W. Edwards Deming, often referred to as the leading quality guru in the United States, and psychologist Alfie Kohn support the idea that incentive pay is not a motivator for individuals to do a good...

Study of the negative and negative side effects of various incentive systems is completely consistent; plans that encourage poor conduct will yield unpleasant consequences. However, to fully forsake incentive systems, is faulty. Managers must instead learn to harness and apply the power of incentives to improve personal motivation and organizational success. He claims concerning the ineffectiveness of incentive systems are solely meant to emphasize the strength of these schemes un influencing behavior. What he said is correct: if there is a desire for collaboration and cooperation, but the incentive plan simply rewards individual success, the strategy will yield counterproductive effects. A well-designed incentive programme that promotes team productivity, on the other hand, would not only avoid such inefficient practices, but will also motivate staff to collaborate. This is the premise for most employee stock and profit sharing schemes, the efficacy of which is becoming increasingly clear.
His claims regarding the fragility of incentive programmes are merely meant to emphasize the strength of these schemes in influencing behavior. What Kohn said is entirely correct: if there is a desire for collaboration and cooperation but the incentive plan simply rewards individual accomplishments, the strategy will yield counterproductive effects. A well-designed incentive scheme that promotes team productivity, on the other hand, will not only avoid such inefficient practises, but will also motivate staff to collaborate. This is the premise behind most employee stock and profit sharing schemes, the usefulness of which is becoming increasingly clear.
The observation that incentive systems motivate staff to defend their superiors and conceal facts about bad performance is frequently correct. The solution, though, is...