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more according to the responses. Resistance to change is a well known phenomenon
addressed in many human resource management courses and those responsible for designing
the reward systems should first consider the possibility of upgrading the existing systems.
When it is known that the existing systems are not suitable that is when they should think of
establishing new systems.
Compensation systems are indeed designed for motivation. How they are presented and how
they are perceived will dictate how successful the outcome is likely to be. If we present it in
such a way that we reward in order to acknowledge the value of the knowledge shared, it is
most likely to be more successful than if we present it as a way to encourage the person
rewarded and those who are there to see the reward. A contribution in terms of knowledge is
difficult to measure so as to know how much you should reward. If then the reward is
perceived to be little compared to the outcome of the value of knowledge shared, then the
ultimate value of rewarding loses its meaning. This is precisely the justification to why it
should not be presented as a motivation rather it should be presented as an acknowledgement.
Proper placements and well defined tasks may as well be considered in designing
compensation schemes. The issue of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation is critical and worth
consideration if a compensation system needs to achieve positive results. The study on
rewards and recognition conducted by the American Productivity and Quality Center (APQC)
with representatives from 20 member companies of APQC‟s International Benchmarking
Clearinghouse, including: ChevronTexaco, Halliburton, Hewlett-Packard, Intel Corporation,
John Deere, Lockheed Martin, Microsoft, NASA, Nortel Networks, Shell Chemicals, and
Sprint suggests that intrinsic motivation originates internally and emerges when the task itself
seems rewarding and meets a person‟s goals. The study suggests that if for example you give
people $20 every time they come to a community of practice event and then stop giving them
that, they are going to be upset. The study stresses the need to be cautious about attaching
extrinsic rewards to behaviour you want to persist over time.” As extrinsic motivation or the
perception by the person that they are acting because of extrinsic motivation increases,
intrinsic motivation can decline. If intrinsic motivation declines, it may take more extrinsic
rewards to maintain the behaviour (APQC, 2002).
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