Employee Stock Options: Are They Indeed Superior to Other Incentive Compensation Schemes?

Although employee stock options are gaining in popularity as a compensation plan aimed at improving work performance, there is neither theoretical nor empirical evidence that they are indeed superior to other incentive schemes, such as profit sharing and gain sharing. This paper examines, from a theoretical perspective, the possible effects of four incentive plans on employee motivation and performance: merit pay, profit sharing, gain sharing, and employee stock options. The analysis relies on two behavioral theories, Expectancy and Equity, and a conceptual financial framework. The different approaches yield incongruent predictions as to which of the four schemes can be expected to most enhance employee motivation. While the managerial theories favor stock options over profit or gain sharing, financial theory makes the case that all plans are identical in a competitive labor market, whereas if stock options are restricted and the labor market exhibits some degree of imperfection, gain and profit sharing plans may prove superior.     

Identity configurations: a new perspective on identity formation in contemporary society

This paper deals with the theoretical construct of "identity configuration." It portrays the different possible ways in which individuals configure the relationship among potentially conflicting identifications in the process of identity formation. In order to explicate these configurations, I analyzed narratives of identity development retold by individuals describing personal identity conflicts that arise within a larger context of sociocultural conflict. Thirty Jewish modern orthodox young adults were interviewed regarding a potentially conflictual identity issue (i.e. their religious and sexual development). Their deliberations, as described in the interviews, were examined, and four different configurations were identified: a configuration based on choice and suppression; an assimilative and synthesizing configuration; a confederacy of identifications; and a configuration based on the thrill of dissonance. The different configurations are illustrated through exemplars, and the possible implications of the concept of "configuration" for identity theory are discussed.