High Output Management

by Andrew S. Grove

When self-interest is high and the CUA factor is low, the most appropriate is the market mode, which governed our tire purchase. As individual motivation moves toward group interest, the contractual mode becomes appropriate, which governed our stopping for a red light. When group-interest orientation and the CUA factor are both high, the cultural values mode becomes the best choice, which explains to us why we tried to help at the scene of the accident. And finally, when the CUA factor is high and individual motivation is based on self-interest, no mode of control will work well. This situation, like every man for himself on a sinking ship, can only produce chaos. Let’s apply our model to the work of a new employee. What is his motivation? It is very much based on self-interest. So you should give him a clearly structured job with a low CUA factor. If he does well, he will begin to feel more at home, worry less about himself, and start to care more about his team. He learns that if he is on a boat and wants to get ahead, it is better for him to help row than to run to the bow. The employee can then be promoted into a more complex, uncertain, ambiguous job. (These tend to pay more.) As time passes, he will continue to gain an increasing amount of shared experience with other members of the organization and will be ready to tackle more and more complex, ambiguous, and uncertain tasks. This is why promotion from within tends to be the approach favored by corporations with str...