Section Five
Another recent study that examined effects of bonus
plans also supports the contingency view. This study examined
34 stores in a retail chain and tracked sales for a period of 77
months. Sales personnel received bonuses only if they reached
sales goals (outcome-based compensation). Regression analysis
results indicated that such outcome-based compensation
practices had a significant positive impact on sales only when
the store served an upscale market. In addition, the plans had
a significant positive impact on customer satisfaction only in
upscale markets. These results also are supportive of a
contingency perspective.
119 SORTING THROUGH THE EVIDENCE
Studies testing the contingency view and the value of strategic
fit are challenged by a number of difficult methodological
problems. For example, the various studies do not use the
same measures of human resource practices. Thus, differences
in measurement may contribute to inconsistent results across
studies.^120 Also, it is often necessary to use crude proxy
measures of firms’ strategies, such as subjective respondent
estimates of the proportion of their firm’s sales from cost
leadership, differentiation, or focus strategies.^121 In other
instances, the classification of strategies may rely on only one
common dimension that varies across the different strategic