effectively aligned their reward systems with their goals and culture?