By Debolina Dutta, Kunal Kamal Kumar, Sushanta Kumar Mishra
Human Resource Management | September 2021
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/hrm.22062
Dutta D, Kumar KK, Mishra SK. Unintended consequences of promotions: Importance of annual incentives for performance management systems. Hum Resour Manage. 2021;60:787–801. https://doi.org/10.1002/hrm.22062
Human Resource Management, September 2021
With increased globalization, multinational enterprises (MNEs) have become pervasive in emerging economies such as India. Given that employee performance is multidimensional and culture-bound, the management of performance in MNEs is very critical for the successful implementation of their business strategy. We focus on promotions and incentives as they are considered the two crucial aspects of any performance management system. Based on a multisource, temporal study spanning over 19 months, we tested the interaction effect of promotion and annual incentive on employee outcomes. We conducted interviews of 15 senior officers in phase 2 to understand the inconsistencies in our findings. The contribution of the study to industry and academia are discussed.
Debolina Dutta is a Clinical Professor, senior HR leader, and an ICF‑certified ACC level coach with over 30 years of industry experience and 6 years in academia. She brings deep expertise across Human Resources, Organisation Development, and Leadership Capability Building, having worked across diverse geographies and organisational contexts, including multinational corporations, private enterprises, and start‑ups.
Globally recognized for her contributions to the HR profession, Debolina has been named among the 100 Most Influential Global HR Professionals by the World HRD Congress, a Most Influential HR Leader in India, and nominated as one of the Top 16 Women Leaders. As an executive coach, she works closely with mid‑management and senior leaders on leadership transitions, personal effectiveness, and organisational change. Her work is supported by certifications in behavioral facilitation as well as expertise in psychometric tools.She has served on the Board of IIM Indore and advises organisations on talent strategies and AI-HRM adoption.
Debolina has led large‑scale organisational development and transformation initiatives spanning change management, mergers and acquisitions, HRIS implementations, and the design of structured talent and leadership frameworks, often in complex, multicultural environments. She is an alumna of IIM Indore (FPM‑Industry), IIM Bangalore, and the College of Engineering, Pune, and a published thought leader with case studies in Harvard Business Review and research articles in leading academic journals. Through her academic, consulting, and coaching roles, she continues to shape future‑ready leaders by integrating research, practice, and coaching‑led development.
