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- Faculty Publications (124)
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- All HBS Web (356)
- Faculty Publications (124)
- 22 Oct 2019
- Research & Ideas
Use Artificial Intelligence to Set Sales Targets That Motivate
Setting the right sales targets for employees is a difficult balancing act, with long-term consequences on growth and morale. Setting a target too low, making it easily achievable, might cause an an employee to not put in the effort....
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by Michael Blanding
- October 2011
- Case
Raleigh & Rosse: Measures to Motivate Exceptional Service
By: Robert Simons and Michael Mahoney
In January 2010, U.S. luxury goods retailer Raleigh & Rosse is being sued by its employees for encouraging "off the clock" hours. At the center of the class action lawsuit is the famous Raleigh & Rosse performance measurement system previously thought to be the core of...
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Keywords:
Control Systems;
Performance Measurement;
Goal Setting;
Compensation;
Incentives;
Motivation;
Sales Compensation;
Motivation and Incentives;
Goals and Objectives;
Growth Management;
Lawsuits and Litigation;
Organizational Culture;
Management Systems;
Customer Focus and Relationships;
Employees;
Performance Evaluation;
Compensation and Benefits;
Retail Industry;
United States
Simons, Robert, and Michael Mahoney. "Raleigh & Rosse: Measures to Motivate Exceptional Service." Harvard Business School Brief Case 114-353, October 2011.
- 22 Mar 2017
- Research & Ideas
What's the Ideal Frequency for a Sales Quota?
spend more than $800 billion annually on those efforts. Sales compensation plans are at the center of all this activity, the primary tool managers use to motivate and incentivize salespeople. View Details
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by Carmen Nobel
- 27 Oct 2002
- Research & Ideas
Want a Happy Customer? Coordinate Sales and Marketing
To other functional departments such as finance and operations, the sales and marketing functions look alike. After all, they are both "outward looking," focused on the customer and the market. But, creating a strong marketing...
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by Benson Shapiro
- fall 1985
- Article
A Theory of Salesforce Compensation Plans
By: R. Lal, A. K. Basu, V. Srinivasan and Richard Staelin
Lal, R., A. K. Basu, V. Srinivasan, and Richard Staelin. "A Theory of Salesforce Compensation Plans." Marketing Science (fall 1985). (Winner of TIMS College of Marketing. Award for Best Article in Marketing Science For the best marketing paper published in Marketing Science or Management Science presented by Institute of Management Sciences.)
The Effects of Quota Frequency: Sales Performance and Product Focus
This study investigates the comprehensive and multidimensional effects of quota (goal) frequency on sales force performance. The study provides a theory of salespeople’s behavior—aggregate effort and the product type focus—in response to the temporal length of a...
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- April 2011
- Supplement
Designs by Kate: The Power of Direct Sales, Faculty Spreadsheet (Brief Case)
By: John A. Deighton and Sarah Abbott
- October 1989 (Revised June 1993)
- Case
RKO Warner Video, Inc.: Incentive Compensation Plan
By: George P. Baker III
Details the design and implementation of an incentive bonus plan for video store managers. The problem for top management of the chain is to induce the store managers to "sweat the details," to keep the stores neat and well organized, and to deal courteously and...
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Keywords:
Acquisition;
Change;
Strategic Planning;
Performance Improvement;
Sales;
Management;
Employee Relationship Management;
Situation or Environment;
Success;
Motion Pictures and Video Industry;
Entertainment and Recreation Industry
Baker, George P., III. "RKO Warner Video, Inc.: Incentive Compensation Plan." Harvard Business School Case 190-067, October 1989. (Revised June 1993.)
- October 2004
- Case
Sales Force Training at Arrow Electronics (A)
By: Jason R. Barro, Brian J. Hall and Aaron Zimmerman
In the mid-1980s, Arrow, the world's largest electronics distributor, implemented a college recruiting program to hire salespeople. The program was part of an effort to increase the professionalism and skill set of the sales force in an industry where few salespeople...
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Keywords:
Human Resources;
Compensation and Benefits;
Recruitment;
Retention;
Selection and Staffing;
Salesforce Management;
Competition
Barro, Jason R., Brian J. Hall, and Aaron Zimmerman. "Sales Force Training at Arrow Electronics (A)." Harvard Business School Case 905-041, October 2004.
- 14 Aug 2017
- News
Study: More Frequent Sales Quotas Help Volume but Hurt Profits
- September 12, 2017
- Article
What's the Right Kind of Bonus to Motivate Your Sales Force?
