Review of Incentive management

Abstract

Reviews the book "Incentive management" by J. F. Lincoln (1951). This volume is written by the president of the Lincoln Electric Company, which manufactures electric welding equipment. It is an exposition of the rationale for the system of incentive management upon which the company is run. The rationale is essentially an application, in modern industry, of the law of competitive struggle for existence and the survival of the fit. This is a very difficult book for a psychologist to evaluate. Research-oriented, he looks for a statement of hypotheses, description of procedures designed to test the hypotheses, presentation and interpretation of results, and conclusions derived from the findings. In this book, however, the author presents merely an exposition of the "hypotheses," which he presents as axioms, and his proof of their validity is the ultimate criterion of the production record of the company. Just how the principles are translated into operation procedures and what the relative contribution of these procedures is to the overall success of the company are not given, either in this volume or in a previous book entitled "Lincoln's Incentive System" (see record 1947-02004-000 ). The reader is left with a feeling of something missing and with nothing to evaluate objectively and critically. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)