Managing Research, Development, and Innovation: Managing the Unmanageable, Third Edition

6.5. REWARD SYSTEM DISCUSSION

We asked earlier, what acts does the organization reward? For example, does the organization reward innovation? Does the organization reward having original ideas that are not very popular? One can analyze the way the organization gives rewards for specific kinds of behaviors and come up with a profile that suggests why an organization is not very creative or not very successful. For example, Zenger and Lazzarini (2004) found that smaller R&D companies are sometimes more successful in attracting researchers because they are able to offer scientists better contract deals with rewards based on enhanced ability, effort, and performance; larger corporations tend to base their rewards solely on seniority. The reason ...