APA Business and Management

Motivation, Job Attitudes, Job Design

In the article “Why Incentive Plans Cannot Work”, Kohn talks in depth on a six point system that looks at the true cost of incentive programs. The final two topics are “Rewards discourage risk-taking” and “Rewards undermine Interest”, which are both very interesting to me because risking- taking and interests are vital for a companies success. When a company discourages creativity, they create a lack of interest for people in that specific line of work. The article states that people will do what they are told to do and nothing more but this will kill their drive and creativity which could leave the company worse off. The article below talks about why creativity is important for a business and how some of the most powerful companies, such as Apple and IBM, use risk-taking and creative thinking to make their business better off. How can other companies keep their incentive programs while also encouraging risk-taking and creativity? Is this possible to do for most companies?