Performance management and incentive systems in research organizations: Effects, limits and opportunities

Abstract

This chapter gives an overview on the effects, limits and opportunities of the different performance management and incentive systems employed in research organizations. Specifically, we discuss the existing performance management and incentive systems in research organizations as well as their advantages and disadvantages, and provide theoretically—as well as empirically—grounded recommendations for performance management and incentive systems in research organizations. In particular, we provide two recommendations. First, we advocate focusing on input governance as well as on trust in the intrinsic motivation of scholars, and independence as ways to ensure quality. Second, with regard to incentive systems, we recommend emphasizing informal-interpersonal acknowledgment.