Strategic Reward Research Articles

Resolving social dilemmas with minimal reward transfer

Social dilemmas present a significant challenge in multi-agent cooperation because individuals are incentivised to behave in ways that undermine socially optimal outcomes. Consequently, self-interested agents often avoid collective behaviour. In response, we formalise social dilemmas and introduce a novel metric, the general self-interest level, to quantify the disparity between individual and group rationality in such scenarios. This metric represents the maximum proportion of their individual rewards that agents can retain while ensuring that a social welfare optimum becomes a dominant strategy. Our approach diverges from traditional concepts of altruism, instead focusing on strategic reward redistribution. By transferring rewards among agents in a manner that aligns individual and group incentives, rational agents will maximise collective welfare while pursuing their own interests. We provide an algorithm to compute efficient transfer structures for an arbitrary number of agents, and introduce novel multi-player social dilemma games to illustrate the effectiveness of our method. This work provides both a descriptive tool for analysing social dilemmas and a prescriptive solution for resolving them via efficient reward transfer contracts. Applications include mechanism design, where we can assess the impact on collaborative behaviour of modifications to models of environments.

A STUDY ON STRATEGIC REWARD SYSTEM OF EMPLOYEES WITH REFERENCE TO IT SECTOR

Companies must grow to be more strategic if they are to carry on and do well in the current business situation. Functional and unit strategies must be aligned with overall company strategy to enhance organizational effectiveness. In this respect, strategic reward systems are vital to ensuring desired employee behaviours and enhanced company performance. This project reviews strategic reward systems and examines rewards. It outlines the employee’s strategic compensation and recognition programs and discusses implications for management. Companies for reaching higher goals and development use motivation. Motivation is a complex phenomenon which is influenced by individual, cultural, ethnic and historical factors. Some methods are suggested to increase employee performance. Rewards and incentives are probably among the most popular ones. So, organizations use reward systems and strategies to motivate their employees and to increase their performance. The aim of this study is to investigate how reward systems and organizational incentives influence employees.

The Influence of Police Reforms on Service Delivery in Mombasa County, Kenya

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to establish the influence of police reforms on service delivery in Mombasa County, Kenya. Methodology: The study made use of a descriptive research design. The population for the study was 120 respondents drawn from various police stations within Mombasa County. A sample size of 39 respondents was used. The study used questionnaires as the instrument for data collection. A pilot study was done in Likoni police station within Mombasa County so as to ascertain the validity and reliability of the instrument to use for data collection. The data collected was analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Results: The results of this study indicated that police reforms have a positive and significant relationship with police service delivery in Mombasa County. The results of this study also indicated that police culture has a positive and significant relationship with police service delivery in Mombasa County. The results of this study further indicated that police managerial structure has a positive and significant relationship with police service delivery in Mombasa County. Unique Contribution to Theory, Practice and Policy: The study also recommends that the police service should invest in a strong strategic reward management team so as to ensure that the staff is rewarded in accordance with their value to the police service by giving them monetary incentives which are needed to encourage staff to put extra effort so as to achieve fairness. The study recommends that the staff at the police service should be involved joint decision making and problem solving as this will make communication across the whole levels of management effective and make problem solving fast which will in turn lead to the development of the police service. The study suggests that further studies should focus on the policy factors that affect the service delivery of the police service delivery.

Impact of Rewards on Employee Performance: A Study on Private Banking Sector in Bangladesh

Reward management is a function of human resource management which is considered as a strategic asset for any organization. Therefore, this study is aimed to illustrate to what extent do rewards has an impact on employee performance in private banking sector in Bangladesh. More specifically this study has investigated the relationship between extrinsic reward, intrinsic rewards and employee performance level in private banking sector in Bangladesh. A total of 61 employees from 17 private banks were selected as sample to collect data through structured questionnaire including 11 questions. Descriptive statistic was used to provide a narrative view of the study while multiple regression analysis was undertaken as a statistical tool to do hypothesis testing. The result indicates that there is a strong positive relationship between intrinsic rewards and employee performance meaning that employees are highly interested to learn through training, solve complex challenging task, recognize by organization, receive feedback from managers and achieve organizational goal. The research result can be used as a guideline for other private banks in Bangladesh to have a better understanding of significance of reward system on employee performance that will help to develop a strategic reward system for sustainable competitive advantage

The effects of internal marketing mix on performance in a healthcare context

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of internal marketing mix on organisation performance. Statistical population includes the employees of a community health service delivering dental, community nursing, physiotherapy, psychology, social work and occupational therapy services across some sites in Tehran. For data analysis, 211 completed and usable questionnaires were used. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was applied to test the relationships among the research variables. The findings showed that strategic reward, internal communications, training and development, and leadership have a significant positive effect on performance.

