Part of a worker’s pay on an automobile assembly line is based on the number of cars in a pay period that come off the worker’s line and pass inspection. The remaining portion of the worker’s pay is an hourly wage that is fixed and only depends on the number of hours the employee works.
How does this incentive plan align the employee’s incentives with the firm’s? Is the inspection necessary?
What would you recommend to management if they asked you if they should inspect each individual employee’s work and pay based on the individual’s work rather than whether the car passed the final inspection (that is, what are the benefits and costs of paying, for instance, the windshield installer for the number of correctly installed windshields).
What decision making ability should the worker have in order to maximize the effectiveness of the incentive plans?