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The Effects of Incentive Scheme and Task Difficulty on Employees' Altruistic Behavior Outside the Firm†

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  • Andrew H. Newman
  • Ivo D. Tafkov
  • Flora Hailan Zhou

Abstract

Employer‐sponsored opportunities for altruism outside the workplace can improve employee engagement and passion within the firm, enhance the firm's corporate visibility, and improve its recruitment. There is limited understanding of whether and how a firm's management control system on employees' daily tasks can influence employee willingness to engage in altruism outside the workplace. In this study, we investigate via an experiment how the incentive scheme (tournament vs. piece rate) on employees' daily tasks interacts with the difficulty level of these tasks (low vs. high) to affect employees' altruistic behavior outside the firm. Our results indicate that, compared to a piece‐rate scheme, a tournament scheme leads to a greater decrease in non‐winning participants' altruistic behavior outside the firm when the original, incentivized task is more difficult compared to when it is less difficult. Consistent with our theory, participants' feelings of excessive entitlement partially mediate the interaction effect of incentive scheme and task difficulty on participants' altruistic behavior outside the firm. This study informs firms about how the design of its incentive scheme on employees' daily task inside the firm and the nature of that task can influence employee willingness to act altruistically outside the firm. Influence du régime d'incitation et de la difficulté des tâches sur le comportement altruiste des employés à l'extérieur de l'entreprise Les occasions d'altruisme hors du lieu de travail parrainées par l'employeur peuvent améliorer l'engagement et la passion des employés au sein de l'entreprise, accroître la visibilité de cette dernière et favoriser le recrutement. Nous ne savons pas encore exactement si, et de quelle façon, le système de contrôle de gestion touchant les activités quotidiennes des employés d'une entreprise peut influencer la disposition des employés à faire preuve d'altruisme à l'extérieur de leur lieu de travail. Dans le cadre de cette étude, nous faisons une expérience pour vérifier de quelle façon le régime d'incitation (fondé sur la compétition ou à la pièce) relatif aux tâches quotidiennes des employés interagit avec le niveau de difficulté de ces tâches (faible ou élevé) pour influencer le comportement altruiste des employés à l'extérieur de l'entreprise. Nos résultats indiquent que, par rapport à un régime à la pièce, un régime fondé sur la compétition entraîne une réduction plus importante du comportement altruiste hors de l'entreprise chez les participants n'ayant pas gagné lorsque la tâche initiale faisant l'objet d'un incitatif est plus difficile que lorsqu'elle est plus facile. Conformément à notre théorie, le sentiment de légitimité excessive qu’éprouvent les participants atténue partiellement l'effet d'interaction du régime d'incitation et de la difficulté de la tâche sur leur comportement altruiste à l'extérieur de l'entreprise. La présente étude indique de quelle façon la conception du régime d'incitation relatif aux tâches quotidiennes des employés à l'intérieur de l'entreprise et la nature de ces tâches peuvent influencer la disposition des employés à agir de façon altruiste à l'extérieur de l'entreprise.

Suggested Citation

  • Andrew H. Newman & Ivo D. Tafkov & Flora Hailan Zhou, 2020. "The Effects of Incentive Scheme and Task Difficulty on Employees' Altruistic Behavior Outside the Firm†," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 37(3), pages 1512-1535, September.
  • Handle: RePEc:wly:coacre:v:37:y:2020:i:3:p:1512-1535
    DOI: 10.1111/1911-3846.12567
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    1. Black, Paul W., 2023. "The effect of peer-to-peer recognition systems on helping behavior: The influence of rewards and group affiliation," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).

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