For Five Years, Mainstream Production Systems Offered $500 Bonuses to Individuals

Multiple Choice

For five years, Mainstream Production Systems offered $500 bonuses to individuals who identified ways to reduce costs by at least $1,000 per year. In the first year of that incentive program, 23 employees earned the bonus, but last year, only 7 submitted ideas, and only two of the ideas would actually save more than a few dollars. The company's HR director suggests that the company is likely to see more improvement if it replaces individual incentives with a gainsharing plan. Which statement best supports this argument?

A) Gainsharing succeeds regardless of whether employees understand how performance is measured.
B) Gainsharing is likely to succeed under almost any organizational conditions.
C) Gainsharing broadens employees' horizons beyond the range of activities they can influence.
D) Gainsharing measures oversimplify the complex responsibilities of production work.
E) Gainsharing expands employees' thinking beyond their individual interests.