The effects of internal marketing mix on performance in a healthcare context

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of internal marketing mix on organisation performance. Statistical population includes the employees of a community health service delivering dental, community nursing, physiotherapy, psychology, social work and occupational therapy services across some sites in Tehran. For data analysis, 211 completed and usable questionnaires were used. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was applied to test the relationships among the research variables. The findings showed that strategic reward, internal communications, training and development, and leadership have a significant positive effect on performance.

CSR-consumption paradox: examination of UK apparel companies

Purpose Despite extensive study into various aspects of corporate social responsibility (CSR), the effect on consumer behaviour is less explored. A growing amount of research is concerned with the phenomenon that CSR has a minor effect on actual purchases although CSR practices enhance consumers’ purchase intentions. This is documented as the CSR-consumption paradox and is yet to be resolved. The purpose of this paper is to further understand this paradox. Design/methodology/approach Questionnaires were administered face-to-face to consumers in Birmingham. These questionnaires concern consumer behaviour in relation to CSR practices of 21 popular apparel companies in the UK. Findings Results suggest that consumers’ pro-social priority is significantly related to pro-social consumption and that consumers’ awareness of CSR practices is insignificantly associated with their purchase behaviour. The pro-social consumption does not differ significantly among different demographic groups. Research limitations/implications To explore the external motivational factors in consumers’ decision making will be a potential research direction in future. Practical implications The empirical results provide implications for UK apparel marketers and policy makers to engage and motivate socially responsible consumers so as to reap strategic rewards for their CSR efforts. Originality/value This paper contributes to the knowledge of socially responsible consumption and how it is affected by CSR.

Strategic rewards - a case based study

Talent has won ’The war for talent’. The war is caused by the continuously increasing demandsupply gap for skilled workforce. Consequently, organizations face difficulty in attracting and retaining talent. Talent market is highly dynamic, since new disciplines of knowledge and skills are continuously emerging due to explosive growth of knowledge. It is resulting in rapidly changing technology and preferences and priorities of workforce in the midst of shortages. This necessitates appropriate reward system but in practice very few organizations offer attractive value proposition to their workforce. Most organizations still adhere to the conventional reward system. The traditional Rewards Management assumes money, and cash components to be the strongest motivator and the best performance incentives for employees. Higher wages/rewards have a close association with efficiency/productivity and employee turnover rates. Neo-classicists postulate equality between wages and the marginal product of labor. Higher-wages help in facing short supply of talent. Neo-classicists argue that the ’Total Factor Productivity (TFP)/Multi-factor Productivity (MFP)’ depends on investment in human capital; education and skills are the drivers of productivity of labor. It implies that the companies, especially service providers, which use manpower as the pivot, should particularly invest in human capital. This study also considers rewards as the main driver of high performance; so the companies should focus on satisfying the needs of all the employees by balancing extrinsic and intrinsic values; which is based on strategic reward system. Further, the Rewards Strategy, Business Strategy and external environment should be aligned to ensure sustainable results. Outcomes tend to diverge from desired goals if business and rewards strategy are not well aligned. ’Strategic Rewards System’ does not emerge in one go it evolves if the above conditions are satisfied. Therefore, the study traces the historical evolution of ’Strategic Rewards System’ by review of literature. This furnishes the rationale for the case study based on a Small Medium Enterprise; it provides evidence for the choice of the “Strategic Rewards System” by the organization under study. The case study assesses the relation of reward strategy with the organizational performance. The study concludes that a well-designed and a well-executed Strategic Rewards System reverses employee turnover and improves performance without a lofty budget.

INVESTIGATING INTERNAL MARKETING PRACTICES IN BANKS: AN APPLICATION OF MULTIVARITATE STATISTICAL ANALYSIS

The aim of this research is to test the validity of the dimensions of internal marketing and its impact on the performance of an organization. Internal marketing is a process in which employees are treated as internal customers and jobs are treated as products. A non-probabilistic sampling technique comprising of a hundred customers and a hundred commercial bank employees was used to take a sample for this research. Study setting was non-contrived; data collection method was primary through two structured questionnaires: one for the employees and the other for customers. Factor analysis was used to find out the underlyingdimensions of internal marketing and to check the validity of construct. MLR was used to test the hypotheses. The result revealed that out of six independent variables: motivation, strategic reward, training, understanding and differentiation, had significant while interfunctional coordination, and dissemination of information had insignificant causal relationship with organizational performance.

