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The "Summit Conference' was a tiered incentive travel program put together by the Graham Marketing Group of St. Paul, Minn., for a multinational computer company. ft is excerpted here from […]

Georgia-Pacific Corp (G-P), in 1990, launched a successful two-front marketing program to increase sales of its A-C pine plywood. G-P first sent 10,000 promotional pamphlets and samples of its product to lumber and construction materials companies across the US. G-P gave incentives to its sales personnel in the form of merchandise prizes for increases in sales generated. The program increased product volume by 35%.

Mazda Motor of America Inc rewards its parts managers for demonstrating a commitment to genuine Mazda parts by awarding travel and merchandise prizes. Mazda promotes the program to counter tendencies by its dealers to sell cheaper but inferior parts from Brazil and Taiwan. The program encourages managers' commitment to selling genuine Mazda parts by awarding points according to the dollar value of parts sold.

U.S. Information Systems, a leading technology services company, has announced a new incentive program that pays rewards to anyone who refers new business to the company. The USIS Network Associate [...]

To celebrate winning a three-year, $5.7 million contract, Noah Chase told his seven salespeople and three support staffers to take their spouses or partners out to dinner. "Pick your favorite […]

If Chinese astrology is accurate, anticipate friendly competition and journeys to distant lands because 2002 is the Year of the Horse. According to ancient beliefs, the beloved stallion represents strength [...]

E.I. Du Pont de Nemours and Company Inc's fiber department has developed a program which enables employees to have a stake in whether the firm achieves profit goals. Put into effect in January 1989, 900 of the department's 20,00 workers decided to make part of their compensation dependent on company profits. Aspects of the program include: it is based on the performances achieved by the department's 25 businesses; every February employees are paid on a sliding percentage scale based on whether the department has achieved its goals; and it includes all employes at all levels. Du Pont utilized an extensive education/communication program to educate employees about profit-sharing, and the firm has realized that other companies that are interested in developing such a program need to make sure it reflects organizational values.

A brief comparison of a Honda and an AMC plant (detailing the efficiencies of Honda and noting the old-fashioned operations at AMC) demonstrates why the Department of Defense has initiated its Industrial Modernization Incentive Program (IMIP). IMIP encourages U.S. manufacturing firms that are defense contractors to make capital investments for the improvement of productivity, which over the long term will reduce national defense expenses. The projects undertaken by the Air Force (100 industrial projects), the Navy (15 projects) and the Army (3 projects completed; no active projects) as part of IMIP are described. For the most part, IMIP projects focus on factory modernization. IBM's factory that produces PC convertibles is an ideal example of modernization; at the IBM plant, computers are built entirely by robots and the flexible manufacturing system handles work load fluctuations and design changes with ease.

NO STRANGERS TO PARADISE Even though some of the dealers have been coming to the Big Island of Hawaii each of the nine years that Southeast Toyota Distributors has chosen […]

BORDEN GETS THE BEST OUT OF CATALOGUES Until recently, the incentive programs Borden sponsored for broker sales representatives and retailers were at best sporadic. Within each district of the Columbus, […]

DETROIT DIESEL ALLISON SAILS ON A QUALITY CRUISE When the Detroit Diesel Allison (DDA) parts division of GM decided to sponsor an incentive travel program last spring, executives had more […]

WHY CUSTOMERS LOVE TREASURE ISLE Faced with an assortment of shrimp, could you tell them apart? Purchasing agents at many restaurants and other foodservice operations think you couldn't--and say they […]

BARBADOS OR BUST! The soft Barbadian breeze swept across the waters of the Caribbean, carrying the faint beat of calypso music from down the beach to the two men reclining […]

MISSISSIPPI MOTIVATORS 'We're number one. Not number two. We're gonna beat the WHOOP out of you.' --MMI cheerleaders 'WE WON. WE SMEARED 'EM,' SAYS Avanell Hurst, member of the winning [...]

GROWING UP AS A CEO By any standard measure, G.O.D. (Guaranteed Overnight Delivery) Inc. has always been a star. During its first six years of life it grew more than [...]

Keeping the sales staff motivated is one of the biggest challenges sales managers face. And while most sales incentive programs are designed to keep the staff raring to go, many--because […]

THE SECRETS OF AMERICA'S BEST SALES FORCES Our September 1991 issue focused on America's best sales forces - all six winners representing mighty bastions of selling expertise. In terms of […]

The range of what can be used as an incentive is almost limitless. It can run from Tiffany & Company scarfs, crystal and watches to Harry and David smoked turkey […]

Where's the Beef And Other Case Histories Typically, stories about successful incentive programs talk about the use of glamorous prizes--trips to exotic locales, fancy and fanciful electronics, perhaps even rare […]

Not everyone has an incentive program. Here are a few that are new to the game. Last year an independent supermarket chain in the Southwest started an incentive program to […]

Employee recognition programs, including the use of incentive awards, are effective human relations tools to improve recruiting and retention results, and to increase company productivity, morale, loyalty, and sales motivation. The New York-based NYNEX organization, composed of 12 firms stemming from the AT and T breakup, demonstrates the trend toward upgraded award plans that are more suitable to a changing workforce. NYNEX has developed a Service Recognition Program with several types of employee recognition, including five-year rewards of tasteful gifts created by Tiffany and Co. for NYNEX. The costs of this award winning program, and its benefits, are discussed.

LANIER STAGES A SHOPPING SPREE Motivating field sales managers is a real challenge, so when we decided to undertake that task, we knew that something unusual was in order. Instead […]

You can't expect the same performance from temporary employees that you get from full-time workers if you don't treat them the same way.' says Joe Lethert Sr. of Performark Inc., [...]

In the mid-1970s, the Department of Defense began developing its Industrial Modernization Incentives Program (IMIP), based upon the Technology Modernization Program instituted by the U.S. Air Force, to stimulate private sector investment in automated manufacturing technologies and factory modernization projects. The IMIP was formalized in 1982. Under the program, the Department of Defense provides seed money to defense contractors for updating their manufacturing systems, based on the theory that such updating will eventually reduce defense hardware costs. Projects undertaken as part of IMIP include: General Dynamics' Fort Worth Division's F-16 Technology Modernization Program, begun in 1976, that involved 61 projects at a savings of half a billion dollars; a project with Simmonds Precision (a manufacturer of fuel gaging systems) that achieved 40-to-1 productivity increases through laser testing of fuel indicators; and a project with Applied Technology, still in the planning stage, that will modernize 28 manufacturing sites at a cost of $25 million, while saving the Department of Defense approximately $150 million. Inconsistencies in the administration of the IMIP are also identified and discussed, with some solutions offered.

Have employees design the new plan. By MICHAEL A. VERESPEJ/ Less than three years ago the factory floor at Fairfield Mfg. Co. was crawling with pay incentives that had become [...]