By: Doug J. Chung and Das Narayandas
Companies typically compensate their sales force by using some combination of salary, commission, and bonuses, but executives are often unsure which incentives provide the best motivation. Should bonuses be tied to quotas or should they be given unconditionally? Is it...
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Chung, Doug J., and Das Narayandas. "What's the Right Kind of Bonus to Motivate Your Sales Force?" Harvard Business Review (website) (September 12, 2017).
- summer 1986
- Article
Salesforce Compensation Plans in Environments with Asymmetric Information
By: R. Lal and Richard Staelin
Lal, R., and Richard Staelin. "Salesforce Compensation Plans in Environments with Asymmetric Information." Marketing Science (summer 1986). (Runner-up of the TIMS College of Marketing Award for the Best Article in Management and Marketing Science in 1986.)
- 12 Sep 2017
- News
What’s the Right Kind of Bonus to Motivate Your Sales Force?
What's the Right Kind of Bonus to Motivate Your Sales Force?
Companies typically compensate their sales force by using some combination of salary, commission, and bonuses, but executives are often unsure which incentives provide the best motivation. Should bonuses be tied to quotas or should they be given unconditionally? Is...
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A Practical Approach to Sales Compensation: What Do We Know Now? What Should We Know in the Future?
Personal selling represents one of the most important elements in the marketing mix, and appropriate management of the sales force is vital to achieving the organization’s objectives. Among the various instruments of sales management, compensation plays a pivotal...
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- April 2019 (Revised January 2022)
- Case
Clear Link Technologies, LLC: Driving Sales with Peer Effects
By: Christopher Stanton, Richard Saouma and Olivia Hull
The importance of a good peer or coworker is widely discussed, but understanding the glue that makes coworkers valuable is less understood. This case sheds light on the importance of peers and the practices and environments that make a group greater than the sum of its...
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Keywords:
Talent and Talent Management;
Interactive Communication;
Experience and Expertise;
Decision Making;
Training;
Design;
Compensation and Benefits;
Knowledge Acquisition;
Knowledge Sharing;
Human Capital;
Working Conditions;
Measurement and Metrics;
Outcome or Result;
Performance;
Performance Improvement;
Research;
Sales;
Salesforce Management;
Motivation and Incentives;
Telecommunications Industry;
Utah;
United States
Stanton, Christopher, Richard Saouma, and Olivia Hull. "Clear Link Technologies, LLC: Driving Sales with Peer Effects." Harvard Business School Case 819-072, April 2019. (Revised January 2022.)
- October 2004
- Case
Sales Force Training at Arrow Electronics (B)
By: Jason R. Barro, Brian J. Hall and Aaron Zimmerman
Supplements the (A) case. A rewritten version of an earlier supplement.
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Keywords:
Human Resources;
Compensation and Benefits;
Recruitment;
Retention;
Selection and Staffing;
Salesforce Management;
Competition
Barro, Jason R., Brian J. Hall, and Aaron Zimmerman. "Sales Force Training at Arrow Electronics (B)." Harvard Business School Case 905-042, October 2004.
- Article
How to Really Motivate Salespeople
By: Doug J. Chung
Much of what we believe about the best ways to compensate and motivate the sales force is based on theory and lab experiments. But in the past decade, researchers have been moving out of the lab and into the field, analyzing companies' sales and pay data, and...
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Keywords:
Compensation;
Motivating People;
Motivation and Incentives;
Compensation and Benefits;
Sales
Chung, Doug J. "How to Really Motivate Salespeople." Harvard Business Review 93, no. 4 (April 2015): 54–61.
- November 2021
- Article
The Comprehensive Effects of Sales Force Management: A Dynamic Structural Analysis of Selection, Compensation, and Training
By: Doug J. Chung, Byungyeon Kim and Byoung G. Park
This study provides a comprehensive model of an agent’s behavior in response to multiple sales management instruments, including compensation, recruiting/termination, and training. The model on agents’ behavior takes into account many of the key elements that...
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Keywords:
Salesforce Management;
Recruitment;
Selection and Staffing;
Compensation and Benefits;
Resignation and Termination;
Training;
Behavior;
Analysis
Chung, Doug J., Byungyeon Kim, and Byoung G. Park. "The Comprehensive Effects of Sales Force Management: A Dynamic Structural Analysis of Selection, Compensation, and Training." Management Science 67, no. 11 (November 2021): 7046–7074.