An analysis of the carrying capacity and life process risks of UK and Turkish insurance intermediaries

The primary aim of this paper is to examine the strategic risks associated with environmental selection and how this affects the life process risks of insurance intermediaries. To achieve this aim; firstly the carrying capacity of UK and Turkish insurance intermediaries is calculated and, secondly, the demographic, ecological and environmental variables that affect that carrying capacity are examined. Our study provides two contributions to the literature. For the first time, carrying capacity analysis is applied for an organisational community. As much as previous studies assume the existence of carrying capacity as theoretical, it has not been previously calculated on a quantitative basis. The second contribution is related to risk and insurance literature, specifically the life process risks of insurance intermediaries. The main rationale behind that analysis is the construction of a map that will simplify the strategic risk and reward decisions of insurers as to which areas are potentially profitable, or are indicative of fruitful relationships with intermediaries. Additionally, this research enables us to identify the areas that have potential for development in terms of insurance. For this reason, uncertainties relating to the selection of authorised brokers/agents as a strategic risk is, perhaps, minimised. Moreover, we have examined whether probable variables that can affect carrying capacity have contextual differences or not. The findings exhibit that there is contextual differentiations concerning the variables that affect the carrying capacity of both countries.

Strengthening Strategic Reward Framework in Health Systems: A Survey of Narok County, Kenya

BACKGROUND: Rewards are used to strengthen good behavior among employees based on the general assumption that rewards motivate staff to improve organizational productivity. However, the extent to which rewards influence motivation among health workers (HWs) has limited information that is useful to human resources (HRs) instruments. This study assessed the influence of rewards on motivation among HWs in Narok County, Kenya. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study done in two sub-counties of Narok County. Data on the rewards availability, rewards perceptions and influence of rewards on performance, as well as motivation level of the HWs, was collected using a self-administered questionnaire with HWs. SPSS version 21 was used to analyze descriptive statistics, and factor analysis and multivariate regression using Eigen vectors was used to assess the relationship between the reward intervention and HWs’ motivation.RESULTS: A majority of HWs 175 (73.8%) had not received a reward for good performance. Only 3 (4.8%) of the respondents who received rewards were not motivated by the reward they received. Overall, reward significantly predicted general motivation (p-value = 0.009).CONCLUSION: In Narok County, the HR’s instruments have not utilized the reward system known to motivate employees. In the study area, hard work was not acknowledged and rewarded accordingly. In addition, there were not sufficient opportunities for promotion in the county. An increased level of reward has the potential to motivate HWs to perform better. Therefore, providing rewards to employees to increase motivation is a strategy that the Narok County health system and its HR management should utilize.

Incentive Pay and Firm Performance: Moderating Roles of Procedural Justice Climate and Environmental Turbulence

In connection with the literature on strategic reward and agency theory, this study investigates the effects of incentive pay on employee outcomes and firm performance. We identify employee outcomes, such as commitment and competence, as mediating processes that explain the effects of incentive pay on firm performance. We further propose procedural justice climate and environmental turbulence as boundary conditions that determine the strength of the effects of incentive pay on employee outcomes. The research model is tested using multisource data collected at three time points over a five‐year period from 227 Korean companies. Our analysis confirmed that incentive pay enhanced employee commitment and competence, which, in turn, improved the operational and financial performances of firms. The effect of incentive pay on employee commitment was negative for firms with a low procedural justice climate, but positive for firms operated under a highly turbulent environment. By contrast, the effect of incentive pay on employee competence was positive only for firms operated under a stable environment. This study enriches the literature by presenting and validating plausible underlying mechanisms and boundary conditions under which strategic performance–contingent incentive pay affects firm performance. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Effect of Internal Marketing on Hotels: Empirical Evidence for Internal Customers

Internal marketing is a concept where firms apply marketing tools to attract and retain the best employees that will later affect business performance in monetary and nonmonetary terms. This article deals with the effect of internal marketing in hotels on their performance, based upon data obtained from India. Researchers identified the constructs of internal marketing: interfunctional coordination and integration, job satisfaction, job security, empowerment, employee motivation, vision of the organization, quality of service, employee development, strategic reward, and senior leadership. Researchers analyzed the effects of these processes on interactive marketing and thereby business performance. This study seeks to help organizations design their own internal marketing plan by outlining the important elements necessary to improve the business performance of hotels.

Internal Marketing: Scale Development and Validation

Internal marketing has been an area of interest for the past few decades, and the rapid growth on internal marketing literature has evolved the concept further. However, this theoretical advancement has not been able to empirically strengthen the concept, and there exists disagreement on the key components of internal marketing. Thus, this article endeavours to identify the dimensions of internal marketing by probing in the extant literature. In addition, the aim of the article was to develop a robust and valid instrument for measuring internal marketing. Data were collected from qualitative study and from 154 employees of financial service sector. Analyses revealed 11 significant dimensions of internal marketing, namely, senior leadership and vision, inter-functional coordination, internal communications, organization structure and changes, staffing, training and development, incentive systems, physical environment, strategic rewards and empowerment. Construct validity and reliability were empirically ascertained along with the determination of the good fit for the proposed model. The study highlighted the difference between strategic rewards and incentive systems as perceived by the employees. In addition, organization structure and change factors were tested to be significant, providing empirical evidence of their vital role in developing and implementing internal marketing practices in service firms. The article concludes by discussing the possible implications and future research avenues.

