MGT 323

Prof. Wieland
26 February 2013
Supplemental Article Review
It is no surprise that people will often do what needs to be done in order to be rewarded in
the workplace despite their ethical values. As stated in the article, Such undesirable behavior by
organizational membersmay be explained largely by the reward systems in use (Kerr, 1995).
Steven Kerrs article, On the folly of rewarding A, while hoping for B talks about the reward
systems used in different workplaces and how these reward systems could inadvertently be
encouraging the wrong behaviors and ignoring the preferable conduct. If an employee of an
organization is told by their superiors that they will be rewarded based on the amount of work
completed, the employee will then do whatever needs to be done to get that work done quicker,
even if that means that the quality of the work is significantly lower than if the worker took their
time. It would benefit many corporations to reevaluate their reward systems currently in place
and then take necessary actions to change the systems so that they will intrinsically motivate
workers rather than placing the employees full attention on the extrinsic rewards. As specified
in chapter 9 of the textbook, a good reward system should attract talented people and motivate
and satisfy them once they have joined the organizationa good reward system should foster
personal growth and development and keep talented people from leaving (Kreitner, Kinicki, pg.
257). An organization must have an equal balance in their reward system that not only gives the
employee the occasional rewards they hope for, but also provides and reinforces employees with
the motivation necessary for them to continue to improve job performance and strive for the best
for the company as a whole.
In a research article entitled Productivity and Its Rewards: Toward a New Work Ethic, Eli
Berniker talks about the same issues in reward systems and how employers and industries could
benefit from redesigning and reevaluating the reward systems currently in place. He writes,

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26 February 2013
The challenge is to design organizational work and reward systems that produce long-term
economic benefits for organizations and their employees and society (Berniker, 1993). This
notion includes everything from positive reinforcement to pay for performance. An employer
must motivate their employees intrinsically so that they value the goals and expectations of their
position, and in turn, this will provide extrinsic rewards as well. Not only does this favor the
employee, but the employer will also benefit from a form of extrinsic rewards, like the success
and profit of the business. Berniker argues the worker will be motivated to greater
productivity for the company if the work is designed to intrinsically provide satisfaction and selfrespect for the contribution to the worker (Berniker, 1993). The idea of this statement is that a
worker will be much more motivated to continuously improve their productivity and their quality
of work if they believe that they truly are an important part in the companys and their own
success and satisfaction.
Ronald Duska, in his article The Ethics of Reward Systems in the Financial Services
Industry, explores the reward system and how it can negatively or positively affect individual
and group norms. He believes that one can explore the rewards systems set in place in
organizations and the extent, in which these reward systems can make an employee act
unethically, or in their own favor, rather than in the favor and benefit of the entire organization.
He suggests in his article that, This reward system perspective views rewards and sanctions not
only as direct determinants of the individuals definition of the situation, but as determinants of
group norms, which also define the individuals situation (Duska, 1999). If an employee, or
group of employees, realizes that they no longer are being rewarded as critically upon
performance, but rather on the speed of productivity, the employee(s) will then begin to not care
as much about the quality of their work, but rather the quantity of their work, because that is

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what they are being rewarded for. It is important to explore the linkages between the
organizational reward system and the extent to which employees behave unethically (Duska,
1999). Duska believes that reward systems must be investigated and reshaped so that they no
longer encourage employees to act unethically when in the workplace in order to obtain their
bonuses. The main idea that Duska wants to get across in his article, is that there must be a
balance in the workplace between employers, employees, and the reward systems put into place
so that the organization can function ethically and as a whole.
Written by Mary Ann Von Glinow and Erik Jansen, Ethical Ambivalence and
Organizational Reward Systems, highlights some of the reasons why employees begin to take
advantage of the reward systems, how their ethical behaviors are affected, and how they are
negatively conditioned in the workplace because of this. They believe, for example, that
commission structures can affect a salespersons pitch to customers on a given day depending on
what a company is promoting or what a company needs to sell more of. Jansen and Von Glinow
state in their article, to the extent that behavior is motivated by self-interest, it would seem
that commission structures have a powerful effect on what products agents sell. Poorly designed
commission structuresprovide incentives for unethical behavior (Jansen, Von Glinow, 1985).
It makes sense that a salesperson would push the items that can make them the most money. For
example, if a car salesman makes more commission off of selling a certain type of car, they will
lower their ethics and try to sell that model to anyone looking at it, even if he knows that it is not
a very good model. Human beings are unquestionably influenced by their environment and by
their self-interest ((Jansen, Von Glinow, 1985). The same idea can be applied to any business or
organization. Whatever benefits the employee more, is most likely going to be the choice they
go with, even if it conflicts with their ethics. Most people are conditioned to do what is in their

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best self-interest. Therefore they will change their idea of what is ethical in order to reap the
rewards and benefits.
These articles, as well as chapter nine of the Organizational Behavior textbook, all
highlight why it is important to review and revise reward systems so that they can work for both
employees and organizations instead of just working in favor of one side. Simple changes like
providing employees with positive reinforcement, goals, feedback, and more important tasks can
instill an employee to act more ethically in the organization and in turn this can improve
productivity, job performance, and employee satisfaction. It is important to not provide
employees with incentives that will decrease quality in order to increase quantity because this
will lead to employees doing whatever it takes for them to obtain their rewards, even if it means
selling a bad product to consumers because it was not thoroughly checked before reaching the
consumer market. It is human nature for people to act in accordance with what will benefit
them. Humans are conditioned to go after what will provide them with the best return in their
investment. Therefore, organizations must find a balance in reward systems that will only give
those that deserve it the most the rewards and benefits. As mentioned in the book and in the
articles, it is important to pay for performance and not for the amount of work completed
because most employees will lower their efforts and do the bare minimum required to obtain the
bonuses they are promised by their organization. Rewards must be given as a way to provide
both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation within employees.
Cited Sources
Jansen, Erik, and Von Glinow, Mary Ann. "Ethical Ambivalence and Organizational
Reward Systems." Academy of Management Review 10.4 (1985): 814-822. Business Source
Complete. Web. 23 Feb. 2013.

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Berniker, Eli. "Productivity and Its Rewards: Toward a New Work Ethic." Employee
Responsibilities & Rights 6.2 (1993): 161-170. Business Source Complete. Web. 20 Feb. 2013.
Duska, Ronald. "The Ethics of Reward Systems in the Financial Services Industry."
Business & Society Review 104.1 (1999): 34. Business Source Complete. Web. 22 Feb. 2013.
Kerr, Steven. "On the folly of rewarding A, while hoping for B." The Academy of
Management 9.1 (1995): 7-14. Print.
Kreitner, Robert, and Angelo Kinicki. "Improving Job Performance with Goals, Feedback,
Rewards, and Positive Reinforcement." Organizational Behavior. 9 ed. New York: McGraw-Hill,
2010. 242-267. Print.