Factors That Influence Operating Performance Through the Use of Earnings or Gainsharing Plans: Evidence in Brazil's Chemical Industry

Abstract

The purpose of this Paper is to study: 1) Employee incentive programs, more specifically Gainsharing schemes in the Brazilian chemical industry; 2) Factors with positive effects upgrading the operating performance of the organizations that adopt them. The operating performance includes the following dependent variables: better quality; higher productivity; lower production costs; streamlined production process; and higher average bonus rates paid to the employees. The independent variables analyzed in this study were: employee involvement; method of measuring productivity; consultant involvement; bonus payments; employee votes; financia! situation in the company; trade union support and involvement. The findings of an analysis of the data covering llO companies through the Probit multivariate analysis proves the hypothesis that incentive programs have positive effects on managerial perceptions of the improvement in corporate operating performances. ResumenEste trabajo tuvo el propósito de estudiar: 1) los programas de incentivos ofrecidos a los empleados, la Participación en las Ganancias o Resultados y la Participación en los Resultados en las industrias químicas brasileñas 2) Los factores que influencian positivamente la mejora del desempeño operativo de las organizaciones que los adoptan. El desempeño operativo contempla las siguientes variables dependientes: mejora d e la calidad, mejora de la productividad, reducción de los costos de producción, mejora del proceso productivo e índice promedio de pago de bonos a los empleados. Las variables independientes consideradas en este estudio fueron: involucración del empleado, método de medición de la productividad, * Pós-Gradua<;ao em Administrac;ao, Mackenzie Presbyterian University. Ruada Consola<; iio, 930. 7 andar. Sala 76. Consola<;iio. Sao Paulo-SP. CEP 01302-907. Telephone : (55)(1l) 3236-8597.