Internal Marketing: An Application of Principal Component Analysis

Businesses in 21st century operate in ultra- competitive, dynamic and effervescent economies enabled by powerful machines & technology gadgets. The very existence of organizations in this digital maze depends on translating incredible amounts of data into powerful knowledge for decision making through scientific methods & statistical innovations. The job of advanced statistical techniques such as Multivariate Analysis is to illuminate, organize and interpret complex data with relative ease & luxury. This research uses the concept of Internal marketing to understand application of Principal Component Analysis (PCA). The study empirically tests data collected of 322 respondents through structured survey in 60 branches of 8 leading commercial banks in the region. The questionnaire was developed using 20 items based on extensive literature review. The results confirm the performance of proposed framework which can be utilized as statistical & managerial tool for employee development & organizational effectiveness. The components extracted are; motivation, understanding & differentiation, dissemination of information, strategic reward, training and inter-functional coordination. 

Strategic reward and altruistic punishment support cooperation in a public goods game experiment

We compare the effects of and the motivations behind voluntary punishment and reward in a finitely repeated public goods game. Our experimental results show that (1) the level of cooperation is indistinguishable between the punishment and reward treatments when group membership does not change, but the reward treatment shows stronger endgame effects and that (2) punishment is much more effective than reward when group membership changes randomly between rounds. Strategic motivations are stronger in rewarding others, whereas more intrinsic motivations drive punishment behavior. We revisit the results of several previous experimental studies that are comparable to ours and show the overall consistency of our results with those in the prior experimental research.

Impact of Internal Marketing on Operational Performance: An Empirical Study in Low Cost Carrier Industry

This study is conducted in an airline industry setting. The purpose of this paper is to examine the link between internal marketing and operational performance. Two hundred nine set of questionnaires that are usable for the analysis. The results show that training and development, senior leadership and empowerment were significantly associated with operational performance. Thus, there was no evidence where strategic reward and internal communication work well on operational performance. The paper's results indicate that low cost carrier managers should pay attention to upgrade employees’ knowledge in regular basis as it is a market requirement, especially in the use of labour-saving technology to maintain competitiveness.

Flexible Rewards From a Strategic Rewards Perspective

Flexible reward arrangements (e.g., flexible benefit plans) have been around for a rather important period of time. Although some authors have examined the antecedents and consequences of adopting such plans from a theoretical perspective, empirical studies are rather scarce. Furthermore, there is a need to apply a strategic rewards perspective to flexible reward plans in order to help firms to move from “best practice” toward “best fit.” This article interprets the results of a survey held in Belgium and the Netherlands regarding the prevalence and perceived outcomes of adopting flexible reward plans within a model of strategic alignment of reward management.

A study of employee satisfaction in terms of organization culture

This study investigated the link between organizational culture and employee satisfaction in developmental sector’s organizations [(International Non-government Organizations (INGOs), National Non-Government Organizations (NNGOs) and government run development programs (GRDPs)] working in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa(KP) and Federally Administered Tribal Area (FATA) of Pakistan. A sample size of 401 was collected for full-fledged study after verifying the reliability and validity through pilot study. The statistical analyses were done on 378 usable responses which include descriptive statistics, spearman correlation analysis, ordinal logistic regression analysis, model fitting information. Model conceptualized for study proved significant tendency of association for four dimensions of organizational culture (strategic direction, reward and incentive system, collaboration and coordination and integration) with employee satisfaction. The findings also include significant correlation between organizational culture and employee satisfaction in organizations working for development of FATA and KP. Development sector’s organizations working in KP and FATA can integrate these findings by developing organizational culture in such a way as to increase job satisfaction of their employees, motivating them to remain and build their career within the organization. In this way, the organization can minimize the probability of losing talented individuals and henceforth more likely to work effectively for development of forgotten/deprived areas. Key words: Organizational culture, job satisfaction, International Non-Government Organizations (INGOs), Government Run Development Programs (GRDPs),Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Federally Administered Tribal Area (FATA).

LOCATING OUTSIDE A LINEAR CITY CAN BENEFIT CONSUMERS*

ABSTRACT We investigate the effects of restricting the locations of firms in Hotelling duopoly models. In standard location‐price models, the equilibrium distance between firms is too great from the viewpoint of consumer welfare. Thus, restricting the locations of firms and shortening the distance between them improves consumer welfare by reducing prices and transport costs. We introduce strategic reward contracts into location‐price models and find that, in contrast to the above result, restrictions on the locations of firms reduce consumer welfare. These restrictions reduce transport costs but increase prices by changing the strategic commitments of the firms.