Resource allocation and the production of star performers
研究了管理者如何在员工群体中分配资源以提高明星员工比例，发现早期应基于潜力分配资源，后期则基于绩效分配资源。
How can managers allocate resources among workers in a cohort to increase the proportion of star performers? To answer this, we derived four competing hypotheses based on the resource‑based theory: (H1) Use potential‑based allocation (i.e., allocating resources based on workers’ potential) in early and later years on the job; (H2) Use both potential‑based allocation and performance‑based allocation (i.e., allocating resources based on workers’ actual performance on the job) in early and later years; (H3) Use potential‑based allocation in early years, but use performance‑based allocation later; and (H4) Use performance‑based allocation, but not potential‑based allocation, in early and later years. Using data from 280 Major League Baseball cohorts encompassing 17,499 unique players, our results supported H3 by showing that potential‑based allocation used in early years on the job (i.e., years 1–2) predicts a greater proportion of stars in cohorts, whereas performance‑based allocation does so when used in later years (i.e., years 3–6). Thus, we show that potential‑ and performance‑based allocation are different parts of a comprehensive framework rather than being rival mechanisms as often portrayed in prior work. Our results also help explain why some studies in the star performance literature supported using potential‑based allocation while others supported using performance‑based allocation.