[quote=harvey]
Sales work has a reasonably close correlation between performance and pay.
[/quote]

Really? There will be times when things will sell for themselves (Good product, high demand, good economy, no competition etc.) and there will be times when nothing will sell (bad product, no demand, recession, competition etc.)

In general salesmen will be paid more in the first scenario than in the second no matter what they did ..

[quote=EconProf] But companies that pay and promote by performance tend to do better than their competitors who don’t and thus trounce them in the marketplace. [/quote]

Maybe Economics prof. is falling too much in love with the idealized model of how an economy should work as described in the textbook? [ as opposed to how it really works 🙂 ]

I believe in the maxim that 90% of success in life is just showing up at the right time at the right place 😉