Determinants of the Survival of Gainsharing Programs

Abstract

Using data from a 1992 survey of 211 organizations with gainsharing experience, the author examines determinants of the survival of gainsharing. He finds statistically significant associations between program survival and several factors, including employee approval by vote, union participation in program administration, low reliance on outside consultants, re-training, new employee training, small bonus group, labor intensity, sound corporate financial health, and major capital investment. Also positively correlated with program survival was program performance (the degree of success in achieving program goals), but that association was considerably weaker for young programs than for older ones. Variables such as re-training, new employee training, small bonus group, and good corporate financial health affected program survival via their influence on program performance.