Indispensable and Other Myths
Why the CEO Pay Experiment Failed and How to Fix It
1st Edition
Published on 1. August 2014
Book
Hardback
328 pages
978-0-520-28101-1 (ISBN)
Description
Prodded by economists in the 1970s, corporate directors began adding stock options and bonuses to the already-generous salaries of CEOs with hopes of boosting their companies' fortunes. Guided by largely unproven assumptions, this trend continues today. So what are companies getting in return for all the extra money? Not much, according to the empirical data. In Indispensable and Other Myths: Why the CEO Pay Experiment Failed and How to Fix It, Michael Dorff explores the consequences of this development. He shows how performance pay has not demonstrably improved corporate performance and offers studies showing that performance pay cannot improve performance on the kind of tasks companies ask of their CEOs. Moreover, CEOs of large established companies do not typically have much impact on their companies' results. In this eye-opening expose, Dorff argues that companies should give up on the decades-long experiment to mold compensation into a corporate governance tool and maps out a rationale for returning to the era of guaranteed salaries.
Reviews / Votes
"A carefully stated cri de guerre against 'the current cult of leadership' that characterizes corporate culture-and leads to extraordinary paychecks... A provocative thesis couched in measured, scholarly language. Watch the editorial pages of Bloomberg News and the Wall Street Journal to see whether it catches on." Kirkus "Every director needs to read Dorff's new book. It's time to give pay for performance a new look." -- Stephen Bainbridge Agenda "'Indispensable and Other Myths' is an all-guns-blazing attack on the way that Anglo-Saxon companies pay their bosses." The Economist "Dorff argues convincingly, from the evidence available, that the behavioural theory developed in capitalism that performance-related pay is a significant motivator for employees does not hold up to scrutiny... This is a must-read for human resources professionals and others willing to give serious thought to CEO and top management pay, and what those people realistically can and do deliver." -- Cary Cooper Times Higher Education "Dorff makes a persuasive case that performance pay is overrated." -- Jonathan Low The LowdownMore details
Edition
First Edition
Language
English
Place of publication
Berkerley
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Cloth over boards
Dimensions
Height: 237 mm
Width: 162 mm
Thickness: 28 mm
Weight
591 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-520-28101-1 (9780520281011)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
08/2014
1st Edition
University of California Press
€34.49
Available for download
Person
Michael Dorff has taught at UCLA School of Law, Rutgers Law School, and the Peter F. Drucker and Masatoshi Ito Graduate School of Management. He is currently Professor of Law at Southwestern Law School, where he teaches corporate law and other business law topics.
Content
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 1. INTRODUCTION PART I. WHAT'S WRONG WITH THE DOMINANT THEORIES? 2. THE PUZZLES OF CEO COMPENSATION 3. The Corporate Personality Myth 4. MARKET MYTHOLOGY 5. Incentives Mythology PART II. WHAT'S REALLY GOING ON? 6. Performance Pay Mythology 7. Causation Mythology 8. Predictability Mythology PART III. HOW CAN WE BEST REFORM THE SYSTEM? 9. ALIGNMENT MYTHOLOGY 10. MOVING FORWARD Notes Index