This paper reviews and discusses many differing forms of incentive compensation systems that are being used in today's organizations. The review traces the roots of bonus compensation from individual piece-work plans through the adoption of organization-wide gainsharing plans to the growing recognition of open-book management. Reasons for the shift in units of analysis from the individual employee to the work team or organization as a whole are discussed. Explanations are also given for why many companies are beginning to concentrate on outcomes rather than process measures as indicators of organizational success. Lastly, suggestions for enhancing the research agenda and bridging Mark R. Dixon is affiliated with Southern Illinois University. Linda J. Hayes is affiliated with the University of Nevada. Jack Stack is President, Springfield Remanufacturing Group.
We surveyed the taxa, ecosystems, and localities of the Devonian fishes of Michigan to provide a framework for renewed study, to learn about the diversity and number of these fishes, and to investigate their connection to other North American faunas. Nineteen genera of fishes have been found in the Middle and Late Devonian deposits of Michigan, of which thirteen are ‘placoderms’ represented by material ranging from articulated head shields to ichthyoliths. As expected from the marine nature of these deposits, ‘placoderms’ are overwhelmingly arthrodire in nature, but two genera of ptyctodonts have been reported along with less common petalichthyid material. The remaining fish fauna consists of fin-spines attributed to ‘acanthodians’, two genera of potential crown chondrichthyans, an isolated dipnoan, and onychodont teeth/jaw material. There was an apparent drop in fish diversity and fossil abundance between Middle and Late Devonian sediments. This pattern may be attributed to a paucity of Late Devonian sites, along with a relative lack of recent collection efforts at existing outcrops. It may also be due to a shift towards open water pelagic environments at Late Devonian localities, as opposed to the nearshore reef fauna preserved in the more numerous Middle Devonian localities. The Middle Devonian vertebrate fauna in Michigan shows strong connections with same-age assemblages from Ohio and New York. Finally, we document the presence of partially articulated vertebrate remains associated with benthic invertebrates, an uncommon occurrence in Devonian strata outside of North America. We anticipate this new survey will guide future field work efforts in an undersampled yet highly accessible region that preserves an abundance of fishes from a critical interval in marine vertebrate evolution.
The Carboniferous radiation of fishes was marked by the convergent appearance of then-novel but now common ecomorphologies resulting from changes in the relative proportions of traits, including elongation of the front of the skull (rostrum). The earliest ray-finned fishes (Actinopterygii) with elongate rostra are poorly known, obscuring the earliest appearances of a now widespread feature in actinopterygians. We redescribe Tanyrhinichthys mcallisteri, a long-rostrumed actinopterygian from the Upper Pennsylvanian (Missourian) of the Kinney Brick Quarry, New Mexico. Tanyrhinichthys has a lengthened rostrum bearing a sensory canal, ventrally inserted paired fins, posteriorly placed median fins unequal in size and shape, and a heterocercal caudal fin. Tanyrhinichthys shares these features with sturgeons, but lacks chondrostean synapomorphies, indicating convergence on a bottom-feeding lifestyle. Elongate rostra evolved independently in two lineages of bottom-dwelling, freshwater actinopterygians in the Late Pennsylvanian of Euramerica, as well as in at least one North American chondrichthyan (Bandringa rayi). The near-simultaneous appearance of novel ecomorphologies among multiple, distantly related lineages of actinopterygians and chondrichthyans was common during the Carboniferous radiation of fishes. This may reflect global shifts in marine and freshwater ecosystems and environments during the Carboniferous favouring such ecomorphologies, or it may have been contingent on the plasticity of early actinopterygians and chondrichthyans.
Volcanoes may erupt explosively. Meteoroids may explode on entering the atmosphere. A microwaved grape may explode (Conover, 2019). However, a growing body of research suggests that biodiversity at the dawn of the Cambrian Period did not explode. Data, amassed in the century and a half since Charles Darwin (1859) agonized that the apparent absence of Precambrian lifeforms was the weakest link in his theory of evolution by natural selection, support the view that biological diversity at the beginning of the Cambrian Period did not burst violently, detonate, shatter, or blow up. In this contribution, we trace the origin of the phrase "Cambrian explosion," give reasons for moving away from using it, and offer an alternative for describing intervals of significant increase in the diversity of life. The bibliographic pedigree of the phrase "Cambrian explosion" is uncertain; its origin is not clearly established in peer-reviewed literature. By the early twentieth century, the abrupt appearance of abundant (macro-) fossils in the Cambrian was canon in historical geology textbooks (Schuchert and Dunbar, 1933). The earliest use of the adjective "explosive," with reference to an evolutionary rate, was likely George Gaylord Simpson's "explosive evolution" to describe a general pattern of rapid diversification early in the history of a lineage (Simpson, 1944). Mid-twentiethcentury contemporaries echoed use of this phrase in characterizing a general evolutionary pattern (Henbest, 1952; Colbert, 1953). Use of the phrase "explosive evolution" to describe rapid diversification during the early Cambrian morphed into "The Cambrian Explosion" under obscure circumstances. The earliest published occurrence known to us is a section heading in an early version of an experimental high school biology curriculum
The Great Game of Business is an open‐book management approach that creates a system whereby people can see how their performance affects the overall performance of the company, and that allows them to see how this personal performance can enhance their lives and the life of their company. The game marries common‐sense business techniques with the premise that all people want to learn, be productive, and achieve success. Companies that play the game experience improved profits and cashflow, increased productivity, and the ability to react to challenges quickly and with flexibility. The game was designed and is played at the Springfield Remanufacturing Company and its subsidiaries, headquartered in Springfield, Missouri, but it can be applied to any facet of any business operating anywhere. Here is a look at the rules of the game and how to play it.
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