Using a novel data set from 75 stores of a department store retail chain that changed its incentive plan for store managers to spur greater cooperation among them and with the corporate office, we examine how incentives impact operational decisions and, consequently, store outcomes. We measure...

Process improvement methods –such as Lean, Six Sigma and Agile– have been widely studied, and we know what tools work, and where. Yet our longitudinal study of 204 improvement projects shows that one year into a successful implementation about half of all projects backslide. After two years,...