Why do organizations espouse one thing but do another? This is essentially what Steven Kerr asks in his popular 1975 article in the Academy of Management Journal, “On the Folly of Rewarding A, While Hoping for B,” on reward systems. Using examples ranging from politics and war to business and public sector settings, Kerr found a common pattern: that the organization’s goals are too often not supported by the things they actually reward and encourage. The context and relationships among actors may differ, but the result is too commonplace to ignore.

In Part 1 of this episode, we break down Kerr’s examples (which in some cases were peculiar to 1975) and consider how generalizable they really are. We also address key differences in the 1995 update, published in the Academy of Management Executive. Then in Part 2, we examine criticisms of the article, particularly Richard Boettger and Charles Greer’s rejoinder “On the Wisdom of Rewarding A While Hoping for B,” published in Organization Science in 1994.

Podcasting in this episode: Tom, Ella, Maikel, and Frithjof

Part 1. The Many Ways Reward Systems Can Go Wrong

Part 2. Is Fixing the Reward System Really Necessary?

Read With Us:

Kerr, S. (1975). On the folly of rewarding A, while hoping for B. Academy of Management Journal, 18(4), 769-783.

Kerr, S. (1995). AN ACADEMY CLASSIC: On the folly of rewarding A, while hoping for B. Academy of Management Perspectives, 9(1), 7-14.

To Learn More:

Boettger, R. D., & Greer, C. R. (1994). On the wisdom of rewarding A while hoping for B. Organization Science, 5(4), 569-582.