Document Type
Thesis
Date of Award
5-31-1983
Degree Name
Master of Science in Management Engineering - (M.S.)
Department
Industrial and Management Engineering
First Advisor
Stan S. Thomas
Abstract
When a group-incentive system, all participating workers receive the same bonus. Each pay-group establishes a pace which affects under-achievers and over-achievers.
A null hypothesis, that peer pressure has no effect on group incentives and the distribution of workers' efficiencies will fit a normal distribution, was formulated. The chi-square test was used to test the null hypothesis.
The first part of the study examined the effect of group incentives on experienced workers. The chi-square test indicated a highly significient difference between the actual efficiency distribution and the expected normal distribution; therefore, the null hypothesis was rejected. The measure of kurtosis indicated a high frequency of efficiencies at the mean.
The second part of the study considered the effect of peer pressure on newly hired workers. The new workers' efficiency distribution was divided into 10 time-periods: five periods before incentives and five after they participated in incentives. The null hpyothesis should hold true for all time-periods.
There was no significant differences in the time-periods before incentives, and the null hypothesis was accepted. Also there was no significant peakedness. In the time-periods after participating, there was significant differences and the null hypothesis was rejected. The peakedness was also significant.
When workers are first employed, their efficiencies are normally distributed, as would be expected for any group of workers. However, as they progress and join pay-groups, peer pressure causes their efficiency distributions to compress and peak.
Recommended Citation
Witkowski, John Joseph, "Peer pressure effect on group incentives" (1983). Theses. 3651.
https://digitalcommons.njit.edu/theses/3651
Included in
Business Administration, Management, and Operations Commons, Operations Research, Systems Engineering and Industrial Engineering Commons
